I get "We are experiencing system issues. Please try again later, or if you have immediate questions please contact us at 1-800-442-4448 or 206-626-8351."

18 hours ago, bigmjh said:

IMHO - Definitely the self-serve part.

I remember a Cafeteria growing up. Would that help? Here you take a plate all ready to go. No user serving. Crew servers keep the line functioning  and serve you the food.

23 hours ago, Ka Honu said:

The worst part is that the same r/t Reykjavik cruise they just canceled shows on the website for double the price in 2021. We're bummed.

I took the FCC and found my same cruise in 2021. The fare is about $1,000 more per person. I need to see if the bumps are the same.

My Mac has no problem there but I get a blank screen when I click on "Reservations". It always fails there.

42 minutes ago, JP1320 said:

We all knew this was coming, but I feel for those who have perhaps waited so long to partake of a Seabourn cruise. One thing I noticed is that additional expenses, air, insurance etc., are not noted in their response?

 

My cruise departs June 6 so I will stay put for now.

2 hours ago, zimflyer said:

 

×××××××××÷××××××××××÷×××××××××

Not being a lawyer, but as a layman, I have already posted here my dissatisfaction with Seabourn handling of the matter of these disruptions, alterations and cancellations....

 

To read the above, which is essentially a .... " fake credit " ,  mostly due to the restrictive and very pro SB conditions

makes me regret even considering my SB 30+ day trip due to leave in 11 days.

 

I thought, despite everything, that we would wear the new, very mangled and 100% different itinerary, PROVIDED SB covered the costs of DIFFERENCE of the NEW air and hotels needed for the new embark/debark ports. Reasonable ?

 

We asked our travel agent to contact SB for reassurance. Travel agent emailed back and has told us that SB will not contact us by email or phone me. We am just to wait and see.... in other words, 5 weeks after we return home, THEY will decide WHETHER we get any recompense...

 

I am quitting posting here, I have said my piece. This company is very quick to accept large chunks of $$$, promise the earth to its clients in terms of service, but apparently this is onboard only...

 

Back in the counting house, we are very much numbers in the SB ledgers....

 

Anyone who lived in a seasonal tourist town knows that you can't piss off the local regulars, they are your bread and butter.... This company is not doing the right thing its being slow and secretive in acting...

 

Our Australian PM, (of whom I am not a big fan), did speak the truth yesterday, a very important matter when the chips are down....

 

Quote from Australian PM speech yesterday...

We need your perseverance, your planning, your enterprise. We need your common sense, we need your calm, we need your commitment. But we need your patriotism, as well.

We need you to support your workers, by keeping them employed. Hold onto your people, because you will need them on the bounce back on the other side. Wherever possible, support them - full-time, part-time, casual, including with paid leave if they need to take time off during the course of the virus.

We need you to support your small business suppliers by paying them promptly. Pay your suppliers not just in time, but ahead of time, especially now.

You know what, you want to know what you can do to keep Australians in jobs? Keep businesses in business? And support Australia through this crisis?

If you are a large business, go back to your office today, pay your supplier invoices and commit to pay them even faster for the next six months.

That is what sticking together looks like.

How you support your customers, your suppliers, your employees during the next six months and potentially beyond, will say more about your company, your corporate values and the integrity of your brand, than anything else you’ve likely done as an organisation.

 

Enough said....

Look how simple and direct some cruise companies are doing:

"Holland America said it will offer all guests affected by the cancellations a full refund, a 50 percent future cruise credit and reimbursement of cancellation fees."

9 hours ago, teamflames said:

Except Crystal haven’t been any better. They cancelled some mini legs and only offered an FCC until everyone kicked up such a fuss they finally agreed they are supposed to refund when they are the ones who cancel. Their information has been as abysmal as Seabourn.

On Seabourn I called to ask when do we need to notify them of our intentions of whether to still cruise or take fcc - no idea!

Can I book one of the affected itineraries- no idea! What happens if we fly thru Singapore but plan on visiting Qatar and Oman- no idea! Exactly what air fare changes are covered by SB? - no idea! Do you think our Gulf or European stops could be affected given Iran and Italy? -no idea.

Absolute waste of time.

We did have a nice discussion about the weather and the type of summer we have had this year in Australia.

Celebrity on the other hand, even though I am using a TA were happy to discuss some of the logistical issues we face due to uncertainty around our SB and Crystal cruises and even delayed final payment by 30 days.

Some airlines are helpingpful:

Waived change fees on new tickets 

We know customers are thinking carefully about purchasing future business trips and vacations. To offer customers more flexibility, we are pleased to announce that we will waive change fees up to 14 days prior to travel for travel purchased between March 1, 2020 (4:30 p.m. CST) and March 16, 2020 (11.59 p.m. CST). See details for waived change fees. 

The offer is available for any of American’s published fares. Additional updates on existing travel alerts can be found on aa.com/travelalerts.

On 1/29/2020 at 5:12 PM, clarky said:

my husband has bought face masks and I have bought hand sanitizer and wipes and I intend to wipe down the tray table and seat as best I can on the plane.

 

Be sure to check what your sanitizer will kill - Alcohol cannot get through it, which is why alcohol-based hand sanitizers do not kill norovirus. “It's resistant to many common disinfectants,” Hall said. CDC recommends using bleach to kill it, including chlorine bleach or hydrogen peroxide. You should use a chlorine bleach solution with a concentration of 1000 to 5000 ppm (5 to 25 tablespoons of household bleach [5% to 8%] per gallon of water) or other disinfectant registered as effective against norovirus by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

3 hours ago, Kruzngrlz said:

We just left the Encore in January and did not need a reservation to have cocktails in the bar.  We went there nearly every night.

Thanks for the update.

6 hours ago, lydiamight said:

Really liked the bar area in the TK restaurant area. You can use even if you are not dining in the TK restaurant.

 

I read that not is no longer he case. You have to have a reservation to use the bar there. Anyone know for sure?

11 hours ago, Tallante said:

I cannot work out how to send a link!  However it’s on the Seabourn Ovation Roll Call site.

Is this the one?

Seabourn Ovation - June 6, 2020

5 hours ago, Tallante said:

 I did start a roll call for this cruise starting 6 June 2020 but so far nobody has joined.

I can't seem to find that roll call that departs 6 June. Could you please send a link?

17 minutes ago, Cru Doll said:

We are also doing this cruise on the Ovation.  After evaluating the situation, we decided to do Seabourn’s excursion.  

Yes. Same here.

2 hours ago, ael123 said:

When I see Brussel Sprouts on the menu being served with an entree and people at my table have Brussel Sprouts I don't understand why I can't have a bowl of them and have to eat mixed frozen vegetables.

Could you just order an extra entree and enjoy those Brussel Sprouts?

On 1/23/2020 at 7:09 AM, Cantara24 said:

 

I would even be happy if Seabourn would leave Keller to the TK Grill and get rid of the Keller inspired dishes in the Colonnade and MDR.

Seems the drink professional, Brian, is no longer playing a role on ship. I sense less that stellar comments about Keller. 

The "professionals" don't seem to be doing much good.

55 minutes ago, Chairsin said:

Video park 

Try booking one in your name and one in your suite mates name.

Not necessary. All booked.

8 minutes ago, cruising46 said:

usually allow one per guest.   

Strange. I am on a two week cruise in June and I had no trouble advance booking two meals with my name. 

15 hours ago, whogo said:

Seabourn has eliminated those little individual sugar and artificial sweetener paper packages. Sugar, raw sugar and sweetener are now in dispensers on the table.

Do you know which sweetener? I prefer Splenda.

6 hours ago, SLSD said:

But our resident water purification expert (see above) says that the Brita pitcher (and I assume the Brita bottle is the same) will not help this kind of issue.  Perhaps he'll comment again.  

True but the complaints about taste and the size of the bottle may help offer a solution. The filter may indeed be different in the bottle.

On 12/21/2019 at 12:57 PM, twodjs said:

What bothered you about this process? Could you ask what the TDS (total dissolved solids) level is of the water? Good purified water (like Sparkletts for example) is about 25 parts per million. Tap water may read 400 ppm. I agree with others who have said it didn't taste as clean as expected. They can do better. 

Water bottle with filter.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Brita-20-Ounce-Premium-Filtering-Water-Bottle-with-Filter-Double-Wall-Insulated-Stainless-Steel-Bottle-BPA-Free-Ocean/748660772?adid=1500000000000043087902&veh=eml

21 minutes ago, 2SailingNomads said:

 However I think Seabourn no longer has that relationship.   

Then it should be removed from the web site.

On 1/4/2020 at 6:35 PM, teamflames said:

We have our 2nd Seabourn sailing coming up in April on the Encore. The op’s comments are almost identical to our experience on the Ovation a year ago. The quality of mixed drinks was so incredibly poor we had to give up. I also ordered a Margarita and it was undrinkable, 2 passengers near me didn’t believe me and also ordered them and both spat them out and were in shock. The waiter then offered to make them and his were tasteless but at least not disgusting. 
 

On my final day I sat by the pool all day and was not once offered a drink, dirty dishes were left on the table next to me for 8 hours until the F&B manager cleared them.

When I queried what beers were available I was told too many to mention and I would just have to request my favourites until they had one of them?

I sailed Crystal directly after this and the quality of drinks was first class so obviously their bar tenders are properly trained.

 

On the Seabourn web site, I see: "Partnered with Master mixologist Brian Van Flandern to create exclusive fine craft cocktails. Seabourn is pleased to partner with world-renowned mixologist Brian Van Flandern to transform the onboard spirits across our entire fleet. Guests will enjoy a number of fresh,  balanced, remarkably tasty, food-friendly cocktails with flavors from around the world. Additionally, he will work with our bar team to standardize the classics to provide guests with the same perfectly balanced and served cocktail throughout their cruise. Seems like Mr. Van Flandern has failed to teach his bar staff the proper way to make a simple drink.

On 12/30/2019 at 11:00 AM, saminina said:

"... watched the famous Nelson.  They don't let him near the popular bars.  His way of operating does nothing for new to Seabourn guests and management knows it. 

What is his "way of operating?" I am not familiar with him.

34 minutes ago, fudge said:

 

Day 14

ALL AT SEA!

After another lovely meal in the restaurant last evening, we watched the Seabourn singers and dancers put on a Latin show, they are very good indeed, we thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Today we will be bobbing around in the ocean enjoying our last champagne (or two).

The last day of our vacation, we have really enjoyed the cruise. I checked the itinerary for this time next year, a far better cruise itinerary. No sea days which suits us fine, and a day on Carambola beach on Christmas day, the BBQ, also 1000 dollars OBC which would make Mrs. Fudge very happy indeed.

And guess what? Mr. Fudge persuaded Mrs. Fudge that we should go ahead and book, so there it is, almost the same again next year, whoopee do.

We have had the departure luggage labels delivered to our suite so all will be packed by the end of today.

When we disembark in the morning we have booked into a beach resort for the day as we don’t fly until late evening, so a day to relax before the long flights home.

After lunch on the patio with the Seabourn singers its back to packing!

At 6pm we attended the Seabourn Signature event: Officers on deck, crew farewell party.  

Finally, thanks to all our readers, it’s been wonderful to know you all, happy cruising, safe and happy travels, catch you later.xx

Thanks for the excellent notes on your cruise. Thanks.

On 12/21/2019 at 3:18 PM, Flamin_June said:

Dear Emp

I have enjoyed all your reports and photo journal's of past years; it's been a while since I've seen one on here and this time you seem to have gone for broke and pulled out all the stops.   The quality of your images are outstanding.Very enjoyable and entertaining. Many Thanks!

Thanks from me too. Great reporting.