stan01

You may want to check out the prices on hotels before you get too far. We've seen 400-500 pound and much higher whether booking a year in advance, or a few weeks in advance. Hotel room inflation may be worse than cruise inflation from what we've seen.

Of course, I knew that! I tried to edit post but it won't let me. So sorry.

I think this is a great choice, and a good idea to plan more than one trip to a place with so much history. Yes Great Britain is an island and much smaller than the US, but it is a large island and has been one of the centers of modern Western history and society for thousands of years. There are two main choices for train travel between London and Scotland. Train from London Paddington Station to Edinburgh is very easy lasting about 5 hours on the fastest trains, and highly recommended during the day time as the route is scenic especially the northern third between Newcastle and Edinburgh. I would choose a window seat on the coastal side of the train. One can also take the Caledonian Sleeper overnight from London Euston, however I would do that for the experience of the sleeper carriage or if you are short on time since you miss views of the daytime train. This train splits near the Scottish border with some carriages going to Glasgow and others going to Edinburgh. Good luck on your journeys. If you are comfortable taking trains out of London there are dozens of interesting day trips to visit such as Salisbury, Canterbury, St. Albans, Oxford, Cambridge, Bletchley Park, and Bath. At Bletchley Park, Oxford, and Bath the train station is a short walk from the most interesting areas; in others a short taxi ride is needed. Or arrange day tours such as an all day trip to Bath, Stonehenge, and Salisbury Cathedral.

On Seabourn in the Caribbean, people will wear shorts and sandals to breakfast and lunch. For dinner I've occasionally seen men in golf shirts/khakis and women in cotton blouses with capri pants (which to me seems pretty casual but is allowed). However, I don't let the attire of the people around me ruin my vacation especially if they are behaving fine in other ways. A women in capri pants bugs me less than a chair hog or someone giving the staff a hard time. We haven't been on SS in a long time, but the age of the typical Seabourn passenger is now baby boomer. Times do change. No big band music to be heard, plenty of ABBA and Journey with an occasional Taylor Swift thrown in.

I don't know if this is the question, but if I could only visit Great Britain once in my life for about 2 weeks I would spend most of that time in London with some day trips to places like Canterbury, Cambridge, Bath, and Salisbury then spend a few days in a Cotswold country inn. I'm sure the cruise will be lovely too but its not what I would do if I could only make one two week trip to Great Britain in my lifetime. Opinions will vary of course.

On Quest there's a small fridge with sodas and water by the forward top deck sun beds (above Observation Bar).

I noted that one popular travel agent site cites that Seadream Yacht Club is 5 1/2 stars. So I guess the raters can be very particular. Guessing they deducted 1/2 star for old ships.

Rather than trying to compare in advance, I would go in with an open mind almost as if you'd never even been on Regent. Give it a try and see what you like or don't like. Both are very good products but each person is going to have their personal preferences -- sometimes quite strong. I hope you find that both are very good experiences, but you may find there are a few little things that cause you to prefer one over the other. Some people will place caviar at the top of their list, others place lounger cushions at the top of theirs. Some people find there are lots of things a butler will do for them, others feel having a butler is unneeded and can't even figure out what the butler is supposed to do. Some people will not eat in a buffet or do not drink alcohol. Some people feel strongly they should be addressed by their name, others don't care. Those are the types of things that seem to become differentiators.

In what ways and when? Seabourn definitely had some pains starting back up after COVID and lost some long time crew so a new generation is being trained and now most have multiple contracts under their belts. If you prefer personal butler service you might find Regent or Silversea to be a better match. In the dining rooms we find a waiter we like and then always sit in their section. On our last cruise we felt the bartenders were short staffed and couldn't keep up with service between 6-7 PM. I'm hoping we don't see that on our next cruise.

Larger ships have larger TK Grill (now Solis with outdoor dining) and the sit down bar area. They have the pay-to-use Retreat on top level. They have sit down Sushi with a full lunch/dinner menu (Sushi in the Club has a partial sushi menu just in the evening). There is one extra deck so more stairs to climb which some will feel is better for marginally increased exercise on board. Larger ships actually have fewer PH suites and no Ocean View suites (without balconies). PH Spa suites get elevator access on the larger ships. These are minor in the big scheme of things, I would not worry about them at all. Enjoy your trip!

It all does seem to be a bit random and unpredictable, not everyone is seeing the same thing when it comes to seat selection even on the the same airline which makes it hard to give and get internet advice. Thanks for the help, and lets all just remember in the future that what one person can do may be different than what others can do (e.g. US vs UK based, or even just random events).

On the AA and BA websites. Not ticketed yet, but was able to select seats.

I am able to view and change seats on the AA and BA flights I booked this weekend. You must call for hotels, there may be multiple choices.

May be a little bit surprising to make this comparison but Viking Ocean which is a little more mature (swap out Branson brash and the tattoo parlor for modern Scandinavian design and a Norwegian cafe that serves up waffles and pea soup. It's also a no kids experience if that is important and they have a lot of ships with different home ports. Then I'd have to mention Seadream Yacht Club. More expensive yes but this is a case where you get what you pay for if you can get past not having your own balcony (not needed, the ship is so small there is space everywhere) and the 40 year old decor. The food, drink, and elegant casual vibe makes up for it though. Fares are lower in Caribbean than in Med.

It can be appetizers or a meal depending on the amount you order. It is ordered and brought to you by the bartenders in the Club; it is not a buffet. Basically it starts at 6:00 PM during "happy hour" and continues during the dinner hours usually until 9 PM. It's sashimi (nigiri and maki) and rolls. Not the same menu as on the larger ships in Sushi.

One other important point. If using Flight Ease to book a flight yourself with extra pre- or post-cruise hotel nights it is necessary to call Seabourn and make sure they know to add in those extra nights in the hotel program. In fact, I'd recommend calling Seabourn (or travel agent) no matter what after self-booking flights in Flight Ease. There seems to be some manual things they still need to do and their IT systems are not 100% connected. At least that's been our experience in general with Seabourn is to always call and confirm everything done on the website. Also ask for a new booking confirmation that shows the added arrangements, that doesn't seem to be emailed out automatically.

Looking forward to it! We are on for the crossing and another 7 days around Caribbean for total of 21 days. I did create a thread in the roll call forum.

We've done it before. First, it is necessary to pay for all of the extra hotel nights including the one that would otherwise be complimentary if arriving the day before. In short, they switch you over to the pre-cruise hotel program which also covers transfer from the airport to the hotel and hotel to pier. Of course someone could book their own hotel arranagements and not use the Seabourn program. However, the last time we booked hotels through Seabourn we got a good rate at a very nice hotel (Four Seasons Miami Brickell). We'll have to see what happens on this cruise.

I just booked our flights this morning. Flight Ease allowed selection of the BA seats from LHR to BCN, but not from US to LHR. I was fully expecting to have to pay the BA fee for premium class seat selection but when I went into the BA website to review the reservation it allowed me to select Business Class seats with no fee! I was surprised and did so before they changed their mind! Thanks all!

That's great to know and exactly what I was hoping to hear! Thank you!

Thanks for the time to post and the information. Fortunately, Flight Ease (at least for US based Seabourn customers) does not work that way (which sounds awful I agree)! We get access to a booking web site and can choose our own flight arrangements on any carrier, can check multiple airports, can book outbound and return on different carriers, and can get seat assignments when the airline allows that. In this case, because it is a transatlantic Flight Ease gives us a lower cost. For example, when i went to AA website they would not even book a round trip or multi-stop ticket across the Atlantic; had to do a one way ticket US to Europe and another one way ticket from Caribbean to US. Thanks all for the info, sounds like we will go ahead and book soon and take our chances with airline schedule changes.

Many threads on this over the years I know. Specifically we have decided to use Flight Ease for premium class tickets on our transatlantic in Nov 2024, flying from US to Barcelona and back to US from Barbados. When should we book this? I know if we book now we'll get the reservation in the class of travel we want but the Seabourn site warns the fare could go up before final payment unless we ticket it early and at that point it becomes non-refundable. In the meantime there's a decent chance the airlines will change the schedule before the final payment is due. Should we book now (there are some fares we like that are cheaper than purchasing from airlines for one way tickets) or wait until June or July? Should we have them ticket if if we like the fare? We are very unlikely to cancel the cruise. Maybe its a question to call Seabourn and ask.

Some internet tough love, please don't take this the wrong way. How would your kids behave in the pool area and on the pool deck? There will be up to 900 others who want to sunbathe, take a dip, sit in the jacuzzi for a bit, and enjoy the ocean air. If a group of kids is making a lot of noise, splashing water, and running around the pool deck that detracts from other people's vacation that they have paid a lot of money for. Explora does not have adults only spaces nor do they have kids pools. If your kids would take a dip in the pool and sit in a deck chair reading a book or playing a video game with earphones on while you are nearby then I'm sure they'd be welcome. If on the other hand they are going to be left alone for hours with squirt guns expecting the ships crew to watch them and terrorize the ship ... well you can see why the other 900 people might not be happy. I'm being a little dramatic I know, but I'm sure this post will get a few likes and at least one person will reply that "this is exactly what happened to us" when a small group of kids took over pool area with no other place for adults to go.

I'm hoping no change for E&O, its an informal experience by the pool whereas Solis is still intended to be reserved in advance and the premier dining location on the ship. The Solis outdoor dining area is only on Encore and Ovation which had a little used patio area similar to that of Colonnade one deck down (extra deck on these ships). Sojourn and Quest do not get an outdoor Solis area. Since it is booked in advance, my guess is they will only book to the indoor capacity in case of bad weather they won't want a lot of disappointed passengers. They either will move people outdoors in good weather, if desired, and leave indoor tables empty or will accept more walk ins to fill the tables. Or maybe a little of both, time will tell. If Solis proves to be very popular (I think it will) there may be some customers who want to eat their much more often than once a week. Some people might even want to eat there every night so Seabourn will have to manage that.

I would not put too much into ratings so I'd skip right over that part. These are subjective experiences for each of us, and if cost was not a factor I'd be making different decisions on many things I do. The luxury and near luxury cruise space is getting very competitive with Regent and SS adding capacity while keeping their older ships, and Viking Ocean and Explora adding massive capacity. At the higher cost and smaller ship space Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons are coming in with entry level products that start to be price comparable to suites on SS and Regent. Carnival's $28B of COVID debt is going to seriously impact their ability to let Seabourn compete. We'll have to see what happens. Carnival eventually selling Seabourn to A&K instead of them building more ships for Crystal as promised isn't off my radar. These are businesses and the business decisions are going to drive what happens. For us, for the time being we are going to focus on our price point and try to get the best value. I guess if we eventually find out we have to spend more we'll see what happens.