MJfromCA

On 1/28/2023 at 10:06 AM, CanAmBrit said:

There was a bridge tour and galley lunch earlier this week on the Quest. Kurt, the HD, says that there will be more galley tours for those who wish it.

CanAmBrit, where do you sign up for the bridge tours?

On 2/3/2023 at 10:38 PM, blueexpedition29 said:

i am on Encore as we speak and there was both a galley tour day ( watch the calendar or ask when you board as it is limited capcity) as well as a buffet lunch that is set up through the galley.  Very nicely done. 

Thanks for this tip, BlueExpedition29. We'll be on Quest in October, and would like to sign up for these. Who would I ask when we board in Montreal -  Seabourn Square or someone/somewhere else?

MJ

Thanks for posting these helpful observations and tips for Seabourn newbies like me, Missabby! Most of them are general enough to use on our Quest cruise next year, even though it will be to Canada/New England rather than Alaska. I plan to use your luggage tip then, as well as several others.

11 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

It depends on your priorities.

On the non-Venture ships, I would not do it because I don't like SB PH suites (the bed area was very claustrophobic and the living room sofa hard like a rock and unusable. I spend most of my time in the suite stretched out on something, so must be on the bed due to the hard sofa, and in a PH I'd be stuck away from the rest of the room ). 

I also like to be on a lower deck, not a higher one , so I am closer to the sea, so it would take a huge price differential or other bonus to get me high.

 

If you easily get very seasick, you don't want to risk a suite that is very far forward and high. 

 

 

Catlover54, we are new to Seabourn and booked a PH because like you, we love to stretch out to read or watch the view. I didn't realize the sofa was so hard. Will the staff bring a pad or other cushioning to make the sofa usable? I hope I didn't make a big mistake.

-- MJ

Thank you, MJN, for the helpful posts and photos! I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise (at least until disembarkation). We'll be on Quest for the first time next year, so it is promising to hear some good words about her return to service.

-- Another MJ

4 hours ago, Emdee said:

We are on Quest next year Dover to Montreal….why don’t you join us? 
 

We are on Quest shortly after you next year, Emdee, Montreal to NYC at the end of September. Do you think John will still be onboard? I don't know how long Seabourn CD contracts last on a given ship, but from the enthusiasm on this thread, I hope he will still be on as CD. Thx.

-- MJ

Good to know, jdk-atlga, thank you! Many people aren't bothered by a little smoke, but I am unfortunately quite sensitive, so it is great to hear from someone the next suite over. Can I ask how you liked your choice of that cabin and that deck?

Thanks for the tip, canuckcruzingirl, and glad to hear SB handled it well! I hadn't thought how this could be an issue anywhere on the ship. Hopefully not on our cruise, but I'll follow your advice if so.

We are really looking forward to trying Seabourn. Little things can always come up during a cruise, which we understand and still have a great time. We're just trying to work around potentially bigger issues for us ahead of time, to maximize our chances of loving the cruise and Seabourn.

-- MJ

Thank you all for your thoughts! Very interesting and helpful.

-- MJ

Being a Seabourn newbie, I'm curious which side (port or starboard), deck, and suite do you prefer to book if you have the choice, on either the Quest/Sojourn/Odyssey class ships or the Encore/Ovation class ships, and why. Thanks!

-- MJ

Thanks, Mcondition. I knew it wouldn't be a problem while sailing, but thought it could while in port. Good to know it is too far away.

-- MJ

We are booking our first Seabourn cruise, on Quest (Montreal to NYC) forward starboard Deck 9 PH cabin (921). Does the cigarette smoke from the starboard SkyBar smoking area waft to those balconies or rooms when the ship is not moving? If we are fairly sensitive to cigarette smoke, would it help to switch to the Deck 9 port side or maybe Deck 10 instead, or should we not worry about this?

Thanks for any help on this from experienced Seabourners!

-- MJ

On 8/2/2019 at 8:38 AM, SLSD said:

Well, that's good news.  I am not a fan of all the little short 7 day segments--but that appears to be what most are (with longer cruises being sold which include the 7 day itineraries. ) 

SLSD, you're right, it turns out that is exactly what they did! Seabourn's recommended alternative leaving the same day from Barcelona as our cancelled 14-day cruise looks like two 7-day cruises of very different types stuck together, each starting in Barcelona. They dropped 4 of the best of our 12 original ports, cut Casablanca down to one day, and substituted in mostly resorts or beach towns and that crossover day needed in Barcelona. The first segment is now basically resorts and beaches. They kept some historically interesting cities in the second segment, but they cut Seville, Granada, Gibraltar, Porto, and the second day in Casablanca. This is absolutely not an equivalent itinerary.

Did the other board you read say that Seabourn is only doing 7-day cruises now, with longer cruises being those segments stitched together? That would be very disappointing, and I believe would hurt them in the long run - the high quality and length of the itinerary for my cancelled cruise gave Seabourn a real competitive advantage in the Mediterranean, imho.

On 7/31/2019 at 4:12 PM, Sunviking said:

We also received notification today that our Ovation cruise in August has been canceled. An alternative cruise was suggested which is nearly the same with a different end port.  When I got in touch with our TA and he got in touch with Seabourn he was told that the new cruise was not "loaded into the system" for booking yet.  We are extraordinarily picky about the cabin we will sail in and I was told I could not be guaranteed of one of those when the cruise is finally "loaded in" to the system.  I personally find it irrational to send an e-mail announcing a cancellation, offering an alternative, and asking for a decision w/i 2 weeks if we want to rebook the alternative then being unprepared (Seabourn) to book it.  I might not be so upset were it not for the fact that the cruise we booked on the Ovation includes our actual 50th wedding anniversary, a major event in my simple mind.

Sunviking, I'm sorry your cruise was affected also, and for your 50th anniversary too! Was this for August 2020? That makes at least 3 Ovation cruises they have cancelled. I wonder if there are others.

Yes, they have handled this very poorly. I don't have any details for my "alternative cruise" either - just a map which shows the ports they substituted, and the same 2 week deadline as you to decide. This is so untenable, not at all what I expected from Seabourn.

4 hours ago, alwaysonaship said:

I used to live in Sevilla. That is a BIG disappointment and do not care for their choice of substitutes 

Exactly! Thanks for confirming.

1 hour ago, Laylam said:

We are booked on the cruise leaving Barcelona on May 9th ending in Amsterdam June 6th, and, after reading your post I logged into My Seabourn, to find our cruise is still there with ports unchanged..................so ???????????

Yes, MySeabourn still shows my original ports and itinerary too. I would call your TA tomorrow - the email came to her.

I called Seabourn directly, who confirmed the cancellation and pointed me to my TA. They also transferred me to Guest Relations, where I got voicemail.

SLSD,

There are no Ovation cruises listed on the Seabourn website now from April 25th to May 23rd 2020, so all I can go by is the map they sent in the letter.

• They dropped Gibraltar, Motril/Granada/Alhambra and Cadiz/Seville in Spain, and Porto in Portugal.
• They substituted St Tropez (in addition to Le Lavandou 45 minutes away), Portovenare and Portofino in Italy, and Palamos and Valencia in Spain.

It is also likely they cut one of the two days in Casablanca to accommodate the extra port, but until I can actually see the new itinerary, that is a guess. So 4-5 of our 12 ports changed, and we had specifically picked this itinerary for these ports in combination with Morocco.

I've had a single port on a cruise change at the last minute due to terrorist incidents or weather, which is understandable, but never this many this far ahead purely by choice of the cruise line with an already-published full ship. What if I had already booked our flights? That is why I am hesitant to try Seabourn again, if this is what is normal for them.

Thanks for any help anyone can give on what (if anything) I can do, and if this happens often.

MJfromCA

Our May 9, 2020 Ovation "Spanish and Moroccan Sunsets" cruise Barcelona to Lisbon just got cancelled. It was almost fully booked already, with a great set of ports! Has anyone else experienced this, i.e. is this normal for Seabourn to cancel a published full cruise nine months out?

Here is what they said: We are writing to inform you, this sailing has been canceled. We have changed our European itineraries to enhance the guests experience and to allow for better allocation of guest capacity for our 2020 season. What does that mean?

This would have been our first cruise with Seabourn, and we moved a Tauck trip we had already booked in that timeframe so we could go on this one because of the ports. They have now created a different Ovation cruise on May 9 between Barcelona and Lisbon, called "Idyllic Iberian and Riveria", omitting several key ports we wanted and substituting others we don't want. So frustrating!

We had hoped Seabourn would be our cruise line for most of our future cruises if we enjoyed this first one (since so many of you rave about Seabourn), but this has definitely colored our feelings about the company. If this is their new normal under Carnival, I'm not sure we want to try them.

A very disappointed MJfromCA

Thank you, Tinybiny, Damiross, and Greyhound3!

MJ

I'm new to Princess and will be going on several ship excursions in a few weeks. If I can go on a bit of a tangent on this thread, I had a few questions about Princess excursion tips and currency:

• In the FAQs, Princess suggests a tip to the tour guide of $1 for a half-day tour and $3.50 for a full day per person. Is that the amount most of you follow, no matter what the cost of the excursion?
  

• Do you tip anything to the driver also?
  

• Do you use US dollars, or the currency of the country you are in?
  

Thanks for any help on this!

-- MJ

How bumpy is the road to the penguins at Volunteer Point in the Falklands? The tour sounds wonderful for penguin viewing, but we'd like to get an idea of how much lurching will be required to get there.

The ship's descriptions of Falklands penguin excursions say the 4x4 portion may cause issues for pregnant women and those with neck or back problems. Sometimes they say that for legal reasons, and unless you've recently had back or neck surgery you'd be fine, but at other times they really mean it.

My DH and I are adventurous, but have had some neck/shoulder muscle strains in the past which required physical therapy (fully healed from them now).

• Do they really mean it, so we'd need to worry about bouncing severe enough to potentially wrench something on the trip to Volunteer Point?
  
• If so, would we see almost as many penguins in Punta Tombo in Puerto Madryn and/or on Isla Magdalena in Puenta Arenas instead in February? (I know they won't be kings). Are those smoother trips?
  

Thanks for help with any firsthand comparisons of Falklands vs. Punta Tombo/Isla Magdalena!

Thanks for all the help! We are booked now for Feb 2017 and can't wait!

For those who choose TD, many times the notion of 5:30 and 6:00 is simply Princess' way of keeping the two MDRs separate, and TD will be at 5:30 regardless of which seating time you think you have.

We are first-time Princess cruisers and chose TD at 6, but were wondering why those two times were so close. Thank you for this answer.

On Grand class, do all ships use the same restaurant for "5:30" vs. "6:00" TD? If so, is it Botticelli at 6:00 or Michelangelo?

If the decision is instead made by the ships individually for each cruise, is there a way to request (and confirm) Botticelli now? We are booked near the aft elevators on Crown, so Botticelli would be much more convenient for us.

I really appreciate all these quick, helpful responses! Booked near the aft elevators yesterday. Good to know that means we need to use the central or forward elevators on our deck (or get off on Deck 7 to go forward) if we need to get to the Piazza or lower theater level. And to potentially go down a level to catch elevators going up at busy times.

Thank you all! Can't wait to try Princess.

Hi, I'm a long-time cruiser (Celebrity, HAL, Regent, some others now defunct) but considering Princess (Crown) for the first time. I'm trying to understand which elevators are best to be near, and how near is too near.

Which set of elevators (stern, central, aft) do you prefer to be near and why? And how many cabins away from them do you need to be to not hear the "bings" or too much "people noise"?

Looking forward to experiencing Princess! I know it is not this forum per se, but you have any other clues about cabin location on Dolphin deck of Crown Princess, I'd appreciate the help. Thanks!

To clarify: do you need a cabin toward land (i.e. port side from Val to BA) for the best views on sea days with views like the Horn, glaciers, etc? Or will you normally be viewing from the common areas on those days, so it doesn't matter so much?