Review of Seabourn Venture

[notjaded]

OP, many thanks for your review. Still considering this ship....

[DTtravelers]

Hi Timbuktu 123: This is one of the best reviews I've read.  I agree with almost everything you said, and thought of a few additional comments.  We just completed the 25 day trip on Venture including Iceland and Greenland and loved it. 

 

Venture and Pursuit almost never "anchor".  I only mention this because those in the front will likely never hear anchor noise on this ship.  They have a dynamic positioning system which uses the azipods and thrusters and GPS to keep the ship where they want it.   The thrusters do make some noise, however.

 

Next, there was a small group of us (6) who ate almost every meal on the Patio (aft of Colonnade).  This space is really well designed as it has much better wind protection than Odyssey or Ovation class ships, and heaters all over.  It was generally very comfortable even under sail.  We just could not bring ourselves to eat in the restaurant or inside when there were whales, incredible icebergs, waterfalls, alpine peaks, sunsets, or the unique multi-colored mountains of Northeast Greenland National Park that were absolutely mind-boggling.  Apparently, we all developed a reputation... 

 

 Finally, I have stared at the orange jackets over and over and over and I just cannot see them as yellow no matter how hard I try.  🙂

 

Thanks again for the excellent review.  We have now been on all three classes of Seabourn ships and would sail on any of them again, depending on where they are headed. 

[Timbuktu123]

Thanks for the compliment. I agree that Venture and Pursuit can use their DPS to automatically stay put instead of using the anchor, but that is really decided by the captain. We definitely used the DPS while in Antartica and South Georgia. However once we got back to Africa and Europe, the anchor was used most of the time. I think its always a cost issue since I am guessing the DPS requires more fuel to reposition than simply being a anchor. The point of DPS is primarily to protect the sea floor (i.e. coral and other life). I would imagine more populated areas are already too far gone to matter. Again, be mindful of where these ships are sailing to really understand what's likely to happen. We ended up in a cabin right at the bow and we could definitely hear the anchor noise. It wasn't a big deal for us, but it might be for someone else.  BTW a downside to the DPS system ther is some ship "shuddering" when the thrusters are used. We felt it anywhere on the ship, so there's always a tradeoff. 

 

Not to burst anybody's environmental bubble but one way of looking at trying to be "Green" onboard any ship is to realize that in some respects, the ship running its generators on its fuel to power everything is essentially a set point of polution, so leaving the lights on in your cabin or indulging in some other activity that needs power on the ship is actually OK. The generators are producing power and buring fuel 24/7 anyway so you use the power or lose it - NOT save it. Of course when the ship moves, the speed at which the ship sails has more of a direct impact on the fuel consumption.

[mraven]

When on Odyssey in June in the Alaskan fjords, I was told they don't drop anchor is because it's too far down for the anchor to reach the bottom.