travelwell

I also recommend Seabourn for the reasons already mentioned. We were in our 40’s when we discovered Seabourn and have sailed with them 15 years. I will say the demographics have trended lower on our last few cruises. This is especially true for 7 day cruises in the summer.

Do not be turned off by Earth and Ocean. It is outside on the pool deck, somewhat away from the small pool. This area can be charming at night with very good menus.

You will love Seabourn. We find it truly all- inclusive except for shore excursions. We left a 26 day cruise with a balance of 0 for extras. I used travel agents OBC for massages…When we were on the Odyssey last spring Seabourn was offering 35% off future expedition cruises and 5 % off regular cruises. Have fun, Seabourn seems to treat single well.

This is wonderful. I also have cut back on alcohol. I hope it goes fleet wide.

For a perspective on cost, we had a 2021 WC on Regent booked. We had 3 overlands booked. The most expensive of the ones we choose was a 3 night with flights to Ayers Rock. We were to stay at the luxury hotel Longitude 131 with included activities and food. I can not find my old paperwork but I believe it was $5000- $6000 per person. The Luxor, Petra 2 night overland I believe was $2000pp. We really looked at prices as leaving the ship for days means you are paying for both. As this was to be our only WC we felt worth it. I would assume A and K to have high quality excursions with the price to match. Excursions are more expensive post Covid. We have been on SB recently and noted both private and ships shore excursions much more expensive. We have sailed with Regent, SB and Crystal pre Covid and find more similarities then differences regarding shore excursions. I do think the feeling of increased cost is pervasive and talked about on most every cruise line.

We will be on The Oasis in March, first time on RC having been invited by kids and grands. What’s up with the fan? Can you not get the room cool enough with the air conditioner? Thanks for your posts. We are used to very small ships, under 300 people, and this size is very intimidating. It seems like you can screw things up if you do not know what you are doing. For example getting into the shows important, and for all of us to be together. It will be rest of the families first RC cruise so we feel rather intimidated by the whole process.

We bought several Covid tests for our 26 day cruise in OZ and NZ cruise in February. We had to test preboarding at the time. Also had one prescription of Paxlovid for my over year old 65 husband given by our family doctor. Our plan if we got sick with Covid was to be honest and let staff know and quarantine. We did not want to expose staff and fellow travelers. We felt we were low risk for complications and felt the variant not so bad. Did not consider not cruising. We did did test positive when off the ship a week. Although we both thought we had mild cases my husband started having confusion and excessive fatigue. Ended up in the hospital. Covid had attacked his heart value and he ended up needed a valve replacement immediately. We have a healthy respect for Covid. We do have another SB cruise planned and hope not too many people treat it as a cold and not isolate. We know some will not be truthful. My hope is Seabourn reevaluates how long you need to be isolated. 10 days seems too long. This might contribute to people not being honest. My husband continued to test positive for 2 months.

I also dislike buffets. The idea of touching serving utensils after other people have touched them is a bit yucky. As a nurse I know the stats on hand washing. I would be happier with buffets if only gloved servers touch the food.

We packed warm clothes for the Asia itinerary that was in the Jan/ Feb time frame. We were surprised by a wet, cold spell the first few days. We actually had to buy some cool weather tops on the ship. The only negative I can say about the itinerary is the pollution was dense in Saigon but cleared up outside the city, eye drops helped.

Our favorite cruise among many cruises was in 2010 on the Seabourn Pride. We cruised Hong Kong to Singapore on a similar itinerary to the one you are looking at. I agree totally with the previous posters who reviewed their experience. Adding to this great cruise was the Caviar on the Surf event in Ko Kood, just outstanding. The beach itself picture perfect. I suggest adding a few days at the end in Singapore.

We were on a 26 day NZ and OZ cruise a few months ago. I can not remember when I booked TC but I think 4-5 months prior, Not a big deal, I just checked every week or so and got what I wanted. I also got an extra couple reservations while on the ship. We were able to do this with shared tables.. At the time the shore excursions were more worrisome. 6 weeks prior to the cruise there were no OZ shore excursions listed and I was checking daily. I was not happy. My TA just kept reassuring me that Seabourn was just locking in their excursions. She was right, one day they just popped up. On a side note the NZ excursions were up for months and they kept canceling, changing ports etc, also worrisome. It was the first season these countries had opened post pandemic. I spent a few months pre cruise wishing I had chosen Regent due to these issues. Boy we were we glad we did not as Regent missed NZ with all the biofoul issues. In the end we had a great time and we were pleasantly surprised by the great shore excursions. We like Regent and Seabourn. We had two Regent WCs booked and canceled by the pandemic. We like Seabourn’s smaller sized ships and are looking forward to trying their expedition ships. I do hope you have a wonderful cruise.

I have no idea. Who knows, maybe partially in the works. To make matters more interesting the sale of the Odyssey was announced during our cruise. I would love to hear if anyone else on Seabourn ships feel internet is noticeably better.

We were on the Odyssey For 26 days on NZ and OZ in Feb/March. Up until that time internet access was pitiful on all lines we had traveled. This trip the internet was incredibly fast. My husband is retired from the internet/cable business and he asked the captain whether the ship had Starlink already. The answer was a vague, only that they they had switched the internet company.

We took a once in a lifetime trip a few months ago to Asia. We had 7 flights, the shortest being 4 hours and longest 15 hours. I normally suffer terrible jet lag. A frequent flyer we know recommended trying an app called Timeshifter. For was free for a first trip. My first trip included all seven flights over 7 weeks. Basically it has you control light, dark, caffeine and sleeping patterns 48 hours prior to the flight and during the flight. (Then the app has recommended times if choose to add Melatonin). It is very individualized. I figured what did I have to loose. Well it was incredible for me, no jet lag. My DH watched me on the first two flights and used the app too. Might give it a try.

Shark B8, we had booked the Miami to Tahiti segment of this WC but had to cancel due to family issues. It is still on our bucket list but until then it is great living vicariously through you! I really appreciate you taking the time to share.

My kids and young grandkids just got back from visiting Peru. To say we were concerned is an understatement. They only went out with guides and family who knew the area.They kept away from all protests. US State dept said it was and still is a level three. They had a great time and and said Peru tourism has been hammered. They were treated like royalty and after seeing their photos and hearing their stories, Peru is now on my bucket list. It will be too bad if you miss your stop in Lima.

We booked our tour of the Wellington area this March with Zozo travel. They have good reviews and we are looking forward to testing them out.

We are on the Odyssey Feb and March. We had no excursions listed for the Australian weeks until a less then a month ago.. Our TA said not to worry that excursions since Covid have been slower to pin down on many cruise lines. It was disconcerting but she was right. We now have excellent choices.

I also have bought the Baudelaire Soap from Amazon since discovering on Seabourn. It is really great soap. I am actually going to pack a bar it for my upcoming cruise. It is very reasonably priced and I am surprised Seabourn does not offer it anymore.

What the heck, unable to edit my above post. Thankfully Forgap’s thread is so wonderfully written and a pleasure to read. So sorry for the isolation, glad you are making the best of it.

I am betting you are correct.

We never found Seabourn overly dressy. We found our Caribbean cruise was very relaxed with mostly sport coats and suits on formal optional nights. I saw just one or two tuxes. I saw no ballgowns but women looked nice. I wore black dress pants with a dressy shirt and some bling. When we went to Asia it was slightly dressier but still few tuxes or long dresses. And we tend to pack the same clothes for Seabourn as we did on Regent. The exception would be a gala for a world cruise on either line but that is a different type of formal night. I think with the challenges of traveling in this day and age, the dress code of old is going to be harder to maintain.

I highly recommend trying out the Mariner for a cruise 12 days or longer. The Mariner is not a ritzy ship like the new ones nor does it have as many food venues. We had two WC’s booked on the Mariner cancelled due to Covid. We had a great booking experience with a high volume travel agent who specialized in luxury cruises. We let our TA know we wanted a WC upon retirement on Regent. Seems like we booked in 2018 for 2021 WC. At the time we were able to book a room 72 hoursprior to the general public. I am not sure that is possible now but your agent needs to be on her toes to book morning of cruise opening. The rooms as these cruises sell out fast. That being said, things happen and you are likely to get on ship if you waitlist, maybe not your choice room and location.

Thank you so much for posting. Makes us look forward to our February cruise.

We needed flights to Auckland from Atlanta and back to Atlanta from Bali. We had what we thought was a lot of Am Ex points to cover the flights. Delta and co-chairs wanted a ton of points even if we flew from the west coast to get to Auckland. But were able to transfer points to Hawaii from Atlanta for a fraction of points. We are staying two days in Hawaii and then transferred points to Hawaiian air to get the Auckland. The way back we transferred points to Singapore air, you could get business class for 95000 points to LA. We decided to pay for the flight back to Atlanta. It helped to be flexible and retired. I did spend a lot of time researching. I have to say Singapore Air’s website a dream, Delta the worst.