Seabourn just Tweeted about the Spa Retreat on Encore

[ab21au]

Unless things are changing rapidly, I was on Quest in Sept and was worried it was not going to be as good as the previous cruise. We had the best cruise, even better than our previous SB cruise which was also fabulous, I didn't think it could be bettered. Sometimes I think we can worry for no reason.

Edited March 17, 2016 by ab21au

[lincslady]

It is actually not of personal interest to me, but I wonder if the cost of $350 per day for the new spa area is per person or for up to 15 people?

 

However, we will be on Quest fairly soon - after the changeover - and wonder how the new restaurants will work - anybody know? i.e., is the casual TK menu on in the new R2, or on some evenings in the Colonnade, with his 'posh' menu, maybe not the same every night, in R2.

 

I did not much like the look of the square pieces of what looks like normal roast beef in Emperor Norton's pictures; not very thrilling.

[LaPaloma]

Agreed!

Funny you should mention an onboard wedding. A friend of mine asked me about that at weekend, if I knew whether SB conducted marriages onboard. I told her I don't know. I've never seen one during our cruises, but that space would be perfect for a small gathering.

 

We did have a wedding aboard. The couple had prearranged......and all who wanted to attend were invited. The Captain married them.

[mraven]

It is actually not of personal interest to me, but I wonder if the cost of $350 per day for the new spa area is per person or for up to 15 people?

 

The price starts at 350 per cabana per day according to the press release

Edited March 17, 2016 by mraven

[Nigella]

We did have a wedding aboard. The couple had prearranged......and all who wanted to attend were invited. The Captain married them.

 

Oh thanks for this! I'll let my friend know that it may be possible.

[Emperor Norton]

Slightly off topic but I have something else to complain about. I'm onboard Sojourn and it is now necessary to book the Colonnade EVERY night - not just TK nights. This IMO, limits the choices for dining especially as the weather has been bad and the patio has not been available. Also the "famous" Napa burger is not available. Apparently one ingredient is not available! The Seabourn we know and love is changing.

 

 

I'm curious - did they say what ingredient was missing?

[Nigella]

The price starts at 350 per cabana per day according to the press release

 

That sounds far more reasonable, unless someone is cruising solo.

[pdx13]

I don't think there was ever a doubt that this would be the case. It isn't fair that some guests hog the restaurant. If there is spare capacity I'm sure it will be possible to dine more than once as is currently the case with R2 but it is essential that all guests who want to experience the venue can do so.

 

I presume "per voyage" means per leg of your journey.

 

Given the make up of guests and on board operations I don't anticipate a mad rush to pre book online. The whole joy of SB is that flexibility afforded when on board but Seattle need to dot the i's and cross the t's.

 

$350 per day plus would be easily affordable to some guests and who knows, possibly it becomes a loyalty perk with the high price tag adding to the perceived value.

 

As Mr L says, let's see what you get for your money when it opens.

 

Henry :)

 

Excuse my ignorance, but how do I know how many legs we are cruising? I hope to visit the TK more than once as I am a huge fan. Hoping that we will be able to visit more than once without having to make reservations prior to departure.

[jenidallas]

Excuse my ignorance, but how do I know how many legs we are cruising?

 

How many smaller cruise is your cruise sold as (i.e. when new passengers embark/disembark).

 

For example, if you are on a 21 day Mediterranean, it may be possible to buy it as three 7 day cruises (legs) - so you'd be able to dine once each leg.

 

If you are on a cruise of less than 14 days, you won't have multiple legs to worry about.

[Able Seaman H]

Excuse my ignorance, but how do I know how many legs we are cruising? I hope to visit the TK more than once as I am a huge fan. Hoping that we will be able to visit more than once without having to make reservations prior to departure.

 

Just look at the cruise itinerary for your ship.

 

The first cruise for Encore is Dec 4th - 20th, Athens to Dubai.

 

The second cruise is Dec 20th - January 7th, Dubai to Singapore.

 

So someone cruising Dec 4th to Jan 7th I a doing 2 legs.

 

The longer world cruises are made up of several smaller legs.

 

 

Henry :)

[Mr Luxury]

So the assumption is the more legs you have,the faster you can run

[pdx13]

How many smaller cruise is your cruise sold as (i.e. when new passengers embark/disembark).

 

For example, if you are on a 21 day Mediterranean, it may be possible to buy it as three 7 day cruises (legs) - so you'd be able to dine once each leg.

 

If you are on a cruise of less than 14 days, you won't have multiple legs to worry about.

 

Thanks, ours is 21 days, with I think one additional stop for embarkation/disembarkation, but it begins a week prior to us boarding. I figured we were on for two legs, but it wasn't advertised as a b2b like some lines.

[Joc123]

Joc123 can you answer a question for some fellow Adeladians? We have always liked the ability to go to Colonnades and dine outside without booking. Does the new "system" mean that you have to book particular tables? If that's the case it seems a very backward step! We will be on Quest in about 5 weeks, so hoping it's not the case. Look forward to catching up with you and Ron again in our travels.

 

You can decide where to sit when you arrive (inside or out) but there is a limit on the number of bookings they take each night. There was a very grumpy gentleman one night because he was turned away - they were booked out! I do hope this a trial and not set in stone.

We had TK BBQ ribs last night and enjoyed them. The MDR dishes we have not enjoyed. As for the Napa burger, I was not told which ingredient is missing but it still is.

[2SailingNomads]

So the assumption is the more legs you have,the faster you can run

 

Well, the fastest animal is the cheetah so more is better :D

[2SailingNomads]

Slightly off topic but I have something else to complain about. I'm onboard Sojourn and it is now necessary to book the Colonnade EVERY night - not just TK nights. ... The Seabourn we know and love is changing.

 

The problem IMO is that we, and others who we meet, often don't decide where to dine until time to leave the Club / Observation Bar / Sky Bar: we enjoy that flexibility which apparently will no longer be possible. If you know yesterday where you want to dine then it works for you, personally I like the spontaneity of going with the day and who you are hanging with.

[secoma4]

The problem IMO is that we, and others who we meet, often don't decide where to dine until time to leave the Club / Observation Bar / Sky Bar: we enjoy that flexibility which apparently will no longer be possible. If you know yesterday where you want to dine then it works for you, personally I like the spontaneity of going with the day and who you are hanging with.

 

Totally agree. That's what we have enjoyed about the dining options. Come back from a long day ashore and decide at the last minute where to eat according to factors like weather, menus, who you might be dining with etc. Booking in advance is not something we want to do!!

 

Interestingly, we found on numerous occasions that R2 was, supposedly, fully booked, yet when you passed the venue that night it was half full because people who had booked days ahead had changed their minds because something else came up during the day!

[frantic36]

I would be interested to know how far in advance the Colonnade needs to be booked? If I remember correctly on Odyssey it was only the day before. Does anyone remember how long in advance we had to book The Verandah for dinner on the little ships.......my brain cells are failing I think :)?

 

So in some ways you might say Seabourn is just going back to a formula they used on the little ships.

 

The idea of not being able to get into Colonnade some times is not new. I have gone to the Colonnade with friends for dinner and been told there was no space. We were given the option of waiting 15-20 minutes and they would call us. We went and waited in the Observation Bar and they called us before we had finished our drinks. I saw this occur also on Odyssey this last cruise......it was formal night and French menu.....so very popular.......and a family of six were told they would have to wait as there was no space.

 

We also checked on the Colonnade on a TK booking night without a booking, as there was space outside they could fit us in. I hope the still have the ability to be flexible if there is space and you haven't booked.

 

JOC123 do you think the Colonnade is having problems with capacity because the weather hasn't been kind and so only limited outdoor seating can be used there as well?

 

Julie

[Nigella]

On the subject of dining options, one of the reasons we left Silversea for Seabourn was the necessity on SS to make dinner reservations for all dining venues except MDR.

With SB so far, I've very much enjoyed the freedom to make up my mind about where to dine, usually doing so while I'm dressing for dinner.

It will be interesting to see how this one develops.

[lincslady]

I don't mind booking in the morning for that evening, having seen all menus, but to book before the cruise would be a pain, not prepared to do that.

 

We have also noticed queues at the Colonnade latish in the evening, so maybe it is a good idea to be able to prebook, but people would have to expect they might not get in on the spur of the moment.

[stamfordian]

Does anyone remember how long in advance we had to book The Verandah for dinner on the little ships.......my brain cells are failing I think :)?

 

So in some ways you might say Seabourn is just going back to a formula they used on the little ships.

 

Julie

 

Julie you are quite correct about needing to book the Verandah on the sisters. You received a schedule with the Herald on your first night aboard which listed the "themes" for the Verandah for each night of the cruise. You could book two nights there and then, and afterwards check with Reception as the cruise progressed and, quite often, secure another night or two, usually either the previous evening before retiring or first thing the next morning.

 

We certainly did the latter several times over the years, checking the following day's menus on return to the suite after turn-down and deciding we'd prefer what was on offer to what was coming up in the MDR.

 

If there was no room in the Verandah that was the trigger to find the Maitre d' at breakfast and put in a special order for dinner that night in MDR. Although it was "supposed" to be 24 hours ahead we were never refused! Usually kept it simple - something like lobster or Dover sole which we knew they always had and which didn't take long to defrost or to prep.

 

That's Seabourn as was - travelling on the O ships we shall have to see how it works now...

[rols]

Slightly off topic but I have something else to complain about. I'm onboard Sojourn and it is now necessary to book the Colonnade EVERY night - not just TK nights. This IMO, limits the choices for dining especially as the weather has been bad and the patio has not been available. Also the "famous" Napa burger is not available. Apparently one ingredient is not available! The Seabourn we know and love is changing.

 

The Colonnade has always been the place we went when we got back a little late from shore, or didn't feel like the full MDR experience. It was always there, you could just show up and enjoy some good food without a lot of fuss. How it's gone from that to a reservations-required venue, like the speciality outlets, I struggle to understand. Seabourn used to be a line on which you could order room service when you were paddling around in the pool, soon we'll have to log on 4 weeks in advance of our cruise and choose what, where and with whom we're going to eat every day for the duration. Sounds more like Crystal :)

 

It feels like in order to roll out the TK experience they usurped the Colonnade one day in two or three, in order to make that work they made it reservation-only those days and then someone thought it would be a good wheeze to do that all the time.

 

Looks like the MDR will get most of our evenings on the upcoming cruise .. jolly good, that's one less choice to make.

[M&PGermany]

Probably one of the most idiotic ideas Seabourn could come up with - to CHARGE for deck space!

 

The whole idea of luxury cruising is NOT having to pay for extras whilst moving around the ship, having the freedom of choice especially when it's about public spaces. Dear Seabourn product management, might I suggest an internship at Hapag Lloyd Cruises?! What's next? Specialty dining with extra fees? A charge for the sauna? What a joke...

[Corony]

I agree. If I want to be burdened with extra fees I can choose many cruise lines or other travel products instead of Seabourn. I stay with them because of how they operate. If there's a fundamental shift in this then I/we can make other choices. It seems to be from their end an extension of their spa services but a poorly packaged one at that.

[softsands]

Probably one of the most idiotic ideas Seabourn could come up with - to CHARGE for deck space!

 

The whole idea of luxury cruising is NOT having to pay for extras whilst moving around the ship, having the freedom of choice especially when it's about public spaces. Dear Seabourn product management, might I suggest an internship at Hapag Lloyd Cruises?! What's next? Specialty dining with extra fees? A charge for the sauna? What a joke...

 

It does make me wonder what these EM's (you can all do the math on that one) are thinking...it only tends to tarnish the brand when you introduce a 'ship within a ship' concept. Hopefully, this attempt will die the death it rightly deserves. Smarten up SB.

[M&PGermany]

Yes, absolutely...

 

 

But still, I am quite amused by the fact that people at Seabourn with a university degree (hopefully) and experience in the industry can come up with an idea like that, knowing that this changes totally how the Seabourn product is seen from the customer`s side.

 

:confused: