What is the current drinking water situation on the ships--especially Ovation

[Tallante]

1 hour ago, cruisr said:

What reason was given for stopping?  So I guess this means my stewardess will not be drawing me a bubble bath which is a one time indulgence for me.

Me too and bear in mind you might have a steward not a stewardess.

[nancygp]

24 minutes ago, Tallante said:

Me too and bear in mind you might have a steward not a stewardess.

I noticed  that  in the last 6 months.

 

Nancy

[cruiseej]

11 hours ago, cruiseej said:

Aboard the Sojourn now, we also got bottled water in our room. They're large (750 ml) glass bottles, so not really suitable for carrying ashore. One brand was Mountain Falls and I forget the other brand

 

And this evening's replacement bottles are Aqua Panna, for the first time this cruise. I suppose if you have a favorite, and they have it on board, your cabin attendant can get it for you. And if you don't care which brand you get, you may get several, as we have. 😀

[2SailingNomads]

10 hours ago, SLSD said:

How would you compare Seabourn to Scenic?

Interesting question: Scenic Eclipse I and soon to be II are small 228 pax expedition ships (and in Antarctica they try to pull into the ice so pax can walk down the gangway and be on the ice, in fact ICE is what the captain lives for).  Being so small it can do what Seabourn claims and go into very small ports, narrow channels, etc.   Have been on Eclipse I twice and will be on II in the Fall, but unless there is a must do itinerary that will probably be the last time.  (Ross sea and NW passage being 2 possibilities although Ponant has a much more interesting Ross sea itinerary).  The ship while strikingly designed is really not a good ship for warm weather cruises, as was driven home on our Sea of Cortez cruise last month as the outside space is very limited and not really geared toward being outside in the warm weather.   The ship has 2 helicopters and a submarine.  While I am not a fan of having those on an expedition ship I will admit the helicopter trip we did over the fjords in Norway was amazing.

 

There is a lot to like about the ship and the product in general, but there are multiple design flaws: single very shallow sink in bathroom except in the high end suites; a cool in-wall TV that can not be viewed when there is day light coming in; small closet spaces; no forward facing bar (e.g., Obs Bar); the outside bar does not have seats.   On the other hand, they have severely oversized stabilizers for the size of the ship, the Captain showed a comparison, what is on the Eclipse is what you would find normally on a 3000 passenger ship, so you do get a smooth sail in rough waters.  They have an open bridge policy and the Captain we sailed with both times was very welcoming.

 

We thought the food was very good, and there are multiple dining options. There is no main dining room, rather an Italian themed restaurant (with other choices like fish and steaks) open at night that is the largest; a sushi bar that seats 10 or 12; an Asian fusion restaurant; a “Night Market” with 2 seating’s per night of 8 people – with a menu that changes every 3 days and has a series of 8 courses; a French restaurant; a buffet that is only open for breakfast (and a menu you can order off of for breakfast in addition to the buffet) and lunch; and a bistro-style place that is open for breakfast,  all day snacks and coffee like the Square, along with a limited lunch and dinner menu.    There is also a chef's table that is by invite only and of course room service.

 

Included spirits are comparable with Seabourn, but the complimentary wines on Scenic are far superior.  Seabourn's revenue list is superior but we really never felt the need to order revenue wine on Scenic unlike on Seabourn which we do most nights.  And they have an incredible scotch collection of which almost all are included.  One issue is that for some reason they do not have every complimentary wine available in every venue, especially in the buffet and bistro area, almost every day the waiter would have to go to another floor to get whatever wine I asked for at lunch but they did it cheerfully. 

 

TP and towels are an area that need improvement,  The towels while in good shape are not fluffy, soap / shampoo / condition are in big dispenser bottles in the shower.  They have a Dyson hairdryer and you can actually plug it in and use in the bathroom.  Dry your hair in the bathroom, what a novel concept. 

 

Every suite has a butler but we really did not use them much other than telling them what drinks / spirits we might decide we want when returning from being out, not sure what real value they are.

 

Entertainment is very limited to the CD, assistant CD and a pianist.  But the room used for lectures, performances, etc. has very comfortable recliner chairs.   

 

I think the expedition team on Seabourn are superior, at least they were but have not been on a Seabourn cruise where we had any expedition teams since pre-Covid.  Destination services, similar to Seabourn and Regent seem to never be at the top of their game as far as having details about ports unless you are doing a ship tour.  Several ports do offer included tours.  

 

The biggest asset is the crew, many (on our first cruise in June of 22 we were told over 70%) of the hotel crew are ex-Seabourn.  (A former Seabourn restaurant manager joined Scenic early on and recruited a lot of who he thought were the top people from Seabourn).  We recognized many of them and more than a few that we did not recognize knew us.  The service on Scenic is excellent, wine glasses never are empty, you do not sit on a couch in the main bar area waiting for 10 minutes (like can happen in the Obs bar) for someone to come by.  Within a few minutes of being seater water is on the table and wine / beer offered.  I do not think we met a single crew member for whom it was their first time being on a ship.

 

We will be back on the Ovation this summer and just today were looking at a cruise on the Encore for next year, I certainly hope that the next experiences will be far superior to our last cruise on the Sojourn last November which if our first Seabourn would have been one and done.  The good news is there are now more choices than ever for high end cruises.

 

[SLSD]

Thank you for this very detailed comparison.  Very helpful.  

[texanaust]

11 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

And this evening's replacement bottles are Aqua Panna, for the first time this cruise. I suppose if you have a favorite, and they have it on board, your cabin attendant can get it for you. And if you don't care which brand you get, you may get several, as we have. 😀

 

You have Aqua Panna without special ordering!!!???  Hopefully its not my order for July! 😇