skybluewaters

Could you please elaborate? In particular, was it the menu choices, the quality of food, the preparation of the dishes or something else that informed your opinion? I've never had a bad meal at the TKG, so I'm curious as to why you had such an "abysmal" experience. Thanks.

I recently asked our cabin attendant this exact question and she said that SB policy is that the staff cannot accept unopened liquor from the cabins.

And let's not forget the service peacock that someone tried (unsuccessfully) to bring aboard a United flight in SFO several years ago.

@texanaust Thanks so much for posting the pictures of Heimaey. We were just on Ovation for the circumnavigation of Iceland and that was the only port we couldn't enter (due to rough seas preventing the safe deployment of the tenders, on July 4). Looks like we missed a gorgeous stop!

The "Plan Your Day" link is only available once onboard, but the ability to see the menus of your next cruise's ship is available for many months prior to embarkation. If you need to download a pdf in order to see it, there must be some glitch somewhere. The "Add Security Photo" link has always shown up on my app about two weeks prior to embarkation, usually at about the time the "Boarding Pass" link appears. I dutifully upload both of our photos each time, although I doubt that it needs to be done. @Mauzac Sorry you can't enjoy the fun of checking out the menus in anticipation of your next cruise. I really enjoy doing this, imagining what I would choose for each course and also which restaurant I would pick.

Is your next scheduled cruise on Odyssey? If not, you won't see it. Currently, the logo appears on the Earth & Ocean menu page. However, it won't appear if you view the menu via the "Dining at a Glance" link. It can only be seen by clicking on the "Earth & Ocean at The Patio" link.

I'll answer my own question: yes (perhaps). I've recently noticed the logo of a travel agency displayed on (of all places) the daily menus of restaurants on the Seabourn Source app. As I anticipate my next cruise, I enjoy checking out the dinner menus of the ship that I will be sailing next (in this case Odyssey), and for the first time ever, I've seen a brightly-colored logo of a travel agency showing on the daily menu. This started last week and is only on an occasional menu. The logo is not a link to the travel agency's site, it's just the logo itself. An internet search shows the company to be a niche agency located in the United States. CC doesn't allow direct references to travel agencies, so I won't mention them by name. It appears that this agency sponsors/arranges/charters cruise ships for a certain theme. Could it be that the current cruise on Odyssey is being used by that agency for one of their cruises and perhaps the logo on individual menus indicates to their passengers which restaurant to go to that evening? Or is it simply an advertisement? Anyone else notice this, especially if your next cruise is on Odyssey and you're able to view their daily menus?

If there's an itinerary with a stop at Akureyri, that would be a big plus because you can take an excursion to Godafoss waterfall from there. On the other hand, although Reykjavik is a nice city, your time might better be spent going for an itinerary without it if you're more interested in seeing the dramatic landscape of Iceland and will be limited to three stops. The other small towns that SB visits are quaint, with gorgeous natural surroundings and are nice to walk around. If you think this might be the only time you visit Iceland, consider a cruise that circumnavigates the island with six stops, as SB sometimes offers.

Very much so. There are very few (only 22) double guest rooms with verandas, and they are sprinkled about the ship, almost exclusively in poorly-located areas, either right at the elevators or far front or far aft. It's clear from looking at the deck plan of Symphony that they're located only where new suites couldn't be placed.

Although we can't know with certainty, I believe most Seabourn passengers do tip extra. On the penultimate day of a cruise, I see lots of "handshakes" from the passengers to the room attendants, the bartenders, waiters, some of the entertainers, etc. It's only natural to want to go above and beyond, even if it is already included.

Looking at these pictures, a perfect day for us would be strolling through that town, along the pier, and up the hills. Quiet, peaceful, at our own pace, no group to contend with, just perfect.

I would have considered burning it.

The "what's left" applies not only to your choice of cabin, but also to excursions and TKG bookings, not to mention that the cruise could get sold out if you wait too long. I understand the disappointment in not getting the best deal possible as well as the disappointment in not being offered at least token compensation, especially for a passenger who is almost at the Diamond level. In no way, however, would that ever prevent me from further bookings if otherwise I was happy with the cruiseline, which you obviously are based on your numerous previous cruises. The money is already spent, and you did so willingly. Now enjoy your cruise, which I bet you will!

That's right, the in-suite fridges are meant to keep drinks cold, but they are not cold enough to reliably prevent the buildup of bacteria in leftovers.

Sweet Suite would be better. Or maybe Toot Suite. Almost anything would be an improvement over the use of "Junior." Even "Way over-priced cabin that you don't really need" would suffice.

Thanks! However, I just read this about the PredictWind app: "The Free and Basic PredictWind Forecast Subscriptions allow you to get Global GRIB files (50km resolution) over land based WIFI and cellular connections, however you are not able to get these GRIBs over a Satellite/SSB connection." So doesn't that mean that the app won't provide information when one is on a cruise and not able to get land-based WIFI or a cellular connection? Have you been able to utilize it when out at sea? There is a $20/month premium version, but I'm asking about the free version. Thanks

I don't agree with your description of the TV choices as being great. The news channels are predominately from UK, Australia and other countries, totally not in proportion to Seabourn's clientele. CNN, which is traditionally the standard for news (and I'm not looking to get into a political argument) is not available. ESPN, which is the standard for sports in the USA, is also not available. IIRC, on our recent cruises there were three or four sports channels, not one of which was from the USA. I'm not saying that the channels for the other countries need to be removed, but there should be at least one USA sports channel, given the national demographics of Seabourn's cruisers.

Thank you for your explanation. Do you know if the helicopter landed on the Ovation and picked the passengers up or if the passengers were lifted to the helicopter by rope?

Is that a passenger (or a rescuer) hanging onto a rope under the helicopter? Did the helicopter land on the ship and pick up the two passengers? What type of emergency would result in two passengers being involved? Hopefully there will be a good outcome.

The ocean vessels' beds were queen, the river cruise boats' beds were king.

Speaking of the Keller Grill on Ovation, I've noticed that the Dover Sole is listed under "Service for Two." Has this always been the case on Ovation? On my recent cruises on Odyssey and Sojourn, the Dover Sole was an individual dish. So is the Service for Two sole larger than what is served on the Odyssey and Sojourn, or have they determined that the portion is too large for one person?

And if you don't want the cash, whatever refundable OBC remains at the end of the cruise will be refunded automatically to your CC (that's why it's called refundable).

Sometimes it seems they're on a one week rotation.

I love a plethora of unrelated items. It's fun to scout them out, perhaps be tempted to try something you would not otherwise try off a menu, when you can actually see it first. And with a buffet you can sample multiple dishes in one meal. On all my cruises on Seabourn as well as on other lux lines, I've eaten many hundreds of buffet meals and have never had any gastrointestinal issues. To put it into perspective, the number of times that I've fallen off the ship into the high seas equals the number of times that I've gotten sick from a buffet. Thank you so much for your (and jondfk's) running commentary on this cruise. I'm very happy that you're back cruising again!

That jacket would have been in the lost and found after ~ 20 minutes if I would have been there. I'm surprised the staff didn't take notice and remove it themselves.