mraven

I can see them. Sailing Odyssey in June.  

5 minutes ago, AnnieO2019 said:

I haven’t had the survey but I’d say NO to all of those suggestions

Yeah, it was presented as a choice between 2 lists of amenities and you had to pick a preference. Luckily, there was a follow-up asking if you would book that option. I answered no to all 7. And sadly, no place to tell them what you really feel as FlyingScotSailor said.

Did anyone else get the new survey? Lots of questions on preferences to make gratuities extra, alcohol only included at meals, different options for excursions, making specialty dining extra. Best one was a 2-tier model where you pay less for less included. Don't they realize that would make it worse for the top tier as they would need to show proof for every 'purchase'. Very disturbing.

Sucks for Odyssey cruises this year.

Agree with FlyingScotSailors. We did 2 tours with We Hate Tourism and both were excellent. We did a dinner with them that was just incredible. Took us to a hole in the wall for a 4 course dinner, visited the famous pastry place and ended up at the sailor monument drinking a bottle Port at midnight! We were the only 2 on the tour, so the guide invited her friend. It was magical.

18 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

I think this is a key for tempering expectations, particularly on the expedition ships which spend a large part of their cruising year in the far north and far south of the planet, when're StarLink has limited (or no) exposure. 

Early on, yes. But they are still building out the constellation. The plan is for coverage everywhere. True limiting factor will be how many people in the area are using it and at what load.

In case you missed the email from Seabourn:

The next generation of Wi-Fi connectivity – SpaceX’s Starlink, the leader in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technology – will provide Seabourn guests with faster service, greater connectivity and more reliable Wi-Fi wherever Starlink’s services are available. This upgraded technology debuted on Seabourn Venture in June in the Arctic region, one of the most challenging regions to stay connected in the world, and our guests are sharing very positive experiences. Seabourn Sojourn will be equipped with the new technology just in time for her World Cruise departure and Starlink's Wi-Fi connectivity will roll out across the entire Seabourn fleet by the end of 2023.

Starlink tweeted that Venture and Pursuit have starlink installed.

Edit: Actually, the tweet came from Seabourn. Starlink replied to it.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/carnival-corporation-expands-next-generation-wi-fi-connectivity-with-spacexs-starlink-301724881.html

Had the same experience as twodjs. 60s until we got to Madeira. Then warmed a bit each day. Definitely do the toboggan in Madeira. What a ride!

It depends on the requirements of the countries you are visiting.

We had the same issue last year. Our TA got the discounts. The early pay discount is not applied until you make the payment, so it appears the balance is higher than it should be. After the TA made the payment, the discount was included. Just a little stressful.

We always book a guarantee and usually get upgrade offers to a V5/V6. Never bought the upgrade. We usually end up in a V5/V6 anyway. Hasn't always worked out that way, but never had any regrets.

My sister recently celebrated her retirement on the Ovation. They helped with a personalized surf and turf dinner (nigerian prawns and filet mignon) and a bottle of cab from the upcharge list. They found us at breakfast that day and delivered bellinis for the table and celeration pancakes for her. They also did up her room that night with a history of her career. It was quite impressive.

We didn't report it and ended the trip with 423 in nonrefundable credit. We assumed it would eventually show up, but it was not in the final statement.

They have single-only meetings, but verify  you  are on the invite list. One of my sisters (who is Platinum) wasn't invited. But she was invited to a first-time cruiser event. Go figure.

Pre-Cruise:

Traveling from NJ on Saturday. Snow forecast caused us to move up a day. Good thing as all flights cancelled on Saturday. 5 in party. One tested positive Friday morning after having COVID 3 weeks prior. Tested positive for 2 weeks with minor symptoms the 1st few days, then tested negative 3 times during the week of departure. Had no symptoms Friday, so flew to Miami anyway and tested negative at the airport. Just a bit more stress.

Embarkation:

2 couples and 1 single in party and we had 3 different check in times, all 40 minutes apart. Arrived together ar pier. Only one suitcase as both couples used Luggage Forward (no issues). Porter insisted he be tipped because he was the one who would be bringing the luggage to the suite. Right.

Health check on 1st floor where they checked vax cards and test results. Then agent went to print new boarding pass ans was told 'NO!' by her companion. Big mistake.

Went upstairs and stood on line to get tested. 30 minute wait to get checked-in and 15 minutes for test and results. A bit confusing as they announced some names, but not all. After they verified results, they asked for the printed boarding pass which 90% did not have. They needed a hardcopy so you could present it to the main check-in desk. When you didn't have it, one woman would get your room number and disappear behind a curtain and reappear 5 minutes later with the hardcopy boarding pass that the test verifier would then stamp. I heard they improved this 5 minute deal very soon after we moved on.

Check-in was smooth after that. Keycards were available in your suite. Others in our party also tested negative.  We heard a few positive tests which required another PCR test and out of that 1 person was denied boarding. But this is just hearsay.

Suite: We were in 656. Same level as the Grand Salon which worked out great for us. Stewards were top-notch.

Sebourn Source app: Great idea. Horrible implementation. Our check-in time was listed as 4:00 or when you plane arrives (android phone) and 2:40 (iPad and final docs). Same account. Can't get notifications from Seabourn Square in the app. Only via phone. Can't book excurions or cancel them. Same with restaurant reservations. Menus for Colonnade lunch are just the standard offerings. No mention of the theme. No way to see personalized events in the daily schedule. Hopefully they improve on it as it could be a great resource.

Seabourn Square: Service person (Mariska) was incredible. I always seemed to get her. She got our Grill reservation increased from 2 to 5 on day 2. Handled all our OBC swapping and listened to our excursion quibbles.

Overall Ship opinion:  First time on Encore-class ship. I understand the complaints. Pool deck seems the same size as on the Odyssey-class with less loungers. They did increase seating area which is good for dining. But, really. 150 more pax and no additional space. It was sometimes crowded on our cruise and it was only 406 guests. Deck 5 aft seems to be the same size as well, but again less loungers and more table seating. I liked it when this area was mostly unused.  Area outside the Grill needs to be better utilized. It's a great covered area. Would be nice to get some loungers there during the day. Bigger Grill is really nice. Had 4 dinners there and they were all excellent. Really liked the addition of the patio grill breakfast. Nice to have the different menu options there. Sushi place was good. I only went once for lunch, but I liked it. Restaurant was mostly good. Colonnade was great. Finally, Earth and Ocean was a distant second to the Grill, but still ahead of the others for dinner

Excursions: We had $1500 in OBC. $750 of that was nonrefundable. We signed up for 5 excursions to use the bulk of this up.

  Cozumel: Did the Foodie Tour which was 3 taco places where we both got 1 taco and several drinks. First 2 places were holes-in-the-wall places and the good was excellent. Drinks were different in each place. We had Mescal (mixed drink and straight) in one, 3 tequila samples (different ages) and 2 flavored tequilas in another, and 3 different sample cocktails in the last. Best tour of the trip. Only downside was the 40 minute shopping interlude between stops 2 and 3.

  Belize: We did the fanboat ride in the swamp. It was ok. Didn't get to see the manatees and the bird sightings were infrequent. Also, this is a tender port and seabourn source app said to meet dockside. We got there early and had a drink right by the tender. We walked outside to see our tour walking away at 1 minute before the meeting time (16 minutes before departure)! We caught up and got on the bus. Got 2 miles away only to find we left some at the pier so we had to return. There were 15 or so who missed the 'departure'. No seabourn rep on the tour. I reported this to Seabourn Square.

  St. Andreas: We were signed up for a semi-submersible which was cancelled the week before. Switched to a island tour with the rest of our group. The day before we got there, they announced no buses available and we would be put in taxis (max of 4). This didn't work for us. We cancelled without penalty. Was about to get on the tender when guests returning said nothing to see in the port and taxis to town were $25 each way. We stayed on the ship. Sister went alone and said it was a nice walk with nothing to see.

  Costa Rica: We had booked a tram ride through a rain forest, but we found out we were part of a Destination Journeys group and they were providing a free excursion for us. 50 in the group. Only 17 did the free excursion. I assume because they didn't want to change plans. We did their tour which was to go find sloths. It would have been a disappointment (only found 2 and they were sleeping 60 feet up in the trees). Our boat captain found another at eye level and we got within 4 feet of it. That was really worth the change for me.

  Panama: We did a tour to the Pacific side to see the locks there and the colonial town. Town was good. Lock tour was a disappointment. Our group didn't want to wait for the cargo ship to come through so we left without seeing anything. My sisters both did other tours and saw the new locks in operation. 

  Guatemala: Did a tour of the Maya ruins at Quiriguá. This was a long day and advertised as 4.5 hours. There's no way it could be done in that time. We hit traffic on the way and it took 2 hours to get there. Without the one slowdown, it would heve been 1:45 (they advertise 1:30). Tour was 2.5 hours, so we were leaving when we should have been back at the ship. Then we hit 1:15 of delays, getting us back 3 hours late. No lunch offered and no water. Luckily most took from the ship. The traffic is unavoidable, but the basic trip is not doable in 4.5 hours. By the time we got to our suite, we had an apology and credit for 1/2 of the cost waiting in the in-box.

Overall, the descriptions on the website were different than the descriptions on the Seabourn Source app and that was different from the info on the TV.

 With all the cancellations and refund, we still had over 400 in nonrefundable credit. We tried booking the retreat, but it was full. Well, not full, but they don't book completely apparently. We were supposed to get a message if they would let us in. But we didn't get an overnight message. Leaving our suite at 9:45 for the pool deck when the phone rang informing us we could get a cabana if we still wanted. We did it and I wasn't impressed. Luckily all the cabanas on the sides has their 'back doors' open so you could see the sea. Loungers are good. It's what they should have around the pool deck. We got a bottle of Moet NV (out of Bollinger) and we had some premium Chardonnay in the afternoon. Wouldn't pay for it if it was real money. As it turned out, we didn't pay with fake money either as they never charged our account.

I don't have a screenshot of the seabourn site from before our January 30 cruise out of  Miami, but it looks the same as what is there now. However, we were tested at the pier in addition to the proof of a test within 2 days. We weren't surprised because it was reported here on CC.

17 minutes ago, JPH814 said:

Is the boarding time assigned?  I have always just shown up and have always pretty much walked on board. We usually get there pretty early - noon to 1 PM- I like to have a nice lunch on board to get the party started!

Is this a Covid thing?

Started with covid. Others are correct in that it will 'update'. It's published on the site that it will update 4 times after the 1st assignment:

Assigned check-in times will be processed initially at approximately 50 days prior to sailing. Updates will be processed again at 21, 14, 7 and 3 days prior to sailing. If the time shows "To Be Assigned" it will be assigned with the next update processed for the sailing based on the above cadence of assignments.

8 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

I do not believe that the CDC has any influence nor say over this as they occur outside U.S. 

The CDC only had jurisdiction if the ship touches a US port. Unlikely for European cruises. It's all moot now as the Conditional Sail Order expired on Jan 15 and the cruise lines are free to do what they want. Based on the CDC color chart, all the lines are still reporting cases to the CDC voluntarily.

opens fine for me on iPad and android phone.

12 hours ago, shark b8 said:

Just about the saddest possible photo aboard a Seabourn ship.  (Had our Covid tests, all negative, fly to Miami tomorrow, and then on to L.A. & then home).  It wasn’t the single most relaxing, enjoyable cruise we’ve ever done, what with the canceled ports and all the uncertainties & worries involved.  Let’s hope it all gets better from here……it’s about time!

 

 

 

Are you trusting your luggage to Luggage Forward for the return?

Ovation status changed to yellow which means there are cases on board and the CDC is investigating.

Ovation just showed up on the CDC list today. Good news is the status is green.

We've been on Seabourn excursions where every seat was taken and the Seabourn rep had to sit on a cooler in the aisle. We've also been on some with 50% occupancy.