sfvoyage

I'm not sure what you mean by flex pricing by itinerary, but in general, spa pricing has always been dynamic - usually cheapest on embarkation days and also lower on port days, but not by much. Sea days are obviously full price as those are the peak days at the spa. If by itinerary, you meant that pricing is higher for one voyage rather than the other, maybe it's due to overall price increase. I know, for instance, that men's haircut pricing increased from one segment to the next for me last year. That was a general price increase and not segment-specific.

Same can be said for most ports and travel destinations around the world, apart from exceptions such as the Arctic, Antarctica, Galapagos, and a few other places where cruising by ship makes more sense. To me cruising is a lifestyle. I do not bother with or count on any serious sightseeing or explorations during the few hours at a port, rushing around and hoping to get back to the ship before it sails. 🙂

+1

My one and only foray into Silversea was an Iceland voyage on the Shadow, which really turned me off: that ship for the most part was old and unattractive, the entertainment was terrible, the cruise director and activities (especially trivia) were lacking and bad, and the service was good but nowhere near as personalized as what Seabourn can offer for me. I may try their newer Muse-class ships or their new (ex-Crystal) expedition ship at some point. The Cloud, I think, is in between the Muse-class ships and the Whisper. Is it more like the Whisper, in which case I will avoid it?

I just emailed you.

Seabourn has never offered any aerobic, dance or Zumba classes. They do offer free group classes of yoga, meditation, and stretching as well as easy versions of core and Pilates. Modified "boot camp" used to be offered but is now chargeable and rarely offered.

The Ostrich Inn, Norfolk: https://theostrichinnnorfolk.co.uk/about-us/ Previous SB hotel director Teresa Haughey was running this place along with SB sommelier Jo and chef Jess. According to her linked in profile, Teresa is currently working for Windstar. The inn's website no longer features Jess, so my guess is that he's also left.

You can email me at sfvoyage at gmail.

OK, thanks for clarifying. Buenos Aires is the termination point, so Seabourn's responsibility is to get you back there. I wouldn't expect Seabourn to arrange onward flights from Buenos Aires, if I voluntarily cancel my cruise. If Seabourn had cancelled the cruise, they should assist with your return flight home. In this case, the cruise was not cancelled. Granted, the itinerary has been modified which causes some guests to prefer to cancel and disembark early, and I understand that (as South Georgia is the highlight of this cruise).

Can you clarify this? After the ship returned to Ushuaia, Seabourn provided the inclusive charter flight to fly you back to Buenos Aires, which is also the scheduled termination point of the voyage - is that right?

My relatives got off the Sojourn a few days ago and said that there were service issues due to staff shortage and new staff.

That is a custom scent developed for Seabourn. At the start of covid, Seabourn was making them available for sale online (probably to deplete excessive inventory); I don't know if that particular scent can be purchased through normal retail channels (as opposed ebay resellers, etc.).

It depends on the person. Another CD promised to email me a video file after I disembarked, and she did keep her promise a few weeks later.

I know quite a few youngish, affluent and well-dressed professionals who don't mind playing dress-up for the opera or charity balls, etc. but who couldn't be bothered with dress codes while on vacation. They associate luxury "formal night" cruise lines with their parents and grandparents and spend their vacation days and dollars elsewhere. (I saw plenty of them a couple of weeks ago at my Maldives resort, whose daily rates, by the way, are much higher than a typical Seabourn cruise, and I was surprised by how many young people - newlyweds or not, and young parents - those resorts attract.) Seabourn would love to be able to attract more of this demographics, and hence the gradually relaxing dress code. (I am not talking specifically about jeans - I do agree that jeans can be elegant or not; it depends on the jeans and the wearer!)

Personally I'm not sure if I'll be wearing jeans at dinner time but that's beside the point. This is long overdue - otherwise, Seabourn won't be able to attract the newer demographics and clientele that they need to survive as a business.

While our 6 days in Antarctica Peninsula were fantastic, our 2 days in South Georgia were awe-inspiring. If I had to choose between South Georgia and Antarctica, I would choose the former and forgo the latter.

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I also dislike cruises that include excursions, except for expedition voyages such as Antarctic and Arctic, because I'd much prefer to explore on my own. Another disadvantage of inclusive excursions is that, for canceled ports due to weather etc., passengers do not get refund or credit for the excursions that are forfeit because they are built into the base fare.

I like bathtubs, too!

Apologies for going OT... I've only sailed on SS once, summer of 2021, on the Shadow, which I disliked - the ship and its decor were outdated in many aspects. I wouldn't mind giving their newer ships - Muse, Moon, Dawn, Nova, as you mentioned - a try in the future. What about Wind or Cloud? Are they similar to the Shadow, in which case I'll avoid those 2 as well.

It was definitely an exception, or she wasn't well trained enough to agree to make the exception. Seabourn definitely does not want to allow guests to use their non-redeemable OBCs (most if not all of which is funded by Seabourn) towards the crew donation fund; they want us to use them towards shore excursions, wine, spa, boutique, etc. with a hefty profit margin.

I had this discussion recently; can't remember if it was with you. In any case, only redeemable OBC can be used towards the crew fund, since that is essentially cash (you can cash it out any time during our cruise). Do you recall if you had used redeemable OBC for the crew fund?

Unfortunately OBC cannot be used for crew fund donation. So the ship boutiques are still having inventory issues due to global supply chain issues? (On the Ovation, for instance, there were no new items or replenished inventory starting from Oct 2021 until at least Apr 2022, when I was last on that ship.)

Just found out that several Indian sea ports (including Mumbai) are listed in the drop down menu now for e-visa application.