Sea Days - Experiences

[Zele]

We are refugees from Crystal.

 

We have always preferred voyages with many sea days as on Crystal there was always something to hear, see or participate in with ample space and time to just relax elsewhere with a good book from a well stocked library.

 

We have never sailed on Seabourn and would like to hear comments from Seabourn regulars about sea days on Seabourn, particularly Encore and Ovation.

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

On sea days, there is plenty to do on SB.  SB offers decent enrichment lectures, just like Crystal did. There is a spa (reserve sea days in advance) and a gym and a pool, and hot tubs, just like on Crystal. There are in-room movies (but you can also pre-download movies before the cruise from home to play off your TV). Evenings will have a main show (dancers, comedian, singers, etc. -- smaller group than on Crystal, however), plus small lounge music groups. Pre-Covid, people would also hang out at the communal Seabourn Square, for chatting , dealing with travel and logistics, eating cake, drinking espresso, etc. 

There is trivial pursuit, and some people play bridge, or gamble.  Pre-Covid, there were bridge and galley tours.

Internet is better than on the Crystal ocean ships (though still not ideal), and through that, you can select fom hundreds of thousands of books of your choice to download, and do not  have to rely on a small and relatively limited ship library.  

As SB ships are smaller, they do not have as many "how to" classes as Crystal (such as lessons on picture taking), but there were typically some special evnts.

 

On the more mundane side:

You can also do your laundry, or figure out how to best stuff one bag to get more than $50 worth into one unlimited bag 🙂

DH also used the time to sort digital pictures and videos he had taken on prior days.   

It is also a good time to meet with future cruise consultants.

 

It is hard to be bored on a SB sea day, if you enjoy being at sea,  unless you require stimulation from a constant Vegas-like atmosphere. 

 

I haven't been on SB, with sea days, since Covid, so I am not sure what has changed.

 

 

[gwesq]

5 hours ago, Zele said:

We are refugees from Crystal.

 

We have always preferred voyages with many sea days as on Crystal there was always something to hear, see or participate in with ample space and time to just relax elsewhere with a good book from a well stocked library.

 

We have never sailed on Seabourn and would like to hear comments from Seabourn regulars about sea days on Seabourn, particularly Encore and Ovation.

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

 

 

 

DITTO!!!!

 

Perhaps people could post some of the Seabourn daily schedules on here.  It owuld be very helpful.

Thanks

[nancygp]

 

40 minutes ago, gwesq said:

DITTO!!!!

 

Perhaps people could post some of the Seabourn daily schedules on here.  It owuld be very helpful.

Thanks

I did on this thread but no reply!!!
 

Nancy

[FlyingScotSailors]

Nancy, we replied just now.

[nancygp]

11 hours ago, FlyingScotSailors said:

Nancy, we replied just now.

Thank you…very helpful info.

 

Nancy

[bitob]

Fellow Crystallites:

 

I have sailed on Seabourn 3 times

There are many good things about Seabourn.  We have another cruise booked with them.

But do not expect the daily activities (other than on their Antarctica cruise)or entertainment  to come close to what you are accustomed to on Crystal.

Set your expectations correctly and you will not be disappointed.

 

BTW -- trivia is WAY better on Seabourn!!!  So is the coffee.  You will love Seabourn Square.

 

 

Edited February 15, 2022 by bitob

[travelwell]

I second Trivia. Great fun. The team my DH and I were on won, and a big deal made. We each got a full sized Seabourn stuffed bear. That night we all shared a table at the restaurant, such fun. Other teams did the same. The game was very congenial, groups got to know each other.  The more sea days the more fun.

 

 

 

[Heather White]

9 minutes ago, travelwell said:

I second Trivia. Great fun. The team my DH and I were on won, and a big deal made. We each got a full sized Seabourn stuffed bear. That night we all shared a table at the restaurant, such fun. Other teams did the same. The game was very congenial, groups got to know each other.  The more sea days the more fun.

 

 

 

I second that. Not only is it fun but a great way to get to know other people. It had to be suspended on our last cruise in October because of a few Covid cases, so I'm not sure of the situation at present.

[rkacruiser]

11 hours ago, travelwell said:

I second Trivia. Great fun.

 

Agree; it's fun and it's a good way of meeting fellow cruisers.  But, for some, it becomes a very serious sport.  On one long cruise that I sailed, someone stole the CD's trivia materials.  The gentleman had to go online in order to have a new game for us each day. 

[Zele]

Thank you everybody for your comments especially about trivia which is one of the reasons we prefer sea days.  

 

We have met many wonderful people playing trivia on Crystal and now look forward to 'competing' on Encore from Dubai to Piraeus in 2023 but not getting injured in doing so.

 

On our last voyage with Crystal I pulled a leg muscle moving a chair during trivial pursuits, possibly the worlds first such injury at trivial pursuits.       

[tv24]

Catlover provided an excellent summary of sea day activities. My only suggestion is to order champagne for the day you do your laundry.

[Jaq66]

On 2/14/2022 at 4:45 PM, Catlover54 said:

On sea days, there is plenty to do on SB.  SB offers decent enrichment lectures, just like Crystal did. There is a spa (reserve sea days in advance) and a gym and a pool, and hot tubs, just like on Crystal. There are in-room movies (but you can also pre-download movies before the cruise from home to play off your TV). Evenings will have a main show (dancers, comedian, singers, etc. -- smaller group than on Crystal, however), plus small lounge music groups. Pre-Covid, people would also hang out at the communal Seabourn Square, for chatting , dealing with travel and logistics, eating cake, drinking espresso, etc. 

There is trivial pursuit, and some people play bridge, or gamble.  Pre-Covid, there were bridge and galley tours.

Internet is better than on the Crystal ocean ships (though still not ideal), and through that, you can select fom hundreds of thousands of books of your choice to download, and do not  have to rely on a small and relatively limited ship library.  

As SB ships are smaller, they do not have as many "how to" classes as Crystal (such as lessons on picture taking), but there were typically some special evnts.

 

On the more mundane side:

You can also do your laundry, or figure out how to best stuff one bag to get more than $50 worth into one unlimited bag 🙂

DH also used the time to sort digital pictures and videos he had taken on prior days.   

It is also a good time to meet with future cruise consultants.

 

It is hard to be bored on a SB sea day, if you enjoy being at sea,  unless you require stimulation from a constant Vegas-like atmosphere. 

 

I haven't been on SB, with sea days, since Covid, so I am not sure what has changed.

 

 

Hi. Going on my first Seabourn cruise in a couple of weeks and was hoping you could tell us how we can download movies to watch on Tv before going on the cruise.

 

[twochromic]

Plenty of ways to download movies. I buy lots of old movies in the secondhand place and copy them to the computer -- that requires copy techniques beyond the scope of this forum, but it works.

 

The simple and fully legal way is to download Netflix and/or Prime movies to your laptop or tablet, and either watch on that, or take along an HDMI cable and connect to the TV in your suite.

 

[whogo]

You could also watch downloaded movies on your phone like the kids do. I don't watch TV onboard ship, but have done so in airports and on planes. Remember your earphones. I am surprised that I like reading books on my iPhone, perfect for down time waiting in lines or whatever and smaller and lighter than a Kindle.

[fdnycruiser]

On 2/19/2022 at 4:27 PM, tv24 said:

Catlover provided an excellent summary of sea day activities. My only suggestion is to order champagne for the day you do your laundry.

[fdnycruiser]

tv24, great minds think alike 

[tv24]

53 minutes ago, fdnycruiser said:

Bottoms up!

[skybluewaters]

On 1/8/2023 at 9:49 AM, Jaq66 said:

Hi. Going on my first Seabourn cruise in a couple of weeks and was hoping you could tell us how we can download movies to watch on Tv before going on the cruise.

 

Don't forget to check out the movies on demand on the TV in your cabin.  Surprisingly good list of movies.  (As opposed to the surprisingly poor selection of TV news and sports channels).

[tv24]

12 hours ago, skybluewaters said:

 

Don't forget to check out the movies on demand on the TV in your cabin.  Surprisingly good list of movies.  (As opposed to the surprisingly poor selection of TV news and sports channels).

This is one of the best features of the Seabourn stateroom.  If you want to have a lazy evening in your cabin, order in, and then dial up some entertainment among many choices on your TV.  We have never found such a large selection of entertainment on any other cruise line.

[cadburysmom]

In addition to wonderful speakers and really fun trivia, Ovation also offered a lovely Afternoon Tea service daily in the Observation Lounge.  Tea lover or not, it was a wonderful experience. Amazing views accompanied by live music...loved it!*

 

*FWIW, took a lot of persuading to get Mr. Cadburysmom there the first time but upon discovering other forms of libation readily available, it became his favorite "pre-cocktail" hour cocktail hangout...