I should start by saying that we were first time cruisers so have nothing to compare this to. We chose Seabourn as we wanted a small ship and good service. We absolutely got this and more. It really exceeded our expectations. The suite was really spacious with a fabulous bathroom and walk in wardrobe. With no knowledge of what suites were good or bad we opted for the gamble of a “guaranteed veranda suite” and got 512. I have no complaints. The half metal balcony did not bother us at all. The ship never felt crowded, anywhere we went there was usually a seat, table or sunbed free. All staff were happy, polite and helpful. All said good morning/afternoon/evening when passing and the housekeeping staff were especially lovely. The food and drinks were really high quality. We loved sitting outside in the Colonnade so went there most lunch times and half the evenings. The main dining room is good too and the food delicious but I feel the lighting is way too bright, reduces the ambience. It’s good that you can either request a table for two or a sharing table (6people max) when you want to meet new people. We failed to make a reservation at the Thomas Keller grill beforehand (rookie mistake) so didn’t get to eat there. Must remember that next time. The cruise was a 7 day “yacht harbours” in the Caribbean but I don’t think it really lived up to that. The first day had to be a day at sea as it was too rough to tender at Saline Bay so we missed the beach bbq. It was held on board instead which was fun anyway. I have read a few reviews where this has happened and wonder if it’s a frequent occurrence? I felt that only two of the places we docked were actually “yacht harbours” others were cruise ports where larger ships also docked. At one we seemed to be at a freight dock with a shuttle to the main port because two larger ships had taken the cruise ship docking area! People on board were probably mainly British, Canadian and American, mostly over 50. There was one small child (very well behaved). I can’t imagine it’s a cruise which children or young people would enjoy. We had a fabulous week and are already planning our next Seabourn cruise. Read Less

We took a seven day Eastern Carribean cruise on the Ofyssey. Didn’t get off the ship much because we have discovered over the years that most Carribean Island adventures are pretty fungible. We took an upgrade opportunity for one of the 4 spa suites on 10 accessible only via spiral staircase in the spa- a good pick. Great outdoor deck at the rear, plenty of inside space, huge bath and shower, lots of amenities. BUT broken and unfixed/unfixable blind in the BR and a fridge door actually fell off, but was timely fixed. We found the staff uniformly friendly and accommodating - more so than on the Encore. English not always so good. Lots of trpical drink trays in constant circulation. Top shelf liquor at all bars and restaurants. House wines OK but nothing special. Restaurant decor and some public areas could use refresher. More self-serv launderettes would be helpful. Restaurant/Keller selections good to excellent. Colonnade buffets generally pretty good. Room service- too slow and too cold. The coffee, like virtually every cruise ship we’ve been on, was bad - there must be some special secret and cheap robusto blend they all buy. Espresso sometimes OK and cappuccinos were tolerable. All in all, we liked this ship although my companion thought there too many smoking areas. We liked the Encore better even though it was larger and will probably try other Seabourn ships before we come back here. Wishing you clear skies and calm seas. Read Less

Seabourn is our cruise line of choice. The reasons are simple, it feels like you are on your personal yacht, the staff never uses the phrase "sorry, we can't do that", the cuisine is the best afloat on any ship sailing today and last, but not least, you never feel crowded or rushed in any venue aboard. The odyssey is currently doing an itinerary that runs back and forth between Barbados and St. Maartin. The cruise was, as anticipated, wonderful and relaxing. HOWEVER, Getting to the ship to board and disembarking were rife with difficulty and unpleasantness. This was not just my bad luck, but prevalent among nearly all of the guests who we met aboard and shared stories with. After booking the cruise we discovered that you cannot get to/from these chosen ports before or after your cruise (Barbados and St. Maartin) in one day of travel. Unless you live in a city with a direct flight to the island (Miami, Washington DC, New York - basically the east coast major metros) you will have to overnight enroute in each direction. Airline costs to and from these ports and overnight hotel costs, in many cases, exceed the price of the actual cruise. Additionally, attempting to arrive or depart the same day as ships in port turn over their passengers will result in unmanageable crowds at the airports. (specifics about our experience below) St Maartin's airport was destroyed during the most recent Hurricane and despite what you may read about the Caribbean being ready for tourism and that everything is back to normal ... It is NOT. Let me recount our disembarkation experience in St. Maartin: The positive: our late afternoon airline departure time worried us. We were unable to arrange a "day pass" with any hotel on the island despite two weeks of trying prior to leaving home. With nowhere to go until our flight departure and Disembarkation from Seabourn Odyssey scheduled for 8:30 am, we were worried. Seabourn, graciously, permitted us to remain aboard the ship in comfort until after lunch. A real blessing considering what was to come. The negative: Upon disembarkation we took a taxi with our luggage to the airport thinking we could relax comfortably at the airport (a relatively short distance, but a long drive compounded by bumper to bumper, slow moving traffic - nearly an hour) our taxi driver described to us while enroute that after the hurricane so many cars were destroyed that there was a huge influx of new cars purchased with insurance money and that the old damaged cars were mostly repaired, sold and put back on the road... hence gridlock like Manhatten or Chicago during rush hour (but on single lane roads). He also informed us that we were LUCKY because up until just a few days prior, the airport operations and passenger terminal were being run from TENTS in the tropical heat. We arrived at the airport, part of the destroyed terminal building had been repaired and it was operating in compressed space. No assistance at the curb with bags, entered into the ticket area and found grand central station with hundreds of people in line for multiple carriers. We were flying first class so our shorter line took only 40 minutes to reach the front, check baggage and proceed. Next came the security and immigration line. We arrived and joined a single line in a large ante-chamber, with the line snaking back and forth to allow more passengers into it - no bypass for any sort of travel class division or TSA Pre-check thing available here. Another 45 minutes to proceed through this portion. As I approached the two clerks doing the pass along I thought it was the light at the end of the tunnel. We walked up a ramp to another level and there was another snake line with a few hundred people in it for baggage examination, x rays etc. Belts, shoes, computers everything off. One hour in THAT line and we thought "hooray, it's over" we were finally near the actual departure area. We walked about 20 yards around a turn and into a large space that was rectangular and about fifty yards wide and 25 yards deep roughly half the size of a football field. In a glass wall facing the fresh air and sunlight were several doors (no individual gate areas just some doors with a thousand or so plastic chairs arranged around the room). Every chair was occupied, little room between the rows, wheelchairs and luggage blocking everything and crowds of standing passengers waiting along every wall and every lane between chairs. these gates/doors were within feet of each other and each door was a "gate" with a number on it. This waiting area facing the gates would have been shut down by any decent fire marshall due to more than double the number of waiting passengers in that space than it was designed to accommodate. We snagged two chairs when a flight was called, and waited until our flight was ready. The boarding was called traditionally, by row number and class. We walked through the door and an airport employee gathered everyone into one disorganized group (defeating the prior procedure) and we waited in the sun for a people mover bus to arrive. When it did arrive, the bus was packed like a subway car at rush hour. If someone had died, they would have remained in a standing position. Our flight, United Airlines Flt # 1741 from St. Maartin direct to Washington DC is a daily scheduled turn around flight - fly in arriving mid day or a little later early afternoon, dump off the arrivals - load up and turn back around. The bus disgorged us and directed us to stairs leading up to the airplane door for us to struggle up carrying our hand baggage. Again no assistance for those needing it (the passengers assisted the elderly and disabled ourselves). Once aboard, we anticipated United Airlines would be a welcome change. The flight, while professionally flown, was improperly provisioned and there were inadequate meals and drinks for all passengers - Here's a bit of humor, the first class stewardess told us not to worry, delicious cookies were forthcoming. She then either burned all of the cookies or the oven failed - so half of the first class section who had no meal choices didn't even get a cookie on this 5 hour flight. But the pretzels were delicious. Arrived back into the USA and my Hartmann bag (advertised as nearly indestructible and a veteran of several international flights to Europe and Asia) was delivered for customs inspection with a wheel smashed off and rips in the side of the "indestructible" material. No doubt the same airport services staff in St. Maartin responsible for provisioning the airplane with food and drinks “loaded” the luggage, as well. My destroyed bag necessitated a LONG walk, easily a mile from the international arrivals area, through a nearly deserted late Saturday night Washington DC terminal to the United baggage claim office (would have been convenient if it was located near where their flights were arriving - alongside all of the OTHER airlines baggage offices). We made it to the hotel two hours later than anticipated, we were not allowed to check our heavy vacation packed bags through to our early morning departure flight, so we had to carry them with us to the hotel and bring them back for check in the next morning. 4 hours of sleep and back to the airport before dawn in Freezing weather, to board our final United Flight home (which was a delightful, problem free flight). IN retrospect, Seabourn's decision to necessitate boarding and disembarking at these 3rd world ports and airports is a decision that significantly diminishes the attractiveness and affordability of these itineraries. Seabourn has chosen to no longer originate or end their Caribbean and Transatlantic to Europe itineraries in US ports like Fort Lauderdale or Miami but choosing instead these awkward Caribbean ports. True, The St Maartin airport terminal was better than TENTS, however it is painfully obvious that the services that the St. Maartin Airport staff are expected to perform for this volume of passengers is significantly beyond their current capability to deliver. Hindsight is 20/20…If I had it to do over again, I would not have chosen this voyage simply because of the disastrous and unpleasant overall travel experience to and from the ship. I recently read a psychological study that evidenced that as Passengers/Customers, our remembrance of a vacation is formed in significant measure by what happens at the end of it. If things end with a pleasant experience - we will always remember that as one of our best vacations. If not... then it will be remembered as unremarkable or a disaster, as in our case. Read Less

We liked this cruise because we don’t typically want days at sea. This was a St. Maartin to Barbados. Cruise was 7 nights which is short but perfect for us, especially on a ship with few entertainment options. The food was outstanding but selection was pretty much exactly the same each day. Occasionally an extra different main dish was offered in most restaurants. We would have liked to have some local food recipes offered but this was not the case. We could have been sailing anywhere in the world and have the same menus. For example, none of the restaurants offered any spicy food , jerk recipes, etc, EACH OF THE Caribbean ports had beaches. Seabourn did not offer excursions on many of the ports. We did book a third party 7 hour snorkel, hike, swim option with Adventure Antigua which was terrific and less expensive than what was offered by the ship. We were in a V4 room near the bow of the ship. Rm 702. It was a lock off from a large suite at the bow, but we never heard any noise from them. The only noise issue we had was a couple of nights/early morning from raising or lowering the anchor. Obviously that didn’t last long. Even though the ship was fully booked we never felt crowded. There were lots of nooks and places to hang out where we were virtually alone. The only issue around this is that there’s is only one small pool and most of the time it was full of people standing in it with cocktails. Impossible for a swim. One thing that we liked was several hot tubs on different decks. We didn’t see any children on the ship except babes in arms and that would make sense as there was little for young children to do. Entertainment was adequate. The singer and dancers were surprisngly talented but the shows weren’t very well staged and didn’t take advantage of it. Ship staff and management were always available and frequently took the time to stop and chat. The first night we had issues wth getting waited on in a timely manner but on the second day when we were asked for our feedback, mentioned that, and never had a problem again. WiFi was quite good every day. We were offered free WiFi with our cruise price and we were happy to have it. There were also several computers on board in the library/ coffee shop area which were rarely in use but a great option. My husband was always able to get live football games that he didn’t want to miss. We would choose deck 7 again as it was convenient to everything. We would probably choose mid ship or the aft, given a choice again ,as it is closer to access to coffee bar, elevators to other restaurants, library and guest services.. but the ship is so small that the bow of the boat was fine. Room service is available all day and always arrived promptly and the food was hot. On our final day we were planning to stay at the last port. Since we had to,leave the ship early and couldn’t check in until late, we took a Seabourn excursión that ended at the airport that day because they carried our luggage. At the end of the excursion, we simply collected our luggage and took a taxi from the airport to our hotel. This worked really well as we were able to see the island that we were disembarking on during the gap and could just enjoy the beach on our last couple of days of vacation. We felt that there was good value for the money, especially after staying before and after in hotels in the Caribbean. We would take Seaborn again, but would probably stick to their shortest trips due to lack of variety in food and entertainment. Read Less

Chose the 7 day Yachtsman Holiday Cruise in the Caribbean aboard Seabourn Odyssey. Booked the Penthouse Suite on 10th floor. Hadn’t sailed with Seabourn in nearly 10 years...However, we’re seasoned cruisers: 14 cruises on Silver Sea, Viking, Holland America, NCL, Regent, QE2...other Cunard line ships, Windstar, Star Clipper, National Grographic, Private charters and cruised our own boat for many years. For this cruise (12/22/2018) We made our own flight reservations and arrived a day early to enjoy some time on St Maarten. Seabourn made the hotel & transfer arrangements. Hotel (Belmont de Samana, St Maarten) was pretty bad (no hot water, messed up the arrangements for transfer to ship, couldn’t sort out the dinner reservations and kept thinking we were different guests in a different room. Even so, beautiful location and we still enjoyed being there (though only being able to take cold showers was not that pleasant.) Embarkation went fairly smoothly- at first they couldn’t find us but then got us onboard and photos and told us our room would be ready in an hour or so. We had the buffet lunch and proceeded to our room. Penthouse suite was nice and roomy. Lots of drawers, big closet, luxurious bath. Room Steward offered champagne. I had arranged a dinner in KT Grill for first night to celebrate my husbands birthday. No mention of his birthday at restaurant or room ( I wasn’t expecting a big deal but perhaps a little candle would have been nice.) Dinner was ok - rather mediocre - very snooty attitude and you could observe disputes between the wait staff which didn’t add much of a pleasant environment. We use to love dining at The French Laundry - TK’s original restaurant in Yountville - I doubt he’d like what they’re doing under his name on this ship!! We won’t return. We also discovered there were no papers in our room with information about internet, itinerary, excursions, spa, in room dining or even a ship map. So, after dinner we went to the square and tried to track down some information. No staff were available and there seemed to be many passengers with the same problems trying to find out info. We gave up and strolled around the various decks trying to get oriented. The second day we were anchored off St Kitts. Planned to go ashore and do some exploring on our own. Stopped by the destination desk to get maps and some tips on taxis in to town, etc. Local woman was at desk and told us the only option was to stay at the Carambola beach club...saying everything was closed, no taxis, no shops, no touring, etc. we found out much later she was working for the Carambola Beach club and was not telling the truth but we never tried to go ashore because it seemed there would be no way to get into town. (She said it was not walkable). We decided to explore the ship and maybe have lunch at Pool Grill. Everything was closed except the buffet. Tried visiting the Spa - all personnel were at beach. In the end we had a quiet reading day in our suite. We got several phone calls in which various ship personnel kept asking my husband if he’d like to celebrate his birthday (since they had forgotten the day before). We decided we’d have his celebration with in room dining that night. So, when it was time to order, we called room service- there was no paperwork with a menu in our room so they couldn’t take an order so we had to track down our room steward to get the current menu. She insisted it was December 22 and gave us that menu (it was actually the 23rd) we called again to try and order. The kitchen said we had to use the menu from December 23rd. So we went back to the room steward and she gave us the menu for the 24th because she didn’t have the menu for the 23rd. Eventually we were able to order a couple of salads, a club sandwich and a cheeseburger. Food arrived about 40 minutes later. Cold burger & fries, barely edible salad, dry sandwich. 2 ice waters. Nothing indicating a birthday...we strolled the decks, nothing going on so returned to our suite, sat and watched the moon and had a quiet reading night. In general, I would say this is a rather boring cruise with very little information available to passengers. No announcements, no help with basics like internet, no orientation and late or nonexistent paperwork in the suite. We are fairly self reliant and creating our own shore excursions (there are NEVER any staff to help with booking). Since almost all the ports are anchor/tenders it is a bit more complicated than simply stepping off the boat on to the dock. We do miss the ship events, lectures, entertainment that we’ve enjoyed on other cruises (they seem to be nonexistent, cancelled at last minute or very badly organized on this cruise). A note on the (Penthouse Suite) on the 10th floor: DON’T BOOK it!!! Above our suite is the outdoor game area (shuffleboard, table tennis, etc. VERY NOISY starting early in the morning and lasting all day!! So in closing we are sticking with Silversea, Viking, Charters and anyone else but the CARNIVAL line and SEABOURN!! Cons: poorly organized, unprofessional staff, mediocre food and waste of time & money!! Pros: quiet, not too many activities, lots of time to yourself, some beautiful sunsets on this itinerary comfortable bed, spacious suite. Read Less

First time on Seabourne. Its nice and upscale, yes. Only 400 pax what makes it special as expected. We expected a wonderful service and they disappointing on that. Friendly staff but less than average service. All week and never changed. Even a Royal Caribbean do better. The Good: Fast and easy embarkation, beautiful ship, spacious suite, spacious bathroom, excellent food. Thomas Keller Restaurant was the best. Their Menu was to die for. Excellent staff. Loved the caviar service in stateroom. The all inclusive is the best thing you can have on a cruise. Good amenities, More mature and upscale but mostly friendly passengers made it classy. The assistance at debarkation to get a taxi, etc. make you feel special. Room service on disembarkation day, most cruise lines don't offer room service on disembarkation. The bad: Just average service. Slow most of the times. We met our room attendant around 9 pm when we called guest services because the room was too warm. (We called 3 days in a row to get the AC checked and stateroom was never cool the whole week). Even on a Royal Caribbean the room attendant make the effort to meet and greet as soon a you board. We were never called by our names by anybody. Every morning we had to wait 20-30 min for the same Cappuccino and Omelette I got for breakfast. On the dinning room we waited for wine, long wait between courses (at least 10 min) and they took a long time to remove dishes too. Gym is tiny and is not really usable, just 3-4 treadmills and a few leg machines. Room service had a limited menu. Not related to the Cruise, but be aware of a Chaotic St. Maarten Airport. Only one line for Security with only 1 metal detector and 2 x ray machines for the whole airport, the wait was almost 2 hours to get thru, then got into a very overcrowded and cramped gate area. Our flight was delayed 2 hours, so it was very exhausting experience. I really sound like a lot of pity winning, but I have done over 40 cruises, from Royal Caribbean, Windstar, Celebrity and now Seabourn, I was expecting excellent Service from them. It was a fantastic cruise, don't get me wrong, but for what we paid, the expectation was high and it came short for me. Other passengers said the same about the Odyssey, and It might be different experience form other ships. I might be willing to try again in a different ship. Read Less

We have been with Seabourn for many years. We have seen the level of service decline over the years. We used to be addressed as Mr Jones, but on quite a few occasions we were called “Dave” (I hate being called Dave). Toiletries not being replenished, on two days we didn’t have any shower gel. We queried this with the stewardess and she said that they ran out. The sky bar always closes far too early as they always need the barman to work in the main restaurant. On deck 5, you order drinks, that always take a long time to arrive or in some cases never arrive. We are booked on the next transatlantic crossing from Barbados in April, so let’s see if this changes our minds. Other guests that we met, suggested that we try SilverSea, which we may do depending on how our next trip goes. Fingers crossed. Read Less

We have approx 14 cruises under our belt, but this is the 1st for the Caribbean. !st Seabourn , they took care of us all the way. Before we were out of the taxi we were met by a representative and then guided to check in, no lines nor waiting ...and had a drink and lunch in no time. As we left the ship once again guided thru to a taxi, effortless. The room was nice, loved the walk in closet ( penthouse suite ), bathrooms nice and large 2 sinks. The ship was nicely appointed, the rooms needed to be updated but not enough to complain about. Food was excellent everywhere and really loved the "Patio" dining at nite, Service was top notch without being too fussy. The crew were professional and having fun with us at the same time. Wine selection very nice, don't be afraid to ask for something other than what is offered, they will try and accommodate...took a few days to figure that one out. Dis not take advantage of all of the entertainment but did love the band and the cruise director as well as the new assistant cruise director what a voice! Her "one man" show about all the late greats is a must see. WE traveled with another couple and we would both hope to cruise with Seabourn again. Read Less

Service is exceptionally excellent by all staff allways. Food is not up to expectations: very refined on the printed menus but too many different ingredients result sometimes in lack of genuine taste. Thomas Keller Grill is just o.k., nothing exceptionnal. For lunch at the Collonade, there is not much variety for the cold dishes and salads: allways the shame shrimps and salmon and salads. The breakfast on the terrace outside the Collonade is a magic moment and very well served. The tea time at the Observaton Bar is also a delicious experience. And after dinner, the same observation bar is a cozy place to enjoy a night cap with Jacqui's singing at the piano. We did not like the noisy entertainment games at the pool deck (Costa style), but they took place just 2 or 3 times. Entertainment and activities were not very interesting, we expected more lectures and classical music performances (piano 1 time, violin 1 time). But all by all, it was a marvelous experience, the weather in november on the south atlantic was sunny and warm, but above all, the way the staff makes you feel as a king all the time is the best reason to come back! Read Less

We arrived at Manchester Airport only to be advised that our flight to Barcelona was delayed by an hour, not a major problem at the start of our holiday. We got to Barcelona one hour behind schedule, but our Sixt driver was there with name card and we were whisked off to the Colon Hotel for our two day stay prior to our cruise. The Colon hotel is excellently placed for sightseeing in Barcelona, but it is a typical city centre hotel with no “soul” but more than adequate for a couple of days. On the day of embarkation, we were picked up by our Sixt chauffeur at midday and whisked the 15 minute journey to the cruise terminal. Our cases were taken by the port staff, we seamlessly checked in and 15 minutes later we were sipping champagne in the poolside bar prior to having lunch in the Colonnade restaurant. At 14.15 the announcement was made “your suites are ready “. Having been on Seabourn ships several times before there was no need for the usual search for the amenities and various public spaces on board. The service was as you would expect from a 6 star cruise line, with a couple of exceptions in the dining venues - not a major problem but not what you expect (nor pay for) from Seabourn. Seabourn has teamed up with celebrity chef Thomas Keller with a specialty grill restaurant and signature dishes on the main menu every couple of days and the Colonnade restaurant being given over to his menu every couple of days. The Thomas Keller Grill is just o.k., nothing exceptional. We first experienced the Thomas Keller theme over two years ago when it was first introduced on the Odyssey and the menu has not changed at all, with some passengers raving about it whilst others are not so sure, so whether or not Mr Keller retains the franchise remains to be seen, I am not a hundred percent sure There are four dining options on Odyssey two of which are for casual dining. The colonnade and pool bar have a great choice at lunch time, but in the evening they are very restrictive in their choice, with no fish or vegetarian options at times – is this 6 star service? The number of staff does seem to be declining, for example the drinks service around the pool during the day and the number of staff in the restaurants are not what they used to be – little things but if they are not careful their 6 star service will become tarnished. Seabourn Square is very good – a wonderful selection of coffee, cakes and snacks served by cheerful baristas, who frequently refer to you by name and knowing your preferences without you having to utter a word. Our stewardess Zhaneta was extremely efficient, you hardly saw her, but whenever you returned to your suite it had been serviced and was like a shiny new pin. The entertainment is low key, do not expect the Broadway productions of the larger ships. The cruise director Verity was extremely able as were the Seabourn singers and dancers. There were entertainers brought on board to do a couple of shows, so all in all the entertainment changed nightly. The Tim Rice show was a little disappointing given the hype This is not a ship for kids - the average age is 65+, they would be bored to tears with no facilities except the internet which is quite costly. I wonder if there is an element of cost cutting on Seabourn – a little thing “lobster” on the menu? In the Keller Grill it only featured twice in 2 weeks, and not once in the main restaurant, is this the thin edge of the wedge? Would we travel with Seabourn again - yes without doubt, but there are a number of 6 star cruise lines out there, so it is essential that Seabourn continue to strive to be the best and do not rest on their laurels or they could easily be overtaken. Also, there are some new kids on the block – we travelled with Viking earlier in the year, and whilst they are not quite 6 star, they are 5 star + and exceptional value for money offering exceptional accommodation on brand new ships, we will definitely try them again. Read Less