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Seabourn Quest - First timer on Seabourn to Antarctica


russianrex
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We have booked our Antarctic cruise on Seabourn Quest departing Nov/Dec this year. This will be our first ever cruise on Seabourn. We have cruised with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America and Princess. I am very apprehensive regarding Seabourn clientele and dress codes in particular. I feel that I might be well out of my "comfort zone", as this trip is a one-off luxury adventure for us. I am hoping that someone might be able to reassure me that it will not be too snobby and upper class. What do the ladies wear to dinner on an Antarctic cruise? I am hoping I don't need to dress like a queen to be allowed to eat my dinner. Any guidance/reassurance greatly appreciated. :)

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I can assure you that IMHO Seabourn passengers are definately NOT snobby, most are a very friendly bunch.

The Antarctic cruises are probably the most casual of any Seabourn cruise that we have done.

Mrs SKP suggests black slacks and some dressier shirts for evening. A cocktail dress for formal nights ( if you wish to eat in the MDR.)

If you wish to communicate directly with a fellow Aussie who has accumulated quite a few nights on Seabourn, you can contact me direct by email.

It's my name in the heading 'at gmail.com'

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I am fairly certain you are going to love your cruise. The atmosphere on board is fairly laid back. Passengers dress casually and for the weather during the day. Men require a jacket on formal night in the MDR only. On our upcoming cruise, which we are combing with a land based holiday we are going to keep our luggage to a minimum, so no Tux or Jacket, and I know from past experience we are not going to feel out of place. The crew are FANTASTIC and will make you feel at home. As a first timer you should check out the Referral thread at the top of this board...there you will find someone with a referral coupon to give away, giving you and them $400 OBC. Have a great cruise.

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I can assure you that IMHO Seabourn passengers are definately NOT snobby, most are a very friendly bunch.

The Antarctic cruises are probably the most casual of any Seabourn cruise that we have done.

Mrs SKP suggests black slacks and some dressier shirts for evening. A cocktail dress for formal nights ( if you wish to eat in the MDR.)

If you wish to communicate directly with a fellow Aussie who has accumulated quite a few nights on Seabourn, you can contact me direct by email.

It's my name in the heading 'at gmail.com'

 

I appreciate your info and warm welcome. Thank you for your offer of your email contact. :)

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I am fairly certain you are going to love your cruise. The atmosphere on board is fairly laid back. Passengers dress casually and for the weather during the day. Men require a jacket on formal night in the MDR only. On our upcoming cruise, which we are combing with a land based holiday we are going to keep our luggage to a minimum, so no Tux or Jacket, and I know from past experience we are not going to feel out of place. The crew are FANTASTIC and will make you feel at home. As a first timer you should check out the Referral thread at the top of this board...there you will find someone with a referral coupon to give away, giving you and them $400 OBC. Have a great cruise.

 

Thank you for your prompt reply. As you can see, I am new to these boards, so am a bit unsure. You have definitely caught my attention with the referral thread. Do I just post in that thread and keep my fingers crossed?

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We have sailed with Seabourn many times in the past ten years. We were lucky to take our very first cruise with the line and have not strayed very far, because we love the helpful, friendly staff and the relaxed atmosphere on the ships. It is not stuffy or overtly formal. We have made friends from around the world, and have taken other holidays with them. We are fairly unassuming, and we usually are happy to join shared tables both in the Main Dining Room and the Colonnade. On the Encore recently we had a great team for Trivia, just assembled randomly, and had a lot of fun.

In the evenings I wear black or navy pants wit various tops or jackets.

Don’t worry too much; I’m sure you will have a wonderful cruise.

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We have sailed with Seabourn many times in the past ten years. We were lucky to take our very first cruise with the line and have not strayed very far, because we love the helpful, friendly staff and the relaxed atmosphere on the ships. It is not stuffy or overtly formal. We have made friends from around the world, and have taken other holidays with them. We are fairly unassuming, and we usually are happy to join shared tables both in the Main Dining Room and the Colonnade. On the Encore recently we had a great team for Trivia, just assembled randomly, and had a lot of fun.

In the evenings I wear black or navy pants wit various tops or jackets.

Don’t worry too much; I’m sure you will have a wonderful cruise.

 

Thanks for helping to put my mind at ease. I can manage black pants. :)

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BTW, I hope I haven't offended any Seabourn guests with my opening post. I have just never cruised on a premium cruise line before (and am worried that I will feel out of place) .

 

Like you our first cruise with Seabourn was to Antarctica a few years ago after sailing with Princess, Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Oceania and even MSC so we were a bit concerned like you but as others have said there would not be any problems

We were that impressed with Seabourn we put down a future cruise deposit on the Quest while we were on board of which we have never done with any other shipping companies before

We have our next cruise booked early December which will be our 5th cruise with Seabourn. One was a back to back cruise. We like and prefer Seabourn

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Please don't stress about the "dress code" which is actually very easy, flexible and probably no different to what you'd wear for an evening out anyway. And if you don't want to "dress up" there are other options - you won't starve I promise! The whole idea of your cruise is to relax and enjoy yourselves and Seabourn will make sure that you do. It has an unfair reputation as "snobby" but it really isn't. We've tried all the so-called luxury lines and while it's not perfect (who is?) Seabourn is still our favourite by far. Bon voyage!

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Thank you RustyRollock and Thecat123 for your reassurance. This trip will be for a milestone birthday, so it will be a very special one. I hope that I feel comfortable on board, and I do hope that fellow guests will be accepting of us. I am already feeling apprehensive packing for an Antarctic cruise (departing from Lima, so 31 cruise nights), but now feel the added burden of having to "dress to impress" at dinner. But, after hearing your replies, I am feeling a little more at ease.

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russianrex its not that cold at Antarctica so do not go over thinking being that cold .

I think the coldest temp we had early Jan 2014 when we were there was -6

Some of the Americans had come from -20 or something like that from where they live :)

We had lunch most days at the Patio Grill around the pool at Antarctica

Seabourn supplies jackets which are very good

Roxburgh wrote a great blog of our cruise which may help you

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1966337

Edited by Thecat123
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russianrex its not that cold at Antarctica so do not go over thinking being that cold .

I think the coldest temp we had early Jan 2014 when we were there was -6

Some of the Americans had come from -20 or something like that from where they live :)

We had lunch most days at the Patio Grill around the pool at Antarctica

Seabourn supplies jackets which are very good

 

So, can you just wear casual warm weather gear (layers) on board the ship during the day? I don't want everyone rolling their eyes at me for not adhering to the appropriate dress code. I just want to be warm and comfy. :)

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So, can you just wear casual warm weather gear (layers) on board the ship during the day? I don't want everyone rolling their eyes at me for not adhering to the appropriate dress code. I just want to be warm and comfy. :)

 

You will be fine

Have a look at post number 37 and you will see some people around the pool

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2569912&page=2

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russianrex its not that cold at Antarctica so do not go over thinking being that cold .

I think the coldest temp we had early Jan 2014 when we were there was -6

Some of the Americans had come from -20 or something like that from where they live :)

We had lunch most days at the Patio Grill around the pool at Antarctica

Seabourn supplies jackets which are very good

Roxburgh wrote a great blog of our cruise which may help you

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1966337

 

Thanks so much for the blog link - great reading!

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I did not find fellow passengers stuffy or snobby at all when aboard the Encore, so I can't imagine they would be snobby on your upcoming cruise. I found people to be dressed more casually than I had expected. I wore black dresses to dinner at night in the MDR---I had several of them. Most nights I wore flats instead of heels because my feet felt better that way. Quite frankly, I paid very little attention to what other women were wearing at dinner, so their style/type of dress must not have been surprising or exceptional. I think you are going to like your fellow passengers and have a great time!

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Thank you RustyRollock and Thecat123 for your reassurance. This trip will be for a milestone birthday, so it will be a very special one. I hope that I feel comfortable on board, and I do hope that fellow guests will be accepting of us. I am already feeling apprehensive packing for an Antarctic cruise (departing from Lima, so 31 cruise nights), but now feel the added burden of having to "dress to impress" at dinner. But, after hearing your replies, I am feeling a little more at ease.

 

Be warned! That's what we did... a special birthday and we booked a SB cruise to celebrate. It was a one off.

 

We now have our fourth one booked for next year because we enjoyed ourselves so much! We're very ordinary people and it really is not 'snobby'. If it were, I wouldn't fit in :D

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Thank you for your prompt reply. As you can see, I am new to these boards, so am a bit unsure. You have definitely caught my attention with the referral thread. Do I just post in that thread and keep my fingers crossed?

 

The answer is YES, but I have just looked at the Referral Coupon thread and I see SKP946 has one on offer, I think you have his/her email address..

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We just finished Antarctica on seabourn. We brought formal wear but never wore it. On the 3 formal nights we either ate in the colonnade or had room service. Daytime is as casual as most cruise lines.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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BTW, I hope I haven't offended any Seabourn guests with my opening post. I have just never cruised on a premium cruise line before (and am worried that I will feel out of place) .

 

russianrex I am wondering that if you are thinking along the lines of the other cruise lines you have sailed on with areas on those ships us poor peasants are not allowed to enter like concierge lounges etc?

On Seabourn's ships like the Quest there are no areas like that. There is no preferred boarding for tenders cause you are not in a flash suite etc. There is no class distinction. Everybody, does not matter which deck you are on, gets the same great service and treatment which is one of the great things we like about Seabourn unlike all the other cruise lines we have been on in the past,where you can not go here, can not do that

 

I hope someone else will come along and maybe be able to explain Seabourns ways a little better to ease your mind? I do understand how you feel as we were thinking along the same lines as you originally :)

Edited by Thecat123
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