More newbie questions

[Lisacope]

Our Sept 11-18 cruise is our first on Seabourn! Please tolerate some more newbie questions - 

 

1) How do you know which night is dress up night? I'm guessing for a 7 night cruise there is only one

2) We have some OBC that I would like to use for shore excursions - do the shore excursions fill up quickly? It looks like I would have to book them on the ship to use the credit? 

[shyla100]

Hi There is only one formal night on a 7 day cruise , usually it is a sea day.

You can pay for the shore excursions then when on board transfer your OBC over .

Enjoy your trip.

[cruiseej]

You can also book and pay for excursions now. Then when you get aboard, go to Seabourn Square and ask them to refund your credit card and apply the charge to your onboard credit. It takes just a minute or two, and you get the best of both worlds: excursions you want, and using up your onboard credit.

[highplanesdrifters]

It's rare for excursions to fill up before sailing. Exceptions: small expeditions like kayaking or zodiac tours, along with smaller tours like shopping with the chef.  There is usually a limited availability note on the tour description.

[Borna]

1.  Is there a choice of caviar?  Is Beluga available?

 

2.  What other toiletries are available besides Molton Brown?

 

3.  What champagne choices are available?

 

4.  Are there afternoon team trivia games?  Where on the ship is team trivia played?

 

Thanks.

[Isklaar]

44 minutes ago, Borna said:

1.  Is there a choice of caviar?  Is Beluga available?

 

2.  What other toiletries are available besides Molton Brown?

 

3.  What champagne choices are available?

 

4.  Are there afternoon team trivia games?  Where on the ship is team trivia played?

 

Thanks.

 

Disclaimer. My most recent SB cruise was December 2019 to January 2020. 

 

No choice of caviar. Can't help with type as I can't stand it! But am fairly sure it's not Beluga.

 

Toiletries are Molton Brown only for shower gel, body lotion, shampoo and conditioner. There is a choice of hand soaps. L'Occitane and Hermès Orange Verte.

 

Included champagne is Montaudon. Several others on premium wine list. 

 

Trivia venue is The Club. Held at different times. On sea days it's usually around 12 noon, on port days on our last cruise it was at 4.30pm some days and not held on others. Depends on itinerary.

 

 

 

 

 

[Isklaar]

Caviar:

 

https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/partnerships/partnerships-sterling-caviar.html

[A Tucson Guy]

1 hour ago, Isklaar said:

Caviar:

 

https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/partnerships/partnerships-sterling-caviar.html

Not Beluga but a decent mid range caviar at $90 an ounce. 

[adolfo2]

On 7/8/2021 at 9:57 PM, shyla100 said:

Hi There is only one formal night on a 7 day cruise , usually it is a sea day.

You can pay for the shore excursions then when on board transfer your OBC over .

Enjoy your trip.

I've never understood why one can't use their OBC straight away to pay for excursions RATHER than creating additional work for staff at embarkation 😞 

[cruiseej]

10 hours ago, adolfo2 said:

I've never understood why one can't use their OBC straight away to pay for excursions RATHER than creating additional work for staff at embarkation 😞 

 

Silversea seems to have a much better system: you can book excursions in advance, but you are only charged at the end of your cruise -- so all your onboard credit is factored in and you're only being charged once for your final balance. That's certainly simpler than paying in advance and having to go through the exchange/refund process in Seabourn Square; it saves time for the passenger and for the crew, and probably saves them a few bucks in credit card transaction fees.

[frantic36]

27 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

 

Silversea seems to have a much better system: you can book excursions in advance, but you are only charged at the end of your cruise -- so all your onboard credit is factored in and you're only being charged once for your final balance. That's certainly simpler than paying in advance and having to go through the exchange/refund process in Seabourn Square; it saves time for the passenger and for the crew, and probably saves them a few bucks in credit card transaction fees.

 

 

Seabourn used to use this system a few years ago but I gather some people would book out tours as they had a lot of onboard credit. But would then cancel when they boarded as they decided not to bother. This would mean either some tours had to be cancelled due to low participants or Seabourn wouldn't cover costs with the tour guides. It also stopped someone from doing a tour ie boating or snorkelling they wanted to do because it was booked out prior to boarding but space became available 24 hours before the tour. I know I would have organised an alternative before then so frustrating all round.

 

The rationale is that if you have to pay in advance you are more likely to really want to do the tour and not cancel.

[cruiseej]

22 minutes ago, frantic36 said:

The rationale is that if you have to pay in advance you are more likely to really want to do the tour and not cancel.

 

But of course you can cancel aboard. 😉

 

I guess I see the logic of getting people to pay upfront to get people invested in the excursions, but I wonder if the statistics show they've significantly reduced cancellations, since it does create more work for everyone. 

[frantic36]

5 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

 

But of course you can cancel aboard. 😉

 

I guess I see the logic of getting people to pay upfront to get people invested in the excursions, but I wonder if the statistics show they've significantly reduced cancellations, since it does create more work for everyone. 

 

You're right you can still cancel once onboard but hopefully people will have thoughtful about their plans😁.  

 

I do know people cancel onboard but unless it is a medical reason if they cancel within a certain time period either 24 or 48 hours prior to the tour they won't get a refund.

[cruiseej]

3 hours ago, frantic36 said:

I do know people cancel onboard but unless it is a medical reason if they cancel within a certain time period either 24 or 48 hours prior to the tour they won't get a refund.

 

They could impose the same rules but bill at the end of thee cruise rather than in advance; that is, if you book an excursion and don't cancel by the deadline (24 or 48 hours in advance), you're charged for the excursion.