Earliest Time That We Can Board the Odyssey on Embarkation Day?

My husband and I are newbies to Seabourn and very excited about our "maiden" voyage. We embark the ship in Singapore. Although new to Seabourn, we are very experienced Crystal cruisers, and we are very familiar with embarkation procedures there. I'm wondering whether Seabourn has a similar policy to Crystal. While Crystal suggests a time for boarding that is in the afternoon, many passengers embark by noon. The passengers are not able to go to their staterooms until the afternoon but they are welcomed on the ship for lunch much earlier in the day. Does embarkation work the same way on Seabourn? Our documents suggest we board at 2 p.m. Are we able to access the ship earlier? What is the earliest time that passengers begin embarking on Seabourn?

Thanks,

Shelley

Welcome to Seabourn,

You should be able to board at about 12 p.m. and have lunch and await the announcement that your suite is available at about 1:30-2:00. That is our past experience. Then we begin to unpack and go the the muster drill. Please enjoy your cruise.

Yes, on any Seabourn ship arrive not much before noon; getting on board in my experience never starts before noon, then on the bigger ships you will be directed to the Colonnade for lunch, on the remaining small ships to the lounge for a sandwich type lunch with drinks, before suites being ready from 2 p.m. Usually a bit of time to unpack or look round the ship, then boat drill.

Thanks so much for your information. I suspected that boarding would begin at noon just as it has on all of our Crystal voyages. I can't wait to get on the Odyssey - time to go pack!

Thanks,

Shelley

... and the best part is you will be on Seabourn Odyssey, very different from Crystal's big ships with their small cabins and faux anytime dining.

Happy sailing!

Thanks so much for your information. I suspected that boarding would begin at noon just as it has on all of our Crystal voyages. I can't wait to get on the Odyssey - time to go pack!

Don't forget to join the roll call for the sailing too!

... and don't forget to check the 'sticky' post at the top of the forum for instructions on how to obtain a $400 OBC voucher :)

Thanks for all of the great tips. I will follow up on all of them!

Shelley

I now have the exact times that the Odyssey arrives in Singapore and departs Singapore on our embarkation day. It appears that our 13-day cruise is part of a longer 26-day cruise, and we are embarking on Day 14 of the 26-day cruise. I imagine that there will be a number of passengers (no idea how many) that will not be embarking or disembarking, but rather will be continuing their voyage. Not sure if that has any impact, but . . .

The Odyssey arrives at 7 am in Singapore and departs at 4 pm. With that information, do you still recommend that the earliest we can embark the Odyssey is 12 pm noon, or with such an early arrival and early departure that we could embark earlier?

Thanks again for all of your help!

Shelley

It will still be 12…

they wait until all suites are perfect..

I now have the exact times that the Odyssey arrives in Singapore and departs Singapore on our embarkation day. It appears that our 13-day cruise is part of a longer 26-day cruise, and we are embarking on Day 14 of the 26-day cruise. I imagine that there will be a number of passengers (no idea how many) that will not be embarking or disembarking, but rather will be continuing their voyage. Not sure if that has any impact, but . . .

 

The Odyssey arrives at 7 am in Singapore and departs at 4 pm. With that information, do you still recommend that the earliest we can embark the Odyssey is 12 pm noon, or with such an early arrival and early departure that we could embark earlier?

 

Thanks again for all of your help!

 

Shelley

Hi Shelley,

12 Noon is still the earliest I would recommend. The crew still have a lot to do even though some passengers will be staying on.

Last December on Spirit I stayed on board on changeover day as I had a bad cold and quarantined myself to my room. Even though half the passengers stayed on the crew were busy scrubbing down everything in the public areas and cleaning rooms. My husband who mainly stayed on the ship out in the public spaces said he was amazed what was done. When you also factor in the other behind the scenes work.........I think it is best to stay away until lunch time. :)

My husband and I have made the decision that it is best to stay out of the crew's way on the morning of change over day. They are very courteous and try to make sure you have what you want but........ we can't relax watching them working so hard around us, with the cleaning and checking everything.

I hope you have a great cruise both this one and your one on Crystal.

Julie

I have a different opinion regarding this. If boarding time is stated for 2pm we always arrive at 2pm. Do you go 2 hours early for other appointments ie. to the doctors, a favourite restaurant, the hairdresser or the beauty salon ? probably not so why do it and put extra pressure on the crew, change over day is the busiest time for them - why not have some respect.

Thanks for the updated replies. We will board at noon and not a second before. We are really counting down the days now. Can't wait to experience the Seabourn luxury!

Thanks,

Shelley

The crew is ready for passengers at about 12:00 noon and welcome you. We have been on B2B on Seabourn and they arrange a tour in the a.m. and then back onboard at about noon. Enjoy!

I have a different opinion regarding this. If boarding time is stated for 2pm we always arrive at 2pm.

With muster drill usually by 3 pm (and mandatory attendance), boarding at 2 pm would be so stressful for me. I like to be unpacked before muster so that I can go enjoy the sail away party afterwards!

The crew is ready for passengers at about 12:00 noon and welcome you. We have been on B2B on Seabourn and they arrange a tour in the a.m. and then back onboard at about noon. Enjoy!

We're on a 14 day Caribbean cruise next month that is 7 days from St Martin down to Barbados, and then 7 days back up from Barbados to St Martin.

Do you think that Seabourn will arrange an excursion for us to get us off the ship for the changeover day in Barbados?

I won't make any plans for that day if Seabourn hosts something.

They don't host anything special due to it being a changeover day we were on the same itinerary last winter so we just went for a tour in Barbados while in port and did some shopping. There is some extra cleaning and room preparation going on but it's nothing that should affect you too heavily. We have just found during changeover days to read the situation and act accordingly. After all it's Seabourn!

They don't host anything special due to it being a changeover day we were on the same itinerary last winter so we just went for a tour in Barbados while in port and did some shopping. There is some extra cleaning and room preparation going on but it's nothing that should affect you too heavily. We have just found during changeover days to read the situation and act accordingly. After all it's Seabourn!

Thanks! That was my original plan.

I have a different opinion regarding this. If boarding time is stated for 2pm we always arrive at 2pm. Do you go 2 hours early for other appointments ie. to the doctors, a favourite restaurant, the hairdresser or the beauty salon ? probably not so why do it and put extra pressure on the crew, change over day is the busiest time for them - why not have some respect.

The ships fully expect people to start boarding at noon, and are well prepared for it. If we thought it would be considered wrong we would not do it - the boarding at 2 has been stated for ever, but there is really no problem for the staff if everyone boards around noon, the Colonnade is ready for all to have lunch, and even to store your hand luggage until the suites are ready by 2. (Incidentally, IMO the suites are ready long before 2, but the stewardesses are given a little break before showing people to their suites).

The ships fully expect people to start boarding at noon, and are well prepared for it. If we thought it would be considered wrong we would not do it - the boarding at 2 has been stated for ever, but there is really no problem for the staff if everyone boards around noon, the Colonnade is ready for all to have lunch, and even to store your hand luggage until the suites are ready by 2. (Incidentally, IMO the suites are ready long before 2, but the stewardesses are given a little break before showing people to their suites).

Absolutely agree.

If they weren't ready at 12 noon, they wouldn't allow the guests to start boarding. In fact that did happen to us a couple of years ago at Port Everglades and it was just after 1pm before they allowed embarkation to begin, although I believe that was out of Seabourn's control anyway. Extra checks by Customs or CDC or something.

We've queried the 2pm thing a couple of times and have been told that it's just so that guests who wait until then will be able to go directly to their suites if they wish. Again, in our experience, the suites are usually ready well before 2pm.

Are you overnighting in St. Maarten before your cruise? If so could you recommend a hotel or resort?

Thank you.

We're there for 4 nights so I booked an apt (and a car) through VRBO over on the French side near Orient Beach. For just one night, you're better off closer to the airport and pier.