SB vs O which is better?

[ak1004]

3 hours ago, jakes47 said:

We had a very poor experience on our August cruise on Riviera - so much so we cancelled our 32 day, 2025 cruise and have booked with Seabourn.  We like the V suites on SB, more so than the PH on the Riviera.  We have never found O cuisine that special and Seabourn, from memory, was a bit more consistent.  We loved the attention to the small things on SB - like staff remembering your name and drinks preference etc.  We loved the marina days, beach parties, caviar and other special events on SB.  SB seems to attack slightly younger passengers and I love not having to produce my card to buy a drink.

 

 

 

Curious about the poor experience on Riviera - can you elaborate please?

[Croooser]

We have never sailed Seabourn - about to go on O for #6.

 

We recently cancelled a Vista 2024 cruise and replaced it with a Seabourn Encore cruise. Seabourn had a better (for us) itinerary.

 

With respect to Seabourn, one thing we learned so far. Seabourn has a much better flight program than O. You do need to have a booking # to access flight options and pricing, but I was told by Seabourn that they will give you a 3 day grace period before requiring deposit which will generate a booking number.

 

Once you have a Seabourn booking #, you can access flight schedules and pricing online,  far in advance, without dealing with a call center or going through your TA. Flight availability and pricing appears to be dynamic and changes from day to day. No deviation fees that I am aware of. We have flights booked already for April 2024. Biz class pricing was very good - much better than we could do directly with the airlines. 

 

Point is that in our case, the gap in pricing between O and Seabourn was decreased considerably by the savings on flight costs. That might not be relevant for some people but it is for us.

 

Also, with the recent changes to O's cancellation policies, Seabourn's policies are much more liberal - later trigger dates for penalties and lower % for comparable timing of cancellations. Not a factor if you have cancel for any reason insurance, but otherwise a consideration.

 

YMMV

Edited October 15, 2023 by Croooser

[ak1004]

47 minutes ago, Croooser said:

We have never sailed Seabourn - about to go on O for #6.

 

We recently cancelled a Vista 2024 cruise and replaced it with a Seabourn Encore cruise. Seabourn had a better (for us) itinerary.

 

With respect to Seabourn, one thing we learned so far. Seabourn has a much better flight program than O. You do need to have a booking # to access flight options and pricing, but I was told by Seabourn that they will give you a 3 day grace period before requiring deposit which will generate a booking number.

 

Once you have a Seabourn booking #, you can access flight schedules and pricing online,  far in advance, without dealing with a call center or going through your TA. Flight availability and pricing appears to be dynamic and changes from day to day. No deviation fees that I am aware of. We have flights booked already for April 2024. Biz class pricing was very good - much better than we could do directly with the airlines. 

 

Point is that in our case, the gap in pricing between O and Seabourn was decreased considerably by the savings on flight costs. That might not be relevant for some people but it is for us.

 

Also, with the recent changes to O's cancellation policies, Seabourn's policies are much more liberal - later trigger dates for penalties and lower % for comparable timing of cancellations. Not a factor if you have cancel for any reason insurance, but otherwise a consideration.

 

YMMV

 

Thank you, this is important information.

 

When the flights become available? We are 333 days before our SB cruise and I cannot see the flights under my SB account.

[Vineyard View]

13 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

Thank you, this is important information.

 

When the flights become available? We are 333 days before our SB cruise and I cannot see the flights under my SB account.

I believe 330 days, but not positive. And I also concur with Crooser.  Their flight program is much better than O or VO. And better pricing than paying market price. Makes up quite a bit for difference in price points, particularly VO (several cruises with), to the point of considerably less cost per day for a far better product in our one experience with SB

Edited October 15, 2023 by Vineyard View

[Hlitner]

You are comparing Apples to Oranges.  Most would call O a premium line while SB is clearly a luxury line. Just the differences in things like space ratios. all inclusive (SB has no drink packages). No tender tickets, never a queue, etc.  We also like that the SB staff do not have the word “no” in their vocabulary.

 

Hank

[ORV]

6 hours ago, jakes47 said:

SB seems to attack slightly younger passengers and I love not having to produce my card to buy a drink.

I don't plan on cruising on SB but if I do I'm glad I'm old since they are only attacking the younger folks. 

Edited October 15, 2023 by ORV

[Vineyard View]

9 minutes ago, ORV said:

I don't plan on cruising on SB but if I do I'm glad I'm old since they are only attacking the younger folks. 

 Not true at all in our experience - only attracting younger folks. On our sailing  there were 2-3 multigenerational families, with the ‘kids’ being maybe mid 20’s (totally chill not partying types) up to grandparents. The rest seemed to range mid-late 50’s, and a nice percentage 60’s-70’s++. It was actually refreshing. And we are in the 60-70’s group. Good group of people. 

[ORV]

Whoosh!

[Vineyard View]

5 minutes ago, ORV said:

Whoosh!

I thought it read “attracting”. My miss. 

[Nachosdelux]

Advantage Oceania:

better food

prettier ship

 

advantage Seaborne:

all inclusive 

better/more personable service

larger room/bathroom 

 

Having done both I would pick SB but my wife would pick O

Edited October 15, 2023 by Nachosdelux

[jakes47]

6 hours ago, ORV said:

I don't plan on cruising on SB but if I do I'm glad I'm old since they are only attacking the younger folks. 

LOL - My Bad!  

But ... I didn't say "only" attract.....  On our last Riveria Cruise, at 67 we felt like we were the younger ones and the activities ranged from needle point to trivia. 

[Queen of DaNile]

1 hour ago, Nachosdelux said:

Advantage Oceania:

better food

prettier ship

 

advantage Seaborne:

all inclusive 

better/more personable service

larger room/bathroom 

 

Having done both I would pick SB but my wife would pick O

Advantage Seabourn:

Walk-in closets in all cabins

En suite bar stocked with spirits of your choice.

Ice buckets that fit in the mini fridge so you always have ice - just my thing.

 

[Cruisemonty]

We sailed on Riviera in the Mediterranean in 2017, hoping to step up to a premium line from Celebrity, but we were disappointed. The drink pours were very skimpy (and we barely drink); the specialty restaurants were fine but did not live up to the hype of the best cuisine at sea; the food in the main dining room was boring and bland; elevator music played everywhere, and entertainment was non-existent. In 2019, we sailed on Crystal Serenity in the Adriatic and it was a very significant step up. It was much more lively than Oceania and the food, including cuisine by Nobu, was much better. We've booked a cruise on new Crystal this spring.

[ak1004]

10 minutes ago, Cruisemonty said:

We sailed on Riviera in the Mediterranean in 2017, hoping to step up to a premium line from Celebrity, but we were disappointed. The drink pours were very skimpy (and we barely drink); the specialty restaurants were fine but did not live up to the hype of the best cuisine at sea; the food in the main dining room was boring and bland; elevator music played everywhere, and entertainment was non-existent. In 2019, we sailed on Crystal Serenity in the Adriatic and it was a very significant step up. It was much more lively than Oceania and the food, including cuisine by Nobu, was much better. We've booked a cruise on new Crystal this spring.

 

We sailed on the Riviera in 2018 and Crystal Symphony in 2019, so could make a close comparison.

 

Entertainment, enrichment and activities were much better on C. Everything else - we did not feel like a significant step up. Food and service comparable (in fact I would give a slight edge to O in food and slight edge to C in service), cabins better on O. Cannot comment on drinks because we don't drink, but agree about entertainment on O. Much less critical on European port intensive sailings.

 

We wanted to give the new C a try, but their prices are a fantasy world. More expensive than SS and SB. The ships now sails 60-70% empty, so most people don't buy the hype at those prices. If they keep those prices, I doubt they will survive more than couples years. I mean, the ships are still 25+ years old and not getting any younger, the basic cabins are still small. Most people cruise for itineraries, and their itineraries are boring and not really inspiring.

[Elbig]

I surprised SB was comparable in price to O. They are usually more - closer to Regent. I think comparing SB and Regent is more appropriate as they are more inclusive. 

[Hokapontas]

On 10/14/2023 at 11:30 AM, stanzy42 said:

We were signed up for the 2024 ATW aboard Insignia - cancellation fee was $500 per person. Maybe a world cruise is more $ to cancel. Food and service appear to be very similar. Don’t think I would rank one higher than the other. We just completed a crossing from Lisbon to Miami aboard the new SB exploration ship, the Pursuit. If you want to walk with the penguins, the Pursuit and the Venture offer amazing adventures to Antartica, the Falklands and South Georgia. Passengers - 254!!

 

How was the stability? I am fine on O ships, but have friends who swear by much bigger ones, for the reason of a calmer feeling. 

[maxamize]

Food better on O

Service better on SB 

Staterooms/Suites design nicer on O layout better on SB 

Smaller crowds on SB

More public spaces and restaurants on O (larger ship) 

 

 

[sunlover12]

12 hours ago, Cruisemonty said:

We sailed on Riviera in the Mediterranean in 2017, hoping to step up to a premium line from Celebrity, but we were disappointed. The drink pours were very skimpy (and we barely drink); the specialty restaurants were fine but did not live up to the hype of the best cuisine at sea; the food in the main dining room was boring and bland; elevator music played everywhere, and entertainment was non-existent. In 2019, we sailed on Crystal Serenity in the Adriatic and it was a very significant step up. It was much more lively than Oceania and the food, including cuisine by Nobu, was much better. We've booked a cruise on new Crystal this spring.

Your 2017 cruise isn’t recent but I am curious about what you said about entertainment being non-existent. There is a show in the lounge every night, among other venues as well.   Regarding elevator music being played everywhere….I wouldn’t classify Eagles and Led Zepplin as “elevator music”.  
 

[ak1004]

Here is the most important question to me: how O compares to SB in terms of times in ports and cancelled ports?

 

Can people who sailed on both share their experience? Does O gave history of more cancelled ports as some people claim?

[FeliciaLee]

14 hours ago, Elbig said:

I surprised SB was comparable in price to O. They are usually more - closer to Regent. I think comparing SB and Regent is more appropriate as they are more inclusive. 

Seems like Seabourn has been dropping in the past 18 months. We had never tried them due to the 7pm+ dining time. But got a good deal at 3k pp, 11 nights (great cruise; prefer Oceania though).

 

Even more recently, I've seen lots of deals in the $2xx pp/pd range and even a few non-repo's in the $100's!!!

[FeliciaLee]

3 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Here is the most important question to me: how O compares to SB in terms of times in ports and cancelled ports?

 

Can people who sailed on both share their experience? Does O gave history of more cancelled ports as some people claim?

For our two Carib cruises:  Seabourn wins hands down in every possible way.

[ak1004]

3 minutes ago, FeliciaLee said:

For our two Carib cruises:  Seabourn wins hands down in every possible way.

Could you elaborate please?

[FeliciaLee]

Just now, ak1004 said:

Could you elaborate please?

This is so subjective and my completely biased take! But since you asked...we spent a long time in every port. Seabourn had to cancel St. Barts, due to weather, but we had been there twice before and we also know that it is canceled quite a lot.

 

Oceania didn't cancel any ports, but cut the time back on all of them. Their private island, Harvest Caye was awesome and we had a great time.

 

Seabourn's private beach experience at St. Kitt's was the best private island experience we've ever had. Everything is included and relatively unlimited.

[ak1004]

47 minutes ago, FeliciaLee said:

This is so subjective and my completely biased take! But since you asked...we spent a long time in every port. Seabourn had to cancel St. Barts, due to weather, but we had been there twice before and we also know that it is canceled quite a lot.

 

Oceania didn't cancel any ports, but cut the time back on all of them. Their private island, Harvest Caye was awesome and we had a great time.

 

Seabourn's private beach experience at St. Kitt's was the best private island experience we've ever had. Everything is included and relatively unlimited.

 

Thank you!

 

What is subjective is your experience, but number of cancelled ports and times in ports is not subjective.

 

I took 2 random 14 nights Caribian itineraries from Miami to Bridgetown. This is what I found out:

 

O:

Sea days: 4

Ports till 5-7pm: 7

Ports till 10-11pm: 2

 

SB:

Sea days: 5

Ports till 5-7pm: 4

Ports till 10-11pm: 4

 

So SB has one more sea day, but 2 more late night stays. Seems comparable overall.

 

And as an exercise, checked comparable itinerary on SS:

SS:

Sea days: 2

Ports till 5-7pm: 6

Ports till 10-11pm: 5

 

So SS has a clear edge (this was our experience in Europe too).

 

[PSahoy]

For me, itinerary is king but that being equal I’d go with Seabourn. The service is personal and exemplary anticipating nearly everything. Food imo is comparable. Cabin size/decor better. The difference in cost is often negligible (proportional to what I’m spending in the first place as a solo). But I really like O’s itineraries and the friendly, extensively well traveled passengers.