Europa 2 -v- Seabourn Odyssey

[raphael360]

On 10/24/2018 at 1:30 PM, Tom504 said:

The strange part part is that they placed pipe smokers into the category of cigar smokers. As an occasional pipe smoker, I’ve never had anyone say anything negative about being near me while I am puffing away.

 

 

Hi Tom,

As a non-smoker, I dislike cigar smoke and hate to be in cigarette smoke.  Pipe smoke, however, instantly causes my airway to constrict and I immediately get a headache and sore throat. This reaction to pipe smoke is so sever that I had to quit a very good job with GE back in the 70's because my boss smoked his pipe in the office everyday.  Most pipe smokers think their pipe smoke is enjoyable to others but it's not.  With that said, vap has become the new cigarette smoke in Florida.  We just past a state wide constitutional amendment to limit vap smoking in public places.

[Ovener]

Sorry not to reply sooner, I’ve been off CruiseCritic for a while. Tom, yes, cigars and pipes do seem to be lumped together as I think non-smokers find the smell far more intense from both. Sadly I have had to give up! You can always get a drink from Seabourn Square and take it outside on deck with a smoke. On  Europa 2 it’s only cigarettes (well, strictly)allowed on balconies...pipes ok outside in Sansibar and inside the smoking lounge, Collins. 

 

Raphael, Europa 2 is just over 500 passengers and Odyssey 450-ish from what I can remember, so comparable in size, though Europa 2 has quite a bit more space per passenger head.  Crystal Esprit looks great...we moored next to it on Odyssey last year in Kotor...but it looked to have very few veranda suites. Can quite understand your views on pipes...no one else has ever found my pipe smoking enjoyable so I have always been banished to an area outside far from the maddening crowd. 

[Floridiana]

That was a really informative thread. DH and I have cruised on Europa2 and can confirm the good things Ovener has to say about the elegance of the ship, the outstanding food, the wonderful pool area, the sleek cabin with the best bathroom arrangement I have ever seen on a lower category cabin, and the mostly great service. We eat early and most Germans eat later, so we had no issues there with slow service. By the time most others showed up, we were almost finished. We will not book this ship again for various other reasons, but we are booked on their new  expedition ships.

 

I came to the Seaborun forum because we are looking at a cruise on the Ovation. At first I fell into the awful dress code thread and still don't know what it is. I guess I have to look it up myself on Seabourn's website.

 

 

[Camillus112]

6 minutes ago, Floridiana said:

That was a really informative thread. DH and I have cruised on Europa2 and can confirm the good things Ovener has to say about the elegance of the ship, the outstanding food, the wonderful pool area, the sleek cabin with the best bathroom arrangement I have ever seen on a lower category cabin, and the mostly great service. We eat early and most Germans eat later, so we had no issues there with slow service. By the time most others showed up, we were almost finished. We will not book this ship again for various other reasons, but we are booked on their new  expedition ships.

 

I came to the Seaborun forum because we are looking at a cruise on the Ovation. At first I fell into the awful dress code thread and still don't know what it is. I guess I have to look it up myself on Seabourn's website.

 

 

 

We have been interested to try Europa2 for some time now, but I still have some qualms about socializing when I don't speak German, but my DH does.  That would probably mean that I would either be left out of conversations at times, or feel bad about forcing the English language.  Then, I have also read Germans in this ship mostly keep to their groups, and I would certainly miss socializing.  Can you comment on this?  Thanks!

[Floridiana]

DH and I are bilingual in English and German, so we had no language issues. I felt we were more pampered by the crew in the smaller group of English speakers who, by  the way,  had no interest in socializing with us. 

 

Socializing was also limited among German speakers. We made friends with a Swiss couple and occasionally had nice conversations with the people who happened to sit at the 2 top tables next to ours. I think a more outgoing person could easily socialize more.  I wouldn't worry about addressing them in English. Most passengers should be able to speak it well enough for a conversation.

 

Our issue was more with the lack of regular daytime entertainment. When they had it, its was of better quality than on other ships.  We also thought that our itinerary had too many beach days which the sun starved Germans just loved. Rose wine and prosecco flowed at the beach parties in Komodo and on a beautiful private Philippine island. Tables, table cloths, silver, wine glasses, wine (just one type each time), umbrellas were transported with the rubber dinghies, so were the passengers and the hotel staff. All included in the price. Every evening at the entrance of the Yacht Club buffet, we were offered a glass of champagne or orange juice. However, we usually ate at the Weltmeere restaurant after we found a waiter team who understood that we wanted cold mineral water and  plenty of ice immediately.

 

About smoking. We were lucky that nobody next to our balcony smoked. When they did once, I said loud enough for them to hear that it was annoying. They actually stopped. I had no trouble keeping away from the smoking areas elsewhere.

 

The children were invisible unless you spent their family hour in the pool with them. They were very well behaved.

 

We would book this ship for a port intensive cruise where socializing, sea day programs and beaches are unimportant. So far the itineraries of our interest are offered on the smaller expedition ships. 

Edited February 8, 2019 by Floridiana

[Camillus112]

Thanks for your input, Floridiana.

[SLSD]

This is such an interesting report Floridaiana.  Do you have any idea why the guests on this ship were less likely to socialize than those on a Seabourn ship?  

[Floridiana]

Germans in general socialize less with strangers than Americans and Australians. There were maybe 3 native English speakers on the ship who happened to be introverts. Most English speakers were Europeans from the Netherlands who socialized with each other. We are not very outgoing ourselves, but on other ships have made friends with Australians and Americans who were more outgoing and took the initiative. It is what it is. ;-)

 

We'll see what kind of vibe the expedition ship has.  

[SLSD]

Floridiana, I always find these kinds of analyses quite interesting.  We are Americans---and Texans--so we are just naturally very friendly.  We have also found Australians to be very friendly.  I'm making a generalization here--but we have not found Brits to be nearly as friendly.  On one of our SB cruises, we met a couple from Germany who spoke fluent English.  They WERE friendly.  I guess the very fact that they chose to take an English speaking cruise meant that they were not the average German tourists.

[Floridiana]

We got the brochure today. The Hanseatic inspiration is going to ban smoking everywhere starting in October 2020! Thank goodness. Unfortunately our cruise is before that date. 

[OceanPatter]

Love this thread, as I’ve always eyed a Europa 2 cruise, and am practicing my German in earnest. Only drawback is having to compete with the Germans in booking far in advance.

 

For what it’s worth (and if it hasn’t already been mentioned here), the Europa 2 and its sister ship were the only small luxury ships ranked 5+ by Berlitz in its 2019 guide.

Edited February 13, 2019 by OceanPatter

[Pavovsky]

do they charge for water in the restaurants?