Jump to content

Seabourn New Ships Poll!


what's your wish list of features for the new ships?  

225 members have voted

  1. 1. what's your wish list of features for the new ships?

    • boutique restaurant helmed by celebrity chef
    • bigger staterooms with more elaborate bathrooms
    • sports platform with kayaks, scuba, etc.
    • dedicated facility for enrichment (computer classes, etc.)
    • ballroom
    • more elaborate spa and fitness facilities


Recommended Posts

We're just as excited -- if that's even possible -- as the folks at Seabourn. Check out our story at www.cruisecritic.com/news. It's also on the home page, quite prominently!

 

And take note of our poll up top! We hope you'll weigh in.

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor

Cruise Critic

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very exciting! I am so very glad to see that they are resisting the temptation to go much bigger. A little bigger than the three sisters is OK but IMHO Crystal is too big (I wont even talk about the megas).

 

The ONE THING I would like to see is some sort of improvement in the location and operation of the tender gangway. The current location near the marina is a bit of a pain and there MUST be some way to make getting on an off the tender a little less harrowing (I am not as young and nimble as I once was).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I had my way, it would be the sports platform with kayaks and scuba, because nothing is better than enjoying the outdoors and being truly relaxed while on vacation. That to me, is the best luxury of all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love your suggestion about the casual venue/coffee bar -- wish I'd put it in the options! Thanks....

Carolyn

 

It's about time! I hope they have a small, all day casual dining venue-espresso and other coffees, pastries, salads, sandwiches etc.--preferably with an ocean view and some deck space (something other than the current skybar setup).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love your suggestion about the casual venue/coffee bar -- wish I'd put it in the options! Thanks....

 

Carolyn

 

ALSO,I would like to see the botique dining venue to be Italian with an Italian chef!...Pastas of all styles along with the classic entrees....Better make it large enough to seat 125 because it would become extremely popular if the WORLDS most POPULAR CUISINE were to be featured aboard ship......
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's about time! I hope they have a small, all day casual dining venue-espresso and other coffees, pastries, salads, sandwiches etc.--preferably with an ocean view and some deck space (something other than the current skybar setup).

 

The deck space will be your balcony,and the facility is called ROOM SERVICE,but seriously there is a need for such a venue.I have wondered why they do not make more use of the Midnight Sun Lounge?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

L of Seas-The whole point of such as venue is to be able to leave your room and socialize with others while having a simple, casual meal at all hours of the day (without having to sit in your room waiting for the room service tray to arrive).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I should think bigger cabins with balconies will be the most obvious change. The lack of balconies is the biggest area in which Seabourn clearly lags behind Silversea and others.

 

Otherwise, I am not sure we will see anything too revolutionary - though undoubtedly there will be one or two more things, my guess is that most of all we will see what the current ships already have made bigger. That is, a bigger Restaurant, bigger Verandah Café, bigger main lounge, bigger spa/gym, and so on and so forth. But still, we are dealing with ships that in tonnage are about the same size as all three current Seabourn ships put together, so there should be room for some new things as well.

 

My guess is that the ships will bear more than a passing resemblance to SILVER SHADOW and WHISPER which are, after all, a bigger version of SILVER CLOUD and WIND, which are in turn a bigger version of the Seabourn triplets, which are in turn a bigger version of the Sea Goddess (now SeaDream) twins!

 

Even though built for three different companies, all these ships follow a single path which actually culminates in the much bigger SEVEN SEAS VOYAGER.

 

I am not sure if Yran & Storbraaten - who designed all the aforementioned ships - have been involved in the new Seabourn ships (they don't usually work for Carnival) and indeed I suspect not, but still, I imagine the design Carnival came up with is very much within the paradigm created by Y&S over the past 20 years, recently with the help of V.Ships and T. Mariotti... Note that the Silversea ships and SEVEN SEAS VOYAGER were all built at Mariotti where the new Seabourn ships are coming from, and with the design input of V.Ships who now handle ship management for Seabourn...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The most important change that I would like to see....the placement of the swimming pool..so that it is attractive..and...a nice social spot. That in my humble opinion is to least attractive feature of the 3 sisters. Of course the balconies are going to be special. Lola

Link to comment
Share on other sites

More information... Turns out they are a Y&S design. (Smart of Carnival to hire them, even though I don't think they have any history together - even the refurbishments of the Seabourn triplets were handled by Tillberg, not Y&S.)

 

So then, I suppose, this is another Mariotti/V.Ships/Y&S production (albeit by way of Carnival and Fincantieri) along the lines of the Silversea ships and SEVEN SEAS NAVIGATOR and VOYAGER.

 

I just saw a rendering (sorry, can't post)... The ship looks like SILVER SHADOW with Seabourn styling cues and a little bit of EUROPA thrown in for good measure.

 

It has been hinted that there is more than meets the eye - in other words, not just a rehashed SILVER SHADOW but something truly new and better.

 

These are certainly exciting times for Seabourn! And poor Silversea must be quaking in their boots...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We didn't include balconies in the poll because they've already announced they'll have 'em. And just to clarify -- we're told that yes, indeedy, that design firm will be responsible for these new ships.

Carolyn

 

I should think bigger cabins with balconies will be the most obvious change. The lack of balconies is the biggest area in which Seabourn clearly lags behind Silversea and others.

 

Otherwise, I am not sure we will see anything too revolutionary - though undoubtedly there will be one or two more things, my guess is that most of all we will see what the current ships already have made bigger. That is, a bigger Restaurant, bigger Verandah Café, bigger main lounge, bigger spa/gym, and so on and so forth. But still, we are dealing with ships that in tonnage are about the same size as all three current Seabourn ships put together, so there should be room for some new things as well.

 

My guess is that the ships will bear more than a passing resemblance to SILVER SHADOW and WHISPER which are, after all, a bigger version of SILVER CLOUD and WIND, which are in turn a bigger version of the Seabourn triplets, which are in turn a bigger version of the Sea Goddess (now SeaDream) twins!

 

Even though built for three different companies, all these ships follow a single path which actually culminates in the much bigger SEVEN SEAS VOYAGER.

 

I am not sure if Yran & Storbraaten - who designed all the aforementioned ships - have been involved in the new Seabourn ships (they don't usually work for Carnival) and indeed I suspect not, but still, I imagine the design Carnival came up with is very much within the paradigm created by Y&S over the past 20 years, recently with the help of V.Ships and T. Mariotti... Note that the Silversea ships and SEVEN SEAS VOYAGER were all built at Mariotti where the new Seabourn ships are coming from, and with the design input of V.Ships who now handle ship management for Seabourn...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Carolyn - I should have read our news article first before posting!

 

I got the rendering and confirmation on Y&S as designers in an e-mail from a friend but it turns out you had already gotten these before me :o !

 

In addition to the Silversea, Regent and Seabourn ships mentioned in the article, other ships that have been designed by Y&S are the Sea Goddess/SeaDream twins (both the original design and the SeaDream conversion), EUROPA and THE WORLD.

 

Needless to say, this cements them as the leader in modern luxury cruise ship design.

 

Incidentally, when I said earlier that they hadn't worked with Carnival before, I obviously forgot that they did some of the Signature of Excellence enhancements for HAL (possibly because Stein Kruse came from RSSC).

 

Outside the luxury arena, they have also been responsible for the overall concept of DISNEY MAGIC and WONDER along with Njal Eide, and also did some of the other spaces aboard. They did the cabins and nightclub for the VOYAGER-class ships and the cabins and dining room aboard AURORA. They also designed CROWN JEWEL/CROWN DYNASTY (now SUPERSTAR GEMINI and BRAEMAR) and DREAMWARD/WINDWARD (since stretched and redesigned by Tillberg as NORWEGIAN DREAM/WIND).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would love it if the new ships were to have aft suites with really large verandas such as those on Regent's Seven Seas Mariner and Seven Seas Voyager. If the new Seabourn ships have these, we would never even think of taking any other cruise line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually liked the small Yachts of Seabourn...something different in the market, but if they go bigger and better there have to be inovations!

 

- 1st replace those UGLY plastic chairs from the outside decks and make it more like into a outside Lounge, grouped around a central pool area!

- Different dining venues from super formal with Crystal and Silver Service to a informal Sushi & Sandwhich Bar! More like a resort, where you have as well more possibilities to eat!

- Nightlife on the Yachts of Seabourn was not very interesting as well, maybe a small modern Lounge, which transforms in a ultra chic Nightclub/Disco in the night time.

- Defenitely a better variety of Suites with modern amenities and Spa Bathrooms, a real table/chairs to have room service, it would be even lovely, to have them seperated (living & sleeping area).

- Real Spa and Gym with better amenities!

 

This are my ideas for now....I bet there will be many more...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think one should be careful about concluding the new ships will look like certain of the old ships because of a yard or a designer. That is where BAD design comes into play.

 

For those who have been on, for example, the Seven Seas Navigator and one of the triplets you would be hard-pressed to see much of a similarity. In fact, the Navigator has so many BAD design elements because it wasn't originally going to be a cruise ship...and then public spaces were sort of fit in here and there. (BTW, there are HUGE differences between the Navigator and the Voyager - more than what they have in common.)

 

Obviously there are things which will be in common beyond engines and generally rectangular main dining rooms. Alternative dining venues, a smoking/cigar lounge, etc. will most probably exist. It is how those elements are put together. When a design works, you try to make it better...and unique. It doesn't support a conclusion that the ships are all similar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope that the Seabourn balconies will be deeper than the one we had in a Silver Suite on Silver Shadow. It and the Owners Suite beside us had wide enough balconies, however, their lack of depth and the very solid partitions gave too much of an enclosed feeling.

Depth as well as width is important to enable easier movement around chairs, loungers, tables, etc.

 

Wayne

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For those who have been on, for example, the Seven Seas Navigator and one of the triplets you would be hard-pressed to see much of a similarity.

Well, NAVIGATOR is three times the size and ten years newer.

 

It is more illustrative to see it as an evolutionary progression from the triplets to SILVER CLOUD to SILVER SHADOW and then to NAVIGATOR.

 

But yes, NAVIGATOR was unusually "compromised" due to being built on an existing hull that was originally supposed to be a Soviet spy, er, I mean "research" ship.

 

Nonetheless, put a GA of NAVIGATOR next to one of SILVER SHADOW... It's pretty easy to see that they came from the same "bloodline". Even externally, the superstructure is extremely similar even though the hulls are of course completely different.

 

Mind you; I'm not saying all Y&S designs look the same... DISNEY MAGIC certainly doesn't look much like, say, SILVER CLOUD, despite both being from the same firm. But the all-suite, luxury ships from 5,000 to 50,000 GT built over the past 20-odd years - a field dominated by Y&S almost to the exclusion of anyone else - all definitely come from the same lineage and I fully expect that the new Seabourn ships will be yet another branch of this evolutionary family tree.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...