Our Final Word on EJ

[jeffyd]

@gymfreak - I’m not sure what the count will be for your journey but I’ll ask next week and let you know.
 

I also wanted to mention that the free wifi on this ship is the best I’ve ever experienced. We actually streamed an NFL football game the other night on our iPad without any slowdowns or glitches. 
 

Also the chaise lounge chair on the balcony is an added treat and so comfortable. 

[gymfreak]

4 hours ago, jeffyd said:

 - I’m not sure what the count will be for your journey but I’ll ask next week and let you know

Thank you that’s very kind.

Great that the Wifi is “ up to speed “ as it’s often an issue on other ships.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise 

[jeffyd]

Thanks. We will!

[jeffyd]

@gymfreak - I asked and was told the following about the passenger counts:

 

1. Our current journey only has 314 passengers! That’s one of the reasons the service is so responsive!

 

2. The next journey starting in Barbados will have 580 passengers. 
 

3. The following journey will have 750 passengers which I was told was the highest passenger count they’ve had so far.
 

I also want to mention another example of their onboard adjusting to passenger feedback. Myself and others filled out our surveys last journey and asked that they look into showing the NFL football games. This weekend they are showing all the playoff games on the big screen in the Astern lounge. 
 

All the games have been well attended and I know I, as a big NFL football fan, really appreciate the timely response to passenger feedback. 
 

They really are trying to continuously improve their product (which I feel is already excellent!). 

[gymfreak]

3 minutes ago, jeffyd said:

The next journey starting in Barbados will have 580 passengers. 
 

3. The following journey will have 750 passengers which I was told was the highest passenger count they’ve had so far.

Thank you.

We embark on the 19th and remain onboard for three weeks . Hopefully we shall have learned when and where to go onboard before the very busy period.

It does sound like the ship is responsive to and acting on passengers feedback which is very positive.

Enjoy your NFL games, although new are from the U.K. our eldest son is a fan and watches many games on TV here.

[jeffyd]

You’re welcome. Have fun on your journey!

[zackarykeef]

We're thinking of booking an EJ cruise for next year. We mostly have cruised on NCL and X, but we are looking to try our first smaller/luxury line after having sailed twice in MSC YC. Although we are young (early 30s), we do not need entertainment, parties, etc. We enjoy aesthetics, good food/drinks, and are looking for an overall more upscale/relaxed crowd, as some of the mainstream lines are becoming a little too rowdy for us.

 

The only thing is...there are so many to choose from! For those of you who sail these lines, what would you recommend? Viking Ocean? Oceania? Regent? EJ? I don't even know where to start. We cruised once on Princess and absolutely hated it. We tend to like newer and more modern ships (MSC Sea- class, X E-class, NCL Prima class). Any suggestions are welcome!

[thebigcruiseguy]

50 minutes ago, zackarykeef said:

We're thinking of booking an EJ cruise for next year. We mostly have cruised on NCL and X, but we are looking to try our first smaller/luxury line after having sailed twice in MSC YC. Although we are young (early 30s), we do not need entertainment, parties, etc. We enjoy aesthetics, good food/drinks, and are looking for an overall more upscale/relaxed crowd, as some of the mainstream lines are becoming a little too rowdy for us.

 

The only thing is...there are so many to choose from! For those of you who sail these lines, what would you recommend? Viking Ocean? Oceania? Regent? EJ? I don't even know where to start. We cruised once on Princess and absolutely hated it. We tend to like newer and more modern ships (MSC Sea- class, X E-class, NCL Prima class). Any suggestions are welcome!

We too are younger cruisers and while we haven’t yet sailed EJ- we are booked for next month. We have sailed with X, SS and Seabourn. Our experience was that SS while upscale and nice, was not for us- the physical spaces were well designed however the ship had very little energy / vibe, and the food was some of the worst we’ve ever had. Seabourn was a lovely experience, service was great, food was mostly good and the experience while not ever rowdy was fun filled, casual but elegant and service was fantastic. 
We think we’re going to love EJ!

Edited January 15 by thebigcruiseguy

[maggie.1008]

We have cruised most of the premium and luxury lines. In my experience Seabourn has the friendliest passengers. Of course things change and things could be different. 

[Wheelhouse]

1 hour ago, zackarykeef said:

We're thinking of booking an EJ cruise for next year. We mostly have cruised on NCL and X, but we are looking to try our first smaller/luxury line after having sailed twice in MSC YC. Although we are young (early 30s), we do not need entertainment, parties, etc. We enjoy aesthetics, good food/drinks, and are looking for an overall more upscale/relaxed crowd, as some of the mainstream lines are becoming a little too rowdy for us.

 

The only thing is...there are so many to choose from! For those of you who sail these lines, what would you recommend? Viking Ocean? Oceania? Regent? EJ? I don't even know where to start. We cruised once on Princess and absolutely hated it. We tend to like newer and more modern ships (MSC Sea- class, X E-class, NCL Prima class). Any suggestions are welcome!

On a recent Oceania Vista cruise I do not recall seeing a single passenger under age 50.   We board EJ two weeks from today and expect that it will be much more age varied. 

[jeffyd]

You will all love EJ. We are just finishing up a 14 day journey with them and we’ve cruised all of the luxury lines and are leaning toward EJ as the best. We are in our mid 60’s but enjoy the vibe on EJ. Food is amazing and service is the best of all of them. There is a large mix of mid 30’s to mid 40’s ages onboard so it’s a nice range of people. We also feel Seabourn has a really good vibe and food and service there was also excellent. Regent is up there near the top for us as well. We felt the service on Oceania was a bit too impersonal for us and we didn’t feel the food was as good as the others. Silversea was a bit too boring for us but the food was good and we really loved the Jazz restaurant/club called the Silver Note. That was our favorite. You probably can’t go wrong with any of them but right now we’d probably rank them EJ, Seabourn and Regent. Happy Sailing!

 

Jeff

[frankhi]

Would you be able to rank them on entry level (balcony) cabins? I know EJ and SS are ~300sqft interior + 70sqft balcony. Thanks

[Waltershipman]

19 minutes ago, frankhi said:

Would you be able to rank them on entry level (balcony) cabins? I know EJ and SS are ~300sqft interior + 70sqft balcony. Thanks

Had an OT 1 on EJ and was very satisfied in every way

[Waltershipman]

1 hour ago, jeffyd said:

You will all love EJ. We are just finishing up a 14 day journey with them and we’ve cruised all of the luxury lines and are leaning toward EJ as the best. We are in our mid 60’s but enjoy the vibe on EJ. Food is amazing and service is the best of all of them. There is a large mix of mid 30’s to mid 40’s ages onboard so it’s a nice range of people. We also feel Seabourn has a really good vibe and food and service there was also excellent. Regent is up there near the top for us as well. We felt the service on Oceania was a bit too impersonal for us and we didn’t feel the food was as good as the others. Silversea was a bit too boring for us but the food was good and we really loved the Jazz restaurant/club called the Silver Note. That was our favorite. You probably can’t go wrong with any of them but right now we’d probably rank them EJ, Seabourn and Regent. Happy Sailing!

 

Jeff

Loved EJ in so many ways. Food fantastic crew wonderful ship so beautiful . Cabins lovely

 

Will be on Oceania's Vista soon and hope i am pleasantiy surprised by how great it is

 

Happy cruising 

[PaulMCO]

I will take another opinion -- though somewhat the same.

Best food and variety of food - Regent by far

Friendliest staff - Seabourn/Explora

Best shows and Entertainment - Regent (though we enjoyed old Crystal)

Most inconsistent cruise line - Silversea

Best Itineraries for longer cruises -- Seabourn

Best Vibe of the Ship -- Explora by far

 

Best ship for a short Cruise - Explora.

 

Our big issue with EJ has been the food.  Not that it is bad, it is good but for a longer cruise it would be boring.  Menus are fixed and never change.  Even in the Emporium.

 

For someone under 50 looking at a Luxury line for a short 10 day cruise -- this is the demographic that Explora is targeting.

 

1 hour ago, frankhi said:

Would you be able to rank them on entry level (balcony) cabins? I know EJ and SS are ~300sqft interior + 70sqft balcony. Thanks

 

They are comparable. Toured an OT1 with the TA's on this cruise.   I have yet to go on Nova or Ray, but they have a similar space and utility.  The SS bathroom is bigger.  The Veranda on Explora is nicer with the day bed.

Edited January 17 by PaulMCO

[frankhi]

I've been on Nova and going on EJ next week. I was wondering how the cabins compare to Seabourn, Regent and Oceania mentioned in #61. 

[Waltershipman]

4 minutes ago, frankhi said:

I've been on Nova and going on EJ next week. I was wondering how the cabins compare to Seabourn, Regent and Oceania mentioned in #61. 

Loved cabin in Seabourn and really loved EJ as very roomy. We found out from our cabin steward that we were the 1st people to occupy our suite. 

[jeffyd]

Like someone said, each cruise line’s 

website can give you the exact dimensions of every cabin for every ship. These are just my impressions and what I can remember since they all seem to run together! And these were all entry level cabins. 
 

EJ 1 - comfortable room, huge shower, heated bathroom tile floor, thickest bath towels we’ve seen, no curtain to make seating area separate, decent sized balcony with chaise lounge along with two chairs and table. 
 

Regent Explorer - comfortable room, good sized bathroom, curtain to make separate living area from bedroom, regular sized balcony

 

Seabourn Ovation - comfortable room, very nice bathroom with two sinks, curtain to make separate living area from bedroom, regular sized balcony. 
 

Oceania Nautica - smallest shower we’ve ever experienced, would never sail this ship again but would try other larger Oceania ships 

 

PS: a little off topic but if you ever want to do an expedition cruise and still want luxury but not pay the Seabourn/Silversea prices, try Atlas Ocean Voyages. We did the Arctic with them last August and are doing Antarctica next month and can’t say enough good things about them. 

[Waltershipman]

14 minutes ago, jeffyd said:

Like someone said, each cruise line’s 

website can give you the exact dimensions of every cabin for every ship. These are just my impressions and what I can remember since they all seem to run together! And these were all entry level cabins. 
 

EJ 1 - comfortable room, huge shower, heated bathroom tile floor, thickest bath towels we’ve seen, no curtain to make seating area separate, decent sized balcony with chaise lounge along with two chairs and table. 
 

Regent Explorer - comfortable room, good sized bathroom, curtain to make separate living area from bedroom, regular sized balcony

 

Seabourn Ovation - comfortable room, very nice bathroom with two sinks, curtain to make separate living area from bedroom, regular sized balcony. 
 

Oceania Nautica - smallest shower we’ve ever experienced, would never sail this ship again but would try other larger Oceania ships 

 

PS: a little off topic but if you ever want to do an expedition cruise and still want luxury but not pay the Seabourn/Silversea prices, try Atlas Ocean Voyages. We did the Arctic with them last August and are doing Antarctica next month and can’t say enough good things about them. 

Thank you  I have seen Atlas adds and the lines looks like its worth further study

[jeffyd]

I also forgot to add my impression of the Silversea Silver Dawn suite. 
 

I would say it was the same as I described above for the Regent Explorer. Very nice suite. 
 

Also, I believe all the cruise lines I mentioned above had walk in closets. 

[BOWTIECLUB]

Really appreciate all the comments, they are super helpful since I am considering booking for Feb 24th.  Did anyone else run into problems with their marketing on the US website?  They say that all entry level suites get a 400 euro on board credit but when I went to book they said it is no longer part of the promotion, however, 2 days later it is still on the website/

[as3369]

Quick question?  Are there binoculars in the suites?  Planning our packing for our trip in 2 weeks.  Thanks!

[Bongomeme]

There is a pair in the cabin , not terribly good ones but ok for a quick look from the veranda.  If you want some to take ashore for birds etc,bring your own. Btw, we were on in September, great trip from Scotland to New York.   We will be onboard with you in 2 weeks. Excited to try the ship in hot weather!

[as3369]

16 hours ago, Bongomeme said:

There is a pair in the cabin , not terribly good ones but ok for a quick look from the veranda.  If you want some to take ashore for birds etc,bring your own. Btw, we were on in September, great trip from Scotland to New York.   We will be onboard with you in 2 weeks. Excited to try the ship in hot weather!

Thank you.  It will definitely be time to dig out from under this winter freeze!  Bon Voyage

[PrivateIdaho]

On 1/17/2024 at 11:25 AM, jeffyd said:

PS: a little off topic but if you ever want to do an expedition cruise and still want luxury but not pay the Seabourn/Silversea prices, try Atlas Ocean Voyages. We did the Arctic with them last August and are doing Antarctica next month and can’t say enough good things about them. 

Agree, after EJ, Atlas is our second favorite. EJ food is still a clear cut winner.