Which Caribbean Ship/Trip?: Spirit, Legend or Odyssey??

[supatraveler]

Hi All,

We've taken a Seabourn trip before (the Asian Capitals trip) on the Spirit two years ago and loved it.

We want to go to the Caribbean with Seabourn this December for a back to back 14 day cruise but are having trouble deciding on which ship/itinerary to take.

We know that the Odyssey is the newer, slightly more expensive and much larger of the ships which has positives and negatives for us because we're not sure we want to be with 400+ people (we enjoy smaller ships usually...) but the newer ship and its amenities would be very nice as well.

So, does anyone have any thoughts on which Caribbean itinerary/ship is the best to take? We're not too picky about the actual ports, because we haven't been to pretty much any of the ports in the Caribbean, so all of them would be interesting to us.

So a couple of questions:

1) between the three itineraries, from people who know the ports or routes, is one of them much more appealing than the others? (better ports, more interesting, better beaches/excursions, etc.?)
2) Would the Odyssey be worth dealing with double the size of the normal Seabourn ships?
3) Between the Spirit and the Legend, is one of the ships more recently renovated or nicer than the other?
4) if you had to pick one of the ships/itineraries, which would you pick and why?

Thanks so much for all of your help!! We're so excited to be taking another Seabourn trip but are overwhelmed by the three choices since we didnt have to make a choice about ships or itineraries on the Asian Capitals trip.

Thanks in Advance!

[JaneBP]

The Odyssey sailing, 12 days from 12/10-22 has had some terrific bargains and 4 sea days to boot! To me, all the islands run together and I rarely get off at all. I suggest you try the Odyssey, although any Seabourn sister is great. The initial reviews are rave, for sure. (How's that for being vague?)

[SantaAna,CA]

Hi! I'd love to try the Odyssey, their pool deck looks wonderful (the smaller ships have a small pool, stuck at the back of the ship, not really very appealing), but being a solo traveler, it's way over my head $$ wise. I've been to the Caribbean three times on each of the Pride and Legend. I do not have a preference for either ship, they are equally lovely (and the layout is the same, so you always know where you are!). I do have a preference for the southern Caribbean route. I think I just liked the islands better. I did notice the larger ships (Odyssey and Sojourn) will be taking over the southerly Caribbean routes after spring of next year. They will be sending the smaller ships elsewhere.

One of the things I do love about the smaller ships is that they carry only a maximum of 208 passengers. I love the intimacy of that, and it's very much like being on someone's private yacht, not a "cruise ship". I'm not sure how it compares to the Odyssey experience, but there are Seabourn passengers who have been on the small ships sailing now on the Odyssey, I am sure they can compare for you.

Being a scuba diver, I see the ports mainly from underwater *lol*. You might have to get some feedback from those who actually do excursions on land. My favorite island is Barbados. I also liked Mayreau for the beach barbeque.

But you can't go wrong on Seabourn anywhere. They make any destination magical. Good luck to you!

Jane