Stefan_Cruise

This is the right package für me and the price is OK!

Hi!

I am on the Encore at the end of may 2017! This will be my 7th Seabourn cruise - I hope it is a good one! BTW the cruise was about € 2.500,-- cheaper than the similar cruise on the Oceania Riviera!

The pricing in Europe is "strange" too! Oceania is more expensive than Seabourn esp. in the Med! Oceania is 5* and Seabourn is 6*. I cruised with both!

The IT from Windstar is strange. There is no "live-pricing"! My travelagent has to call them and you don´t know if the promo prices are available!

We sailed the first 30 or so days after Encore's launch and have to say loved it. We never sailed on the triplets And that might be part of the reason we felt comfortable. We weren't judging the ship against a 200 and something passenger vessel.

 

This was our 5th Seabourn cruise, previous 4 were on Sojourn, and I was addressed by name on lots of occasions. I'm also pretty sure the tea was loose leaf during afternoon service in the Observation lounge.

 

Were there any glitches? Yes, the first cabin Stewardess got sent away for re-training on day 2 and we never saw her again, there were a times when the ball was dropped service wise particularly in the Colonnade but there were far more positives. The suite was great, we had some excellent meals particularly enjoying TK and the Sushi restaurant. Staff were friendly, concierge team were efficient with a, "the answer is yes, now what's the question" attitude.

 

Entertainment staff were as good as we've enjoyed led by Hanré who is surely one of the nicest human beings on the planet.

 

We all board cruise ships with a different agenda. There will be some details which one passenger may almost ignore but for another it makes or breaks their experience. In terms of "penny pinching" there was nothing I found unavailable this time which previously we had enjoyed. Ice cream in the Colonnade was hand made this cruise and sometimes hand served by the chef.

 

I still think pound for pound, or dollar for dollar Seabourn takes some beating. Saga is a very, very different beast and I would suggest it's unfair to compare the two lines.

 

Please don't take my words as being dismissive of others opinions, they are merely my own personal thoughts.

 

Henry :)

I was three times on the triplets and compared to the newer ships (Odyssey, Sojourn and Quest) that is a huge difference. I miss the deck BQQ and very personal atmosphere! BUT the suites on the triplets were old and tired! But compared to other cruise lines Seabourn is really first class esp. if could get a good deal (€ 2.990,-- for a veranda cabin in the Med)! Maybe I will try the Triplets again with Windstar at a cruise in May 2017!

Can you travel a week earlier or a week later as July9th and July 23rd are showing €400 less than July 16th sailing on the European site.

Hi! It is not possible - we already booked a very very cheap business flight with Lufthansa!

What happens if you cancel and then rebook?

HAL will charge the price of today and that is € 3.180,--! What do you think - should I cancel and wait the next weeks for a price drop?

My travel agent wasn´t able to ADD the promos to my on-hold-booking!

In Europe it is the same! I made a on-hold-reservation 6 days ago for a Neptune Suite for the Alaska Trip on the 16th of July (Oosterdam) for € 2.380,-- with nothing extra. Yesterday I take a look at the prices with the promo and the cabin price raised to € 3.180,-- per person including $ 400,-- onboard und $ 100,-- internet credit! So it is a good deal to fix the booking with the price from last week without the "goodies"!

We love SB and Oceania

Pro Oceania:

- 5 different restaurants

- nice Penthouse Suits

Pro Seabourn:

- out of space food

- nearly all inclusive

Service on both very good

Hi!

I cruised with both:

- Food is very good on both!

- Standard balcony cabins on the Crystal ship very small / good size on Seabourn

- Nearly all-inclusive on both!

- Service was excellent on both!

- More passengers on Crystal!

- More public venues on Crystal

I would not cruise with Crystal again because of the small cabins!

Hi!

Booked OB and got V6 - 736! I am happy!

One HUGE plus for Oceania as compared to Seabourn....their smoking policy. Seabourn's is atrocious.

I am a nonsmoker! And havn´t had any problem on my last five cruises with smoking passengers!

Stefan,

I respect your opinion because - well, it is your opinion and you are entitled to it.

A few points in reply to your post:

1 Price is not the same as you are paying LESS/day for a larger suite for a cruise that is 1 day longer.

2 4 specialties beats 2 specialties any day in my book

3 I think the food is better on Oceania (obviously, this is a subjective criteria - just like you prefer Seabourn)

4 For those of us that do not drink, all inclusive is no big deal and thus the $800 OBC can be used for other things

5 Tips are always included for me (sometimes 3 times - TA, Platinum status and Oceania promo)

6 Lobster available in several restaurants every day (a personal plus :))

7 PH - which is the category you are comparing - can dine ensuite from any of the 4 specialty restaurants every night, if desired.

Just a different point of view :).

That said, we are doing Seabourn again next year

Seabourn or Oceania - how can you go wrong with either one? :D

Thanks for your reply! My favorite is Seabourn. Second is Oceania or Crystal. Unfortunaltely balcony cabins on the two ship are very small - and the Penthouse suites are very expensive. Third would be Azamara. But the price for a suite on an Azamara ship is often more than on a Seabourn Ship.

Next year I will try the new Regent Explorer!

I was five times with Seabourn and last year the first time on the Oceania Marina. We had a PH and it was nice. I think that Oceania is 1 star (because of the food quality and choice) lower than Seabourn. This year we booked two cruises - one with Seabourn and one with Oceania.

Seabourn:

- nearly all inclusive

- Standard suite is about 34 m2 (including veranda)

- Tips are included in the cruise fare

- Fully stocked mini bar

- small ship (odyssey)

- Deck BBQ and Marina Day

- two specialty restaurants

- price: € 2.375,-- p.p. for 7 nights (Venice to Athens in June)

- No onboard credit

- € 340,-- per night

Oceania:

- no all inclusive - just alcohol-free drinks are included

- Penthouse suite is about 39 m2 (including veranda)

- Tips are not included in the cruise fare (about $ 20,-- p.p.)

- medium ship (Marina)

- No deck BBQ and Marina Day

- 4 specialty restaurants

- price € 2.590,-- p.p. for 8 nights (Rome to Venice)

- $ 800,-- onboard-credit for tips and drinks

- € 323,-- per night

If you compare, you will see that it is nearly the same price per night! If the tips and drinks are not more than $ 800,--, so it will be equal in terms of price. But service and food is 1 star better on seabourn! So either the Oceania cruise is too expensive or the seabourn cruise is really a bargain!

Best wishes

Stefan

HI!

Booked a OB too for the cruise from Venice on the 18th of June 2016! Today I got an upgrade offer from Seabourn - Upgrade to V6 € 499,-- per person or to Penthouse Suite € 1.399,-- per person! I declined!

OP: what $8 glass of wine are you talking about :-)

That was just an example!

2153 Solstice 12 C2 Aft Bath Mostly quiet, noticed some scraping of chairs from above around 5am the first couple of mornings but then didn't notice it the rest of the trip. Great view, unobstructed Normal sized for the class. Plenty of space for two with two chairs, two footstools, and a nice table. No No soot Had thought the overhang would be a problem but turned out to be great as it provided shelter from the mid day sun and meant our balcony was still usable on the rare occasion it rained unlike lower aft cabins which appear to have no shelter. Also no problem with soot on this balcony. We had thought this cabin would be very noisy but found it to be mostly quiet especially in the evenings and late night, no noise from corridors or neighbors, just the occasional scraping of chairs from above early morning and peak dining times. co101nz

 

This is from the S-Class spreadsheet. The experience described was on the Solstice, but it would be the same on the Equinox, as they are "sister" ships with the same layout.

Thank you! I think I will book it! It is such a good deal ($ 2.299,-- plus $ 600,-- onboard credit, premium beverage package, free internet und free tips) for 1 week in the med!

What S&J is telling you is that it's a complicated situation that the phone agents really don't understand. With a stop in Montenegro you should be okay.

That was my information! Last year I was on the Riviera and in Kotor too and they wanted 20% VAT for duty free items.

I'm not going to challenge what you say that you were told, but I'll bet that if you ask for details about this situation to be supplied in writing that you will receive an entirely different answer.

Hi!

Here is the thread in the celebrity-forum about the VAT:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49573470&highlight=eu#post49573470

Best wishes

HI!

We are planning our second Oceania Cruise from the 20th of july to the 28th of july - leaving from Rome to Venice. I got the information from Oceania that on the entire cruise they charge the italian VAT 10% to all things bought on board (beverages incl. beverage packages, "duty free items", spa, etc) on top of 18% tips (if applicable). I told the agent that there is one non EU-port (Kotor, Montenegro)! He hold me that this is not important.

So if one glass of wine costs $ 8,-- - you have to pay 18% tips and 10% VAT = $ 10,38.

Hi!

Has anyone experience with the sky suites 2153 on the Equinox? It is directly under the Veranda cafe! I have seen in reveiws that the suite should be noisy?

Thank you!

If you board in Barcelona, even though your ship will stop at non-EU ports, you will still be charged the VAT whilst in Spanish Waters. This means that any drinks bought at a bar will attract the extra tax. Some cruise lines are more innovative than others; We cruised Princess out of Barcleona and bought a drinks package (non-alcoholic), for which we were given a written receipt and the actual charge was not passed across the system until out of Spanish waters and hence did not attract the extra VAT :). We were charged the extra for the alcoholic drinks until we left Spanish waters, sinc ethey were passed straight across the till.

Similarly for cruises out of Southampton; if you stop at non-EU ports such as Guernsey, you can buy duty free goods on board, whereas if you sail to only EU ports, there is no duty free on board. I am not sure how this affects cruisers from outside the EU, such as on cruises around the British Isles.

So, this means, if i got a beverage package for free (because of go best) and I don't have to pay extra (celebrity offers it as free drinks). If there is extra VAT or not. If I buy the package on board or with my booking - I have to pay extra VAT in certain countries.

Hi!

I friend of mine called me yesterday, he is on the Celebrity Equinox in den Med (departing from Spain) and told me that they have to pay for all things bought on the ship (beverages, beverage packages, spa, duty free, fotos, etc) the 21% spanish vat. So if you buy a bottle of wine, you have to pay the 18% tip and on top the 21% spanish vat! Even if you want a bottle of coke you have to pay the extra 21% vat! I called the celebrity hotline in the us and they agreed that this is true! If this is really true that could me very pricy!

On my last cruise with X in july last year in the Med you have the pay the VAT only for things in the duty free department!

Has anyone made that experience too?

Best wishes

Hi!

Last year I was on the Constellation in a Skysuite and I got one free visit to a specialty restaurant! Is this still valid?

Thanks