commodoredave

I’ve never sailed with Viking, but enjoy Seabourn very much. Having said that, the following recent survey in the UK ranked Viking higher than Seabourn. Guess it depends on personal expectations and experiences. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-11803515/The-best-worst-cruise-lines-2023-revealed-Noble-Caledonia-number-one.html

We’re on the Pursuit, so we should be okay.

Thanks for the input. Based on the Seabourn website, my Amazon cruise from Barbados to Manaus is an Expedition trip, which means it should include the Zodiac excursions.

On a previous cruise with another expedition line, all our shore excursions were included. How does it work on the two Seabourn expedition ships? Included or not?

Maybe they can hire Larry Pimentel to serve as a Very Senior Advisor to Rick Meadows while Rick is serving as a Senior Advisor to Natalya.

What data breach? It never happened. You we’re just having a bad dream!

Exactly. Given the number of meals being delivered to cabins each night, dining in seems to have a base, albeit small.. But pax don’t always dine in for the same reason. Some do it when exhausted, some when wanting a simple meal instead of fine dining, some when bored of the same routine, some when wanting a movie night, some when having an early morning the next day, etc. We never dined in cabin until taking longer cruises when we got older; now we do it once per every 10 nights at sea.

Just as we enjoy pulling up the draw bridge and dining in at home, after 10 or 12 days at sea we enjoy the same thing. Just a break from dressing up and dining out, and having a different experience.

i hope and believe you are wrong. Small and medium-sized ship cruising appears to have a strong future based on the growth of cabins in this segment. In particular, the expedition cruise market has exploded.

Multigenerational cruises and traveling with friends who can’t afford the more expensive ships are the reasons we have sailed on bigger ships.

If Silversea ever drops butlers, i’d like one to bring home!

As I quickly scrolled through topics, this one appeared to say “Jesus now allowed in all dining venues “! After stopping and realizing it really said “jeans”, i was very disappointed!

Excellent analysis and commentary. Thanks.

I’m pretty sure that’s it. We loved it. Thanks so much for posting this!!!

I think that is good advice as what people may enjoy from a Japanese restaurant will vary based on prior experience. We were spoiled by Crystal’s Nobu and therefore disappointed by Silversea’s Kaiseki.

Very good analysis. But given that Seabourn has been around much longer than Silversea, it does seem strange that it has struggled more than Silversea to grow. Not diminishing either cruise line as I love both. Just wondering whether there is an interesting case study here for a business school.

You may have misunderstood my comment. I was questioning your statement that La Dame is 1/3 the cost of the same meal ashore, which would be $180. If I could get La Dame quality on shore for $60, i would jump at it. But then again if most of the other fine restaurants ashore were free, I might not pay an extra $60 per person for La Dame very often.

You may have misunderstood my comment. I’m not interested in the history of what and is now ultra, I’m interested in the business story of how one luxury line outmaneuvered the other to be more successful.

I was on the Moon as well on the recent TA to Lisbon. The bar tender at the SALT bar (they are fabulous bar tenders by the way) recommended a gin from Argentina for our martinis. I can't remember the name, but it was excellent gin and free. If on the Moon one day, give it a try!

We recently sailed on the Moon trans-Atlantic from Ft. Lauderdale to Lisbon. Before boarding, we made 3 reservations for dinner at Kaiseki. After dining there on the first night, we cancelled the remaining 2 reservations. It was not bad, but just not good enough for the extra $40 per person, especially given the quality of the other restaurants.

I find it interesting that while Silversea is rapidly expanding with support from its parent (RCCL), Seabourn is shrinking under pressure from a somewhat financailly distressed parent (Carnival). I think it would make a fascinating story if someone in the know wrote about the divergent paths of these two ultra-luxury lines and why.

If your calculation that La Dame costs 1/3 less than similar quality meals in restaurants ashore, that would amount to $180 per person. I know some fabulous landside restaurants where I can dine for less than that, and get better quality. Not to diminish La Dame, but it would never earn a Michelin star and it doesn’t compare to those restaurants that have them.

Our recent cruise on the Moon completely changed my mind about butlers. Wellesley, our butler, was out-of-this-world superb! Anticipated all of our needs and wishes. Reminded us of various options available. Never forgot a request and delivered on everything in a timely manner. Made our cruise more enjoyable. He was so good that I fully expect him to be working in management in a few years.

For the good of humanity, I only try to be funny on Sundays.

Nor was it on my key card with Seabourn in March of 2022. Don't think it was on my Silversea key card on the Whisper last July and August either. I guess it could be worse...what if they started putting our weight on it!