wyattsaunt

I enjoy reading reports by other cruisers, so thought I’d add some observations from my second Seabourn cruise. Our first was in the Greek Islands in 2021, also on Ovation, when there were 200 fewer passengers as the pandemic was waning. Fortunately, we didn’t notice much difference in the experience from then to now. We are 2 couples from the Seattle area, in our early 70’s. First, the semi-objective details: The other couple we were traveling with were to board at 1:00, we had 1:20. We showed up at the same time and were able to board together. We chose deck 9 again because we like being near the Observation Bar, pool, Patio and Colonnade.The suites showed a bit of wear and tear, but were very clean and comfortable. As noted on another thread, there was a pump bottle of body wash and small tubes of MB shampoo and conditioner in the shower, plus an array of MB product with a note saying they were available for purchase. Maybe I’ve forgotten, but it seems a couple of motion-activated night lights were added (maybe just one by the bed not the one under the dressing table?). My husband activated the one next to the bed a couple times when his arm drifted down, LOL. Our room attendants last time were almost too good to us, This time, they met all our expectations, but weren’t quite as proactive in restocking our fridge. No worries, though, we could always get whatever we wanted or needed just by asking. The Restaurant was only open on the 1 scheduled sea day. Food was always available throughout the day at the various venues. Top shelf spirits were readily available. Regarding offered wines, we were told by a waiter there are 3 levels and they offer the lowest level first but if you ask for a different wine they’ll happily get it for you. We appreciated the variety of choices in the Colonnade for breakfast and lunch, and the opportunity to eat outside since the weather was good. Last time we varied our dinner choices. This time, other than 2 nights in the TK Grill, we dined exclusively in The Restaurant, partly because we invariably preferred the menu, and partly because we fell in love with our head waiter (Johannes from Capetown, are your ears burning?) Due to scheduling issues on the website, we ended up with too many TKG reservations. Our consultant suggested we sort it when we got onboard. Last 2-week cruise, we were allowed one 4-person reservation per person=4 nights. This time, we were told we could have one reservation per week for four if we all wanted to dine together, to allow everyone a chance for a TKG booking. This was fine with us because while we like the atmosphere in TKG, we didn’t want to have the same menu so often. This worked out well, because it made our two nights there a little more special. The two excursions we chose to go on (Gibraltar and Tangier) were great. I regret we didn’t book the one in Toulon out to Cassis. Otherwise, we were happy independently wandering. None of the ports involved tenders this time, which was nice. Less objective comments: I was slightly concerned we might be a little disappointed this time because there were more passengers, and how can you top your first time, right? Not to worry; once again, we had a blast escaping “real” life and living it up every night, getting dressed up for dinner, having long, leisurely lunches with wine and hanging out at the pool or Observation Bar during sail aways. We were so confident we’d sail again with Seabourn, we put down a FCD on the last day. Every time I felt a small, niggling complaint arise, I reminded myself how lucky we are and to be grateful we are still able to travel the world. Cruising has allowed us to do this. Gone are the days of renting a car and driving around Europe. I did witness a few passengers exhibiting very bad behavior, and I don’t mean wearing sloppy clothing to dinner. One morning, I saw a woman screaming at our room attendant, “Why did you not change my duvet?” over and over, even though she offered to do it immediately. I saw a man in the buffet line yelling at the servers over and over, “Why isn’t there any regular pasta? Where’s the spaghetti?”. I was glad they ignored him. As a former middle school counselor, I can tell you most children know enough to use “I”messages and use their indoor voice. 🧐 I welcome any questions or comments. I really enjoy reading new posts on this thread, and hope mine has been helpful.

I’m hearing more and more about people traveling in Europe and Alaska contracting Covid. I read a post here a while ago about the high cost of getting Paxlovid aboard the ship they were on. I don’t remember the exact cost, but it was exorbitant. I’ve also heard Paxlovid can be difficult to find while traveling. My primary care doctor recommended getting the new Covid vaccine (not yet available) and the flu shot before our 10/8 trip. Normally, she’d recommend waiting until October for the flu shot, but we’ll be traveling until 10/25. She also recommended the RSV vaccine, which we got last week. (No side effects, BTW) I asked her for an RX for Paxlovid, which she gave me, but grudgingly. She had to check to make sure there were no negative interactions with my current medications.

Thanks, everyone, for your help. I had a feeling this app was overkill, but I wasn’t 100% sure. Our last cruise was 2 years ago, and there was a surprise Covid test required by Seabourn the day prior to boarding. (They still tested us again at the port before boarding.). We were in Athens, and had to scramble to find a testing source.

Reading the Health Protocols section for our October 8, 2023 sailing on Ovation, Seabourn repeatedly recommends using an app called Verifly to record Covid vaccination records and test results to streamline the embarkation process. I already have my Covid vaccination record in Apple Wallet. I’d anlso be interested in feedback regarding if Seabourn has been requiring pre-cruise antigen or PCR tests lately? We are embarking in Lisbon. Has anyone used Verifly? Is it really necessary and/or helpful? I’d rather not have to mess with yet another app unless it really is better than what I already have. Thanks!

I’m not sure, but I believe Seabourn, the only line I’m familiar with, doesn’t allow boarding until noon or 12:30 p.m. are you saying there are a lot of waiting areas at the port?

ElmaLee, thanks for the clarifying information. If coming directly from the airport, I can see why going directly to the port makes sense. I suppose it is worth taking a chance and trying to get onboard directly. if coming from a hotel, most people leave their luggage there and do something else until their assigned time to board the ship. As for the speed of disembarking vs embarkation, I have the utmost sympathy for the crew who must clean all those cabins and public spaces at lightening speed between the two. If all the new passengers show up at 10:30 a.m., I imagine it would be quite disruptive to the preparation of the ship for the new passengers.

If everyone felt so entitled to show up at 10:30 and expect to be allowed to board early, how would that make you feel?

I’m really enjoying this thread and SLSD’s thread. Thank you! I have a question about embarkation day. I’ve only sailed on Ovation once before (2021-Mediterranean) and had no experience with the first day routine. We boarded as assigned, around 3:00 p.m. Check-In was seamless and our luggage was in our suite when we arrived. Our room attendant showed up shortly and offered several suggestions for stocking our suite with beverages. We were unsure of what we wanted and she encouraged upgraded brands. By the time we were ready to find lunch, everything was closed until dinner. We were clueless about the schedule. We were fine because we got great appetizers in a bar. We are sailing SB again in October. Could anyone please post what time the Colonnade and Patio Grill close on embarkation day. Thanks!

Are you going to be able to spend any time in Hawaii, or are you leaving right away on your way home?

Flamin June, from which Hawaiian island do you disembark?

Flamin’ June, would you please define what you mean by “mass market” individuals? I find this thread, and your posts, extremely entertaining, but it bothers me that you seem to put people into categories based on their social class.

I posted here awhile ago that the 4 reservations for our group of 4, (1 reservation per person/4 of us for each reservation for a 14-day cruise next October), had disappeared from the website. When I contacted the Seabourn consultant who had arranged our cruise, she told us Seabourn was no longer allowing more than 2 people per reservation. She went ahead and put in 2 reservations per suite with only the px from that suite in each reservation. When I checked the website last week, the original reservations were back and the new ones the Seabourn agent had made for us were also still there, so we are now double booked. I emailed the agent to ask if we could/should cancel the reservations she’d made that only included the 2 of us and leave the original reservations for 4. She said Seabourn agents are no longer allowed to make reservations for more than the people in each suite. She told me to leave it alone. I’m not worried about it. I just wanted to share this piece of information.

Frantic36, I realize you were addressing your remarks to SLSD, not me, but I would like to respond. I’ve only been on 1 Seabourn cruise so far, (Mediterranean 2021) and I had the best time I’ve ever had on a vacation IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. And honestly, if our group of 4 can only go to the TKG twice on our next 14-day cruise, that will be just fine. My main reason for adding to this thread was to alert other posters about why our TKG reservations had been canceled and also to complain about the fact that, apparently, people who are already booked on future cruises with TKG reservations may have had their reservations cancelled without notice.

And they haven’t changed the wording of the rules on the website in the section where you make your TKG reservations. It still says you can reserve for up to 6 people! I get that, like a lot of businesses today, they may have had to make cutbacks for the reasons you mentioned, SLSD, but tif they’re going to do that, they need to communicate it!!

Our cruise isn’t until next October, but after reading this thread, I emailed the Seabourn consultant who booked our TKG reservations to ask if the reservations were still in effect. We are 2 couples with 2 suites, so we did the same thing as we did on our last cruise: we booked 2 reservations per suite, each for 4 people. She told me all 4 reservations had been cancelled because we had more than 2 persons per reservation. (Yes, I had an email confirmation , but I guess that means nothing.) She said this is Seabourn’s new policy. . She said that going forward, 1 reservation per suite for every 7 days would be allowed for ONLY THE PX BOOKED INTO THAT SUITE. She said anyone who tries to book for more guests than that would be unable to do so, and if already booked, the reservation would automatically be cancelled. This is a different response than some of you have gotten. Some of you said you were assured your reservations are still active even though you can’t see them. The Seabourn representative was apologetic, and rebooked us, but was unable to get the same dates/times, and, of course, not together. She said we could try to rebook onboard. I understand that this is a tiny problem, but it’s really, really bad customer service to make these changes behind the scenes and not tell us!