Salf777

Hi there we are usually Celebrity cruisers and we sail in the Retreat. We aren’t crazy about the direction that Celebrity is going and thinking about trying Princess have heard good things. Looking at a cruise on the Enchanted Princess in a suite. Does the Enchanted Princess have a suite area like the Retreat on Celebrity?

12 hours ago, Octavias said:

Were (are) loungers on the magic carpet suite balconies?  Just wondering what to ask for on my upcoming cruise. 

We have always booked the MC sky suite simply for the fact that they had larger balconies with loungers. We spend time out there so it was important to us. We just got off the beyond today and I was told by someone in the retreat concierge that they are saying they will be put on a balcony “upon request “ so I politely advised that when I asked my butler he said no, no more loungers anywhere on the ship on balconies. He said they recently had a no lounger policy but it just changed to upon request. It sounds like once again the corporate offices are trying to change policy and getting pushback and/or not notifying the staff when they go to “upon request “. An employee on this sailing told me that the staff is really getting the brunt of all this. Corporate keeps trying to change things and take things away and when they go back or change policy it’s not communicated quickly enough to onboard staff and they get yelled at by passengers. This person said X is just going the way of royal and it’s sad that these poor people get yelled at for stupid decisions being made by corporate 

We have a few cruises booked on X still when they had the $200 deposit onboard for Retreat. We started looking at other lines as X is getting silly. Coco Cay looks fun but I go on X so I don’t have to go there. They have the staff running around telling everyone it the passenger’s favorite port now! Trying hard to sell it and why not. They bring you to their island where everything costs and it’s all theirs. 
Speaking to others here in the retreat and everyone I have spoken to do not have loungers on their balcony. You have to request it now

so while onboard we booked cruises in other lines and are going to cancel the current X cruises we have booked. Personally we would rather lose $200 deposit and go on a line that gives what you pay for and not have to “request” everything. 
According to the staff on board X will look exactly like Royal soon. Oh and by the way all the other cruises we booked on other lines. Deposit 100% refundable up until final payment. And you don’t pay more for the refundable deposit!

Hi all

Have a 9 night Hawaii booked on the edge next year. There really is only 2 stops in Hawaii with an overnight and then 5 days at sea to Vancouver. Has anyone done this and their thoughts? We plan on arriving about 4 days early and having more time in Hawaii. While we 

Iike sea days 5 in a row may be a lot for us. 
On top of all this we are onboard now and really aren’t crazy about the direction X is taking. We were talking with staff the day the ship was in Coco Cay as we had no interest in getting off with another huge royal ship there and over 10,000 people. The staff says the management is determined to attract a younger crowd and make X more like royal that’s why they tried things like allowing vaping and all that. Their cruise l8ne they can do what they want I have the option to sail or not if I don’t like it. To each their own and that’s just not for us. 
Wondering what X will look like next year when we go next May. So asking those who have done it for some insight 

So after a conversation with the Retreat manager I was told that loungers in most suites will now be “by request “ only so I guess if you don’t have one ask

Yes our butler told us they were removed from the entire ship and I asked even the very high end suites and he said yes no one had loungers. Was talking at the pool and this was apparently not true so I said to the concierge when did they do away with loungers in MC sky suite. He said you want them I said yes if possible he said no problem 

Well I guess our butler just didn’t feel like getting them. Spoke to concierge and look

Our butler had told us upon boarding when we asked that they weren’t allowed so I didn’t question it why would he say that. So after reading all these responses I went to the retreat lounge and just said to the concierge that we always sail in MC Sky Suite and always had loungers and they said we will get them put out for you right away! 
Right hand meet left hand

Yes 2 chairs and a small little table

Hi we are currently on the beyond in a MC Sky Suite. We choose these rooms as we like the end view and the fact that they have loungers on them. We boarded and they weren’t there. Asked and was told that the removed loungers from all suites as on broke the glass on the Ascent during a sailing? I can’t believe that the upper suites have no loungers anyone know if this is true?

6 hours ago, cruisinlawn said:

Do the MC suites on Beyond have connecting balconies? TIA

Yes they do there is a divider that can be opeif you want and have family or friends next door. Please note we are on now and they removed the big lounge chairs saying that no cabins have them any longer as it’s a safety issue. I

4 hours ago, Katsings01 said:

We just returned from the Ovation on March 17 after taking a number of Celebrity Retreat cruises, usually in a Celebrity Suite or a Royal Suite. We were in a 6th floor V3 on Ovation. Although a bit smaller (more comparable to an aft sky suite on Celebrity), the Ovation V3, though smaller, had a much nicer fit and finish that the Retreat Suites. We booked Seabourn because a 14-day Southern Caribbean cruise was, after obc and incentives, less expensive on Seabourn than a comparable 10-night in a sky suite on Silhouette. Again, I think most of your questions have been answered but I will offer these observations:

-  Service on Seabourn is far superior to the Retreat. Within 2 days everyone knew our names and preferences. At the Retreat, that level of service was, in my experience, only found in Luminae. Atmosphere was relaxed and not stuffy.

- We like Luminae quite a lot, but the Restaurant on Ovation was usually better (I had a caviar appetizer with a beef wellington and side lobster tail entree one night which was among the best meals I have ever had on a cruise ship). Sushi restaurant much better. Solis (even with new restaurant hiccups) better than Murano, etc. 

-  Tender service much better on Seabourn.

- Caviar -- speaks for itself

- We expected a big drop off re entertainment on Seabourn. Other than the big production shows, however, they were comparable and one show (a West End singer) was one of the best we have seen anywhere. 

- CD and staff much more engaging (and less annoying) than Celebrity.

-  Shore Excursions were not quite as "marked-up" on Seabourn than Celebrity

-  Bar/drink service at pools/lounges much better on Seabourn

-   the included wines (while not necessarily "fine"), were generally better than available on Celebrity -- also liked never pulling out a sea pass card. the premium liquor also a bit better on Seabourn. 

-  Not big fans of buffets but we actually liked the "small plate" buffet structure at the Colonnade 

-  room service on Seabourn also much better -- more expansive and always on time. Champagne and Caviar brought to room in less than 20 minutes often for afternoon appetizers. 

-  On  really enjoyed The Retreat on Ovation. Great private space.

-  Loved the smaller ship -- never a long line or wait.

 

We will travel Celebrity Retreat again (booked for 2025 Iceland) but will prefer Seabourn if price and itinerary match with what we like (also trying Silversea for Antarctica). 

Thank you for this very helpful as a more direct comparison to what we are used to on Celebrity 

9 hours ago, notjaded said:

Former Celebrity passengers here (although not for years). We like Celebrity, but wanted a smaller ship. Tried Seabourn and have not been back.

 

Temper expectations. They market it as a luxury experience, and that may lead to dreams of wonderful pampering. Sometimes it happens, but mostly it is just pretty good service.

 

We have been on seven Seabourn cruises ranging up to 24 days. Have two more booked. It seems to fit our needs. Had some over-the-top/wonderful customer service experiences during our last voyage. One would not get this on a larger vessel.

 

We live in a community that has wonderful food options. Due to that, we don't have high expectations of cruise ship food. Seabourn is good most of the time, but not as good as our favorite restaurants on land. Temper expectations.

Thanks. We are not expecting an over the top luxury experience. We are looking for a smaller more intimate better than main line cruise. We like the retreat in Celebrity but with changes they have made and trying to make it more Royal Caribbean we don’t find the value there any longer. Also to pay those prices to go to Costa Maya and Cozumel aren’t what we are looking for. What appeals to us are the smaller ports and smaller ship. 
I also thank you for saying this. Some of the comments I read on here when people ask similar questions are as if you are walking into a royal palace. People ridicule people for asking if certain dress wear is ok like why would you even think to wear that on a ship like this? I’m not saying I’ll wear ripped jeans or shorts I just ask so I follow the rules and respect the lines policy. Someone mentioned a type of shirt in one post and you would have thought they committed a sin! I was getting concerned it was to stuffy for us

5 hours ago, Isklaar said:

Just to add a note to the excellent responses above.

 

I am not sure of your itinerary but you mentioned Yacht Harbours, if that's the name of your itinerary then I'm assuming its the Caribbean. Have done it several times.  If your itinerary includes Carambola Beach, St Kitts they will offer the 'Caviar in the Surf' event there, and there will likely not be Caviar in the Pool. The beach one is much better, the pool one is usually held during itineraries that there is no suitable beach. e.g on a Baltic cruise. When they hold the event at the beach you can look forward to a great day, caviar arriving by surfboard, unlimited champagne of course, and a lobster barbecue lunch. 

 

 

SB video here: 

 

Thank you!

we will be in St Kitts so thank you and looking forward to that

So I have booked my first Seabourn cruise and am very excited and have been reading almost all of the posts on here and have a few more questions please

1. WiFi- we aren’t in penthouse and I’m not concerned about days in port as I have an international plan on my phone so can always get access to what I need. Only one sea day on our journey so not to concerned. Does the Ovation have starlink? If I wanted the upgraded internet do you purchase onboard? I can’t seem to find pricing in the app

2. I have seen in videos they do things like caviar at the pool, do they announce or post these events so we can be sure to be onboard?

3. Excursions- I see a lot of excursions and we are doing a Yacht Harbors cruise and I don’t see like any thing like a day at the beach. We have done our own non ship excursions but I don’t particularly care for those just in case they get back late

4. Retreat or not? I know there are many opinions on this. I actually prefer a pool than a hot tub that the retreat has and we do The Retreat on Celebrity or Haven on NCL because we don’t like to deal with finding chairs or deal with chair hogs at the main pool. Does this happen on Seabourn?

5. Is there anything that’s a must do as soon as boarding? Like book dining or can we do all that prior on the app?

6. Boarding process. Does boarding get crowded? As mentioned we have only done Retreat on Celebrity or Haven on NCL and there was priority boarding and very easy. I am hoping with only 300 suites it shouldn’t be too bad. 
7. Lastly I know the subject of dress code is a time bomb. I see some saying elegant jeans are ok for men some saying not. Some say a polo shirt is acceptable and some not. I have seen some downright rude comments to people asking about jeans or polo shirts who are obviously just trying to get some advice. Is this the norm? We are looking for a more upscale experience but don’t want to be ridiculed should I not wear a jacket and tie every night

Ok so while we are on this subject are like Tommy Bahama button down shirts acceptable? They are very nice but sometimes nice designs and not a “traditional “ button down. Also like the Robert Graham shirts with nice designs that are meant to be worn not tucked in but are very nice

2 minutes ago, johng75370 said:

As long as you follow the dress code you'll be fine (and sounds like you plan to and will have a great time).  There are other options (Colonnade or Sushi) where you don't have dress up on formal night. You'll see a variety of opinions because of how it has changed over time, and also because the dress code is a minimum level and some prefer to be dressed above that.  

 

Here's what it is from the website:

Evening (after 6pm): Elegant Casual. The following is the nightly dress standard for all dining venues:

    Men: Slacks with a collared dress shirt or sweater; Jacket Optional.

    Ladies: Slacks / skirt, blouse, pant suit or dress.

Elegant jeans are welcome in all dining venues. 

 

Thank you. We just don’t want to end up putting an employee in an awkward situation if we aren’t dressed properly. Plus there are rules and if we choose to sail with them we want to follow those rules it’s their ship. I just read so many conflicting remarks 

Sorry I have tried to read thru the posts but see a variety of different answers. Just booked our first Seabourn sailing. 
On vacation I don’t like to wear a jacket every night, is a jacket required for dinner (not formal night)?

I of course will be wearing slack and a button down shirt but I see some people saying nice jeans are acceptable and others saying you shouldn’t wear nice jeans. I always try to look decent but it is a vacation so I prefer what we call country club casual. 
We usually also enjoy formal night getting more dressed up, but curious if there are options for dinner if you don’t want to participate?

Hi there first time cruiser on Seabourn sailing in January 2025. Not certain what this referral credit is if someone could explain and help. I would appreciate it especially if it’s OBC or something like that

13 minutes ago, stan01 said:

 

The main thing I'd emphasize is what someone up thread already said:  keep an open mind and don't expect perfection.  The main thing you are paying for is a ship with fewer passengers which is mostly a very positive thing because there is less crowding and you are better able to get to know people (crew and other passengers).  However, it does mean there are fewer choices in areas such as entertainment and dining.  What I'd caution against is expecting perfection, because if you arrive on the ship with that in mind there's a pretty good chance something will let you down.  Ask for what you'd like, and if there is an issue politely discuss with the management on the ship.  We found ourselves frequently having to ask the waiters to fill water glasses.  I'm not sure whether that was training or workload (probably some of both).  We didn't complain about it, we just got used to raising our hand when we were down to 1/3 of a glass and asking for a refill.  Shouldn't have had to do it, but I'd say its an example of avoiding a situation where a small thing could impact our overall enjoyment of the cruise.

 

Thank you for this. As far as entertainment we generally don’t go to shows. We enjoy our dinner walk the ship a bit and go to our room and sit on the balcony. We are a little boring LOL! I have learned thru my years of traveling that asking or discussing something nicely and not “complaining “ or yelling that being nice goes a long way. We realize these people work hard and everyone can have an off day. Plus getting angry or aggravated only ends up ruing my day. Even with the missteps we had recently at celebrity we didn’t get annoyed we were still on a beautiful ship in beautiful locations it’s just we don’t feel the value for the money any longer. So thank you expectation's will be kept in check

32 minutes ago, markandjie said:

 

I think most of your questions have been answered so will respond more generally. We sailed Celebrity in the Retreat just once on a one week Carribean itinerary, so using that as my frame of reference here are some high level thoughts:

 - In terms of the service you'll receive, every cabin on Seabourn is treated as well or better than the Retreat cabins on Celebrity. And honestly, I feel like we've received better service when we've sailed the least expensive cabins (we were just on a V1 on Venture in Iceland/Greenland with fantastic room stewards) vs the nicest room on the ship (we were also just on Venture in the Wintergarden Suite in Antarctica with very capable but unexceptional stewards).

 - You should temper your expectations on the breadth and variety of food that will be available on the ship. While I think Seabourn easily outdoes the Celebrity Retreat dining venue, I was impressed with the broader breakfast buffet on Celebrity and the selection in the Collonnade on Seabourn ships pales in comparison.

 - Same holds true for entertainment. Celebrity significantly outshone Seabourn.

 - Seabourn feels more personalized to me, with more of an opportunity to get to know staff and fellow guests and build relationships that endure across multiple cruises.

- Ovation is a great ship, but Seabourn really shines the smaller you get. Encourage you to try each size class when you have the chance.

- One of the biggest strengths IMO of all Seabourn ships is the viewing areas, particularly forward looking viewing at the front of the ship. Many cruise ships have poor opportunities to actually see where you're going, which I think is a great shame. To me cruising is a way to experience the world moreso than just a floating hotel that parks you at a different cruise terminal each day.

Thank you for this. As long as the food is good we don’t need so many restaurants like Celebrity has. We found recently that it seems service has gone down hill. There were butlers for all Retreat suites then they took them away then bought them back. We don’t really need a butler just someone who we can ask for water or soda in the room and coffee in the mornings. After these changes back and forth at celebrity the staff was confused. Our stateroom attendant told us he had to charge us to leave extra water (my wife has a condition where she needs to drink a lot). Went to the retreat lounge as was told it could be left. Saw the stateroom attendant and he said he hadn’t heard from the retreat yet. Took 2 days to get water in the room. One bar served a champagne she liked by the glass for an extra fee. The other retreat bar said we had to buy the bottle they have changed so much the staff doesn’t even know the rules yet. But what we found appealing in watching a Seabourn videos is the extra things they do, food at the pool deck parties etc. we were recently on a celebrity cruise and took a private tour to Jost Van Dyke. On the beach Seabourn had a section set up with chairs for their guests things like that add so much. We also love being on the ship and enjoy sea days just lying by the pool and seeing the scenery. We are very much looking forward to this. We looked at other lines and don’t want to sail where I have to wear a jacket every day to dinner. I like to be more casual on vacation (nice pants and a button down shirt)

6 minutes ago, caviarforme said:

 

1 Reservations for Solis are restricted to one per "Sector" - otherwise book on board whe required

2 Depends on what you like - try the Sushi a lunchtime

3 I am a traditionalist and would NEVER wear jeans in a restaurant, however it is allowed except on formal nights.

4 All suites have water and a stocked minibar - you are traveling at a different level from Celebrity

5 Wifi is good - never found the need to pay for a faster service

6 Not sure where you saw that excursions are included - they are normally at an additional charge and are listed on your online booking

Thank you and I wasn’t referring to wearing jeans to dinner I meant if we were walking around the ship exploring 

also I had looked wrong it said Venture and Pursuit included some excursions 

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 hour ago, skeeter195 said:

The HE room is lower than the H5, so no water or mini bar included.  It is still a great room for sure.  Enjoy

So you’re saying if I move up to an H5 category I will get unlimited bottled water and unlimited Wi-Fi? It might be worth it if I need those two things wouldn’t you think?

20 minutes ago, skeeter195 said:

You did not mention what type of cabin you have.  If it is an H5 or higher you will get all of the Pelligrino or Aqua Pana(both in glass bottles) that you want included with the room.  If not I would just buy the Aqua Pana by the bottle for about $6.

Hi

we are in a Haven Penthouse my confirmation says HE? Don’t know if that’s H5 or higher?