Sell Seabourn to me...........

[SSNORWAY]

I think there is an awful lot of snobbery about the size of the Odyssey, it is hardly the Oasis of the Seas with 450 passengers! We loved the ship when we were on two weeks ago and there were about four or five very well behaved kids who I never saw in the pool once. (and this was during school holidays) These kids were very well behaved and sat with their parents the whole time enjoying the converstaion of their parents and their friends.

 

To be honest the only let down on the trip was the constant nagging of previous Seabourn guests going on about how this and that wasn't like the smaller ships, and one particular lady who spends 9 months of the year moaning about how awful it is that they let people only go on there for a week, lowering the tone. I have my own business and cannot take so many weeks off at one time but I do go on about four cruises a year, and i'm sure that applies to many other potential Seabourn guests.

 

We joined our friends on board who we met on the QM2 last year and recommended Seabourn. They have spent over a hundred nights on the various sisters and said that the food on board and so many other things were better than they had ever had on the smaller ships.

 

For those that know they will not like the bigger ship they are best advised to stick with the smaller ones to keep revenue up on them and avoid the risk of them all being dumped as soon as the two other big sisters arrive.

[4kitties]

are you reading this seabourn execs? Please do something about it or you will lose lots of previously happy guests.

 

I agree completely. Before we discovered Seabourn (over 10+ cruises in a couple of years on Crystal, with too many kids), I searched these Cruise Critic web pages and found other like minded, don't sail with kids, passengers, on Seabourn (one suggested that kids could be useful if there was a "shortage" at the deck BBQ, and another said he found the used towel bins useful for kids!).

 

Kids are fine on Disney. Or Carnival.

 

They are NOT okay on Seabourn. IMHO.

 

PS if Seabourn execs are reading this - we have accrued 100+ days with Seabourn in the last 1.5 years. And we are about to embark again in about a week. And we have another cruise booked after that. And we are going to book 2-3 more cruises onboard - IF you don't over-run the ship with kids.

[Keith1010]

I agree completely. Before we discovered Seabourn (over 10+ cruises in a couple of years on Crystal, with too many kids), I searched these Cruise Critic web pages and found other like minded, don't sail with kids, passengers, on Seabourn (one suggested that kids could be useful if there was a "shortage" at the deck BBQ, and another said he found the used towel bins useful for kids!).

 

Kids are fine on Disney. Or Carnival.

 

They are NOT okay on Seabourn. IMHO.

 

PS if Seabourn execs are reading this - we have accrued 100+ days with Seabourn in the last 1.5 years. And we are about to embark again in about a week. And we have another cruise booked after that. And we are going to book 2-3 more cruises onboard - IF you don't over-run the ship with kids.

 

I do not believe one can expect the cruise line to do much on this except say in pricing. I do not expect that they will say no kids. In the end the parents will make those decisions.

 

I just read on the Silversea board that there were around 30 kids on a recent Silver Cloud sailing.

 

In the end, the parents decided whether or not to bring their children with them. For us, we never would bring our children on a luxury cruise line when they were young. We did not feel that was fair to them but also to the people around them. We also felt the same way about fine restaurants. We would not bring children at young ages to these restaurants because we felt it was not fair to those around them nor to the children.

 

The time of the year and the itinerary will determine how many children are on the ship more than anything else these days. In additon to the size of the ship may play a role as well but that didn't seem to happen in the recent Silver Cloud Cruise.

 

We cruise Crystal often but it is primarily in the winter/spring months so most sailings either have no children or just a handful.

 

Our cruises with Seabourn were in the fall and winter so not a problem with children.

 

We recently came back from our first Silversea Cruise. It was in the summer and in Alaska. I expected children and there were some. It would have surprised me if there weren't any.

 

In the end, the parents will determine whether they take their children. The cruise line will influence it in terms of pricing if they do some type of third passenger promotion.

 

IMHO it is fine to want to cruise with fewer children but to do that I think one has to carefully pick out the itineraries, the size ships and the times of they year to cruise. And IMHO I think it's a personal choice if parents want to take children on a luxury cruise line. Don't misread this. I would never have taken young children on a luxury cruise for the reasons I said. But I do not think the cruise lines should ban children.

 

I realize my view on this might not be popular. Again, I personally prefer to cruise with few children so I pick the cruises accordingly to avoid sailing with many children.

 

Keith

[seapenarth]

Your view will be popular with many but a few will be against. P & O have ships which allow children and others that refuse them. We cruise with Seabourn for many reasons, one of which being there are few or no children on board.

[Jim Avery]

Your view will be popular with many but a few will be against. P & O have ships which allow children and others that refuse them. We cruise with Seabourn for many reasons, one of which being there are few or no children on board.

 

Also Saga, Fred Olsen, several of the river cruise lines prohibit children. I believe Seabourn, as well as SeaDream and the other top shelf lines would do well to reserve a ship or at least numerous sailings as adults only. It really does make a difference.

[wripro]

By reserving one ship for children you get into the question of itineraries. What if SB selects certain itineraries and the parents want to cruise someplace else? You will never be able to please everyone. There is a certain type of person who wants what he wants when he wants it, and if bringing his children along to a totally inappropriate environment just so he can go, others be damned, then he will do that. There is no reasoning with them.

[Roxburgh]

There is a certain type of person who wants what he wants when he wants it, and if bringing his children along to a totally inappropriate environment just so he can go, others be damned, then he will do that. There is no reasoning with them.

 

Yep .... you got it in two easy sentences.

[Keith1010]

Also Saga, Fred Olsen, several of the river cruise lines prohibit children. I believe Seabourn, as well as SeaDream and the other top shelf lines would do well to reserve a ship or at least numerous sailings as adults only. It really does make a difference.

 

Honestly, it's not going to happen.

 

And even if it was a possibility, not in the current economic situation.

 

Keith

[wripro]

There is one way it will happen. If enough of us stop booking Seabourn or Silversea or Crystal (though Crystal is absolutely perfect to all it passengers) and tell them exactly why and that we are informing everyone we know who has ever sailed with them or is considering sailing to avoid booking as well, then they might listen.

 

I know it's a business and they need to attract new clients but it's a business that has been built on a certain premise which has attracted us and if that premise is no longer valid it means they are not interested in my business. I will gladly take it elsewhere.

[Kagehitokiri]

P & O have ships which allow children and others that refuse them.

 

im amazed, considering size. 2/3 child-free >

 

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Arcadia (2388 pax max)

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Artemis (1260 pax max)

 

artemis sold

http://www.gocruisewithjane.co.uk/index.php/2009/09/artemis-to-leave-the-po-fleet/#more-864

 

* replaced by adonia (710 pax max)

http://*****news/po-cruises-to-unveil-700-passenger-adonia-in-2011_a19503674

 

personally, id like to see more offerings like nomade yachting, whether children are allowed or not.