texanaust

You can get around the streaming sites with a VPN.

Marine insurance would have to come into consideration for the cruise lines too. At some point it will be cheaper just to re-route around Africa rather than pay the Suez transit fees, the exorbitant insurance premiums and possibly the armed mercenaries that are often onboard.

I suspect that whatever happens, this space will not be turned back over to the 'masses.' Seabourn is determined to make money out of this area, so more deck space is simply not in the equation. If I was a bean counter (and I didn't care about lessening the product), there are plenty of other things I could do too. The specialty TK/Solis could be chargeable. Double sunbeds around the pool-chargeable. Caviar-chargeable. They could have a Seabourn 'CLUB' pass that they sell before the cruise. Maybe $250 a couple. It could get you early/late priority embarkation/disembarkation, add back the caviar, early access to your suite and lunch in the Restaurant...😁

I think of the Retreat like classes on an airplane. Some people will simply pay to be in the better 'class' regardless of whether or not the value proposition is there. The value proposition on an airplane is simple though. You get a flat bed seat versus 10 across in economy and much better food/drink. So for airlines, I totally see the value proposition. Onboard Seabourn, the value of the Retreat is less obvious. My feeling is that it gets full simply because it is perceived as a better 'class' and plenty of people have the money to blow on it. Good for them, but that is not what Seabourn was about.

Premium Champagne???? Wow they cannot even bother to list a brand! And those wines are not nearly as nice as the ones Covepointcruiser posted.

Well enjoy your Cunard cruise in QG where the restaurant will be open of breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. But then you and I can also enjoy that sort of choice on Silversea and Regent and Crystal and Oceania. And when you try any of these restaurants at lunch, you can enjoy a proper lunch, not two choices of mains plated from the bain maries at the Colonnade.

Which is great except 90+% of all Seabourn cruises have mostly port days where you get neither open.

So have they got rid of all of the other dishes normally on the menu or do they have more menu swaps (like multiple per week) now? What if you want one of the old dishes-can you special order them? This seems like a big downgrade. My fear is that SS will do the same to Atlantide.

Agreed, sounds like the hostess didn't know what she was talking about.

Thank you for your review. Although you gave the cruise 4.3/5, your review reads more like 2.5-3 out of 5. In fact it sounds like you were quite disappointed overall. Would you say the food is significantly worse than the current quality on Seabourn? How is the quality (fixtures/fittings) of the Nova compared to your recent cruise on Ovation? I was on Ovation earlier in the year and although the product is still nice, I felt Seabourn was not what it used to be.

Personally I didn't think the food at La Dame was any better than Atlantide. It seems SS is using La Dame to mop up all the onboard credit they/agents give out. I prefer to spend our OBC at the shops.

Can you request the usual Bvlgari toiletries from your butler if you don't want the Otivm? Also does anyone know if the sauna and steam rooms are still complimentary? Thanks.

Is Seabourn really innovating?? TK to Solis is a sideways change and likely a downgrade for many of us. They still don't open the restaurant for breakfast or lunch and when they do the choices are minimal/same as Colonnade buffet. Bringing back the soaps and block parties won't do it for us;) How about a dedicated commitment to the Restaurant's food quality and service? This has fallen so far compared to the little sisters. Also we like tableside prep a la TK and previously available in the Restaurant on the smaller ships. I suspect this too will be gone with the transition to Solis.

And yet we were on the Muse in early September and the dining was far superior to our Ovation cruise just a month before. So much so that we cancelled a 25 night Seabourn and replaced it with a similar itinerary on Silversea.

Internet speed was excellent on the Muse from Vancouver to Tokyo. Video Skype worked fine for almost the entire voyage. Only one afternoon were there issues.

Bingo every sea day on Silversea if you are interested.

Yes, definitely gluten free scones are available for afternoon tea. Sandwiches also.

Alternatively coming right at 6pm with a friendly attitude to the host, have a drink at the bar and see what happens. Works most of the time for us.

And if (good manners and a smile) doesn't then I'd be sailing with a different company.

An upscale French restaurant is my vote. If the Asian is anything like Silversea's Indochine, I'd hate it.

Unable to make TK reservations for Encore next April. The HD on Ovation said TK's days are numbered so maybe it is finishing sooner than we expected.

Venture and Pursuit serve breakfast and lunch in the dining room???!!! Wow, what a novel luxury concept. I need to book...oh wait a minute they are over double per-diem than the classic ships:( Maybe someday in the future this revolutionary concept will flow through to the non-expedition ships-one can hope. Meanwhile Silversea gets more of our business.

On the Ovation recently, the show had been rejigged so that Sir Tim was not droning on about himself for half the performance. It was better, but I'm over it too.

Depends on the passenger load. They try to do just one unless the ship is absolutely full-they don't like to wear out the performers due to their 'huge' workload. If one, the show is normally around 9:45pm. If two, then 9:15pm and 10:00pm, but it can vary.

Actually it wasn't french toast. French toast is what I had for breakfast this morning...It was a grilled cheese made with Parker House rolls, truffles, caviar and bernaise.