Seabourn Spirit Review

4.5 / 5.0
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Wonderful Cruise, Older, Smaller Ship

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on Seabourn Spirit
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brittany12
First Time Cruiser • Age 80s

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Sail Date: Aug 2014
Cabin: Suite

Having sailed on Seabourn before and loved it, we wanted to try one of the smaller Seabourn ships before the transfer to Windstar was completed next year. So we chose this Adriatic itinerary. As far as we are concerned, Seabourn provides the best overall cruise experience today on the high seas, and this, while not up to the standard the larger Seabourn ships provide in several ways, was no exception.

First the differences between sailing on this 25 year old vessel and the newer, larger ships. 200 passengers versus 450. Obviously with the 200 passengers, it is a much more intimate experience all around. And so by the third or fourth day we were addressed personally by most to the crew. But it was not that much worse on the 450 ships either when we sailed them. The loyal Seabourn sailors from these small ships are devastated they are going away.The pool and sun deck space and layout are a big difference. Here on the Spirit the pool is very small and removed from where the deck chairs are located. And there is practically no shaded space under overhangs in the open deck to sit in to avoid the sun. Most people did not care, and the pool was hardly ever used largely because of its inconvenience. The public areas are lacking in size and decoration compared to the newer models, and while Seabourn has kept them up to date with renovations, they are much nicer on the bigger ships. The cabins at 277 sq ft are quite comfortable, but the ship as designed has no verandas, which must have been the custom of the day in 1989 and only large plate glass windows. Some have sliding doors, but no outside space unless one gets the large suites. The bigger ships are 300 sq ft cabins, plus the 65 sq ft verandas, so there is a considerable difference. The bathrooms were double sinked, comfortably sized and very nice. The cabin clothes closet was rather small. The ship sailed comfortably most of the time despite its small size, and only one night was bad, at least for me.

The dining room is smaller, with no wide plate glass windows to view the sea and scenery from, and only portholes, and that does not provide any feeling of being at sea because one cannot really see anything. But the food is very good indeed, with wide choices tastily prepared and attractively served, and the service is marvelous. Never a wait for anything. Excellent choice and quality of complimentary wines served. And champagne. The menu changed constantly, the dishes were high end food equal to if not better than what we find at high end restaurants around the world. Plus, the caviar....oh that caviar. The DR management and captains are amazing, as is the waiting staff is......each and every one, always with the smile and going the extra mile. Always so courteous and gracious. And so personalized. We do not know how Seabourn always manages to hire the very best people for these positions but it does.

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Suite

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