Seabourne...ugh

[JLNug]

I tried Seabourne for the first time in March. I will have to say I was disappointed. Service in the dining room could use improvement and the casino staff was absolutely rude. The cabins are great and the sky bar was nice. Maybe my expectations were too high. I think I will stick with Crystal for future cruises.

["Wandering Wino's&quo]

I tried Seabourne for the first time in March. I will have to say I was disappointed. Service in the dining room could use improvement and the casino staff was absolutely rude. The cabins are great and the sky bar was nice. Maybe my expectations were too high. I think I will stick with Crystal for future cruises.

 

:rolleyes:Guess that's why there are more then one cruiseline. One size just won't fit everyone's needs.

We were also on our 1st Seabourn cruise this past March and Seabourn more then exceeded our expectations. Was everything perfect, no, but what is in life? We are planning and plotting our next adventure right now on Seabourn.

[Host Dan]

I tried Seabourne for the first time in March. I will have to say I was disappointed. Service in the dining room could use improvement and the casino staff was absolutely rude. The cabins are great and the sky bar was nice. Maybe my expectations were too high. I think I will stick with Crystal for future cruises.

Thats sad to hear... It seems from your post that the major problem was casino staff. As the casino staff is outsourced on most all cruiselines, you could run into the same problem on Crystal!

 

Host Dan

 

PS How was your upgraded suite??

[Keith1010]

Host Dan, Crystal's casino staff is inside. The used to have Caesar's run the Casino but a few years ago after Caeasar's was bought and decided that the didn't want to run an operation at sea, Crystal brought this in-house.

 

JLNug, I am sorry to hear that your Seabourn cruise did not meet your expectations.

 

Keith

[Host Dan]

Thanks for the clarification Keith. I forgot that fact!

 

Host Dan

[JaneBP]

Which Seabourn ship were you on?

[FKGirl]

I'm also curious as to the ship (and itinerary). We just got off the Spirit last Saturday and I have to say, my expectations were really high and they were met, and usually exceeded. I cannot wait to sail Seabourn again.

[Roxburgh]

I tried Seabourne for the first time in March. I will have to say I was disappointed. Service in the dining room could use improvement and the casino staff was absolutely rude. The cabins are great and the sky bar was nice. Maybe my expectations were too high. I think I will stick with Crystal for future cruises.

 

In my view, this kind of post lacks credibility. No details of the ship or the dates (other than the month) and no specifics with regard to what aspects of the dining room service were lacking or in what way the casino staff were rude.

 

Oh, and it is "Seabourn" and not "Seabourne".

[donjavier]

I'm also curious as to the ship (and itinerary). We just got off the Spirit last Saturday and I have to say, my expectations were really high and they were met, and usually exceeded. I cannot wait to sail Seabourn again.

Dear Mona Lisa

we are due to sail on the seabourn spirit next week the 26th june from rome and am a little apprehensive in view of the mixed reviews as this is our first on seabourn-can you give us some encouragement from your own experience

 

many thanks

 

don javier

[rl787]

I have never been on Crystal but the vast majority of people who have been on Crystal, Seabourn, Sea Dream and Silversea's generally feel that all four are good quality cruises. I agree most do have their favourites. The OP seems to me to be a little over the top with their view, most passengers rate the Seabourn service as excellent, it may be a tad below Crystal I don't know..... Personally I like the Freedom Dining that Seabourn has offered for years rather than the Crystal approach of fixed times but maybe now that Crystal has adopted Seabourn's open seating their service may not meet the OP's expectations in future.......As regard rude Casino staff, my experience has found that sadly in many cases when a client looses their money they sometimes get a little upset and feel it is due to bad service from the croupier......I wonder if anyone else has ever seen this happen in casinos also?

Maybe on reflection the OP may now feel that Seabourn was generally very good but just not their preferred cruise line of choice.

[FKGirl]

Dear Mona Lisa

we are due to sail on the seabourn spirit next week the 26th june from rome and am a little apprehensive in view of the mixed reviews as this is our first on seabourn-can you give us some encouragement from your own experience

 

many thanks

 

don javier

 

Don,

 

Our experience was amazing. I will write a full review, and am reviewing day by day on my blog starting yesterday (http://www.floridakeysgirl.com) . Passengers and staff were all friendly and respectful. Food was great. Service was absurdly good.

 

I will be happy to answer specific questions if you send them my way. I think that if you expect every single staff member to know your name by the time you embark, you may be disappointed, but otherwise I don't see how you could be. IT WAS WONDERFUL. There is a reason our trivia team was called the Seabourn Addicts.

[wripro]

rl787,

 

Crystal has NOT adopted Seabourn's open seating in any way, shape or form. They have instituted what they call flexible dining. This means that you can reserve a table at a non assigned time two months or so before your cruise. Who knows when they want to dine two months later? Or if there's something available they might fit you in. This is not open seating. There is no spontaneity. It is a marketing gimmick so that they can try to compete and attract those who prefer open seating. It's like their "As you Wish" OBCs which are supposed to compete with all inclusive. In truth they do not because you still have to sign for drinks and wine and when in a group there is always the uncomfortable decision of who pays and someone is still going to have to pony up money from his OBC.

[lord of the seas]

If you look at the other posts(all three of them) from this poster,you will see that they are or say they are on the Crystal Serenity in two days time.

 

The alarm bells ring when a negative poster can't even spell the name of the cruise line that they are supposed to have sailed with.

[Keith1010]

I think folks are reading into this too much.

 

I have met folks who have sailed on Crystal for the very first time after having sailed on Seabourn and it just didn't work for them. And I have some friends who have sailed on Seabourn and sailed on Crystal for the very first time and enjoyed it and have or will come back for additional cruises.

 

Likewise, I know folks who sailed on Crystal and saiiled on Seabourn and did't care for it and i know others who sailed on Crystal and enjoyed Seabourn and continue to sail on both.

 

And I'm just using Crystal as an example since that is the line the OP mentioned for comparison. I can give the same examples involving many of the luxury lines from Regent to Silversea to Seadream and so forth.

 

I just think speculating does not do any good nor do I think putting down someone for their post adds any value.

 

I have yet to see any cruise line, any hotel, any restaurant, any automobile get 100% perfect reviews from everyone and often even if they receive lots of glowing reviews others come away with a different experience.

 

Keith

[lord of the seas]

Yes Keith,we all have stories about cruise line versus cruise line, good. bad.ugly.

 

did this post not strike you as a little odd,and no reply too.

I like Crystal and think that it is a good product, but not with the amount of guests onboard.

[Keith1010]

Actually I didn't find the post to be odd.

 

The person was just saying that they were disappointed with the service in the dining room and that they were not treated well in the casino and that maybe there expecations were not high. These things do happen and the bottom line is whether others have had the same experience or not this is the experience that the OP claims to have had.

 

I happen to like both Crystal and Seabourn. I think they both have outstanding service and yes their products have similarities and differences of which many of the differences are driven by the size of their respective ships.

 

But as much as I have enjoyed both cruise lines I realize that not every person sees things the same way I do or that there might be moments that someones experiences service that for whatever reason is not typical of what we normally have received which can happen even with the most perfect product(s)

 

Keith

[TLCOhio]

I think folks are reading into this too much.

I have met folks who have sailed on Crystal for the very first time after having sailed on Seabourn and it just didn't work for them. And I have some friends who have sailed on Seabourn and sailed on Crystal for the very first time and enjoyed it and have or will come back for additional cruises.

Likewise, I know folks who sailed on Crystal and saiiled on Seabourn and did't care for it and i know others who sailed on Crystal and enjoyed Seabourn and continue to sail on both.

And I'm just using Crystal as an example since that is the line the OP mentioned for comparison. I can give the same examples involving many of the luxury lines from Regent to Silversea to Seadream and so forth.

I just think speculating does not do any good nor do I think putting down someone for their post adds any value.

I have yet to see any cruise line, any hotel, any restaurant, any automobile get 100% perfect reviews from everyone and often even if they receive lots of glowing reviews others come away with a different experience. Keith

 

As always, Keith summarized many key points well. We have only done two cruises. Late June 2006 on 204-passenger Seabourn Spirit, Athens to Istanbul, enjoying the Greek Isles over seven days. Then late July 2008 on the 940-passenger Crystal Symphony, Dover to Stockholm, enjoying the Baltics and Russia. We are now getting ready for July 1-16 on the 296-passenger Silver Cloud from Copenhagen seeing the Norway Coast, fjords, above the Arctic Circle, Land of the Midnight Sun, etc.

 

Both Seabourn and Crystal do very, very well. Neither is perfect, especially if you are looking for some little points to pick about. In another month, we will be able to compare all three. Each is different in size and offerings. For us, much is about the itineraries, values offered at the time, fitting our schedules, etc. Much also depends on what size you like and how that factor affects offerings and variety in ship dining options, speakers, programs, etc. As Keith says often . . . it is good to have options.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[Roxburgh]

If you look at the other posts(all three of them) from this poster,you will see that they are or say they are on the Crystal Serenity in two days time.

 

The alarm bells ring when a negative poster can't even spell the name of the cruise line that they are supposed to have sailed with.

 

I had the same reaction as you

[ging466]

I had the same reaction as you

 

Me too, especially when I saw the title and the incorrect spelling of the cruiseline:eek:

 

Cheers

ging466

[jam52]

I have sailed on both Crystal and Seabourn and enjoyed both of them. I liked the food and all the amenities of the larger ship. Signing all the bar tickets was not all that problematic. It would have been even easier if the As You Wish program were in effect then. However, it would have been a bit of a problem with signing tickets for groups of casual acquaintances. I was wowed by Seabourn and that is probably my line of choice. I do think, however, that on a prolonged excursion such as a World cruise, Crystal might be the better choice because of the larger variety of onboard activities.

[johnnycruise]

If you look at the other posts(all three of them) from this poster,you will see that they are or say they are on the Crystal Serenity in two days time.

 

The alarm bells ring when a negative poster can't even spell the name of the cruise line that they are supposed to have sailed with.

 

Would appear to be a "drive-by" posting. Maybe the OP did not receive the right number of Seeborn luggage tags.:confused:

[PeaSea8ch]

Oh, and it is "Seabourn" and not "Seabourne".

 

The alarm bells ring when a negative poster can't even spell the name of the cruise line that they are supposed to have sailed with.

 

In all fairness to the OP, I have experienced problems with Microsoft and other spell checkers that when I type "Seabourn" it either "auto corrects" (automatically changes without asking) to "Seabourne" or flags the word as misspelled and suggests correcting it to "Seabourne." This drove me batty with annoyance. After adding "Seabourn" to my personal dictionary, the problem vanished.

 

I do agree with others that the details are sketchy; however, perhaps when the OP returns home from the Crystal Serenity, they can provide details and comparisons as to why their Seabourn review as compared to Crystal is a simple ugh.

[Keith1010]

I see no reason to put someone down because of spelling. Given the responses that have been provided already, I wonder how many people if they were in the shoes of the OP would now provide more details for fear that if they are already being put down for their spelling what will happen next. This reminds me of a thread on the Silversea about a couple of months ago.

 

While the OP didn't provide many details, and while what was provided doesn't seem to be consistent with what others (myself included) have experienced with Seabourn, this was their observation/experience. And, while most folks we know who have sailed Seabourn love it, you'll never find consensus all of the time on anything and there are times on each and every cruise line (including luxury cruise lines) where things go wrong for whatever reason and it sometimes happens on ones first cruise where they have no other comparisons.

 

Anway, I never understand why it is necessary when someones sees things differently than others that they need to be put down for something as trivial as how they spelled the name of the cruise line. The OP is certainly not the first to mispell items (I do it all the time because I type too fast), and they won't be the last. Give the OP a break.

 

Keith

[Host Dan]

I see no reason to put someone down because of spelling. The OP is certainly not the first to mispell items (I do it all the time because I type too fast), and they won't be the last. Give the OP a break.

 

Keith

I agree Keith... Thanks for posting. Its unfortunate that some have to go right to the jugular.. (not very "classy" in my book)

 

Host Dan

[Kizmet]

s

I see no reason to put someone down because of spelling. Given the responses that have been provided already, I wonder how many people if they were in the shoes of the OP would now provide more details for fear that if they are already being put down for their spelling what will happen next.

 

Thank you for your civility, Keith. I am new to this board and was getting kind of afraid to post anything. People have diffenent opinions, that doesn't make them right or wrong. Only different.

 

I have traveled on many of the cruiselines and find nothing is perfect. One must find the cruiseline that works best for them. Although we can afford it, we still look for value for the service provided.

 

Crystal offers excellent service and food, though larger ships and less intimate experience. My one Silver Seas experience was affected by a whole new crew due to experienced help being transfered to another new ship. Perhaps OP may have had a similiar outlying experience. Of course, what one gets out of any experience depends on how you enter it.

 

We are very much looking forward to our first Seabourn(e) experience.