Reserving Sun loungers!

[lincslady]

Thanks, LouChamp.  I have a feeling that there would not be enough loungers on the Seabourn ships generally to go round everyone who wanted to reserve one, quite apart from whether they would be in the sun or shade!  Could actually lead to more of the occasional unpleasantness from the overly entitled ones of this world.

 

We visited Honolulu many years ago, and indulged in the terribly touristy thing of the sunset cruise.  It was drinks inclusive, of course, and I am afraid we got somewhat plastered.  This was long before the much more sophisticated all inclusives of Seabourn and the other small lines, when we learned to be more civilised.  I would have loved to see more of Hawaii.  I believe  your State flag still has the British Union flag in the corner?

[lincslady]

Thanks, LouChamp.  I have a feeling that there would not be enough loungers on the Seabourn ships generally to go round everyone who wanted to reserve one, quite apart from whether they would be in the sun or shade!  Could actually lead to more of the occasional unpleasantness from the overly entitled ones of this world.

 

We visited Honolulu many years ago, and indulged in the terribly touristy thing of the sunset cruise.  It was drinks inclusive, of course, and I am afraid we got somewhat plastered.  This was long before the much more sophisticated all inclusives of Seabourn and the other small lines, when we learned to be more civilised.  I would have loved to see more of Hawaii.  I believe  your State flag still has the British Union flag in the corner?

[fdnycruiser]

 

Isklaar,

 

This particular Dutch couple was also on the Ovation Christmas cruise in 2021-2022, and have been seen on one cruise a few months later, which shows that Seabourn continues to tolerate their behavior. This includes demanding the large revenue wine glasses in the MDR when they drink house wine, a certain table there (woe to anyone deigning to be seated there any earlier), and hogging the pool for themselves at their precise morning and evening times swims. Fortunately, they have no friends and so do not socialize in the Obs Bar or Club so their glowering and smirking is limited to their peculiar activities. Maybe they think that after sailing many days they are entitled to some one superior status?
 

 

We were on that Ovation cruise, and fortunately never ran into this couple. However, I do remember seeing them in the pool in the evening. I wound up with Covid on that cruise, along with many others. I wonder how they fared ?

[Vineyard View]

Interesting thread. We had similar ‘chair hogs’ on our last Viking cruise not truly was unbelievable. First hint in the morning throw towels, books, whatever they’re and leave them vacant for hours. Announcements were made after complaints, but I honestly didn’t see much change to the problem. It was frustrating   - complete selfishness and self importance. I guess there are no boundaries for rudeness. 
We are taking our first SB cruise end of May RT out of Venice. We only have one sea day. I would love to spend a couple hours at the pool. Guessing now that I will be one of many. Any suggestions/recommendations without becoming ‘one of those’?
 We will be on the Quest, so even smaller area. 

[Isklaar]

8 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

I
 We will be on the Quest, so even smaller area. 

 

Not necessarily!

I am certain someone will 'jump' on me to disagree,  but in my experience it is more challenging to find available space and sun chairs on the big ships' pool decks, as relatively less space there per guest. Just my opinion based on one cruise on Ovation, compared to hundreds of nights, vast majority warm weather cruises, on the O class (smaller ships). 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Isklaar

[dalliowner]

I agree Isklaar, the extra 100 passengers mean less space around the pool

[Mauzac]

Totally agree, we've been small ships all the way due to itineraries, and the only cruise on one of the larger ships, it seemed more crowded to me.   And it was 2022 so passenger numbers were low!  I did say to my husband, I am not sure I would like to be on this ship if it were full.  Maybe we'll find out as we're on it again in August, but it is a colder weather cruise so no sunbed problems!  

[markham]

There are many compromises on the Encore/Ovation ships vs the Ody class. Without question: these ships have 150 more passengers in what is basically the same size ship but with an extra deck squeezed in. And no, the ship is not taller. 
 

The cons include the pool area incl the pool as mentioned above, the smaller Club, the tighter claustrophobic 5 Deck walking area, the Retreat which hogs even more deck space, and too small by at least 75-100 MDR and Grand Salon. The only things better are the Sushi restaurant (only there) and the larger Tk Grill and Square.

 

You have to love Seabourn to buy this product, warts and all.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[Mauzac]

I do like the TK Grill Bar though... that's a treat.  I hope they still have a musician/pianist there.  

[Vineyard View]

Well this is encouraging to read from the four of you!  Thank you. 
 

I did not realize that the ‘larger’ ships are almost the same footprint. I am happy to hear that our first choice on Seabourn looks to be a great one - for multiple reasons. We are pretty excited to finally be sailing since Covid!  In addition to the one sea day, there may be a short port day that we could also relax there. We tend to explore in ports for a large part of the day, but there is one I haven’t found a lot to be excited about….so we will go with the flow. 

[sfvoyage]

The comparison (and debate) of the O-class vs. the bigger E-class ships has been discussed ad infinitum on this board over the years (just do a search).  There seems to be just as many on both camps.  I for one prefer the two bigger ships for their extra space and better artwork and, most importantly, the bigger and nicer TK Grill and TK Bar, the Sushi, all at the same level of service standards and intimacy.  You will have to decide for yourself.

[Vineyard View]

This will be the smallest ship we have sailed on. DH and I were talking about this recently. We’ve enjoyed the 900-1200 pax category - never again the large ships. 
I guess the only way to know which we like with Seabourn will be to try both! But, we will always choose by itinerary. 
With  respect to this thread, unless the pool area is much more spacious, it would make sense that the O-class would be less crowded due to fewer people? 

[imcpa]

The gym on the Ovation is much better than on the Sojourn based on my 2 cruises!

[SLSD]

4 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

Well this is encouraging to read from the four of you!  Thank you. 
 

I did not realize that the ‘larger’ ships are almost the same footprint. I am happy to hear that our first choice on Seabourn looks to be a great one - for multiple reasons. We are pretty excited to finally be sailing since Covid!  In addition to the one sea day, there may be a short port day that we could also relax there. We tend to explore in ports for a large part of the day, but there is one I haven’t found a lot to be excited about….so we will go with the flow. 

We prefer Ovation and Encore to the older ships.  We are NOT pool loungers,  so the issue of the pool area being the same size is not an issue for us.  We also enjoy the TK Grill Bar and the generally updated look of the ships.  We've sailed on full ships and they did not seem crowded to us.  

[suewheldon]

13 hours ago, markham said:

There are many compromises on the Encore/Ovation ships vs the Ody class. Without question: these ships have 150 more passengers in what is basically the same size ship but with an extra deck squeezed in. And no, the ship is not taller. 
 

The cons include the pool area incl the pool as mentioned above, the smaller Club, the tighter claustrophobic 5 Deck walking area, the Retreat which hogs even more deck space, and too small by at least 75-100 MDR and Grand Salon. The only things better are the Sushi restaurant (only there) and the larger Tk Grill and Square.

 

You have to love Seabourn to buy this product, warts and all.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Note that Odyssey is 32,000 tonnes and Ovation is 40,300 tonnes per Seabourn website. 

[Mr Luxury]

7 hours ago, sfvoyage said:

The comparison (and debate) of the O-class vs. the bigger E-class ships has been discussed ad infinitum on this board over the years (just do a search).  There seems to be just as many on both camps.  I for one prefer the two bigger ships for their extra space and better artwork and, most importantly, the bigger and nicer TK Grill and TK Bar, the Sushi, all at the same level of service standards and intimacy.  You will have to decide for yourself.

Yes,I'm with you on this.

[Mr Luxury]

2 hours ago, suewheldon said:

Note that Odyssey is 32,000 tonnes and Ovation is 40,300 tonnes per Seabourn website. 

One extra deck and it is a slightly wider.

[markham]

So where is that extra 7000 tonnes? Within virtually the overall space footprint we know there is a new passenger cabin deck for 150 slotted in, the MDR and Grand Salon are the same size while the outside deck space and Club are actually smaller, and that the relatively larger TKG, Colonnade and new Sushi cannot accommodate 150 more passengers. Maybe the trick to achieve the same level of generous space the Encore/Ovation are never allowed to reach capacity? That would do it.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[Mr Luxury]

4 hours ago, markham said:

So where is that extra 7000 tonnes? Within virtually the overall space footprint we know there is a new passenger cabin deck for 150 slotted in, the MDR and Grand Salon are the same size while the outside deck space and Club are actually smaller, and that the relatively larger TKG, Colonnade and new Sushi cannot accommodate 150 more passengers. Maybe the trick to achieve the same level of generous space the Encore/Ovation are never allowed to reach capacity? That would do it.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

I think the last three times on Encore for me were not sailing at capacity.

I like the smaller ships for outside deck space but prefer the larger ships for TK Grill and Bar and gym.

[markham]

Mr L,

 

So do I. So if we are gonna sail on Encore and enjoy Sushi and the TK Grill we must go on a very port intensive cruise where the distances are close. A great example would be Turkey and Greece where we do lots of walking and maybe take in a beach and have lunches ashore. Another bonus would be if our favorite HD Peppi were on board.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Edited February 13, 2023 by markham

[Mr Luxury]

15 minutes ago, markham said:

Mr L,

 

So do I. So if we are gonna sail on Encore and enjoy Sushi and the TK Grill we must go on a very port intensive cruise where the distances are close. A great example would be Turkey and Greece where we do lots of walking and maybe take in a beach and have lunches ashore. Another bonus would be if our favorite HD Peppi were on board.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Yes indeed port intensive and I will only go if there are one or two ports that I like and know that I'll get a good lunch.

I never get off if there's a port that I don't like.

There is something rather nice watching others get off to leave you on the ship feeling a bit smug knowing that it's a rubbish port

[Vineyard View]

We have a port stop on our itinerary that I honestly haven’t figured out the reason for. Sarande, Albania. Would that qualify, as a first time stop, in your category of a “rubbish” port?  My first couple passes on research might say yes? I ask this because staying on a beautiful almost empty ship at the port of least interest is always a pretty nice way to s-end the day. Sarande is one of two for me. 

[Mr Luxury]

4 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

We have a port stop on our itinerary that I honestly haven’t figured out the reason for. Sarande, Albania. Would that qualify, as a first time stop, in your category of a “rubbish” port?  My first couple passes on research might say yes? I ask this because staying on a beautiful almost empty ship at the port of least interest is always a pretty nice way to s-end the day. Sarande is one of two for me. 

Not been there.

Get off and report back 😁

[MJN1]

6 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

We have a port stop on our itinerary that I honestly haven’t figured out the reason for. Sarande, Albania. Would that qualify, as a first time stop, in your category of a “rubbish” port?  My first couple passes on research might say yes? I ask this because staying on a beautiful almost empty ship at the port of least interest is always a pretty nice way to s-end the day. Sarande is one of two for me. 

We have been there last June. We did a short walk through the town. Frankly not much to see (remnants of some old mosaic) and did not take any of the excursions offered. Unless you are interested in one of those I would call it a port day. The town beach was a 5min walk from the berth, if you fancy a swim.

[Vineyard View]

Thank you. There is one excursion to a UNESCO town that I have read may be a bit interesting….1 1/2 hours each way. That would be the only consideration. But having a day on a half or more empty ship is always a great day! If I take a walk around I will lyk Mr L!