commodoredave

Cruised aboard Explora I in early March. Our experience was great. It's a beautiful ship with very good food and service. We chose a regular balcony cabin rather than a suite as we tend to spend far less time in the cabin on warm weather cruises -- this was the Caribbean.

We are back on X next week in Bermuda in AC. 

I would go back on a luxury line before booking the Retreat on X as I believe there isn't enough vaue there, especially on older ships. 

15 hours ago, dalmoradie said:

 

But wouldn't the lower categories open up if it was move up bids?  and do they even award bids this far off from sailing date?

There may have been people waitlisted for lower categories.

8 hours ago, -The-True-North- said:

Virgin is already cutting back and doubling the price...

Sounds like the standard formula for selling: cutback on expenses, increase revenue and paint a pretty picture.

31 minutes ago, gcornell said:

Glad you had a great time. I really wanted to do SS Japan next year but the timing doesn’t work out with the kids school schedule so went with celebrity as they go in July and SS doesn’t.  The one good thing is it’s well over $20k less so that helps. 

Much cheaper on X that SS for sure -- especillly if travelling with kids. We have never taken our kids (now grown up) on ultra-luxury lines like SS, Seabourn and Regent, but have done a number of family cruises on X, NCL, Carnival, Princess and RCL with them. 

17 hours ago, ggo85 said:

We have done X and SS. To my knowledge, there is no reciprocity between X and SS in terms of loyalty programs.  It wouldn’t matter anyway - everything on SS is included.  But I don’t think your SS cruise accrues points for X. 
 

I’ve never heard of an OBC for booking SS while on X.  They are owned by the same company but, as noted, still generally operated separately. You really don’t need OBC on SS other than for the spa or a couple of specialty restaurants. We typically see those who have it in the gift shop at the end of the cruise trying to use it. 
 

We have cruises X many times. Our last cruise with them is next month.  We prefer SS for the following reasons:

 1. All inclusive experience. Other than spa, you pay for nothing once on board.  And no attempts to separate you from your money. 
2. Fewer kids.  Often none. 
3. Better service.  And much more personalized.
4. Less crowded ships. 

5. Better food without having to pay for specialty restaurants 
 

SS ships are small we, but we prefer that. You sacrifice entertainment and stuff like rock- climbing walls.  Not a sacrifice for us. And cabins on X are bigger for same price.  We had a choice between a cheaper X cruise to Japan next year or SS. Not even close - we ‘re on X.

 

I don’t believe Viking is as AI as SS.  For example, I think drinks are only free at meals.  But defer to a Viking “pro” on this point.  

 

Just got back from 14-days in Japan on Silver Muse. What a fabulous cruise destination and what a great cruise line to do it with. One important thing to consider is the number of pax on your ship that you will be sharing port visits with. IMO, X has far too many pax for many of the smaller ports of call in Japan. 

On 4/30/2024 at 11:03 AM, jame_g said:

Hopefully NOT!

What’s wrong with RCL? Just because they’ve cut everything back and turned the lines they’ve bought into far less than they were before, doesn’t mean they would do the same with Virgin. 🤓

It’s not for everyone. Families with kids will love it. People who are kids at heart will like it. But it’s not for people who want a traditional dining experience. It’s a niche experience.

On 4/27/2024 at 5:10 PM, Mahogany said:

But I hate the 3-tier pricing system at SS.!

Right now there’s Port2Port which includes air, Door2Door which does not include air, and Essential which is the lowest fare based on later booking. How would you change it?

This situation doesn't sound like the old Cunard where I have always received an attentive and caring reception to any concern or complaint I have brought to the attention of onboard staff or management. Have things changed? Or is this just an unfortunate one-off?

3 hours ago, BasandSyb said:

The only things HAL hasn’t charged us for yet are the coat hangars and hair dryer.

Geez…you just gave them the idea to do it!!

HAL is already working on the next survey for Seabourn. I’ve heard some of the questions will be:

1. Would you like more than 1 more meal per day?

2. Would you be willing to pay extra for a mattress on your bed?

3. Do you want the ship to visit more than 1 port?

4. Would you pay extra for gin in your martini?

5. Are you willing to wash your own dishes?

If you would like to suggest some more survey questions, please do so as there is no area that HAL is unwilling to explore to improve the Seabourn experience.

8 hours ago, D. B. said:

Thanks for the warning! If that's the case I won't be playing Bingo. 

 I will be on Silversea in a few weeks and I already know it will be One and Done because their Early Dining is 7:30PM and I like to eat at 5:30 or 6pm.

Dinner service on SS starts at 7:00 pm. Room service is 24/7. Plus, you can have free caviar and champagne sent to your room.

Having said that, the bingo still disappoints!

15 hours ago, JPH814 said:

For what it is worth, this survey is concerning     The only thing I might want to include would be unlimited excursions - or one per port included like a river. Cruise.  But leave the gratuities and booze alone.  No paying extra for special dining.   And no “multiple tiered” system on board - hell no!  

I do not like included excursions for the following reasons:

1. I usually prefer to do my own thing in port 

2. I often cruise to ports I have been to before, and therefore may not even get off the ship

3. Cruise lines that currently include excursions also offer others for an additional price, usually because the included ones are very basic 

4. Many of the best excursions sell out before all passengers have a chance to book them as on my recent SS Japan cruise 

5. If I do my own thing rather than taking an included excursion, I am not getting good value from my cruise fare 

For these and other reasons, please do not add shore excursions as part of the fare.

On 2/8/2024 at 11:41 AM, zitsky said:

I've only been on 3-4 Celebrity cruises and Eclipse is now my favorite ship.  Not renovated by Kelly Hoppen so still a lot of storage.  It has Murano, which I liked but my husband did not, as much.  He prefers Tuscan for the view.  And a real balcony not IV.  Ensemble Lounge was my favorite bar.  Relaxing but not LOUD music like the Martini Bar which I went to a few times.  

 

No it wasn't perfect.  One drawer in our cabin was kind of coming apart but it was ok.

 

I'm cruising on Millie in 10 months.  I don't think I'll like it as much.  No Murano.  Things seem a bit limited compared to S class.  And Kelly removed most of the storage in the Sky Suites.

I guess if they don’t want people to stay on their ships for very long, removing storage is a smart strategy.

On 2/7/2024 at 5:33 PM, Oceangoer2 said:

Yes...the orange/brown is very dull.  Will be good if/when they revolutionize.

It’s these kind of situations that make people wish they were colour blind!

Better than the bingo on Silversea where the winner gets points to use in buying trinkets at the end of the cruise. Talk about killing the spirit of bingo!

20 minutes ago, Port Power said:

 

Oh, dear!  My apologies for giving the wrong impression.  I was not blaming the victim, but wondering why these issues could not be addressed earlier.  

Thank you.

As some others on these boards know, I am not someone who quietly accepts disappointment on board— I usually address it right away in a calm and polite fashion. And it usually results in a positive outcome as with the inferior burgers on board.

3 hours ago, Port Power said:

 

Did you speak to the Maitre d' about the missed meal?  I would not have wait near so long before heading over to the desk to ask where the meal is!

 

When you arrived back to your cabin that last evening and presumably brushed your teeth, didn't you notice bath towels were missing?  It has happened to me a couple of times, so I just ring reception or housekeeping and towels are delivered immediately.  Even on the last morning you could have called for towels.

 

I am really sorry that you ended on sour notes, but there were options.

There were no viable options.

At dinner, we asked our waiter about our order several times and he kept saying the kitchen was busy but our order would arrive soon. We also spoke with someone more senior 10 minutes before we left, and spoke with the Maître d on exit. Somehow our order got misplaced and staff didn’t figure it out on time. The couple sitting next to us couldn’t believe it and said so. They were more apologetic than our waiter. The Maître d did call our cabin 30 minutes later to apologize again, and offered to send anything from the menu to our cabin, which we appreciated but declined as we had picked up sweets from the Arts Cafe.

As for bath towels, they hang on a rack  at the end of the bath tub, and cannot easily be seen when the bathroom door is open. Had we noticed they were missing before we went to bed, we would have certainly called our butler and asked for then. But we didn’t notice they were missing until I got out of the shower soaking wet the next morning, at which time is was too late to call for them. 
So making excuses for very poor service by blaming the victim and saying there were other options is completely ridiculous.

Having said that, it was one night and morning out of 14 of them, and while we’d like to avoid a repeat, it did not ruin what was otherwise a very enjoyable cruise with a wonderful itinerary. 

7 hours ago, RetiredOnVacation said:

Two things I always check in a bathroom - 1. There's a bath towel hanging close by the shower for when I get out, & 2. There's toilet paper available before I start! Maxims that have served me well in life! 

I would also add alcohol in the mini-fridge to the essentials you mentioned.

51 minutes ago, Aussieflyer said:

That is so disappointing and really poor from SS - a) to not deliver your meal and b) not to put towels in you bathroom. 

Thanks. Breakfast this morning was nearly as bad. DW ordered eggs over easy, which had been served perfectly on 7 other occasions. But this morning, they arrived with burnt edges, a sign of over cooking on too high a heat. We sent them back and the same eggs came back 3 minutes later with the burnt edges simply trimmed off with some brown still showing. Our waiter was extremely embarrassed. We said it doesn’t matter. He said it does matter because the kitchen can and does do better. We were impressed by our waiters sincere interest in quality which was totally absent by people in charge over him. 

Just got off the Muse in Yokohama. The best word to describe our cruise experience is “inconsistent.” Some days in some restaurants the food was really good, and other times it missed the mark. The same for service and entertainment.

The low points were our last night dinner in Atlantide, which never arrived (we left after 85 minutes). That was followed this morning by having to dry ourselves with hand towels after showering because the room steward forgot to leave us bath towels. 
In contrast, we had our best lunch today in 2 weeks at a local noodle shop in Tokyo for US$6!! Talk about good value proposition!!

1 hour ago, turtlemichael said:

If he had put an s on you to get yous, he would have covered all possibilities.

Yous correct!

If there’s a major cruise line out there that hasn’t cut back and changed in the past 5 or so years, I’d be interested in knowing who. But the best ones know how to save money with minimal impact on the customer experience. With SS, the situation has been exacerbated by over-promising in the company’s marketing, without the ability to consistently deliver. SS might be better off if they under-promised and over-delivered more often.

54 minutes ago, drron29 said:

Well I received an email from Bert this morning and he said he looked forward to meeting me on board a SS ship.

But I guess all esteemed guests got the same email.

I didn’t get the “esteemed guest” salutation, but Bert did say as per below that he was looking forward to meeting me onboard in due course. DW is very upset she wasn’t included and would like to make it very clear to Bert that I will not be sailing without her.
 

I am looking forward to meeting you onboard in due course.  Best regards,

Bert Hernandez has been named the new President of Silversea to succeed Barbara Muckerman.

Good or bad news?