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We are a couple late 50s from Toronto, Canada. Looking for a nice escape from the cold for a week and the smaller Caribbean Islands fit the bill perfectly. From the moment we arrived at the port (stayed at local hotel the night before) and were greeted by a smiling reception crew (just a few feet from where our taxi dropped us) we knew this was going to be a “wow”. The Seabourn Odyssey kept up this extraordinary level of service to the very last goodbye after clearing customs on disembarkation. Every one of our needs was eagerly anticipated and offered without having to ask! On arrival day we showed up 2 hours early thinking we may have to wait around. No. They welcomed us on board and hosted a wonderful lunch advising us that room may still take a couple of hours. We actually checked our room early and were delighted to find it was ready and suitcases had already arrived. We were set to go. Never a line up. The cabins are large and very well layed out. Ours (balcony 718) was nice with a beautifully appointed and spotlessly clean bathroom including a bathtub. Absolutely nothing to complain about and the room service was wonderful (thank you to Tanja!). On dining. As expected all meals were a 10. Even the buffet had tremendous selection of beautifully prepared food, lots of seating and never rushed. Always exceptional service and you just could not go long before a server was at your elbow for anything. They would even carry your plate from the buffet to your table. The Grill (featuring the menus of Chef Thomas Keller) was superb. We had an amazing meal with no complaints. One suggestion would be to offer 2 different size portions. It is a shame to have to leave 1/2 a beautiful steak uneaten! Reservations here, however, were another matter. They were always required and difficult to get. We only had one seating using a table of 4 (2 seats sat empty) that could easily have been shared. Many guests complained about this and I wonder whether this was done intentionally to keep up a synthetic demand. Everyone we talked to always mentioned many empty tables yet no waiting list ever offered! Hint to Seabourn...offer a wait list. Even for appearance sake, every table should always be occupied. On entertainment. Again, spotless! Shows exuded talent, were on time, varied, and enjoyable. Really liked Mark Donahue who was a multi-instrumentalist and singer. Did an amazing compilation of Western songs on his violin to a standing ovation. Some downsides. The onboard internet is hopeless. Caution if you are paying by the hour because what would take 5 mins on land took 45 mins onboard. Yes, I know issues with ship internet but I'm also pretty certain this could be improved. One major disappointment and where I think Seabourn blew it. We had several of our excursions cancelled when the ship had to be rerouted due to higher than usual swells which affected safe access to the tenders. This I understand. What was infuriating was to prepare for the excursion, pack night before, retire early, get up early, rush only to get a morning call saying cancelled with NO back up excursions!! What would it have taken to add another bus to another island tour? Nope. We were left 4 days basically walking through the Port area with very little to do. To me, this was so easy to avoid and inexcusable. The one excursion we managed was a "Jeep" tour of Tobago. This was a joke and should be taken off the excursion list. Four vehicles and in ours five of us huddled in the back of a crappy truck with side facing seats, flying down a highway, no seat belts, nothing even to stop us from falling out had we lost our grip, drove through one swampy creek, driver pointed out one lifeless cayman, and 4 hours later we were thankfully back on board. As decent excursions seems like an easy fix, I'm hoping never to have to encounter such experiences again. All considered, we are now Seabourn fans and, depending on itinerary, will now be our go to cruise line. Thanks to a great staff and management. RG Toronto Read Less

Yacht Harbour Cruise Feb 17 2018 Embarkation at Barbados went very smoothly. We arrived at 2pm and were on board, in our suite by 2:45pm, being welcomed by our stewardess with canapés and a bottle of chilled champagne (not sparkling wine,but champagne!) Our bags were delivered by 3:15pm. The suite was lovely. Just like the YouTube videos we had seen. Spacious suite with very comfortable bed. Two club chairs, dining table, couch with foot stool/coffee table. Bring UK adaptors. There are a couple of North American plugs and a couple of UK plugs. We had to run an extension cord across the room for my husband’s CPap. The staff taped down the cord to avoid a tripping hazard . They had no adapters for us to borrow . We travel with an extension cord. The bathroom was lovely too. Double sinks. A separate shower and a soaking tub (no shower in the tub). Plenty of storage space. There is a lovely vanity area with a drawer for cosmetics. There is a walk-in closet which is roomy enough to use as a dressing room. We could have stored clothing etc for a month long cruise and still have drawers, shelves available. By the way, this is suite 648. Just a regular balcony room. The balcony has 2 chairs with footstools and a table. It is cleaned every day - swabbed down, including the glass railing. In general, the food and beverage service was wonderful. The food was excellent in most venues. The Patio was lacking somewhat, but you have other options! The Restaurant was excellent, food and beverage. The Thomas Keller was good, but not hugely superior to the Restaurant. The house wines are great. Many different wines available as part of the basic fare. We opted for wine in our suite and bottles arrived regularly! Lots of water too. One treat that we enjoyed was the caviar and champagne. Order whenever you want. Nice! The fitness facility was very nice as well. The pools were clean. Two pools. Main pool was about 5 feet deep and there is a stairway with a wide stair at about 4’ deep suitable for aqua aerobics. Lots of lounge chairs but hard to get one in the shade at times. The pool on deck 5 is very small, and only 3’6” deep. There are 2 whirlpools here and it is a much quieter choice than the main pool. The only drawback with this is getting a drink. Sometimes no service there, but always water and self serve soft drinks in the cooler . We took this cruise for the ship more than the ports. Frankly, they all blend together in my memory! Some were very sleepy. The weather was so windy that we missed having the marina day with caviar in the surf. This was done in the pool instead. We also had to change our Tobago port due to wind. Didn’t bother us. Bottom line, I highly recommend Seabourn Odyssey. The crew was excellent. The ship well maintained and clean. All as advertised! Read Less

We chose this cruise as we have been meaning to try Seaborn for some time and the itinerary offered some different islands, (even more after the changes because of the hurricanes.) We may well go with Seabourn again, for the right itinerary, but we are by no means 100% converted! We had already notched up over 20 cruises on nine different lines, mostly in the Caribbean and the Med. I can honestly say that we have never had a bad cruise: there have been one or two indifferent experiences, but the majority have been good, and a few, truly great. For us the difference between a good cruise and a great one is the buzz or energy aboard when everything “gels”. Unfortunately, this was lacking on the Odyssey. To give Seabourn credit, there are some things they do exceptionally well and we appreciated these - but as we read in other reviews, there are gaps. The pre- and post- cruise arrangements were almost faultless, but the welcome aboard was non-existent. The cabin/stateroom/suite was about 50 % larger than we are used to, but the engine noise. vibration and “rocking and rolling” was much more marked than on the larger ships. The service was mostly excellent, but there were exceptions – for example, no crew members on the pier to assist guests with mobility problems board or leave the ship. The food was good but not outstanding and the choice of dining venues quite limited for most of the week. No meal or dish stands out as having been exceptional. We liked the sense of space around the pool, but the ship was very quiet while in port with virtually no music or activities. We were certainly not looking for party central, but the whole atmosphere aboard seemed muted, the incidental music very samey and middle of the road, and a feeling that Seabourn took pains to keep everything, from the décor to the general ambience, very low key. Bland is the best word to sum it up. (Reminiscent of my father’s golf club in the 1970s.) We have asked ourselves, If Seabourn and Celebrity were to offer a similar itinerary at a similar total cost, which would we choose? Sorry, Seabourn, it wouldn’t be you! Read Less

We sailed to the Caribbean for the weather. On the whole it was lovely weather. We chose Seabourn Odyssey for dates and itinerary. Embarkation in Barbados was not well organized; there was not a SB Rep indicating that the line to board the port shuttles to the ship should be kept inside...it was raining and people were queuing outside, as per port reps. More than 50 people waited for the first shuttle to arrive. Once in the ship, registration was smooth and officers and crew were helpful. We received only a token juice upon arrival, no champagne, nor even prosecco. We would like to point out that the CD Chris was charming and it was a pleasure to hear him sing. Our cabin, 825 in the pool deck, was adequate. What was shocking was a miniature TV set, which could not be properly seen from either the couch nor the bed, that also failed to work several times. The movie selection was good, but not adapted to the screen. Even though we do not cruise to watch TV, at times we watch movies between activities. The bathroom was adequate, great to have two sinks, but the shower stall was small to move around in. Our stewardess was very sweet, but we missed having a butler. We very much like the concept of the MDR (the Restaurant). We found the food good and very good and we were pleased. The wines were acceptable, as we could ask for substitutions when we deemed necessary. What we found surprising was the inconsistency of the service crew. Some were excellent and others perfectly poor! We could tell there were more than a few who were not properly trained. We liked the Colonnade for lunch and enjoyed most of the food. The servers were good on the whole (after all it's a buffet...smiley face here), but the wine servers were not up to task. Many times we had to flag wine servers several times during a meal!! We ate at the TK twice. We had excellent and not very good offerings both times. All servers, however, were impeccable. We did not eat at the Patio. Lunch starts at 1:00pm, and since we have early breakfast, we just could not wait. Dinner starts at 7:30. What we did not enjoy was having no available food venue between lunch and dinner, except for pastries and limited sandwitch offerings in Seabourn Square. Of course, there's always room service, but we would have preferred to have snacks by the pool. Seabourn Square, by the way, is a gem of a site! The library is diverse and pretty well stocked. The coffee is excellent and the servers are delightful. The ambiance is congenial in a quiet way, as it should be. For us, port highlights were San Juan and Santo Domingo, but we also enjoyed going for the first time to Martinique and Guadeloupe. We like to chat with locals and walk around the towns. We felt safe all the time, and spent good money to contribute to the islands' economies. We found we enjoyed the entertainment, especially a magician and comedians. The dancers were very good and the singers as well. Debarkation in Miami suffered by not calling "by colors" and many people queued at the same time. All in all, it was an enjoyable cruise. Read Less

We have had a Seabourn Cruise on our radar for many years. Having sailed on all the major cruise lines, we were anxious to compare our Windstar, Azamara, Regent Cruise experiences to Seabourn. Everything we heard about Seabourn led us to believe that we would receive fine service. We anticipated excellent food and service. Unfortunately, many of our expectations were not met. What did meet or exceed our expectations? Embarkation - The Barbados Port left something to be desired as we waited in the drizzle for the bus to take us to The Odyssey. After a 10 minute wait, the bus finally arrived to take us to the ship. There was a mad dash to board the vehicle. Magically, when we arrived, Seabourn staff rushed out to meet the passengers holding large umbrellas. It was obvious that the Port of Barbados was responsible for the transfer to the ship...not Seabourn. Once we boarded, the embarkation process was perfect. Stateroom Stewardess - At 2:00pm, we left the pool deck to go to our stateroom. Stephanie was there, greeting us with a huge smile. She was a delight from the first day to the last. She was constantly in motion. I truly felt that she needed a pair of roller skates. I have never seen hotel staff work so hard. Methinks Seabourn needs to hire additional room stewards. Cruise Director & Entertainment - Chris was the consummate host. He was always ready to greet us. When I asked Chris who I should complain to about an issue, he immediately contacted the person responsible (without telling me). We typically do not go to more than two or three shows during a cruise. We felt that the entertainment was first rate. Fellow Passengers - We met some fantastic people on the cruise. I would guess the average age was 65. We enjoy small ships and the Odyssey presented us with lots of opportunities to engage with other passengers. Ports Visited - We were pleased to revisit Martinique, Guadeloupe and Santa Domingo. On our previous cruises, we explored on our own and were not impressed with the ports. This cruise, we booked excursions and found the ports to be much more enjoyable. We toured the San Juan El Morro Fort which was worthwhile. Beach Day at St. Kitts - This day was certainly a highlight of the cruise. The Odyssey staff went way beyond to give us a fantastic BBQ and day at the beach. Perfect logistics, plenty of beach chairs, an amazing facility, lots of food and fun beach toys. So wish this could have been better... I can honestly say that after reading several negative Odyssey posts on CC, I assumed that those posters were just being picky. Actually, those people were just being truthful. As a 10-time Seabourn cruiser said to me "something just seems a bit off on this sailing". For this first time Seabourn cruiser, that something was service. Service Issues – Emilian Cygan is a new Seabourn Captain. The only passenger interaction that I saw him engage in was at The Restaurant one evening when he hosted a table. The Captain wasn’t the only newcomer to The Odyssey. Chris Harley, our cruise director was also recently promoted from the entertainment staff as was the assistant cruise director. Chris was very professional, the other two were awkward in their positions. It was obvious that a great number of staff members were new to Odyssey or Seabourn. The service in the Colonnade in the morning and during lunch was particularly bad. You could certainly tell the experienced servers from the new staff. The new staff got orders mixed, did not come back with beverages and were way too busy to smile. We finally gave up after four days and had all of our breakfasts in The Restaurant or via room service. A huge issue for my husband is Gluten Free options due to his Celiac Disease. This is where the service truly had an impact on our vacation. We have sailed on 10 different ships since his diagnosis. His Odyssey experience was one of the most frustrating. The very first day in The Colonnade he asked if there were GF rolls and was told that there were no rolls, but they did have toast. He also asked the dessert servers if they had anything he could eat besides ice cream. He was told no. Two nights later at dinner when he remarked that he would love a cookie, the waiter brought him a delicious GF one. Without asking, the waiter offered to have cookies delivered to our room the next morning. There were no cookies delivered that day, so my husband went to the square for coffee. They did not have GF pastry or cookies at the Square, but, promised to have them for him the next day. That night at dinner, the assistant restaurant manager inquired about our dinner as we were not able to eat the tough, dry chicken. We also told him of our issues with obtaining GF food. He promised to have the cookies delivered the next day. Well….no cookies the next day in our room or at the Square. By this time, I had totally given up on receiving pampered service…I just wanted service. We met with the assistant restaurant manager, David, again and he was truly upset. He informed us the next day that there had been some communication errors between the kitchen, room service and the restaurant. He also advised us that a meeting was held to ensure that the communication issues were corrected. They were. Every day, my husband would receive a plate of cookies. My husband also asked at his first Colonnade breakfast if there were GF muffins or pastry. He was told no. This was false. David informed us that they certainly had both available. On Day 7, he was finally served the pastry which turned out to be the best he has had since his Celiac diagnosis. I truly believe the lack of experience staff contributed to the poor service. Pool Towel Issues – Three days in a row, towels were not available by the pool or on deck 9 after 400pm. Pool attendants did not seem to care as they shrugged their shoulders and explained that “we called 30 minutes ago”. Food Quality - We sailed on Princess last year and experienced their new enhanced suite class dining. The food quality, selection and taste were superior on Princess compared to Seabourn. I expected to be blown away by the food on Seabourn...I was not. In the Colonnade on several nights the menu consisted of one salad, fried chicken or ribs and desert. This Thomas Keller menu was served family style. The Restaurant was fantastic for breakfast. However, service and food quality went downhill for dinner. One entree, (a Thomas Keller chicken dish), was so dry that it was inedible. I was offered a different entree and declined because the desert sounded amazing. Unfortunately, it was not. The steaks were ordered medium and served well done. The salad and soup options were meager. My husband’s GF pizza in the Patio came out totally uncooked…even the cheese was not melted. After sending it back twice, the chef came out to inform us that it was a pre-cooked frozen pizza crust and he cooked it for 10 minutes at 250 degrees on the plate it was served on. Anyone who has ever cooked a frozen pizza knows that this time and temp won’t cook the pizza. After we gave the chef instructions, my husband received a properly cooked pizza the next day. Would we sail on Seabourn again? I’m really not sure. I know from past experience that when a cruise line brings new ships into service, it can be a drain on older ships as their top staff may jump to the new ship. Several first time Seabourn cruisers that we met onboard indicated that they would return to Silversea or Oceania. While we had many enjoyable moments on the Odyssey, it could have been so much better. Read Less

We chose this cruise as we had so enjoyed a fantastic trip with Seabourn Quest in 2016. We wanted to skip a month of Winter and be spoilt whilst doing it. To rate it 3 stars seems mean, but the trouble is parts of the cruise were 2 star and parts were 4, never did it achieve the 6 stars it clams to be! Embarkation was a little shambolic, but it was Barbados, so we were not surprised. Welcome aboard was casual and we were ok with that. Our cabin was identical to the one we had on The Quest, so fine for us. What let this cruise down so badly was the service and it feels very sad to say that because at times it was exceptionally good, indeed I think by the last week our complaints had been listened too and service was noticeably better. Areas of utter chaos were breakfast in the Colonade, where it was not unusual to wait 20 minutes for tea, where we were several times totally ignored and not asked what we would like to order and where orders were taken that simply never came! Senior staff were clearly battling trying to get new staff doing what they should be doing whilst serving guests themselves. There were several excellent senior staff there but they were spread far too thinly. The deck/pool area was another place where waiting for a drink was a hit and miss affair. Occasionally we were served within 5 minutes but mostly we waited up to 20 minutes and sometimes gave up and went and ordered for ourselves. This would not be such a big deal had we not paid a great deal of money for this cruise and been sold it on it's basis of being 6 star! The Club on deck 5 had a wonderful trio playing each evening but the service in the bar was really poor. Again after complaining, it improved, but only on and off, there are huge problems with lack of communication between staff and way too much chatting with guests at the bar whilst ignoring other guests at tables. 28 days is a long time on a ship and not something we would repeat but it really does give you an opportunity to get to know how everything works, or doesn't and we really did see the holes in the operation. Staff bickering in The Restaurant service area was observed more than once and bar staff arguing over which bar the sole bottle of Armangac on board belonged to! Our cabin steward was excellent on the first half of the cruise and mostly our room was cleaned and sorted by 10am, then she had to train a new girl and suddenly we were lucky if our room had been serviced by 3pm, which we thought was very poor. Trips ashore were generally quite good although in Curacao we were moored so far from the port that we had get awful taxis into town, despite being promised just a 5 minute walk to the centre of the town! The hype about being a small ship and getting into ports that others couldn't, certainly didn't work on this cruise. I had not intended writing so much on Cruise Critic but I am cross not to have received any customer survey from Seabourn. We had one delivered to our cabin during the first part of the cruise which was tidied into the bin by our steward before we had the chance to fill it in. No further survey appeared. On our last evening one of the Senior Restaurant staff asked us to make sure we filled in our online survey that would come through as soon as we got home, he emphasised to us that he knew how much had gone wrong on the cruise and that management at top level really needed to be told. No survey has come through and we have now been home 10 days. Hence this review. We are very disappointed, there was lots we did enjoy, we experienced a few moments of exceptional service but generally speaking the smile has gone from a lot of the staff, there is a feeling of a general drop in standards and although they can still really pull it off when they want to, like Champagne and Opera night or the only Beach Barbeque in 28 days, when you think what you pay compared to many other cruise lines, I can no longer say it is worth every penny. Read Less

A beautiful ship with excellent crew/staff,smaller than your average floating office block we have been on ships larger,about fifteen hundred people and have no wish to go on any ship that takes three days to load and unload passengers,impossible to find your suite,cabin without a map and compass ,surrounded by thousands of people,takes ages to tender to port,queue for two hrs for food,full of screaming spoilt children,it was an absolute pleasure and we will do it again soon,nothing was left to chance,off ship barbecue/beach days were well organised embarkation and luggage service first class,probly not possible but I would like to have been able to see NBC sports channels on suite TV and a pool table,only this might be tricky unless they invented metallic balls that didnt roll about with the sea ( lol) did hope to see Ross Roberts as we have sailed with him 3 times and he is the complete entertainer,still there is always next time Thank You Alastair and Carolyn Read Less

We booked this cruise as it was convenient to just fly to Barbados and then return to Miami (near where we live). The Caribbean has been devastated by Hurricane Maria and many ports were changed. We were on 2 back to back cruises so we would up visiting some ports twice. We only went on one excursion which turned out to be terrible (glass bottom boat). Saw little amount of fish, boat was a rickety wooden contraption and not at all comfortable. Otherwise we took a taxi tour and just walked around some ports which docked or tendered close to town or just stayed on the ship. We really like sea days and there were only 3 out of 22. We play bridge and that was offered the 3 days but the bridge director was not personable. Our cabin stewardess Rebecca was wonderful. Couldn't do enough for us. Overall the food was good and they accommodated my gluten free requests. The Keller Grill was fantastic. We were lucky enough to get 4 reservations. The chicken, dover sole and bone-in rib eye were so delicious. Service impeccable. The Captain was newly promoted and very droll--no personality. We had 2 cruise directors one of whom was just promoted. They were good but it seemed like the staff were undergoing a lot of changes. All in all we had a relaxing cruise and signed up for the new Ovation for next year. Read Less

As a long time Seabourn cruiser (22+ since 1997), I was a bit disappointed with the many things that are no longer "Seabourn Style"... No champagne waiting for you on a tray as you embark the ship. No one beaming and saying "Welcome Home" as you board, recognizing you from a precious cruise, or greeting you after returning from an excursion other than security checking you in. No check in while sipping champagne and nibbling canapes in the lounge waiting to be escorted to your room. The gangway person pointed to a crew member near the elevator, who simply punched deck 8 and told me to enjoy my lunch at the patio bar. No explanation, no choice given to dine elsewhere. Honestly, out of 350+ crew, I only recognized FOUR, who have now been promoted. They do seem to be bringing all new crew to the 'older' ships now to train for the new ships coming. The majority of crew I met were on their first contract. Seabourn boasts that the crew members will greet you by name after the first day. That didn't happen until the 5th day, and then only after I mentioned that was lacking at a hosted dinner table. Then the 'upper' crew knew me, but still not the more than 2 or 3 of the crew. Service the first 3 to 4 days was dismal. At breakfast in the Collonade, I would be almost finished with my breakfast before coffee or water was offered. This improved after day 5 when I figured out to sit in the same spot each day near the service area so I could flag someone down. I do expect better service on Seabourn than I receive at Denny's. I was assured the first night that I would receive the traditional invitations to join a hosted table for dinner. That didn't happen the second and third nights. In the dining room, most nights the dessert was served as the main show would be starting, causing us to either miss dessert, or walk in late to the show. How can dinner take more than 2 and a half hours??? If I had not sailed on Seabourn over the last 20 years and experienced the exceptional, intuitive service with everyone knowing my name by the second day, or expected what the brochure still promises, even after the things they no longer do, this might have been a good experience. For those passengers that are moving up from lesser lines, this is still a good product. The ship was not decorated for Christmas. Not even one bow!! Very disappointing. I understand they are trying to save money wherever they can, but really?? No Christmas? Every other ship I have sailed on during December always had decorations up by Dec 1st. The bar is now self service sodas, wine and beer for lectures in the grand salon, and only self service popcorn and sodas for the afternoon trivia games - I have never seen that before. How is that 6 star service???? I don't see much difference now between Seabourn, Crystal, Oceania, and Ponant so I will shop by the best value and itinerary. Yes, Seabourn has the larger suites, but I am rarely in my room. I would rather have better service for the money or spend less and still get better service than I just experienced on Seabourn. On the positive side: The food was amazing and Chef Tom (not Keller) is one of the best I have seen on the Seabourn ships. The singers onboard were fabulous! Brett and Ashley Ricci have stunning voices. Her Opera songs were amazing (and I am not even an opera fan!) The cafe at Seabourn Square is divine - perfect for an early coffee and danish or a late afternoon treat with decadent cookies and desserts!! The beach BBQ at Carambola's was great. The spa is great, the 'sound bath' meditation class was a nice addition. Overall, I am hoping that this little glitch is just growing pains similar to what we went thru on the little ships when they were training new crew for the Odyssey, Quest and Sojurn. I am come back after they are done training... Read Less