SLSD

I usually agree with your opinions as well--but have a few comments to make about jeans on a cruise. I will be the first to admit that they are very casual dressing. But--they are what many people are accustomed to wearing in their everyday life when it comes to casual dressing. Jeans go with almost any shirt (for a man) and almost any top (for a woman). In other words, they are versatile. I totally agree with you about shapeless worn out faded baggy jeans on men! I fuss at Mr. SLSD about his jeans and I don't think any of them are acceptable except for our farm and the local hamburger joint. It remains to be seen if we can ever see eye to eye about what an acceptable pair of jeans might look like on a 71 year old man. I doubt that any would pass muster with you and I don't believe I have ever seen you in a pair of jeans. As I recall, your cruise uniform has been what we Americans call khaki pants (not green, some may call them chinos) with an oxford shirt during the day. Mr. SLSD has that uniform as well and we both see it acceptable (and very conservative) cruise wear. I've read your comments about jeans to Mr. SLSD and he has laughed. He's the same guy who wears a jacket and bow tie to dinner every night on a SB ship. So--when do I wear jeans on a SB cruise? Primarily, I wear them on excursions in places like the Kamchatka Peninsula, Alaska and the like---especially when there is going to be an outdoor activity. I don't wear them in the evenings of course and don't even wear them to tea in the Observation Lounge. I do like the fact that I can mix them with various tops --so they have remained as the most casual item I wear on a cruise. I don't bring faded jeans and certainly not jeans with holes in them.

Meanwhile, we do realize that posters are more likely to write about their disappointments than their satisfaction with a cruise line.

This makes me sad as well. With the huge debt Carnival is carrying now, there is no way that cost cutting would not be underway. This is just one of the reasons we have stayed on the sidelines post worst of the pandemic. With air travel and bag delivery such a hassle right now, we have no desire to ad a sub par cruise to the mix. We have loved Seabourn. Meanwhile, we are just continuing to read what others say and consider looking at a couple of other cruise lines.

This is very disappointing to hear. Others probably disagree, but I thought Sojourn was a bit tired the last time we sailed on her--in 2019.

We buy Molton Brown from their own website--no. need to deal with Amazon and you will have the complete selection. They often have sales.

About the TK Grill. It is ok but reminds me of a garden variety (upscale) Texas steakhouse. No better, no worse. And these are not my favorite restaurants. And the servings are HUGE!!!!!! Who eats that much food? At the most, we each take a couple of bites of the side dishes and the rest goes to waste. I have had some very good Dover Sole at the TK Grill, but never a steak that blew me away. The BEST steak I have had on SB was a ribeye in the MDR on a Baltic cruise. I still think about it from time to time. I don't find any restaurant interesting that has the exact same menu year after year. Yes, there are some daily specials and I have tried them and found them unremarkable---that means just ok. Our table mates have even had some very rare steaks served when they asked for medium well. In other words, I think the TK Grill is overrated. We will try the grill again when we finally cruise post pandemic. I see all dining on a cruise ship (even a luxury one) as similar to large hotel catering. We've sailed enough on SB to know what we like on their menus and pick and choose accordingly. One of my favorite meals ever was slow roasted lamb. Since we don't cruise only for the ship experience, we see the food differently from most. We are not expecting 5 star dining and seldom have experienced that. At the same time, the food usually very good and we have not had big complaints.

That is a puzzle. Is there one person in charge overall of food and beverage?

Is this a function of financial distress?

This is exactly how I feel. Who wants to go on a cruise and see everyone consumed with their phones? We usually use ours only as a camera while onboard SB.

While Mr. SLSD cares nothing about evening entertainment, I've always enjoyed it. But, last time we sailed on SS, it was so abysmal that I skipped the rest after a few nights. It was truly substandard. I would miss decent entertainment if we decide to sail SS. At the same time, I think SB needs to modernize their entertainment a bit. I'm not asking for Rap, but something a bit more current and varied. One night there was a country western program and I almost fell out of my seat laughing. Why not bring some real country western singers onboard if you are even going to attempt country western instead of presenting something totally ersatz and homogenized. We will continue to dress as we think appropriate for dining in the MDR--no jeans for us in that venue.

And what were the reasons for so few ports?

I will ask Mr. SLSD to try and contact her. It may take a few days as Mr. SLSD is traveling moment and will be traveling for the next four days or so.

I've been thinking. There is a type of clothing I have never worn to the MDR on a Seabourn ship---casual dresses. I'm not talking bare sundresses (at my age) , but casual stylish (at least I think they are) dresses. I have quite a number of them and usually bring a couple of them on cruises--to wear to tea, lunch around the pool, at Earth and Ocean. They are at least as dressy as "elegant jeans". These are dresses I would wear to "nice" casual dining in Dallas--but not to a fine dining restaurant. Perhaps things ARE shifting, no matter what some would like (including me) and I will go with the flow and bring a more casual wardrobe on our next cruise. In the past, I might have worn these dresses outdoors in the Colonnade in the evening. I can see that seeing what everyone is wearing will be interesting on our next cruise. I am thinking it is going to be much more casual.

I doubt anyone would be thrown out of a fine dining establishment in Dallas for wearing jeans either--but I haven't seen anyone wearing them. Most people like an opportunity to dress up just a bit. All this makes me sound like some matron who dresses up all the time---which is not the case. But, if my husband says he would like to go out for dinner on the spur of the moment, I always tell him that I will have to change first, T

There are Texans and there are Texans. We live half of the time at our rural farm in East Texas where almost anything in my closet would be deemed too dressy by the locals. It's just cultural differences. In the city, it's a bit different depending on where you go. I have yet to see a woman wearing jeans in a fine dining establishment in Dallas. I wish I could police the behavior of all Texans, but I gave up on that a long time ago. Just as you could be embarrassed by some of your countrymen upon occasion, I am as well. It's never a good look when someone gives their state/country/locale a bad name. At the same time, I try not to paint countries/states with a broad brush. When I mentioned California, it was solely about dress (not even implying that they are sloppy or anything like that.). I sometimes read a blog written by a woman in a suburb of Los Angeles. She wears nothing but jeans (with various tops/sweaters) and her blog is a fashion blog. If you want to take a look, go to unefemme.net. Her California casual look is too casual for me for every occasion, but evidently it works for her. .

I totally understand your viewpoint and share it. Just as I would never wear jeans of any kind for fine dining in our city, I would not wear them to dine in the evening on a Seabourn ship. I think this IS driven by an effort to attract more cruisers to Seabourn. Certain locations have a much more casual dress protocol (looking at you California--for one example) and people from these areas seem to be unwilling to dress in a way they consider outdated. Like others, we will continue to dress as we always have. My husband wears a jacket and tie every evening on Seabourn.

I read in another forum that the stabilisers are working at a reduced capacity, and, for that reason, the itinerary has been altered for safety reasons. SB provided a letter to those onboard with this information. I saw a copy of the letter on the other forum. Some passengers preferred to disembark, and this is the reason for the return to Ushuaia according to those onboard.

We always go to the hostess in TKG after lunch on the day we board. She has been available at that time. We have never booked through Guest Services. We have had our TA book for us ahead of the cruise as well.

Wow. I've never tried to do that. And lunch/breakfast in the dining room is nothing like dinner there. No need to dress up--much lighter meals--just a serene ambience. To each his own is what we are learning in this thread.

Exactly. I have always been so surprised at the vitriol on this topic. I thought that by posting the exact words from the SB site, it would be clear. Evidently not! All kinds of interpretations of words that seem clear to me, but obviously are interpreted differently by others. I'm not criticizing that--just saying that it is so.

I'm. not trying to create confusion at all. I merely copied and pasted the protocol from the SB site and included a link to a website about dinner jackets. Now, the website is from the US--so the terminology may be different--which is my entire point. To us, in the US, a jacket is just that---a jacket--not a dinner jacket. I have never wished that SB was more formal or less formal.

I think it all depends---on where you would like to have your drinks and/or glasses of wine. If you wish to just drink in your suite--by all means buy your wine/liquor and bring it onboard. But, if you are social drinkers, you may want to have your glasses of wine/drinks in lounges/bars on the ship, while visiting with others. If this is the case, (as it would be for us), buying the package would make sense.

It occurs to me that there are ways that the expert mariners in this forum could have worded their posts to be conducive to congeniality (which is important to some). They COULD have said, there is a difference in an experience (which may not have turned out well) and a Master acting within safety guidelines. I do see judgement as possibly erring on the side of not careful enough and/or too cautious. I can see a not sufficiently experienced Master erring on both sides of that coin. I am in no way suggesting that this was the case with this Master--but just saying that faulty judgement could err in both ways. I think words and how we express ourselves online are very important. If we talk in person, we have a chance to gauge perception on the spot and add or modulate what we are saying. Here, there are misunderstandings that can get out of hand.

I was mistaken! I just asked Mr. SLSD about Elijah Craig aboard SB--and he says it was not offered as included.

Pre-Pandemic, Elijah Craig was an included bourbon and was what my husband asked for in our suite. Interesting that it is a premium item now. He will probably choose either Woodford Reserve or Basil Hayden next time.