CalmSea

We were not planning to have sushi that evening in the Club because we tend to overeat while onboard. But your wife's sushi that evening looked so tempting, especially the tuna. On the Odyssey, tuna often had a dull color, indicating that it was not of the best quality. The color of the tuna that evening was perfect. To compromise for not overeating, we ordered sashimi! And the tuna tasted as good as the color promised.

The extra formal night was a surprise to us too. While we are talking about food, let me add a note about sushi at the Club, which was not covered by ak1004's review. The sushi we had on the Quest was better than the ones on the Odyssey, especially the tuna. The salmon was good, as usual, as well as the octopus.

Just another minor correction. There were actually 2 formal nights on that cruise. In typical Seabourn fashion, the communication is inconsistent. In the embarkation doucment, it says one formal night. After boaring, the Herald on the first day listed 2 formal nights. The second formal night was on September 21.

On the Quest, I think the Square (for coffee) is closed at 6 pm, but reopens at 8 pm.

I think the best strategy is indeed to dine as soon as the Colonnade is open. Also, I think the Colonnade would be less busy on the first evening of a cruise. Most new arrivals would want to go to the restaurant on that night.

Emin, the barista, is quite efficient. At 6:15, there may be a small line-up of 2 or 3. Around 6:30, it is usually free. There is also self-service coffee at the Square starting aroung 6:15, but no self-service tea. The Obervation Lounge was completely empty on the only occasion that I went there at 6:00, expecting to get my morning coffee and found out that things had changed.

Thanks for the great review. Having shared the E&O dinner with you and Mrs AK1004, I agree that "just o.k." is a fair description. We think the food that night was way below the normal standard at E&O. However, it was the only major negative we found on this cruise. Even the missing early riser breakfast, which I used extentively previously didn't bother me, because coffee/tea is available at the Square starting at 6:15. Overall, even with some noticeable cut backs, there were major improvements and more efficient use of staffs that made this cruise the best SB cruise we had been on.

I stayed in 431 on the Quest, and in 434 on the Odyssey, and the rooms were quiet.

I think the app requires Android 12 or higher. Which version of Android do you have on your devices?

Google Play Store says it requires Android 12 and up. The current version is 4.40.0 and it was updated on Aug 16, 2024.

The question is how will Encore go from Athens to Singapore between Nov 3 and Dec 8.

On the Odyssey, we (two of us) stayed in a triple cabin. It has a sofa bed instead of a sofa. We didn't open the sofa bed out. Our only observation is that the sofa bed is not as comfortable to sit on as the normal sofa.

I enjoyed reading your live reports and this final summary. We did a similar cruise last year on the Odyssey. The weather was not as good, with many rainy days. As for black cod, it was a standard item on their dinner menu on the Earth and Ocean, being served about once a week. On multiple occasions on the Odyssey last year and this year, we had braced the weather, put on multiple layers, winter hats, and even winter gloves on one occasion, just to enjoy the black cod.

Oh! French press! Before Covid, I had no problem getting it on the Colonnade. On our first cruise post Covid, the server in the Colonnade did not know what a French press is, and kept bringing me regular coffee! The MD apologized and said that they had to bring it up from the MDR. I have not tried ordering French press in the Colonnade since. Maybe I should try again in my upcoming cruise. I had no problem getting French presse in the MDR, except for a long wait sometimes. BTW, their French press is excellent.

I usually start with "whatisinport.com", and look for the port(s) in question. For each port, they have a link to the location of the port on google map, plus other information. Sometimes, the information may be out-of-date. So, do double-check.

On formal nights, one can still dress informally and eat at the Colonnade. It is not a buffet at dinner time. It is a sit down meal served with a glass of wine.

For booked excursion, try, on the Source App home page, to click on "Plan", then "My Itinerary" and check the dates for which excursions were booked. To find new excursions, on the home page, middle left, there is a link to "shore excursions".

Interesting. I have been noticing that SeatGuru sometimes give me wrong information, and is getting worse as time passes. Do you have a suggestion for another site to look for similar information that are more up to date?

As a follow up to Mr. L's reply, I suggest the OP reads the recent thread:

After looking at the info page of this app, I don't think I will install it, even though it is convenient. I don't like the fact that they will collect personal information and may share it with third parties.

First, congratualtion on your new baby. Second, while Seabourn is not exactly child focus, I would not shy from bringing a baby to most places on board, including the main dining room! I think many fellow passengers will not like to be disturbed by crying babies, so please be more senstive in this respect. But, I think most 9 month olds are usually quite easy going. I would expect most staff will be excited to have a baby on board, which I suspect is a rare event. I would suggest you bring a stroller on board to help carry the baby from one location to another. You should contact Seabourn about getting a crib in your suite. Now, there is also the issue of diapers. You may want to ask Seabourn how they handle disposable diapers. Or, if you want to use reusable diapers, I don't know whether their laundry service will accept them. But, there is always the self-service laundry. Yes, it is more complicated to travel with a baby. But, enjoy yourself, take lots of pictures, and treasure the memory.

@OP, I would not discount Porter immediately. Porter has a pretty good reputation. Another consideration is that Air Canada has a poorer on time arrival statistic compared to Porter. According to https://www.airportia.com/airlines/air-canada/statistic/, over the last month, 26% of Air Canada's flights were delayed by more than 15 minutes, and the average delay is 31 minutes. It is already an improvement when compared to last summer, when almost 50% of Air Canada's flights were delayed. As a comparison, over the last month, only 16% of Porter Airlines were delayed by more than 15 minutes, and the average delay is 19 minutes.

According to Air Canada https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/plan/check-in-information/minimum-connection-times.html#/, the minimum connection time from Canada to the US at Montreal is 55 minutes, and at Toronto is 1 hr 10 minutes. So, Air Canada expects you will be able to make it.

Catlover, thanks for the review. Having been in the same SB Quest cruise with you in September 2022, I have appreciated your harsh but fair observations. I have also read some of your reviews of other cruise lines. I am glad to hear that you found SB, as least on the Ovation, has improved. I have also found that SB has improved in my Alaskan cruise this year.

It seems that whenever there is a new promotion, SB's website runs into multiple problems on the immediate following weekend. Maybe they are just not good at updating their database. Anyway, give them a few days. Usually by next week, the problems will be fixed.