Extremely disappointed Diamond Member and wondering if anyone else is bothered by the "new post-COVID" Seabourn". Based on a disastrous booking and customer service experience, I came to the realization that Seabourn is not equipped to handle a cruise of this magnitude.
I was originally booked on V326, Iquitos to Manauas on the Venture. Obviously a trip to South America can be logistically difficult and I paired the pre-cruise and post cruise with other journeys on the continent.
On 12/6 I received an email that the port in Iquitios, the embarkation point, "poses a substantial risk to safely and effectively operate the voyage and a substitution start point for the journey is required"
As a result, the cruise would be starting in Santarem which removed the most interesting part of the journey. The email stated that by 12/28 I would received an updated itinerary. 12/28 came and nothing and nobody at Seabourn knew about the issues nor were any supervisors available.
On 12/29, I received an email that "Due to unforeseen delays, new itinerary details and your booking confirmations will not be sent out until Jan 6, 2023."
On 1/2 I got in touch with someone from Seabourn who seemed vaguely aware of the issues. They advised me that I should go ahead and rebook my trips which bordered the beginning and end of the cruise and that everything would be ok. I went ahead and rebooked my other trips which I was told I would be reimbursed for.
On 1/6 I received no email with the new itinerary and was rudely told by Seabourn that "I should be patient" and was given no additional information.
On 1/10 I received a generic email stating "While we had anticipated having updated booking confirmations and the full revised itinerary available for guests and travel advisors by January 6, 2023, our work to finalize your bookings is taking longer than planned. We apologize for not meeting the deadline we communicated and regret any inconvenience this may have caused. At this time, we anticipate that we will have a finalized itinerary and updated booking confirmations sent out by Wednesday, January 18, 2023."
On 1/18 I got the final email "We are reaching out to follow up on our previous correspondence regarding your 10-Day The Heart of Amazon Expedition on board Seabourn Venture in 2023 (booking #CD9G5M). Seabourn Venture will be undergoing dry dock maintenance to conduct repairs to the ship’s stabilizers. Regretfully, our options for dry dock time and locations were limited, and we have made the difficult decision to cancel your voyage. Your booking will be automatically transferred to Seabourn Venture’s March 29, 2023 expedition, a 9-Day The Heart of the Amazon itinerary sailing roundtrip from Manaus, Brazil (voyage V323)." Then I was downgraded from the Grand Wintergarden Suite to the Penthouse Suite without being told, and had to learn by logging on to the website.
The kicker is that Seabourn will now be including Iquitos, the supposedly unsafe to navigate port, in its March 29 cruise (which will apparently also not include a stabilizer). At this point I have no faith that Seabourn can handle the logistics, safety or customer service aspect of an expedition cruise. Nobody at HQ knows what is happening with the ships. Rather than deal with tens of thousands of dollars in rebooking my other South America trips, I have decided to cancel Seabourn's Ramada experience with a Four Seasons price.
Calling Seabourn to arrange a refund to my payment was even more frustrating. As the payment was made via a wire transfer they were unable to confirm the return wire instructions so in around 10 days or so, I will see if my $110,000 payment is refunded or I should take Seabourn to court.
If anyone has the email of someone who has the authority to make decisions at Seabourn that would be great, otherwise I wash my hands of what has become a discount cruise line.
