Thinking about trying Seabourn

[the_dylaness]

rafinmd,

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts (which I've felt a little, too) so eloquently. I was also surprised by the somewhat negative reaction to what I thought was a pretty innocuous comment. I felt as well that the implication was that the type of people who would actually choose to dine early (like myself) are perhaps not real "Seabourn material" and was then further insulted by insinuations that I might be waiting by the doors for the restaurant to open, or perhaps be so ravenously "desperate" that I'd have to order room service to tide myself over. (My problem with early dining was that I like to go to bed early- not that I can't possibly imagine going more than X # of hours without eating.)

 

However, in the interest of peacefulness I've decided to believe that things are not always intended as they sometimes appear when written--- how much is lost in translation when typing! I hardly think my history of sailing with "the masses" or preferring early dining will turn out to be of any real significance. I intend to have an excellent time, falling asleep in salad or not, on my cruise and am willfully brushing aside what I prefer to think of as a minor miscommunication.

 

I will be happy to post a reply on the X board about my Mercury impressions on your thread.

[lord of the seas]

rafinmd and dylaness

You will find the most warm and freindly people on Seabourn and you will have a great time.Food is not a problem anywhere on the ship you can eat at any time throughout the day but just not in the main restaurant for dinner before 7.00pm.If you like to go to bed early then just get dinner in your suite,served course by course.I do this once a week on the ship,watch a movie and relax and enjoy.

 

Remember nobody will look down on you unless you are very short.

[crystal808]

Remember nobody will look down on you unless you are very short.

 

I love it!! :D

 

(And it's true....!)

 

Paul ;)

[shefinch]

rafinmd and dylaness

What you need to be aware of is that "His Lordship's" sense of humour is very British and doesn't always travel across that Atlantic that well!

[lord of the seas]

rafinmd and dylaness

What you need to be aware of is that "His Lordship's" sense of humour is very British and doesn't always travel across that Atlantic that well!

 

Well said Shelagh.Some folks are a bit fragile.

Hope the snow clears before you go off on your grand tour.

[shefinch]

I do too. We're still ploughing through about 9 inches of the stuff as present!

[Chairsin]

I am still trying to understand why the use of the terms "masses' is being contrued as perjorative. It seems to me that it really is a descriptive rather than judgemental term.You could have a mass of lords!

[lord of the seas]

I am still trying to understand why the use of the terms "masses' is being contrued as perjorative. It seems to me that it really is a descriptive rather than judgemental term.You could have a mass of lords!

 

We like to call it "The House of Lords"

 

I suppose Majority could also be used instead of Masses.

 

As it's Sunday,Anyone off to Mass? :rolleyes:

[the_dylaness]

I am still trying to understand why the use of the terms "masses' is being contrued as perjorative. It seems to me that it really is a descriptive rather than judgemental term.You could have a mass of lords!

 

Because it "sounded" (to at least two of us on this board) as if it was being used in a pejorative manner.

 

Thank you for your well wishes, lord of the seas. I'll try a bit harder next time to understand your unusual sense of humor (even for someone across the pond.)

 

Fragile-ly,

The Dylaness

[JaneBP]

I am still trying to understand why the use of the terms "masses' is being contrued as perjorative. It seems to me that it really is a descriptive rather than judgemental term.You could have a mass of lords!

 

In addition, and perhaps at the end of this discussion, the advertising of cruise lines refers to the 'mass market' lines.

[kathy16]

We usually like to go to dinner around 7:15- 7:30. We have been on Oceania, Regent, and Windstar which offers "open dining" too- and we love it. Does SB get relatively crowded for dinner when the dining room opens- and what time does the after dinner entertainment usually start? I am leaving for my trip in less than 2 weeks and I am so excited!!!

Kathy

[johnnycruise]

To be honest, if dining at 6:30 pm in the main dining room is important to you, Seabourn would not be your first choice in cruise lines. Others have given you the various options to tide you over until 7:30 pm, but that won't change the fact that the dining room doors will be closed at your desired time.

 

Dinner is one of the highlights of the day's social activities on Seabourn. Most guests dress elegantly and enjoy a professionally presented 2+ hour gourmet meal commencing at 7:30 pm (or a bit later), accompanied by (usually) intriguing conversation with their fellow guests or their significant other.

 

This is not for everyone, so it's an important consideration when planning your next vacation. Seabourn's "pros" significantly outweigh its "cons," but a 6:00 or 6:30 pm dinner in the Restaurant is not an option; if it's a dealbreaker, there are many other wonderful (though not as wonderful as Seabourn;)) cruise options available.

 

johnny

[lord of the seas]

We usually like to go to dinner around 7:15- 7:30. We have been on Oceania, Regent, and Windstar which offers "open dining" too- and we love it. Does SB get relatively crowded for dinner when the dining room opens- and what time does the after dinner entertainment usually start? I am leaving for my trip in less than 2 weeks and I am so excited!!!

Kathy

 

Hello Kathy and welcome to the Seabourn board.

The restaurant starts to get busy after 7.30 as a lot of the hosted tables,by which I mean that the captain,staff captain,cruise director and entertainment staff invite guests and host a table for the evening.If you are invited to one of these tables it can make for an interesting evening.You can ofcourse decline the offer without feeling bad about it,there will always be others that are only too glad to take your place.

These hosted tables are a great way for single sailors to get involved and not feel left out on a table for one.The restaurant remains busy until just before 10pm which is when the show or performance starts.My preference is to go to dinner at 8.30pm which still gets me finished by 10pm if there is a show that I really want to see,if not then dinner can go on until 11pm.

you will have a great time onboard a Seabourn ship and you can do exactly what you want without being regimented by restaurant times as you are on some other lines.

[rafinmd]

I am still trying to understand why the use of the terms "masses' is being contrued as perjorative. It seems to me that it really is a descriptive rather than judgemental term.You could have a mass of lords!

 

I hope I don't run on too much here, and I'll try to eventually get to the point. I'll start with an excerpt from a posting I put on the Crystal forum:

 

I consider myself a most unlikely loyalist to Crystal Cruises. Actually, I've sailed with many companies, and there are two [American Canadian Caribbean Lines(ACCL) and Crystal] that I've chosen to go back to again and again, and they're pretty much polar opposites. People on this forum will be familiar with Crystal and it's moderately large, elegant ships, formal atmosphere, super luxury, and lavish stage shows. ACCL uses lilliputian ships and cabins, the company probably has never owned a white glove, has no stage shows (or stage), and the creature comforts are somewhere between basic and spartan. Among the few characteristics the lines share are an emphasis on destinations, attractive options for singles, and one that is critical: As soon as I set foot on any of their ships I feel like I'm treated and valued as an individual person.

 

I'll illustrate my impression of "mass-market" with an illustration from my first QMII crossing. In those 6 days I was addressed by name by ONE "crew" person, and it was not a Cunard employee. A vacationing ACCL crew member, making the crossing with his grandparents walked up to me with a hearty "Hello, Mr. Ferguson" On QMII, I enjoyed the crossing, but always felt like an interchangable cog in a big machine, far from "treated and valued as an individual person." This is the way I see mass market, along with ordinary and not distinctive.

 

On to the dining question. I adore the comraderie of the fixed tables on Crystal and Cunard, but that is clearly not the only option. ACCL's plan could objectively be called Southwest style seating (Brits and Europeans, think of EasyJet), but I find the result great. On a typical cruise, I will share a table at least once with every other passenger on the ship and I love it.

 

My experience with Silversea was an unfortunate meeting of reality and expectations. I do usually have an early dinner. Silversea advertising specifically claims. "You may dine when, where and with whom you wish."(directly pasted from their web site). When I boarded and found out that "when you wish" effectively applied to everybody but me, I did not feel "valued and treated as an individual person", and yes, it has on that basis it has become something of a hot button issue for me. I have seen no such claim on Seabourn's web site, Based on the input from this board, I know I won't get exactly what I want in every respect (how often does that happen) but will start off with realistic expectations.

 

I hope I've made a bit of sense here.

[Chairsin]

Well, I can obviously only speak for myself, but other than the stellar warm and personal service onboard perhaps one of the things I most enjoy is the very comfortable comraderie of my fellow passengers from all over the world. Rarely have I met anyone who acted as though they were better than the rest of us and I am sure than many of my fellow passengers are far better off financially than me. Instead I have found my fellow passengers for the most part to be interesting well traveled people to whom traveling well is a high priority. If the dinner hour issue is a deal breaker for someone so be it. But to claim that those trying to describe how differs from other cruise lines are being snotty is ridiculous. I have a friend who loves Crystal because she particularly enjoys the high caliber of the entertainment. I do not get the least bit offended when she insinuates that the entertainment is superior on Crystal.

[wripro]

rafinmd,

 

Much as we Seabournites would love to have you join us on one of its cruises I fear neither Seabourn nor Silversea (nor Regent nor Sea Dream) are the best fit for you. The good thing about assigned seating for you is that you have the early seating option which seems to fit your needs better. Isn't nice that we have options to fit all our needs?