It is 16 years since we last sailed on Seabourn - when the ships only carried 220 passengers so this was a new experience on a larger ship. We thought the ship size was actually better, with more restaurant space and better entertainment. The cabin was a perfect size with a good size bathroom, lounge area and balcony. The ship was lovely and clean and restaurants and all public rooms very comfortable and I would say recently refurbished. The shower was small but adequate although I feel they would have been better with a larger shower and no bath. The Hotel Director - Therasa - “old” Seabourn was amazing. We felt that some of the staff weren’t upto the usual Seabourn standard- but most were. No sure that Seabourn actually needs a Celebrity Chef collaboration, don’t think this addd to the experience as Thomas Keller appeared to have too much influence on the menus. Our stewardess Erika was fantastic. The Collonade Restaurant was great for Breakfast and lunch as there were lots to choose from. The restaurant was sometimes a bit limited on an evening. Seabourn do need to start and specify which wines are included as at times it was confusing. They also need to not fall totally under the Carnival Umbrella as we felt that would do them more harm than good especially with the number of Top End luxury cruises currently on the market. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the itinerary through the Panama Canal to Peru. The excursions we booked on our own were far better than the experiences people had on the cruise line's offers. Many of the ports visited were for the first time and the itinerary staff knew little or nothing about them. You would think they would send out people ahead of time to learn about the areas they were going to visit. One port in Ecuador was rated so dangerous in online reviews that we did not even get off the boat. First time ever for us on a cruise. Food was okay but nowhere as good as on Oceania. In general, the cruise was very overpriced and did not include airfare in the pricing. Many of the people on board cruised year round, knew each other and were quite clique-ish. Many of the staff were snootish as well. Disembarkation was a disaster!!! Basically, they were done with us. We will not travel with them again. We will probably stick with Oceania. Read Less

We've taken 32 cruises on many different lines and now find that Seabourn is our favorite line. We booked this cruise as a way to get us to South America, and were happily surprised by the extra bonus of Antarctica. I was most pleased by the careful attention paid to passenger safety and comfort. An expedition to Antarctica is not easy and many passengers had some degree of disability. Still we never felt endangered and we saw a lot of Antarctica in comfort, both on ship and off. Embarkation in Miami was a breeze and getting off and on in all ports, including tender service, was fast and easy. This is one of the pleasures of traveling on a small ship. Disembarkation in Buenos Aires was chaotic and Seabourn might have been able to provide more assistance there. Good activities on board, especially the lectures that focussed on the regions to be visited and on the geography and biology of Antarctica. We were well-prepared for most ports. We took only a few excursions, which were quite expensive. We splurged on the overnight excursion to Machu Picchu and it was the highlight of our trip. No complaints about the service. Very few things went wrong. Entertainment was cruise ship style. Some of the guest performers were quite good. The group of singers and dancers on board performed cheesy cruise ship shows put together by Belinda King. Some of the best events were the parties hosted by the ship. Our only complaints have to do with the cuisine. The ethnic nights in the Colonnade were too often disasters with inauthentic food way worse than what one finds in a cheap ethnic restaurant on land. Chinese and Thai were especially inedible. Food in the main restaurant was adequate, but quickly became repetitious after only a week. In fact the array of dishes was limited and kept recycling during our 46-day cruise. Otherwise it's all about Thomas Keller, which is a big lah-dee-dah. The specialty restaurant which bears his name is a steak house with old fashioned steak house food. The main restaurant often has Keller-inspired dishes which were too often disappointing We did like the Keller hamburgers and hot dogs served at the poolside grill, but to praise burgers and dogs on a luxury cruise line is just plain sad. Thanksgiving dinner was a disaster with most of the traditional dishes missing, and they had only 3 turkeys to serve to over 400 guests, so they ran out halfway through the meal. Seabourn really needs to up their game in the cuisine area. I was very happy with the cuisine at Earth and Ocean and we ate there as often as possible. We absolutely adored the beverage service, from the fresh OJ to the skinny lattes, to the delicious cocktails, to the inclusive wines with dinner. Great service in all the bars. We will be back on Seabourn when we find the right itinerary. We find it a very good buy when one considers all that is included. Unfortunately we generally use ships to get across oceans, and Seabourn's itineraries for crossings are not usually practical. But we will always keep our eyes out for a possibility. Overall we were very happy. Read Less

We normally sail on Crystal, however we were told how nice Seabourn is so we decided to give it a try. It is so underwhelming and disappointing. Stateroom- Suite is very nice. Large and luxurious with lots of storage. I would have given it 5 stars except for the antiquated small tv. Food- Nothing special and definitely lacking creativity. Menu is the same in everyday in all dining venues. Wine- The wine that is inclusive is absolutely dreadful. They are serving Woodbridge which a very low end wine that can be purchased a Walgreens or any other discount retailer. I don’t think we have drank that since college. So we are having to purchase a bottle of wine each night to even have something drinkable. Spa/gym- Spa shower was back up with water and hair around shower. It was disgusting. Also the treadmills were full of dust and dried up sweat marks. Totally disgusting and I did complain immediately as that is a sanitation issue in my opinion. Entertainment- not too much offered, but that we understood that because it is a small ship. The casino is a joke. The most antiquated slot machines ever. Ship- There are several spiral staircases on the ship. The sides of these staircases are covered with dirt, spilled food etc. so dirty and unsanitary. In general the cleanliness of the ship is very very poor. OK now the positives- There are many areas to lounge around the ship. Very well laid out considering size of vessel. Lots of chairs and lounge chairs with different views. There is a hot tub on bow that’s nice. Putting green is great. Pool area nice. Overall this cruise line needs some serious revamping. Seabourne should be embarrassed calling themselves 6 Star. We will go back to Crystal on our future cruising as they are hands down superior to Seabourne. Read Less

I know the caribbean was hit by hurricanes last year.. our stops in San Juan and Martinique were a joke.. The entire towns were both closed .. Nothing and I mean nothing was open .. The small town(Ille De Trois) on Martinique was supposed to be really nice and get us away from Fort De France where the regular ships dock.. But there was nothing to do on shore. Now for the food.. unremarkable for a "6 Star" line.. menu was NOTHING special.. The Grill was good but the menu in there never changed for 14 days.. Definitely not what we would consider good food.. had better selections on RCCL and Celebrity.. Seabourn isn't even close to Regent or Oceania which we have traveled on many times.. Service was good around the ship but the beverage selections in the bars needs to be more upscale.. Primary reason for the Two star rating is NO INTERNET included... and the pricing was high.. 4 hours for $39.95 for unlimited it was well over $350 If you are calling your self and all inclusive then include the internet too.. Will be traveling on Regent or Oceania in the future.. Read Less

Each ship has its own personality. Having said that as much as we loved this cruise, and we did, the cruise wasn’t as great as sailing on the Quest. This was our 6th cruise on Seabourn and the second ship in its fleet we have sailed on. A bit of background. We seldom take cruises under 30 days. We broke with our tradition in that this was 14 day and a holiday cruise to boot. This trip served as the first leg of a 134 day adventure we had planned. The Sojourn is virtually identical to the Quest which we have sailed on prior. That being said we found a difference in our overall experience. We have two theories for this belief. First it is a shorter cruise and the ship’s company doesn’t really have the time to shine. Secondly being a holiday cruise there are most likely more groups sailing together making mingling more difficult. A corollary to these theories is that ship’s company reflects the guests attitudes. Having said that our overall experience was excellent. We met some wonderful people and had great conversations. We prefered the colinaid to the restaurant. The wait staff,wine stewards and matredee were not only attentive, but friendly as well. We always felt welcome which frankly was not as true in the Restaurant. As the cruise progressed thing improved Would we sail Seabourn again, absolutely. We love the cruise line. Read Less

Although there were boarding delays, it was not really the fault of Seabourn.The ship experienced unforseen issues from its dry-dock just before this cruise, and we all received an onboard credit to help ease this annoyance. Professional service and excellent food have always been our past experience with Seabourn, and similary, was once again. Entertainment, lectures and on-board activites were either excellent or more than adequate. The Carambola Beach barbeque with grilled lobster, a fabulous food spread, exotic cocktails, wine, beer, Champagne and "Caviar-in-the Surf" was a highlight of the cruise. I'd go again just for this! Our other high point was the newly introduced "Grill by Thomas Keller". We had heard from several guests who went the first two nights the restaurant first opened, about mid-cruise, that there were some problems. However, we were able to book a table on the last night of the cruise, and everything seemed to have been resolved by then. The outstanding service, food quality and presentation, not to mention the excellent craft cocktails, wine selection (both by bottle and by-the-glass) were truly memorable. If you go, don't miss their fabulous unique version of Caesar Salad, done table-side. As usual, probably because this is a relatively small ship, it is easy to meet and make friends with others on-board. My wife and I have sailed on some 25 plus cruises on a variety of premium and luxury cruise lines over the last 20 years, and believe that Seabourn is definately our "top-notch" choice. Read Less

First, a little background to put this review in context. We are in middle and late middle age, respectively, one retired and the other still in the workforce. We cruise often, are five star with Holland America Line ("HAL"), so that line is our point of comparison. HAL is a very good mid-tier cruise line while Seabourn bills itself as a "luxury' line. Thus, on Seabourn, with this smaller ship, we expected more than the very good service we have come to consistently enjoy on HAL. Generally, Seabourn does some things very well. Yet our overall experience, and thus our first impression of Seabourn, is that it missed the mark for consistent delivery of a "luxury" experience. We found a lack of consistency in food and service. Some days and some meals everything was great. Yet at other times it was not up to par (below HAL standards). We also thought that on the Odyssey for our cruise there were many new staff not yet fully trained, and that the ship at times seemed short-staffed, both of which led to some service "misses". As these staff become better trained, and more people are added, some of those "misses" will hopefully disappear. Yet this did impact our cruise. Beginning at the beginning, Embarkation was awful. On HAL we are used to arriving at the port about 12:30PM, waiting perhaps in a short line to see an agent, checking in and boarding the ship. That entire process usually takes about 20 minutes. Once checked-in we typically go to the dining room for a relaxing lunch to start our cruise, avoiding the busy Lido buffet. By the time we are done with lunch, around 2PM, the cabins are ready. On this Odyssey cruise, however, after arrival at the Port we (and most everyone else) ended up sitting on those hard bench-chairs in the Port. We sat for close to 40 minutes before a group of us were invited to join a long line-up to check-in. We then waited in that line another at least 20 minutes. On boarding the ship, the Colonnade (buffet) was, we were told, full, and the Restaurant (dining room) was not open for lunch. So we sat outside after I found a shady spot (not without difficulty). After having a self-serve hamburger (in fairness it was brought to me but I had to go down stairs to order it), we went into the "Square", usually a nice seating area which was also jammed full of tired people waiting for their cabins. The expectation in the boarding documents was that cabins would be ready at 2PM, a reasonable time. Our check-in agent told us it would be 2:30. Yet it was only after 3PM when we finally were told that the cabins were ready. On the much larger ships, with more people and cabins to process, the entire process is far more efficient. The same comparison is made for disembarkation. Not since many years ago have we had to vacate our cabin early in the morning of the last day. Rather, on HAL one may remain in ones cabin until one disembarks, by no later than 9:30 AM. That civilized process is not yet replicated on Seabourn. Rather, we had to be out of our cabins by 8AM, with general disembarkation only scheduled to begin at 8:30 AM. In fact it only began about 8:45 AM, with us waiting in the Club (one of the very nice bars on board which that morning was full of folk waiting for the "all clear"). We waited a bit to allow the crowds to disperse...yet got caught anyway in a hold in a hallway where we had to stand for about 15 minutes and wait until congestion below cleared up. On finally entering the hall where luggage is stored, two of three of our cases were present. Yet the third was not. We noted a bag that was easily identifiable on the slow-moving baggage belt and, when that bag came around again without our third bag having in the interim appeared, we reported our bag missing. We were told that, yes, all bags were off. My wife and the agent went to see if our third bag was elsewhere, while I waited with the other two cases. Lo and behold, after 9:30 a number of other bags suddenly appeared on the belt! So, contrary to what shore-staff were told, not all bags had, even as of that late hour, yet been removed from the ship! Again, this ship has 450 passengers. It thus begs the question as to why HAL ships with three, four, and even five times more passengers can manage a far more efficient and, dare I say, luxurious, embarkation and disembarkation experience. After all, these two experiences book-end the cruise. They respectively set the tone for the cruise to come, and are the last memories which passengers take away. In my view, it is important that these thus be as positive experiences as is possible. At present, however, for this cruise I describe them as a Gong Show (for younger readers or those who never saw this circa 1980's US TV show, Google it). From what I hear, Seabourn will be streamlining these processes in the future. Good; as once new and presumably more efficient processes conducive with the goal of providing a luxury experience are in place, we would be interested in how these work. When we finally got to our room after 3PM, part of our cabin requests were accomplished, yet part were not. There was one person at guest relations who, when I called, was unfortunately completely unhelpful. Thank heavens for our excellent stewardess who sorted matters out, yet that guest relations person was either untrained and/or should go work for a governmental postal service. Alas, this was, however, our continuing "first impression" of what, after all, is billed as a luxury experience. It was in our view until that point the antithesis of luxury. Not a good first impression, yet happily, things did improve. What was good on the Odyssey? In fact, there was lots we ultimately liked: • We really liked the verandah cabin. It was more spacious, with more storage space than we expected (lots of drawers and the walk-in closet is great). It also was nicely appointed. We liked the very functional table in the room and footstool with tray, which facilitated room service meals. The verandah was just fine too. It held two nice chairs with ottomans, and a pub table suitable for a light meal or drinks. • Carambola Beach Day—lovely beach, great meal (grilled lobster) prepared in somewhat challenging circumstances (not on the ship), and everyone, passengers and staff, in a great mood that day, with caviar and champagne in the surf--brilliant! • Thomas Keller: We had two dinners there, each were truly excellent for food and service. • Sommelier Onur, who really knows his stuff and is a very hard worker—the man was everywhere, all at once, yet he did it with aplomb! Sommelier Katryna in Keller was also excellent—quite knowledgeable, also, about wine and how to select for her customers. • Our stewardess was a delight, as indeed were all of them on that floor. • Some dining room (“The Restaurant”) lunches and dinners were excellent—on those occasions everything came together in a symphony of excellence. Following from the last bullet above, let’s review what should have been better. The overall impression we formed is a lack of consistency. For example, some meals were great in the Restaurant, others less so. Some servers really were tops; others were the opposite—for example, when dining with another couple one night (night of the Chef’s Dinner) we were being rushed through course after course until my wife put a stop to it. As our second course plates were removed, she asked the waiter to hold the main course. He at first answered that “they were up”—meaning that he was going to bring them straight-away. We had to tell him, no, we don’t want them yet. In fine dining, should not rushing the meal not be obvious, without the guest needing to state the obvious? Food is subjective, so this is just our taste and preferences. We found some meals excellent whether in Colonnade, Restaurant, or from Room Service. Service also improved as the cruise progressed, as did the food. Yet there were in some dishes too much salt, in our view. For example, the night the BBQ ribs were offered in Colonnade, those were great, yet the baked beans were just loaded with salt (too bad as they were otherwise promising). The lobster soufflé served one evening in the Restaurant also was too salty. Regarding salt, “less is more”. Other spices can be used instead, and more salt can always be added at the table. Regarding the Colonnade, again, some of the servers (at all meals) were better than others. It was not always consistent. As to the Patio, the one night we tried it for dinner we found the service at best perfunctory, with long waits even for a menu. Nice venue, quite decent food, yet the service was “off” that night. It may have been that the area was short-staffed that night but, whatever the reason, service suffered that night. One day at the small pool on deck 5 (a lovely spot), unlike the other days there was no bar-server periodically checking for who needed a drink. A deck-hand/mechanic when I asked kindly agreed to call someone to offer service. The chap who arrived took my order and the order of another lady, and eventually brought our drinks. Yet when I suggested that he see if others wanted a drink (the area was nearly full), he demurred, stating it was very busy at the upstairs pool, but he would send someone. My thought was while it was busy at the upstairs pool, what were we all at this pool--chopped liver? Moreover, I was there another almost two hours and nobody ever showed up to offer anyone anything. The next day it was much better, with servers regularly checking in to see if we wanted anything. That is as it should be, yet it should have happened seamlessly. This again speaks to the lack of consistency in the service. Bar service in the Club was excellent generally, yet some of the new waiters were not aware of what was meant by “soda on the side”. The more experienced ones knew to bring a little beaker of soda water on request. Yet others did not, nor did some clearly understand our drink order the first time. The Bands were excellent at this venue, and got us all up and dancing before and after dinner (it was a different band after dinner). Regarding the Observation Bar, there was a pianist in the Observation Bar. Yet when a few of us went up there one night after the show it was clear she was playing for background only. Other than a few groups most people left as it was kind of “dead”. If it could be made more of an impromptu piano bar, with sing-a-longs encouraged in the later evening, that would be very nice. I bet other guests would enjoy it. Overall, we found the entertainment very good to excellent: lovely cast of talented singers and some nice impromptu shows, including opera on deck one afternoon. Some of the speciality acts were good too. Overall, it appeared to us that the ship was struggling at times with demand. It seemed at times short-staffed, also with lots of new staff. A word on dress code: we expected Seabourn to be more "formal" or dressy than is HAL. In fact, for our 12 day cruise there was only one formal night. While a few gents wore tuxes, many more wore suits (as did I) or sports jackets/blazers that night. At other nights in the Restaurant, while some men wore a jacket without a tie (most nights, as I schlepped a few jackets in my luggage, I wore them) many just wore a nice shirt and slacks. In the Colonnade or at the Patio it was even more casual. In the Caribbean this was not necessarily a bad thing. In Europe it may be more dressy yet, for this cruise at this time, this was what we observed. Bottom line: we bought future cruise credits so we have the "no risk" option to return if we wish with a slight discount. We probably will return at some point to give Seabourn another chance. Yet, as can be seen, we were not blown away by our experience. Our first impressions of Seabourn is a mixed one, more mixed than I thought it would be. 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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

We had 12 fabulous nights on the Seabourn Odyessy . After sailing on her in August 2016 we were intrigued to see if it would be as good as our first time on this vessel . YES it was ! What surprises us are some of the negative reviews and i sometime wonder if they were on the same vessel or perhaps their expectations differed from ours. We found the service friendly and helpful , particularly once we and the crew got to know each other better . We had some absolutely classic moments where the wait staff knew our drink choices and also seating preferences down to the brand of Vodka / Chardonnay we enjoyed . Our room attendant Jade was the best. Our room was serviced before 9am every day which suited us to a T . Nothing was ever a problem and she kept our sparkling water/ liquor replenished daily . The restaurant was consistent with its service and food quality . We had breakfast and lunch here occasionally and enjoyed the change from the Colonnade and the Patio Grill. We had dinner twice at the Thomas Kellar Grill and enjoyed both occasions however we loved Restaurant 2 that's no longer available more , bit that's life . The Colonnade had some great theme lunches , the German lunch was a highlight with Roast Suckling Baby Pig. For us the absolute highlight was the Champagne and Caviar in the Surf day at Carambola beach. It surpassed anything we have ever done on any Cruise anywhere . The attention to detail is a credit to the staff with a very inviting private beach side setting on Carambola Beach . With over 700 Char grilled Caribbean Lobster and eye fillet Steak this was a day to remember. We had Complimentary Watersports along with the famous Caviar and Champagne in the Surf. The entertainment was superb and noticeably better than our last cruise , congratulations Seabourn for that improvement . Seabourn Odyssey is for relaxed well traveled individuals who can can laugh at themselves and enjoy the finer things in life. Its a one class vessel with all restaurants/facilities available to all . Read Less

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My wife and I have over 100 nights on Seabourn. We got to experience the transition from small ships to the Odyssey class and subsequently, the departure of the older and smaller ships. We only travel on the luxury lines and are not big shore excursion customers Our boarding and initial experience were as expected. Our Penthouse was clean and well appointed as previous ones were. The cabin stewardess was excellent and we has always found that Seabourn beats any other luxury line in training personable and efficient steward/stewardesses. We were traveling with friends and dined with them at lunch and dinner. On the very first night we experienced spotty dining room service. We chalked it up to the stress of the passenger turnover day. Unfortunately, this service slippage continued through out the voyage. We would always seem to have to wait for the initial order of if that was fine we would experience a wait for a dessert menu while the rest of the dining room picked up around us (we always ate late and seemingly closed the resturant frequently). Bar service was spotty as well. We knew the bar manager from previous cruises and watched him work very hard to bring his crew together. Unfortunately, they just weren't up to the task. We frequently had to get up to retrieve our drinks from the bartenders. One bartender was apparently required by staff to cover a tattoo with an arm bandage (we asked because we are concerned that she had been hurt) and thus seem to develop a small attitude. This was our first Seabourn trip ever when we didn't tip either a bartender of other wait service staff. Though out the trip we would at times receive the 6 star service that is advertised but as fast as it appeared, it would disappear. We emailed our travel agent with the report and she must have immediately forwarded our concerns to Seabourn management. And here is where I must give Seabourn full credit for listening and trying to please passengers. With 1 day left in the cruise we were summoned to a meeting in the square with the captain and hotel director. They took one full hour out of their busy day to listen to the good and bad. Both were apologetic and did not try to offer excuses. We were so impressed that we made a future cruise deposit, an action that initially, we were not going to do. In summary, we feel that Seabourn grew too fast. They were unable to keep up the "Yacht" service level. The addition of the 3 large ships went well. But 3 small ones went away, along with some of the better employees during the transition to the 2 newer and larger ships. We equated the service problems to a sports team that tried but just couldn't mange to work together as a team to win. I rate this cruise as a 3, as there were shining moments, followed by, service that was not up to Seabourn's historic standards. Read Less

This was a 10 year wedding anniversary cruise and was a bucket list cruise and the price was right for the amount of days. Roundtrip Miami was a plus rather than having to fly to Barbados or St. Martin. First of all, let me say that I have been LIVING this cruise through YouTube videos and was thrilled beyond anything to be cruising with Seabourn. Check in was too slow. "Bob" needed much more computer training and kept waiting for the Seabourn rep. next to him to help out. Each rep. to either side checked in 3-4 couples and we were still waiting to be checked in. One issue is that 'Bob' put my husbands passport info and credit card info under my name and didn't know how to correct it. Next, walking onto the ship were several hello's, but there was no one there with a tray of champagne welcoming you like the videos. Though I'm not a big drinker, was a little disappointed. Our cabin was large and lovely. My couple of requests from guest services were not fulfilled. Smart Water and one pint of Jeni's Brown Butter Almond ice cream. Also, my husbands Glenfiddich not there. However, there was a bottle of Jim Beam Bourbon with a note card (unfortunately, it was for the person in the next cabin!). Ok, we will live, no big deal. Bathroom nice and roomy. Minor issues - toilet seat should have been wiped better and vanity had a couple hairs on it. Hmmmm. However the biggest issue was our shower. There was a horrible stench coming from the shower. By the fourth night, I gagged and went to dinner with no make-up. Over the first 5 or 6 nights we had a total of 4 plumbers try to remedy the issue. It calmed the stench down, but it never went 100% away. I heard two other cabins had similar issue as well. After all the above, our room stewardess came over with flowers and........a bottle of Glenfiddich for my husband! Our room stewardess was new, her 2nd cruise. I wondered if the new stewardesses had the lower decks, 4-5, while the more experienced had the higher decks. Other passengers we met felt the Odyssey was more of a training vessel, I can see that. Pool waiters gravitated to the 'regulars' and so it took a very long time to be acknowledged to get a drink. In the back of the ship at the Collonade, the waiter introduced a waiter in training. I did receive my Coke, my husband never did get his water! What is very nice is receiving the next nights dinner menu in your cabin each night. The majority of the time it was right and I'll leave it at that. The Herald is the daily paper with all the happenings. I showed up for a facial talk at 2pm in the Spa as stated in the Herald. I was told 'no there is no talk'....long story short - that was a mistake and the girl who gives the talk was on her day off. I did win the $150 grand prize for the spa. I didn't bother looking at the letter until right before using it for a facial. It actually 'expired' on November 10. The cruise didn't start until Nov. 11. Oops, again. The facial was $219 and so I had to pay the difference $69, no problem. Unfortunately it felt like at $69 mini speed facial. After I made myself clear I was not purchasing the products (which they get credit for) she quickly gathered her things and advised for me to meet her at the front desk. Now I've had enough. For the first time ever, I did not leave a tip. This was so different than the facial I had on Crystal in May, so luxurious and relaxing, I had it twice on my 14 night Crystal cruise. The Thomas Keller Grill was indeed a highlight. Lobster Thermidor superb as the Rib Eye. From start to finish, and a Lemoncello, absolutely superb, both service and food. Our Cruise Directors Ashley and Chris were Super Excellent. I adored the comedian Dale Gonyea - how refreshing and creative. The four singers - we enjoyed them so much. They are so talented I hope they achieve their dreams. The Internet guys Franco and Juron were so wonderful, a true GOD send. The food portions are small, but I liked that. It's a cruise, you can always ask for more. How I would sum up this cruise is that the passengers, as wonderful as they were, they know their wines and spirits. Ordering pre-dinner wine, appetizer wine, first, second, third course wines, then entrée wine and whatever in between. I found the passengers enjoying their books and pool time. Only 2-4 couples ever danced at any venue. This was indeed certainly different from our Crystal cruises = those people are so much more livelier and live it up, all ages. So even though there were many oops/issues, in time I might try them again. It's just that between Crystals new cruise ship being built and Virgin's as well, I look forward to both of those. For now my money is better spent on Oceania and Crystal. Our Oceania cruise last December was flawless and actually surpassed Crystal. Read Less

This was our first cruise with Seabourn and it was excellent from beginning to end. The organisation from the point we arrived at Miami from London was well thought out and expertly executed. We were greeted at Miami with a private car which took us for a one night stay at The Four Seasons. The private car from the hotel, to the port and then embarkation on the Odyssey were faultless. Our suite, 645 was very clean and spacious. Throughout the cruise it was impeccably serviced and any requests were happily satisfied. The main dining room was our preferred option for lunch and for dinner and the service was elegant and friendly. We also like ambiance at the colonnade restaurant with the buffet. Whichever dining area we chose the food and the wine was delicious and every meal was a good experience. We love good food and good wine and it was a surprise at how high they set their standards. We were agreeably surprised at how spacious the Odyssey is and we were always able to find a quiet corner to relax. The whole team on the Odyssey seemed to be so keen to ensure that our time on board was the best it could be, they succeeded! We have already committed to another cruise on the Odyssey in 2018. Read Less

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This cruise was a bit off balance due to changes in itinerary as a result of the hurricanes. Short and sweet – 6 nights – 3 sea days followed by 2 nice ports. Embarkation and disembarkation were fine. We usually spring for a penthouse but because of the duration settled on a ‘normal’ suite. It was absolutely fine. Housekeeping excellent as always with the only criticism being a tad slow in topping up our wine. Our main reservation is staff. The good ones on Seabourn are always just top – charming, helpful and efficient. The problem is that each cruise we are on there are fewer and fewer superstars. This dilution is (for us) tarnishing the brand a bit. The second was food. It was OK – nothing to complain about but just not the exceptional fare that we expect at this level. Almost every person we spoke to said Oceania has amazing food so if they can do it surely Seabourn can? We were Silverseas fans and moved to Seabourn as there was a distinguishable difference. We have one more Seabourn cruise booked but if they haven’t upped their game we will be back on the market. Read Less

I decided that it was time to pick a a more high end small ship to compare to our typical ship on Holland America Line. The Quest is a 400 passenger ship. My wife and I enjoyed the small size. We met a lot of people. It helped to started the trip off knowing about 30 people through Cruise Critic. The ship is nice, cabin is nice size with shower AND tub (which we never used). Double sinks... nice. The food was good but I didn't write home about it. The entertainment was better than expected. The cruise director Jan was great and fun to be around. The staff was friendly and always willing to help. BUT some of the restrauant areas lacked the level of service you would have expected..(filling of water, no cream/milk to come out with the coffee, waiting a long while to order after sitting). We finally got to know which waiters were good and what tables they worked. GREAT coffee bar on Deck 7. LOVED the chocolate shakes made by Numo. Talked to the Guest Services Mgr and was very understanding and would pass on my comments so that's good to know. Will we return... don't plan to. It was fun but not for the price. We're not much of wine or alcohol drinkers so they made money us. I can appreciate those who love the ship being small and intimate but it does come with a price. BTW... Great guest speakers on board. Read Less

We took a short six day Caribbean cruise from Miami to Barbados. This was part of a longer cruise to South America. Overall, we really enjoyed our cruise. We’ve sailed on Silversea, Cunard and Celebrity and we look forward to the dining and the ship’s ambiance; the entertainment is not as important to us. Embarkation was easy with a short line to check in. We were somewhat surprised there was no real greeting when we boarded. After lunch at the pool grill, the suites were ready and three of our bags of luggage were there and the last arrived shortly. We had a bottle of champagne in our room, and in a nice touch, Seabourn provided a proper sparkling wine closer to maintain the effervescence. We met our stewardess and she quickly replaced the vodka with Baileys. We thought the dining was very good to excellent. We had one room service breakfast that was prompt and hot. We ate dinner in the Colonnade, the Restaurant and Thomas Keller. The menu and wine selections were varied, the food was tasty and presented well. Some items were better than others but that is to be expected. A couple of times the entrees could have been slightly hotter (temperature wise). In Thomas Keller, nobody brought our crudité and we didn’t realize that was an option until we saw it delivered to the table next to us. They were very apologetic but it was near the end of our meal. The Maître D' said he would make it up to us, and the next night our suite was prepared with rose petals and a bottle of wine and an anniversary card. It wasn’t our anniversary but we think that was their “make up call”. Our suite was a V5. It was fairly spacious with a small walk-in closet that had plenty of hangars and a safe, a separate shower and tub with double sinks, a nice sitting area with a sofa, one dining table with two chairs and a smaller table. There were two loungers with footrests and a table on the balcony. There was one flat screen TV. The bed was comfortable. The staff was friendly and helpful throughout all the areas. The entertainment was surprisingly good. One night was a comedian who we thought was quite funny. Another night featured Arturo Sandoval, who is a Grammy award winning jazz trumpeter; he put on a great show! Another night was Michael Lynche who was on American Idol and a very good R&B singer. We didn’t go to the show the cruise staff put on. One of the groups performing in the club were good, the other wasn’t as strong. On the last day, the staff held Caviar in the Surf in the pool; that was a fun event. The casino was fun. We played blackjack and the dealers, Steve and Kim, were efficient and friendly. The internet service was OK for what we needed (no heavy lifting, email and short web surfing for news updates). We did like that you could access The Herald (daily program) for free on your smart phone. Very handy. The ship was easy to get around with plenty of stairs and elevators for the size of the ship. We found we liked Seabourn Square. There was coffee for early morning as well as pastries and small bites. The library was good as well. The pool areas were not too crowded except for the main pool area. There were other areas with a small pool and hot tubs or a hot tub forward. There was always self-serve water and soft drinks there and bar service as well, but the bar service was spread thin. The hot tubs were quite warm. We enjoy nice wines and the included wines were generally quite nice and the premium wines were reasonably priced with a nice selection. Cocktails were good as well. Disembarkation was also very good, especially since most people were continuing on. We needed to be out of our suite by 9:00 but could stay on till 12:30 (we got off around 11:00). That was very convenient since our flight didn’t leave until 3:15. On a 10 point scale, I’d give this a 9 but with the 5 points scale used, I’ll round up to a 5. This was a great cruise and we really enjoyed Seabourn. Read Less

On 11/11/17 my 89-year-old mother and I disembarked Seabourn Odyssey after a 12-day Caribbean cruise. It was our first Seabourn cruise. Most of my cruises have been on Holland America (700+ days), Regent (200+ days), Celebrity (80+ days), Viking Ocean (50+ days) and I have cruised on many other lines but not Silversea or Crystal. This cruise was selected since I only had a three week window of availability in which to find a cruise that would meet my mother’s needs – in and out of the U.S. on a small luxury ship with standalone showers (or preferably a handicap cabin but none were available on any possible cruise option when booking only three months prior to sailing). We usually book cruises at least 18 months in advance but mom wanted to go on something sooner than her next booked cruise in February 2018. MUSTER DRILL – On other cruise lines passengers that use walkers and wheelchairs meet in a special place for muster or they are told to come down early or there is a special way to handle it. I called Guest Services and was told mom could stay in the cabin per the Safety Officer. I had never heard of this before and repeated it two different ways and kept being told that I should attend muster and mom didn’t have to. Mom was happy with that and changed into her spa outfit for her 5 PM massage. I was shocked to see her wheeled into The Restaurant in a Seabourn wheelchair during muster. She was embarrassed due to her attire and I was also miffed that her own transport chair wasn’t used. After muster was over mom told me that the steward that was pushing her didn’t believe her when she said that Guest Services told her to stay in the cabin. I went to Seabourn Square to talk to a representative and the Guest Services Manager came to meet with me. She told me that I must have misunderstood what was said since every guest must attend Muster. I told her I didn’t misunderstand anything since I was the one that kept repeating, in different ways, what I had been told. The Guest Services Manager apologized for the miscommunication but continued to believe that I misunderstood. Two hours later a representative of the Safety Officer called to find out when the Safety Officer could come to the cabin to give mom her personal instruction since she was told not to attend. I think the miscommunication was between the Safety Officer and the stewards checking the cabins! BEVERAGES – We were both looking forward to Seabourn since it was a new experience. Mom especially was interested in ordering the caviar whenever she wanted as well as the champagne! She really liked the caviar and ordered it three times and enjoyed the champagne, too. Alas, my beverage of choice is water, and I drink a lot of it every day, so when I am on a cruise where beverages are included, I drink room temperature bottled still water. I was unable to get room temp bottled still water twice at Coffee Bar and The Club. It was also challenging to get it in The Restaurant. I solved this by carrying around a 1.5 liter bottle of water most of the time. Bringing in my 1.5 liter bottle of water from our cabin actually caused a problem at The Grill by Thomas Keller. The waitress said she had to go check with her manager to see if I could keep the bottle of water on the table. This was a bottle that I brought in!! I explained that I better be “allowed” to keep the bottle of water or we would leave. She checked with her manager and lo and behold, I was allowed to keep the bottle of. Other than that one issue at The Grill, we enjoyed our meal so much that we went back a second time. Those two meals were the highlight of our dining experience on Seabourn. I do not drink caffeine but sometimes I do like to drink a fruity, decaf hot tea. However, Seabourn does not have any fruity teas. The crew tried to give me mint and hibiscus teas but neither of those are fruit as far as I’m concerned. They also gave me orange pekoe tea. I realize it is my fault for not inquiring in advance on what type of hot fruity tea is available, but all of the other cruise lines I have ever cruised on have had at least one kind of fruity, decaf tea such as cinnamon apple, cranberry apple, orange spice, etc. so it never even occurred to me to ask in advance. It is interesting to note that on Day 10 I was told that there were no more travel lids available for the paper cups at Coffee Bar. This was confirmed by a receptionist at Seabourn Square who called someone and was told that they wouldn’t be replenished until we docked in Miami. On Day 12 we docked at 7 AM and by 8 AM the lids were available at Coffee Bar. I’m not sure that they were truly replenished first thing that morning, but that is when they became available again. CABIN – We had a Veranda Suite on deck eight. Our stewardess, Kudzi, did a fine job and we had absolutely no issues with the cabin or the housekeeping. Our only request was to have raspberries and strawberries every day which she delivered daily around 1 PM. We also asked for a night-light for the bathroom and were given two battery-operated candles that did the job in addition to our own nightlight plugged in under the vanity mirror outside the bathroom. The cabin was smaller than a Celebrity Sky Suite or a Holland America Neptune Suite but we knew that prior to the cruise and were okay with that. PORTS – I thought that it was very odd that at every port there was never a crewmember at the bottom of the gangway. When my mom and I would get back from touring, I would climb up and request help for mom. Then I would return to the bottom of the gangway and wait with mom. At the bottom of the gangway Seabourn always had a small canopy with four chairs, a cooler of bottled water and a cooler of wet towels, but no one ever manned that area. ADA – Mom uses a rolling walker when on the ship and a transport chair (a lightweight “wheelchair” with 4 small wheels) in order to explore the ports. Prior to the cruise I talked to the special services department of Seabourn three times to make sure mom would be able to get off the ship at the nontender ports and I was told that it would not be an issue. She WAS able to get off the ship at nontender ports, however, it was an issue, at least in my opinion! Three of the gangways were very steep and she had to be carried down the stairs. On other ships there are often special gangways for people with mobility issues. However, on Seabourn it seems they only have gangways with steep stairs at some ports. Luckily mom only weighs 110 pounds and her transport chair is 26 pounds. I could not bring myself to watch when the crew carried her down the steep gangway steps. They probably have lots of experience with this, but it seems that there is an easier and much safer way like I have experienced on other ships. ADA – Another thing to note on the Seabourn Odyssey if you are mobility challenged is that none of the exterior doors are automated. The doors are very heavy and have to be manually opened. Also, the ramp leading from the pool area on deck 8 (by The Patio Grill) to the corridor where the rooms are is a bit steep. I know my mother with her rolling walker could not open any of the exterior doors. I don’t know if someone in a wheelchair could do it on his or her own. ADA – Also, unlike on Regent were someone is there to help you with your plate at the buffet, that is not the case at Seabourn’s Colonnade. (Even on Holland America if a crewmember sees someone coming into the buffet using a walker, wheelchair or scooter, a crewmember will go and ask that person if assistance is needed.) Mom would push her walker and I would hold our plates and fill them. I would try to juggle them as best I could so that we could eat together but many times I would end up getting her food and then going back for mine. There was one time when the man that ladled the soup carried it to our table and there was another occasion when I was getting dessert at the Colonnade that a crewmember carried it to our table. Otherwise, the five times that we ate at the Colonnade for lunch were a balancing act. We ate in The Restaurant for lunch the first three days of the cruise but found the menu options way too limited which is why we ventured to the Colonnade. Mom does not enjoy buffets since she realizes she is an impediment to others and would prefer a sit down option. The last four days of the cruise I went to the Colonnade and got mom her lunch and brought it back to the room since that was easier. We tried In Suite dining one night but the food was delivered lukewarm. ENTERTAINMENT – The 9:45PM entertainment was enjoyable, especially the humorist pianist that was brought onboard. FOOD – The biggest area that we had an issue with was The Restaurant for our meals. We ate breakfast and dinner there every day. We went there every night around 7 or 7:30 and on the first night we asked if we could possibly have the same table and waiter each night and we were told yes. We started out by always sitting at table 61. However, we had four different waiters the first eight nights. Jorge, one of the restaurant managers, told us that one of his waiters had to fly home for a family emergency and another one was in the hospital. I don’t understand how losing two waiters out of an entire wait staff would mean that we would have so many new people wait on us but it did. Every night mom wanted Earl Grey hot tea but her hot water needed to be bottled otherwise her ankles would swell. (We realized this on the third day of the cruise and when she started using bottled water for hot tea, her ankles didn’t swell. I know people say the water on the ship is fine, but this is what she experienced.) Anyway, it was very difficult to get a new waiter to understand that the hot water needed to be from a bottle. Likewise, it was difficult for the waiter to understand that we both wanted to drink bottled still water (the waiter would always start pouring water out of the silver pitcher) and that I drink a lot of it. It was easier if I just carried a one and a half liter bottle of water with me at all times and that’s what I did. I met with the guest services manager on Day Two because of issues in The Restaurant and due to the issues I had with getting room temp bottled still water at The Club, Coffee Bar and in The Restaurant. On Day Six or Seven I met with Jorge, one of the restaurant managers (who interestingly enough recently left Silversea after 22 years there) and finally on Day 10 I met with the food and beverage manager. Nothing seemed to change after any of these meetings, but at least I let three different people on the ship know about the bad experiences we were encountering in The Restaurant. Towards the end of the cruise, my mother just kept saying, “I’m over it. We’ll be home soon.” as we experienced one problem after another in The Restaurant. I think the main problem was with the kitchen and not the wait staff. Here are some of the problems we experienced in The Restaurant: I ordered pecan nuts for my breakfast oatmeal and was given pistachios. I then ordered sliced almonds and was given whole, shiny, glazed almonds. I ate one and spit it out since it was so salty it literally hurt my mouth. My mother enjoys salted nuts and insisted on trying one. She also spit it out. When the chef visited our table the next day to apologize, I asked what they are used for. He said that they are used for fish stock and should not have been served to me. By the way, both pecans and sliced almonds are on the breakfast menu. Pistachios are not. A few days later we were told that Seabourn only carries salted pecans since those are what are used for baking. (???) At Carambola Beach a pecan bar was served and salted pecans were not used in it. When I pointed that out to a restaurant manager, we were each presented with a slice of a delicious (unsalted!) pecan pie the next night for dessert. The nasi goreng at lunch was too salty to eat. We also thought most of the cream soups served at dinner were overly salted, but they were at least edible although we usually chose not to eat them. A dinner entrée of pork with green apple coulis was missing the coulis. When I asked for it the waiter brought me diced apples and pistachios which was being served with another entrée on the menu and the waiter insisted it was the green apple coulis. I explained that coulis was a puree but never received it. An arugula salad with tahini dressing was served to my mother completely dry. This was not a special order and was listed on the menu as arugula with tahini dressing. After being shown that it was served dry, the waiter brought her balsamic vinaigrette and insisted it was tahini dressing although we knew it was not. She ate it without complaint and the waiter brought the tahini dressing about 10 minutes later. My mother is allergic to shrimp and peanuts (not life threatening) and received them on several occasions but since they are non-life threatening allergies we explained many times that she could pick them out of her food and that was fine. One night a butternut squash soup served with scallops and pumpkin seeds was on the menu. Without asking her, the chef decided that due to her allergies she was not allowed to have the scallops or the pumpkin seeds. So, although she was served shrimp on more than one occasion, she was not served scallops or pumpkin seeds. At the “Chef’s Dinner”, which is a set menu, the dessert had many components. One of the components was frozen chocolate ganache. I asked for just the frozen chocolate ganache and not any of the other components and was told “okay”. What I received were disks of frozen chocolate ganache floating in a pool of melting vanilla and strawberry yoghurt (i.e. frozen yogurt). As the waitress placed it in front of me (and without me saying a word), she told me that she explicitly told the chef that I just wanted the frozen chocolate ganache but was told no. Because we were so unimpressed with the desserts on the menu, we special ordered a blueberry pie. On the evening that we were to get it (as requested we gave 24 hours notice), we started to leave The Restaurant since it had been 2 hours and 10 minutes from the time we sat down for our dinner. As we were standing up our desserts were delivered – blueberry “muffins”. Since we had different wait staff almost every night, we would tell them at the very beginning that we wanted to be in and out as fast as possible. There were still three other occasions when we left without getting dessert since we waited at least 20 minutes after ordering our dessert and when it still never showed up we just left. On two occasions I ordered sambal and mom ordered mint sauce. The waiter repeated each condiment but they were never delivered. SUMMARY – Mom and I had a good cruise and many of these items are trivial, but when paying what Seabourn charges and after reading many reviews and knowing the crew to passenger ratio is much better than Holland America and Celebrity, we had high expectations. Our expectations were not even close to being met and therefore we will not book another Seabourn cruise. The good news is that I lost a pound on this cruise which has never happened before since I usually gain 5-8 pounds! Read Less