texanaust

Did Chef Mike serve you the 'French Toast' appetizer? That was the best part of our off menu TK experience with him on Ovation a few weeks ago.

But not really exclusive if they retail at $20-$25 a bottle.

We are no longer loyal to just Seabourn as the product no longer justifies it. We have had great experiences on MSC Yacht Club, Silversea, Cunard and even have an upcoming Azamara booked. We have also found a land based Seabourn alternative in our favorite spa town in Italy. With Explora, New Crystal and others, there will be plenty of competition for your $$$$ in the next few years. Seabourn is still a good product and we continue to book, but just less.

That is unfortunate. It seems all the good senior people are either leaving or have already left Seabourn.

No they don't. We were on the Iceland RT last week and they only opened when it was relatively warm. I would say at least 50% of the time it was closed. This was on Ovation.

If you don't purchase a premium wine on SB, you don't get the sommelier period. You get the waiter and his knowledge or lack thereof. On SS you do get a 'sommelier.' However that still doesn't make up for the difference in NC fares and I did like OC. I almost feel the steerage cabins on Crystal are subsidizing the suites at the current prices.

Your post pretty much sums it up. The base cabins are not price competitive with SS or SB. I look forward to Crystal filling these staterooms to capacity at the current prices, but I predict this will not happen. Aquamarine and above will probably do fine as there are plenty of loyal Crystal cruisers with plenty of dough.

I suspect your answer is quite subjective considering you have not been on Silversea lately.

We booked the 14 Day RT Iceland which was subsequently sold as two 7 day itineraries. Given what the HD said about corporate policy, you should have the Restaurant open for breakfast everyday with the exception of the turnaround day and your last day (both closed on our trip). Lunch will only be open on sea days (if you have any). One positive is that the room service menu is much improved! And you can always special order...

Breakfast & lunch. The first two nights of this segment were so full in the Restaurant that they were turning away people. No one wanted to eat outside or at the Colonnade which had a very average Chinese menu.

We had dinner with the HD director last night who is new to Seabourn. He said corporate dictates when the MDR is open and on 7 night cruises they order it closed for lunch and dinner. On 14 night cruises it is opened. So if one books a 14 nighter that is subsequently sold as two 7 night cruises...well you are out of luck.

I can assure you it is different on the Spirit. The HD even confirmed that the sushi is made up several hours before. It is exactly the same sushi/sashimi as on the lunch buffet.

Okay, I will just say that Seabourn doesn't care then. Its hygiene protocols are literally non existent just like they were last summer too. You just have to live with it or not cruise. The current departure is supposed to be fully booked 600+, so no isolation cabins available anyway.

SS used to do this and advertised the convenience for a pro-rata fare. However this was during the GFC and they had plenty of staterooms available. We boarded in San Juan three days early for a TA that departed from Barbados.

Lots of Covid onboard Ovation. Stools outside many staterooms, but nobody cares. If you want to cruise, then you just have to live with it.

That's cheating! But correct!!! Seabourn Ovation is in the background. A few horses also knew the answer.

Bonus SS quiz points if you can identify its current port! Hint: Competitors Vessel is in the background. Photo taken today.

Heimaey, Westman Islands today. Weather was greatly improved and Seabourn Ovation managed to squeeze in between the 8 million Puffins. We hiked to the top of the Volcano and the views were impressive...

The first sea day (the day after Gothenberg) was very rough. Many people were seasick, but we were fine. The seas were heavy, but the swell was not too bad. The second sea day was much better and tended towards almost calm later in the day. I'd rate the bad sea day as up there with some of the rougher seas that we have experienced, but without the swell it was tolerable. We are now at Djupivogur which is our first port in Iceland. Low clouds and I think 9 degrees celsius. This town is very small with under 500 inhabitants. We went on a nice hike out of town, but in the center there were thousands of cruisers milling around. Ovation, NCL Star and another ship were in port.

TK at the Colonnade is still on. Friday night will be ribs, so I guess once per week, but the word is still that TK's days might be numbered. As others will attest, this cruise has had some pretty bad weather so far and Earth & Ocean is not a protected venue. Tonight we had an excellent meal at TK. Chef Michael (who is a fixer/floater chef) is now onboard and he reinstated the TK dailies. We had the oyster appetiser which was fantastic. Tomorrow is a port day in Iceland. Breakfast is open, but lunch is closed according to the Herald. I guess that was the compromise for this cruise.

It was not open in Gothenberg. By the way SLSD, we switched to Cristian in the main dining room and he is excellent. His station is now by the windows which is even better.

We are currently on the Ovation Copenhagen-Iceland RT cruise that departed on July 23. Unfortunately the Restaurant is closed for breakfast and lunch other than sea days. I believe SLSD said that they would be open going forward, but after speaking with the F&B manager, this is untrue. Corporate has made the decision to save money and staff, and keep this venue closed. It was also suggested (implied) that TK may be on its way out. The Colonnade has not had any TK nights so far this cruise. 403 staff for almost 600 passengers as per the Captain, something has to give. In the past the staff to passenger ratio was much higher so I imagine opening additional restaurants for breakfast/lunch was easier back then. Apart from that, the staff are excellent, the food okay to very good, and the entertainers also excellent. The current production singers are the best we've seen on Seabourn. Overall a mixed bag so far, but we've been having a great time. Seabourn definitely wins on entertainment (trivia has been fun), but culinary excellence is easily surpassed by Silversea.

Just off the Spirit and the men's dress code was mostly enforced (some were sent back for missing ties or given jackets). It was the ladies wearing flip-flops, leggings and sports-bras that was not...literally anything went!

This cruise has had some real 'characters' such as the Brazilian couple that would finish their workout by swimming in the pool in their underwear. And yes it was underwear because they came out later to the four reserved lounge chairs (two in the shade and two in the sun) in appropriate attire. Then there was the lady who shouted at people chatting to be quiet on the pool deck. That riled up a few passengers who told her she was being stupid and should retire to her stateroom. And this discussion would not be complete without the America woman (La la land) and her two adult children who kept the buses waiting on every tour we were on. This included in Alexandria where we had to wait on the bus for 1.5hours while the police were called (but that is another story...).

I've never been on a ship that had every single lounger taken at 9am. And I have been on everything from 5000 passenger ships down to 200.