Silversea and Seabourn B2B (kind of)

[imcpa]

My wife & I recently cruised Silver Muse for 16 nights from Bali to Yokohama, Japan.  After spending two weeks in Japan, we then cruised Seabourn Odyssey for 23 nights from Kobe, Japan to Vancouver.  These are my silly observations and thoughts in random order.

 

·         This was our fifth SS cruise (Cloud 2010, Spirit 2015 & 2017 and Moon 2022) and fourth SB cruise (Sojourn 2018, Ovation 2022 and Encore 2023).  We will on SB Venture late this year.  We love SS but love SB more now.  It is a better fit for us.

·         The SB cruise was the last leg of the Grand Voyage.  I was told there were 220 on board for that and that 100 people boarded in Kobe when we boarded.  Everyone we spoke with was nice and we never felt like we were invading their party.

·         The worst part of SS ships is the lack of a lively, quality Observation Bar.  The worst part of SB ships is the lack of a quality outdoor running track.  We use the gym every day.  I ran outdoors on SS many days, but never did on SB.

·         The worst part of the SB Odyssey class ships is the small gym with a weird layout.  It can easily seem crowded.  Lucky for us on this cruise, we were the only ones in there most days.  The gym on Ovation/Encore is a huge improvement.  We do tend to go to the gym at odd times compared to others.

·         We loved the SB sail away events.  SS did nothing similar. 

·         From the outside looking in, I think SB has the coolest looking ships. 

·         The SS cruise director was Bob (don’t recall his last name).  He was rarely seen around.  The SB CD was John Baron.  He was easy to talk to and visible every day as were many of the SB officers and entertainment staff.  Not so much on SS.

·         The captain on each cruise was visible most days and easy to talk to.  The SB captain was more outgoing in that he would approach people to start a conversation.

·         The guitarist (a big deal for me) on SS was good but used too much backing tracks.  The piano player on SS was terrible with a worse voice.  I still can’t believe SS hired him.

·         Mike Lee was the entertainer in the SB Observation Lounge and was excellent.  The trio in The Club was excellent too.

·         Jobert on SS was the best butler we have ever had (including two Crystal cruises with a butler).  Our suite attendants on SB did a great job and were friendly.

·         On both cruises, we used room service for a simple, light breakfast.  It was nice having the butler deliver it on SS, but the room service staff on SB are excellent too. 

·         On SS, we ate most of our lunches at La Terrazza and had a standing order of plain salmon wraps with the salmon cooked well done and blackened and a side of steamed broccoli instead of fries.  It was always delivered timely and tasted great and we also would sample some food on the buffet.  We dined outside as much as possible.

·         On SB, we ate most of our lunches at Colonnade and had a standing order for a veggie burger (Impossible Burger) served plain and cooked well done with steamed broccoli instead of fries.  It was always delivered timely and tasted great and we also would sample some food on the buffet.  We thought the food quality and variety was better on SB than SS.  We dined outside as much as possible, many times with multiple blankets and had the whole area to ourselves.

·         On both cruises, we ate most of our dinners in the MDR (Atlantide on SS).  For both, we had a standing order of grill salmon cooked well done and blackened with a side of steamed veggies (extra veggies).  Both did a great job with dinner and service was great in both.

·         On SB, we dined at TK Grill (since it is still on Odyssey) five times.  We ordered the excellent crab cakes as our appetizer then again as our entrée.  Service was always great.

·         We ate a few dinners at Hot Rocks on SS but had the same standing order and had them do all the cooking in the back.

·         Put me in the category of those who think SS has too many informal nights (vs casual), especially on warm weather cruises.  A nice pair of slacks and a nice, collared shirt should be enough most nights.

·         We had a standard balcony suite on each cruise.  The SS suite was great but I prefer the layout of SB suites.  I love having the fridge and extra drawers/storage stacked on both sides of the suite between the sleeping area and the living area.  With this layout, there is also a large couch and dining table.

·         On SS Muse, I think the idea of the TVs in the mirrors is a great idea.  There is one in front of the bed and one on the living area.  When they are off, you see nothing but a mirror.

·         On SS Muse, I hated the TVs in the mirror.  The remote was very iffy and if there was any light coming into the suite it created a terrible glare on the screen.    

·         IMO, SB should stop the CD morning announcements at 9:30 AM to go over the highlights for the day (as if we can’t read the paper Herald, read it on our TV or read it on our phone).  

·         It seems SS has a new policy (at least on this cruise) for serving champagne at La Terrazza during lunch.  Instead of keeping a bottle in the ice buckets outside, they kept it at Silver Note.   When we would order a glass of champagne (which we did every lunch), it seemed to take close to 10 minutes to arrive and even then, the glass was barely half full.  After finishing that, it seemed to take many more minutes to get a new glass that was barely half full.  After a few days of minor frustration, I trained Rodger and Jayson (two great Sommeliers) to just grab a new, cold bottle and bring it to the ice buckets as soon as we entered La Terrazza.  They then did a great job of keeping the glasses full.

·         We did two included excursions on SS and they were adequate.  We did not do any SB excursions.

·         SB did an officer Q&A (including the captain) on the Venetian lounge one day and it was very interesting and fun.  I don’t recall this on prior cruises.

·         Both cruises had a guest comedian do two shows and we enjoyed all of them.  The other guest entertainers on SS were OK and the other guest entertainers on SB were good to great.

 

That’s all for now. I may add more if I think of more worth adding.  We loved both cruises and hope to cruise SS again (as well as Regent) and new Crystal for a first time (since we loved old Crystal).

[fdnycruiser]

Good objective review on both lines. We’ve sailed over 100 days on both with pros and cons with both. However, we prefer the newer SS Moon & Dawn with the variety of different dining choices. We were on the SS Nova last fall. Beautiful ship, but at 750 passengers, no longer small ship cruising.

[pavementends]

Thanks for the thoughtful review- although less useful for those of us who eat something different every day.

[notjaded]

On 5/18/2024 at 6:51 AM, imcpa said:

My wife & I recently cruised Silver Muse for 16 nights from Bali to Yokohama, Japan.  After spending two weeks in Japan, we then cruised Seabourn Odyssey for 23 nights from Kobe, Japan to Vancouver.  These are my silly observations and thoughts in random order.

 

·         This was our fifth SS cruise (Cloud 2010, Spirit 2015 & 2017 and Moon 2022) and fourth SB cruise (Sojourn 2018, Ovation 2022 and Encore 2023).  We will on SB Venture late this year.  We love SS but love SB more now.  It is a better fit for us.

·         The SB cruise was the last leg of the Grand Voyage.  I was told there were 220 on board for that and that 100 people boarded in Kobe when we boarded.  Everyone we spoke with was nice and we never felt like we were invading their party.

·         The worst part of SS ships is the lack of a lively, quality Observation Bar.  The worst part of SB ships is the lack of a quality outdoor running track.  We use the gym every day.  I ran outdoors on SS many days, but never did on SB.

·         The worst part of the SB Odyssey class ships is the small gym with a weird layout.  It can easily seem crowded.  Lucky for us on this cruise, we were the only ones in there most days.  The gym on Ovation/Encore is a huge improvement.  We do tend to go to the gym at odd times compared to others.

·         We loved the SB sail away events.  SS did nothing similar. 

·         From the outside looking in, I think SB has the coolest looking ships. 

·         The SS cruise director was Bob (don’t recall his last name).  He was rarely seen around.  The SB CD was John Baron.  He was easy to talk to and visible every day as were many of the SB officers and entertainment staff.  Not so much on SS.

·         The captain on each cruise was visible most days and easy to talk to.  The SB captain was more outgoing in that he would approach people to start a conversation.

·         The guitarist (a big deal for me) on SS was good but used too much backing tracks.  The piano player on SS was terrible with a worse voice.  I still can’t believe SS hired him.

·         Mike Lee was the entertainer in the SB Observation Lounge and was excellent.  The trio in The Club was excellent too.

·         Jobert on SS was the best butler we have ever had (including two Crystal cruises with a butler).  Our suite attendants on SB did a great job and were friendly.

·         On both cruises, we used room service for a simple, light breakfast.  It was nice having the butler deliver it on SS, but the room service staff on SB are excellent too. 

·         On SS, we ate most of our lunches at La Terrazza and had a standing order of plain salmon wraps with the salmon cooked well done and blackened and a side of steamed broccoli instead of fries.  It was always delivered timely and tasted great and we also would sample some food on the buffet.  We dined outside as much as possible.

·         On SB, we ate most of our lunches at Colonnade and had a standing order for a veggie burger (Impossible Burger) served plain and cooked well done with steamed broccoli instead of fries.  It was always delivered timely and tasted great and we also would sample some food on the buffet.  We thought the food quality and variety was better on SB than SS.  We dined outside as much as possible, many times with multiple blankets and had the whole area to ourselves.

·         On both cruises, we ate most of our dinners in the MDR (Atlantide on SS).  For both, we had a standing order of grill salmon cooked well done and blackened with a side of steamed veggies (extra veggies).  Both did a great job with dinner and service was great in both.

·         On SB, we dined at TK Grill (since it is still on Odyssey) five times.  We ordered the excellent crab cakes as our appetizer then again as our entrée.  Service was always great.

·         We ate a few dinners at Hot Rocks on SS but had the same standing order and had them do all the cooking in the back.

·         Put me in the category of those who think SS has too many informal nights (vs casual), especially on warm weather cruises.  A nice pair of slacks and a nice, collared shirt should be enough most nights.

·         We had a standard balcony suite on each cruise.  The SS suite was great but I prefer the layout of SB suites.  I love having the fridge and extra drawers/storage stacked on both sides of the suite between the sleeping area and the living area.  With this layout, there is also a large couch and dining table.

·         On SS Muse, I think the idea of the TVs in the mirrors is a great idea.  There is one in front of the bed and one on the living area.  When they are off, you see nothing but a mirror.

·         On SS Muse, I hated the TVs in the mirror.  The remote was very iffy and if there was any light coming into the suite it created a terrible glare on the screen.    

·         IMO, SB should stop the CD morning announcements at 9:30 AM to go over the highlights for the day (as if we can’t read the paper Herald, read it on our TV or read it on our phone).  

·         It seems SS has a new policy (at least on this cruise) for serving champagne at La Terrazza during lunch.  Instead of keeping a bottle in the ice buckets outside, they kept it at Silver Note.   When we would order a glass of champagne (which we did every lunch), it seemed to take close to 10 minutes to arrive and even then, the glass was barely half full.  After finishing that, it seemed to take many more minutes to get a new glass that was barely half full.  After a few days of minor frustration, I trained Rodger and Jayson (two great Sommeliers) to just grab a new, cold bottle and bring it to the ice buckets as soon as we entered La Terrazza.  They then did a great job of keeping the glasses full.

·         We did two included excursions on SS and they were adequate.  We did not do any SB excursions.

·         SB did an officer Q&A (including the captain) on the Venetian lounge one day and it was very interesting and fun.  I don’t recall this on prior cruises.

·         Both cruises had a guest comedian do two shows and we enjoyed all of them.  The other guest entertainers on SS were OK and the other guest entertainers on SB were good to great.

 

That’s all for now. I may add more if I think of more worth adding.  We loved both cruises and hope to cruise SS again (as well as Regent) and new Crystal for a first time (since we loved old Crystal).

 

Thanks for your post. I am curious about what time was your schedule Yokohama arrival and what time were you able to debark? I'm trying to decide on what time to schedule an intra-Japan flight from Haneda, with a private car bringing us to the airport.

 

Thank you!

 

[imcpa]

I am curious about what time was your schedule Yokohama arrival and what time were you able to debark?

 

It was either 7am or 8am.  We stayed at a hotel in Yokohama after the cruise, so we stayed on the ship as long as we could.  I don't recall any delays that day but of course they are always possible.