SDuckers

1 minute ago, johng75370 said:

 

 

The oddest issue we had was that Seabourn does not have passports stamped showing entry into Europe.  We asked ahead of time in Seabourn Square (because we had a problem exiting Europe without it on a previous Seabourn crossing) and were told it would be no problem, and if we really wanted a stamp there would be someone in Lisbon to do it.  Of course there was no one in Lisbon to stamp the passport, and we got delayed trying to exit Europe without the stamp (again).  I’m writing Seabourn separately on that; can’t believe we were the only ones stuck that way.  

I forgot to mention how great Handre was as the cruise "host."  He was just delightful.  Funny you should mention the issue of the passport entry stamp!  We had the same issue leaving from Amsterdam (where we immediately flew upon arrival in Lisbon).  We thought we somehow made a mistake not getting them stamped when we arrived at Schipol Airport, but there was no one around to do it.  Probably because the flight began and ended inside the EU.  So you are right, they should have been stamped on our arrival in Lisbon.

We just got back home after taking the Ovation transatlantic crossing from Miami to Lisbon, so I thought I'd give a quick report here. 

Overall, our experience was excellent.  For the most part, service was attentive and timely.  Some servers were particularly outstanding.  There were a few "clunkers" but they were by far the exception.

The cruise was mostly full.  Based on the roster of passengers we got at the end, there were 550 passengers on board and I think I recall that full capacity was 600.  But the ship never felt crowded.  Other than a little bit at lunch after daily team trivia ended.  The main dining room was open for both breakfast and lunch every day except our one port day in Funchal, Madeira.  We never ate there, so I can't report on how many did or how the service was.  We preferred the Colonnade for breakfast and either the Patio or Colonnade for lunch.  We ate lunch at the sushi restaurant one day.  It was okay but nothing special.  Frankly, after that we sort of forgot it was there.  We had dinner our last night at Solis.  The food was very good, and the sommelier was very helpful in helping us select a premium wine (we had ship credits to use up!) to match our meal.  I definitely would have liked to be able to eat there more than once.  We were on the waiting list for a second reservation but never were contacted.  We loved Earth & Ocean.  Menus, while very limited, are inventive and delicious.  Colonnade had a lot of themed nights.  TK BBQ one night, TK ribeyes another (they were great!).  Also Indian Market, Thai, Italian, Chinese and Vietnamese nights.  You could still order from the "classics" menu even on those specialty nights (other than the TK nights).  We ate in the dining room on three or four nights.  One night we agreed to share a table with another couple.  It was okay but we really didn't have much in common and sort of wished we hadn't agreed to share a table.  So it goes with that.  We also attended a hosted dinner with a Seabourn staff member.  That was a night when, for some reason, service was excruciatingly slow.  We wanted to see the show (I believe it was the night Handre was giving his piano performance) so couldn't say for dessert and barely had time to finish our dinner before we had to leave. One night we had arranged with Chef Lindsay for a special dinner of sweetbreads.  They were outstanding.  Sadly the "sommelier" had no clue how to pair a wine with that entree.  I get that that is an unusual entree, but when her first suggestion for pairing was a rosé champagne we knew we were on our own.

Team trivia was VERY highly attended.  I think the first day about 180 people participated.  That number dropped off as the days went by but the Club was still very crowded each day for trivia.  It was a lot of fun.

The evening entertainment options were really good.  One of the Seabourn singers I swear should be singing opera at the Met.  We also had Johnathan Christopher https://www.jonathan-christopher.com/ perform twice.  He was outstanding.  Also hung out around the ship and was very friendly and personable.  A celloist named Wendy Law also performed twice. https://www.wendylaw.com/  She was amazingly good.  We also invited her to join us for dinner at Earth & Ocean and she was delightful.

We were in Suite 700 at the front of the ship, and while we were warned about the noise we would get when anchoring at a port, we were not warned at how noisy that suite would be with waves slapping the ship's hull in choppy seas.  Sometimes it sounded like a bomb was going off, which was disconcerting in the day time and not conducive to good sleep at night.  The suite also is far away from everything except the Observation bar and the aft hot tub.  Given how much we were eating, it was probably a good thing to have those longer walks!  The layout of the suite itself was great, and particularly appreciated given the number of sea days we had.

We got to take a galley tour with the head chef (Chef Lindsay Lewis) and that was very interesting.  It was particularly interesting to find out how they maintained fresh produce for a 12 day cruise with only the stop in Funchal.  I will say it was somewhat apparent by the last day that fresh fruits and vegetables were almost used up.

It wouldn't be "cruise critic" if I didn't mention a few negative nits (besides the afore-mentioned "sommelier").  We had arranged for Seabourn transfer to and from the ship.  On the transfer from our hotel in Miami to the ship, we never received any communication from the transit company regarding when we would be picked up.  Since boarding didn't start until 1:30, we thought we would be safe to go to church at 10:30 and be back at the hotel by noon for pick up.  Surprise!  We were on our way back to the hotel at 11:15 when we got a call from the hotel that the driver was there to pick us up.  Why so early we didn't understand.  Even with a REALLY bad traffic jam due to a Miami Heat basketball game, we still were at the embarkation terminal by 12:30 and had to wait there with many other folks for almost an hour.  I would have rather been in our hotel room.  Our first morning on the ship, we woke up early and since the Colonnade didn't open for breakfast until 8, we decided to order room service.  Called the room service number and got the "Hold music" for 30 minutes with no one picking up.  So we gave up on it.  Mid-cruise, we got a survey and I mentioned this.  The head of food service called to explain that their phone system had glitches that morning and that's why no one picked up.  So they DO pay attention to those survey responses.

If anyone has any specific questions, I'll do my best to answer them!

The TK burger is still available at the Patio at lunch.  According to my husband, it wasn't as good as he had remembered.  In particular, the patty wasn't hot and seemed like it had been pre-cooked and warmed up.  My "regular" burger was just fine.

1 hour ago, Salf777 said:

So have recently been sailing on Celebrity in their Retreat. Due to recent policy changes at celebrity have decided to try Seabourn. Celebrity premium drink package now charge $2 for a glass of wine that was included a month ago (it’s a $19 bottle of wine), no more onboard credit or very little, no included gratuities, and many other changes. 
So we looked and watched some videos and book a sailing on the Ovation, which is actually cheaper than a Celebrity sailing and we have heard great things about Seabourn

so a few questions for you experienced people please

1. Do we need to rush and make dining reservations when available or are they usually all available 

2. Any must do restaurants?

3. What is the dress code we don’t dress like slobs but like a casual look (sometime even nice jeans with a nice button down shirt)

4. We are in a V4 veranda suite, does that include bottled water, soft drinks, WiFi.

5. How is the WiFi?

6. I see it says most excursions are included, are these just like basic tours and are the good? Do they have for a charge excursions? We prefer more active

 

Lastly any advice you can give to a first timer appreciated. I know a lot of this can be found on the web but I find talking to experienced cruisers gets me better real advice so thank you

1.  Other than Solis, generally no reservations are required.  Sometimes they'll do a specialty night at the Colonnade that requires reservations, but you do that once you're on the ship.

2.  The selection of restaurants on Seabourn is more limited.  Main dining room, Colonnade (buffet at breakfast and lunch, seated at dinner but more casual than the MDR), Earth & Ocean (poolside patio) and (on some ships) sushi.  DH and I love Earth & Ocean but the menu is much more limited, and no reservations so sometimes there's a wait.

3. Other than formal night, there isn't really a strict dress code.  Somewhat nicer at dinner in the MDR (no shorts, and only "elegant" jeans).  You will be just fine in nice jeans and a button down.

4.  All suites have a minibar with included water and soft drinks (tell your suite attendant what you like).

5.  It used to be iffy, but now that the ships are tied into Starlink, I hear the WiFi is quite good.  If you want the ability to use streaming services, you'll have to upgrade beyond the complimentary WiFi though.

6.  Other than the expedition ships, no excursions are included on Seabourn.

You will fall in love with Seabourn!

15 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Just how does using FlightEase make the "difficulty of getting there from Houston" any easier?  In fact, it has the potential of making things even more difficult, as FE may have fewer options to get to DBV than buying directly from the airlines.

 

And why do you think that the cruise will change its itinerary?  Do you know something we don't?

 

 

I think FlightEase might be able to parse the various airlines and connections issues easier than us doing it.  I don't have any particular info re: a change in itinerary, but back in 2017 we had booked a Seabourn cruise specifically because we wanted to go to Istanbul and Ephesus, but Seabourn pulled out of Istanbul and deleted Ephesus as a stop.  We ended up going with a completely different itinerary after that.  Given the known instability in the region, it's not far-fetched to have it happen again.  I'd rather have Seabourn and FlightEase deal with changing our flights if that occurs.

We have always booked our own flights, because when we did price comparisons FlightEase never seemed to be particularly competitive.  But we have booked a cruise out of Dubrovnik in the fall of 2025, and looking at the difficulty of getting there from Houston, along with concerns about the possibility of this cruise changing departure point, has lead us to conclude using FlightEase makes more sense.

2 hours ago, Katsings01 said:

We were on the 9 am Dolphin Swim and we were back at Carambola by 11:30 am, with plenty of time to still get very well located beach loungers and enjoy caviar in the surf. caviarforme is correct that the Dolphin Swim does not allow cameras or phones and their full package is now $150 or $170 with a few extra poses and 2 printed photos. But to be realistic, we were both down on the ledge of a lagoon in swim wear and life jackets interacting with the Dolphins ... there really is not a good opportunity to take pictures without disrupting the experience and having their photographer was, we felt, ok in light of the overall experience. There is no hard sell on the photos. I think we received 86 digital pictures between the 2 of us. 

Not a Seabourn cruise, but we did a Dolphin Swim in either Costa Maya or Cozumel (can't remember) on a Royal Caribbean cruise last year.  They also required you to leave phones and cameras behind and offered only to purchase the pics taken by the photographers.  I thought it was money well spent because the quality of the pics was far better than what I could have taken down there in the water.  Here are my favorites: 

3 hours ago, paladin757 said:

I tried to make it for the April 14 Transatlantic and it says it isn't available to book..HMMM

 

We are also booked on that crossing and we were able to book.  Are you using the source app or thru the website?  You could also see if your TA could assist.

We haven't done the cruise around GB, but we did spend a week in London last fall, and it was wonderful (although unusually warm for that time of year).  It probably depends on what you like/want to see and do.  For us, the museums, a theater show, shopping, plus a side trip to Chartwell (Churchill's home) were what we really enjoyed.  I'm sure we'd enjoy ports of call around the UK as well, but it would be a totally different experience.  Not sure if that helps.

20 hours ago, Klapka said:

Just booked 28 days with Seabourn and I am looking to answer a simple question.  I know you guys will be able help.

 

We were recently on a Silversea cruise, which was not as good as we had expected, but one thing we loved was that the wine we had requested for the suite fridge was promptly replaced as we drank it (and we had asked for champagne!).

 

I have a feeling that, although Seabourn will provide an initial stock, but once it is gone, it is gone.  To be clear I am referring to wine, not spirits, beers or sodas.

They will re-stock when you finish a bottle.

38 minutes ago, shark b8 said:

so, tonight was Keller fried chicken night in the Colonnade.  Seabourn veterans already know.  Pleasant enough, just….not inspirational.  Or legendary.  Or….different.  Seems to me that most everybody Iikes fried chicken.  And can also DO fried chicken.  Do something we can’t!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh I adore Keller fried chicken!  In the past I have asked them to save back a couple of pieces and then have chicken and waffles for breakfast the next morning!

1 hour ago, commodoredave said:

Thanks for posting, Kansas.😃

As a proud Native Kansan, I think I'm glad I missed the post.

There is also a bar on the pool deck.

On 1/20/2024 at 6:11 AM, kpcg1 said:

Solis menu is now on the Source app - attached for those who don't have access

5ea06ff87b101f4e3e32f57d46c5f5cd_solis_menu_day_1.pdf 351.86 kB · 177 downloads

Wowza!   I will have a very hard time deciding on what to choose!!

10 minutes ago, labonnevie said:

It appears that LF doesn’t use this system. Just seems that if Amazon, UPS, FedEx and others can tell you exactly where everything is and when you’ll get it, LF should be able to as well. 
I’ve never had a problem schlepping my luggage to a cruise and I’m nearing 80. And the luggage technology is improving all the time; lighter, better wheels, etc. 
I understand others need a service like LF for various reasons, but they just don’t seem like the reliable answer to the issue. 
But that’s just me. 

We have used LF twice, with absolutely no problems.  And we could track the location of our bag throughout the process.

59 minutes ago, saminina said:

25 thousand tax free dollars sounds good.  Party on.....sign me up for another contract.  So I would have said in 1952.  You can even adjust for inflation, but I demand to be on a ship built after 2010.

Why would you think those would be "tax free" dollars?

On 12/10/2023 at 10:54 PM, Vineyard View said:

Fair response/question for sure. Thank you. 

Cancelled flights. Re-routed flights and inability to book seats on transatlantic flights. This question did not necessarily pertain to Flight ease at all,  but experience in the past several months with BA specifically being more so than other lines. I truly realize that this occurs with all airlines, but I was told by more than one person in the travel industry that they have experienced more than normal with BA. 
On an aside, friends who recently travelled independently on a land trip to the British Isles via BA, that we spent this weekend with, had a flight cancelled -  their return flight at the last minute. It was not a well handled situation - so that combination prompted my question. 

Not a cruise-connected trip, but this past September we flew BA from Houston (IAH) to Heathrow, first class both ways.  Our out-bound flight was cancelled about 18 hours in advance (the flight from London to Houston had been cancelled so the aircraft was not available) and we were booked on a flight leaving about 6 hours later.  Our return flight was cancelled about 12 hours in advance, and the initial rebooking had us leaving at approximately the same time, on American Airlines business class, with a connection through Miami, getting home about 5 hours later.  I was able to change that to rebook on an earlier BA flight to Houston remaining in first class.  We were not happy about losing the last half day in London, but it beat the hell out of having to fly American business class and have to connect to a domestic flight in Miami.  Our TA told us the particular Heathrow-IAH flight we originally booked on cancelled fairly frequently, probably when it wasn't close to being a full flight.

It's 10:22 am here, so if at a port, we'd probably be out on an excursion of some kind.  If at sea, probably joining firsttimers at playing Baggo badly, or at Seabourn Square working on a jigsaw puzzle or enjoying a good book.

On 12/8/2023 at 2:48 PM, hoya68 said:

You are vastly outnumbered. Well over a billion people eat it every day.

Duh.  But it still counters the Brit's contention that Americans love Indian food.  Not necessarily so.

On 12/6/2023 at 4:45 PM, Mr Luxury said:

Although living in London I find that an Indian meal is the last thing I want on a ship.

Americans generally love an Indian meal on the ship

I hate Indian food.

6 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

The Indian Market evening is one of the most popular on Seabourn.

Those of us from the UK are not so fussed about it because we have Indian restaurants on every street corner bit I understand that many from the US love it because it is something a little different.

Oh, I know it's popular, and I'm not suggesting Seabourn get rid of that.  But having one occasional night devoted to Indian food isn't the same as having one of the restaurants dedicated to that cuisine every night.

On 10/19/2023 at 2:28 PM, cruiseej said:

Several people have questioned exactly when Solis will debut on the various Seabourn ships. Here is what Seabourn has planned:

 

 

So it's a month-long conversion on each ship, with the restaurant scheduled to open midway through at the start of the third week, with fine-tuning and finishing touches over the remaining two weeks. If you're unlucky enough to be on one of the ships during the first two weeks of the conversion, you'll miss out on both TK Grille and Solis. But there's really no other way they could do this without waiting for each ship to go into dry dock, which would be nearly impossible in a five month period. 

 

This is great info, thanks!  We will be on the crossing on the Ovation from April 12-26, so sounds like we will get to be among the first to test it out on that ship!

On 10/19/2023 at 6:49 AM, frantic36 said:

 

My son cooks wonderful Indian food but I like it in very small increments over a year. So as I said before you can't please everyone. A restaurant focused on Indian would mean when I do long cruises it would be a place I would only visit once in a 30 day cruise if at all.

 

They do Indian in the Colonnade and you can order a special meal with friends which I have enjoyed. I think they need to be careful not to alienate people who like the clever simplicity of TK and Mediterranean fare.

And I don't care for Indian food at all.  If the specialty restaurant was 100% Indian cuisine, I doubt I would ever go there.  I also have always skipped the "Indian Market" nights in the Colonnade.  

This is the inherent danger in having the specialty restaurant specialize in only one cuisine.

12 hours ago, kjbacon said:

And an afterthought about The Collonade … the TK special nights are bound to go as well? The fried chicken night, etc? And will there be special nights featuring a Solis Mediterranean dish?

I will really miss the Keller Fried Chicken!

11 hours ago, frantic36 said:

No, there has never been bingo on Seabourn that I am aware of. I have done two long cruises on Seabourn this year and the first one of 79 days had many sea days and no bingo.

 

As lincslady suggests there is trivia, lectures, name that tune, liars club, baggo, art or craft classes on sea days, etc.

On one cruise, they also had a shuffleboard tournament.  I was quite proud to take second place! 

<there were only two of us competing>