SLSD

I found that there was no rhyme or reason to making reservations for Solis. On a 28 day cruise, we dined there three times. We could have dined there a fourth time, but just ran out of time and the inclination. We had better luck making a reservation through guest services.

I totally agree with you and so does my husband who specilalized in and dealt with insolvency issues in his 40 year legal career. I almost expect some additional changes--who knows what they might be--but maybe a drastic cutback on included wine and spirits to force more people to pay extra for better quality. Perhaps there will be an upcharge for room service or you pay extra for tea service in the afternoon. Maybe even a charge for dining at breakfast or lunch in the MDR and a charge for dining at Solis. Of course all this would make Seabourn more like a mass market line.

The solution is to open the MDR for breakfast so there is room for everyone. We've seen up to 60 people dining there in a single morning. I've asked for the numbers!

I think we will have to wait and see. I would love Seabourn to be the luxury cruise line that we have enjoyed.

They could close the curtains...

Socializing is not weird at all and we socialize as well. We are not unfriendly people, but we do like serenity vs. the indoor atmosphere of the Colonnade.

I want the same thing you do. It doesn't look like they have a long term strategy at the moment--at least not a strategy that appeals to include people like us. I think the 7 day itineraries are part of a strategy. Combing much of Seabourn with Holland America appears to be another strategy. Perhaps there will be a total merger of the two--with the Seabourn ships just being smaller and more intimate than the other Holland American ships.

Not to be repetitive (lol), but it's all about the capital stack and a need to pay the creditors. Seabourn has had to cut back its expeditures to contribute. They know what they are doing--it's just that we, as passengers, don't like it. I doubt that this trend is going to turn around. The 7 day itineraries are just killing our desire to cruise the month long cruises we prefer. Less offerings on the 7 day cruises--even if you have booked a number of them back to back.

Hank, We are all different in what we like and what we consider luxury. For us, the indoor venue of the Colonnade is not a place we want to dine. We're probably outliers, but we just don't find it pleasant even with table service. We do like the patio outside the Colonnade and in good weather, we get table service there. The issue is cold weather cruises do not lend themselves to outdoor dining--and we need a choice other than the indoor portion of the Colonnade. On our cruise last summer, I regularly asked the maitre'd for a count at breafkast and lunch WHEN the MDR was open for these meals. I was surprised to find that sometimes it was anywhere from 55 to 65 by the end of the dining period.

While you see energy in the room and enjoy it, we feel chaos and really dislike it. And, for some of us, it is the idea of handling the same serving utensils. It's easy enough to catch something on a cruise even without purposely handling the same utensils as several hundred people. I'm sure Seaabourn does it best to keep the buffet sanitary---but, no thank you... It is just not a situation we would ever look forward to. We also don't enjoy trying bit and pieces of various dishes on display---tht does not appeal to us either. We are well aware of the limited sit down menu with table service and do avail ourselves of that if weather is such that we can dine out on the veranda of the Colonnade. On our last cruise to Iceland and Norway, there were quite a number of days where outdoor dining was not an option. On those days, the indoor area was extremely crowded and not what I would call an appealing venue. Look, not everyone sees this the way we do, but it is a definite stumbling block for us going forward. On warm weather cruises, this is not an issue as dining outdoors is always pleasant in good weather.

We never do buffets off of a ship or on a ship. We like to order from a menu instead of picking and choosing from a lot of food that is sitting out. There is also the hygienic factor. I'm not a germaphobe, but don't want to handle serving utensils that everyone else has handled. Buffets are just not an experience we enjoy and for us, it is not luxury cruising. We don't do the galley lunch for the same reason.

Some of the ports in Iceland were very small--no place for lunch. We've been to other ports on other itineraries where we looked and looked for a lunch place and could not find one. When we can find a place, it's great--but we want a nice experience--at leas an interesting one. . My main complaint is bad weather days when only the Colonnade is open for lunch. On those days, it is either too cold or rainy to dine outdoors at the Colonnade from the menu (we don't do buffets and don't eat indoors at the Colonnade as we don't like the ambience or anything about it. ). On those days on our 28 day cruise last summer we had to have room service lunch--which is far from ideal.

Even though he is gone from Seabourn, some of you might find this article in the NY Times interesting: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/dining/french-laundry-per-se.html

Oh I think they understand, but their creditors are putting pressure on them and money has to be raised and expenses cut.

Mr. SLSD says that it could also be creditor interference in the running of the company.

I just read this to Mr. SLSD and he said, "that's vicious". Financial cuts usually are.

I had the gambas twice and loved them. Like you have said, I should have stayed with them for the third dinner!! So sad that your panzanella salad was not good. I had observed it on a table next to us and ordered and it was perfect (plenty of bread) . I also should have repeated it for our third dinner!

We are usually cool weather cruises are we live in a very. hot climate.

Hmmm..interesting comments. We have dined three times at Solis. The first two dinner swere excellent. I had the Gambas both times and loved them. I love the Panzanella salad. The third dinner was quite mediocre to disappointing (fish), but saved by dessert, after dinner tea in a delightful cup, etc. Reservations seem a bit erratic. We found that on our 28 day cruise. We went from not being able to get a third reservation to being asked what day and time we would prefer. I was mystified.

The real issue is when the weather is too cold or inclimate. I don't think it is luxury crusing to only have one indoor venue for breakfast. Maybe the rest of us are not entitled to choices and if we don't like what is offered, we shouldn't say so and should go elsewhere.

We will look at it!

Which itinerary on Ovation do you especially like for November 2025? I'm glad you have come to appreciate a few of the amentiies on Ovation/Encore. We do prefer the MDR on Sojourn to the Ovation/Encore MDR.

I think it is really hard to read tone in the written word on Cruise Critic--especially if you do not really know the people writing. We have continued to sail on Seabourn after reading Markham's criticism of the line. We form our own opinions. And, as I have said many times here, Seabourn has a lot to recommend it--great friendly crew, enthusiastic personable cruise directors, good food most of the time, some excellent and some good excursions, nightly entertainment where they try hard, etc. I think Markham and I are both seeing a dimumition of choice on Seabourn. For many, this is not an issue but they didn't really care about the things taken away anyway. Seabourn has probalby done studies and has come to the conclusion that breakfast and lunch in the MDR is not important to most, nor is tea in the afternoon, good cognac, better inclusive wines, pastry coffee early moring service in the Obs Lounge, mid evening coffee in the Square, etc. etc. These are such little things for many and probalby most have not even experienced them. But, for a minority of us, these were the sweeteners of cruising. We may not be people who would have ever cruised without the enjoyment some of these subtle offerinss gave us. It is just one of those things---and I don't know anyone on the Silversea boards. I do know Markam and have been grateful to be able to read what he has written. I don't always agree with Markham. For example, he does not like Encore/Ovation and we do. We've talked about it. We also like Sojourn (have not sailed on the Quest).

I disagree somewhat. Markham has sailed over 1000 days on Seabourn. He knows it well. Mr. SLSD and I are mere upstarts by comparison, but we are seeing some of the same things he has seen. Now, I will admit that these things may be not be important to some--but they do affect the overall experience for many of us.