stan01

Food is obviously a personal preference, but what we DO NOT prefer is too many specialty restaurants that have to be reserved months in advance at midnight on the opening day of availability when which seems to have become the norm on some cruise lines. Or having seating at specialty restaurants overly tied to status and cabin fare. We'd rather be more spontaneous on our vacations than plan down to the last minute when and where we will eat months in advance. Having most dining choices except TK available without reservations on Seabourn works for us. Again, personal preference and others will disagree I'm sure.

Cruise line IT needs work. Seabourn has had a lot of problems, including sending out spurious emails for our upcoming cruise then quickly sending out an "ooops we didn't mean to send that". Despite that, Cunard is much worse. Seems like Carnival is still letting each name brand run their own websites rather than putting everything on a full featured and reliable platform.

Shortened port days and skipped ports sounds like weather issues (such as not being able to tender or even approach a pier). Every cruise ship line will err on the side of safety when there are rough seas, they do not want to put anyone at risk tendering in rough waters or risk damaging the ship or pier. I would not use weather related issues as a criteria. Sometimes they are able to find an alternate port that is safe to visit, other times it becomes an extra sea day. We have done back to backs when the transition port was San Juan and Monte Carlo where the ship is docked within walking distance of the city/town not in a distant commercial port. It would not be our first choice but we would do it again given the right circumstances.

For those who have used the LAX long term garage that replaced Lot C, how do they handle the abundance of EV charger spots? I would not want to arrive to find that I've paid in advance for a spot and all the spots are taken while there are hundreds of empty EV spots I'm not "allowed" to park in?

I think the issue is the uncertainty. If there was a consistent decision that "MDR" is only open for breakfast and lunch on sea days then people would know that. Maybe a handful of people would vote with their feet and not travel on Seabourn any more. When it is left to each hotel director to decide for each cruise I can see how it would be hard to meet customer expectations. We are fine with well run buffets like Seabourn offers and like to sit outdoors but occasionally we also like the "MDR" as well.

This will be asked many times over the next year but this thread gives details: Cunard lost access to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal at Red Hook to a higher priority ship and had to adjust the schedules on several cruises in 2024. So some cruises became 6 nights and others became 8 nights instead of the typical 7 nights that Cunard has been operating in recent years plus a few more drastic changes. Adjustments were made in July for those already booked.

Pied Piper for one has been doing group cruises for a long time, often using Celebrity and now it looks like some on MSC. Their group sizes can range from tens to hundreds but are not full ship charters. I've been looking at them for a long time but we just go by ourselves: where, when, and cruise line/ship of choice

Have you considered SeaDream Yacht Club which operates the former Cunard Sea Goddess and Seabourn Goddess I/II small ships? 112 pax and 95 crew small ships owned by the original founder of Seabourn (before it was bought by Carnival). Since you like Club Med and casual but classy it might be a fit. Biggest downside of the hard product is the cabins do not have balconies since the ships were built in 1984/1985. They have aged well in our opinion but obviously not new. There is plenty of outdoor deck space to make up for not having balconies, and the service and other soft product features are outstanding along with a higher percentage of non-American passengers especially on European itineraries. Itineraries visit the small ports like Windstar that Seabourn no longer goes to (such as St. Tropez, Korcula, Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda). Cheaper and smaller than the new Ritz Carlton's ships too which is where are at if you want smaller than Seabourn and modern luxury.

I think the V1s and V2s on Deck 5 are pretty good value given that V2s and V6s get about the same service, and on Seabourn even the Suites don't get that much extra service just bigger rooms. The higher cost V3-V6 and then the suites work their way up to 2-3x that typically. Then there's list price vs price paid with incentives added in. I've been comparing some other options and yes I think Seabourn is a "pretty good value" right now like-for-like.

Probably just a matter of time until the finance types at Carnival push Seabourn into a ship within a ship concept (assuming they don't go entirely to expedition). We are casual small ship fans so the five discarded Seabourn ships still operating at Seadream and Windstar will meet our needs for awhile longer even if they don't meet Carnvial's needs.

Quest also had a life insurance/annuity sales group on board last week whose logo appeared on the daily menus. I'm guessing it was a sales bonus for selling a lot of life insurance and annuity policies.

I think that's a great idea especially when there are connecting flights. I hate to say I have trust issues with airlines -- but I do! We have a nonstop from Southern California to Miami in November so less worried about the airline losing the checked bag. However, summer 2024 we have 8 days in London followed by 13 days on QM2 Queens Grill so we'll need attire to support 4 formal nights and 9 coat/suit nights plus variable English and North Atlantic weather (cool, warm, wind, rain). I'm afraid we might have more than 20 lbs just in shoes. We'll see if we can arrange White Star (Cunard title for Luggage Forward) on that cruise.

I'm male -- I have had one of these for maybe seven years now, they have changed them once or twice since I bought mine and they are more expensive now. I did need it for some one carry-on bag work travel to Africa and Middle East and it worked out fine. Helped my carry on bag pass the Lufthansa agent's rigorous tape measure and scale tests in Cairo: https://shop.bluffworks.com/collections/performance-blazers (Just to be clear all other things equal I am a one carry on bag person, not a three steamer trunk with 10 pair of shoes person!)

I'll send you my Venmo if you want to donate to a good cause! There would be zero reason to wear such a thing in our simple and practical lives as retirees in Southern California. To be honest buying the tux still feels wasteful as we know we'll only wear it a few times. Bought it because we have a QM2 Queens Grill crossing next year. I'll freak y'all out when I say I was debating whether to do the 14 day Caribbean cruise as carry on only, but spouse can't do that so you won't see me in my travel-friendly no-iron blue sport coat.

I'm sure we will both enjoy the cruise!

We have a 14 day round trip Caribbean out of Miami coming up in November, the last time we did Caribbean on Seabourn was about 2012 and I think we wore a coat and tie with slacks on formal nights. Anyways, planning to do same this year (in compliance with posted dress codes). I can't quite bring myself to wear a tux in the Caribbean plus just one more thing to go wrong if US airlines lose our luggage. Happy to dress up a little more in a cooler and elegant destination, not a tropical casual destination.

First Class has been around on ships for centuries. The Titanic had it, today it is Grills on Cunard or Retreat on Celebrity etc. Call it what you want, refine it as you want. I'm going to guess that the people who came up with Celebrity Retreat took some market research trips on Cunard Princess and Queens Grill cruises. For example Retreat takes care of the tipping and alcohol which Cunard Grills do not. Pro of Celebrity Retreat (or Cunard Grills): you can go to the rest of the ship when you want big ship features such as for a large show, a magic carpet (?), more dining and bar choices, nightlife, or the ballroom dancing (Cunard). If you want disco at 1 AM I would not recommend Seabourn, but some people will want to leave the cocoon to drink beer in a pub or dance to Drake at 1 AM. Pro of Seabourn: you can get most of the luxury food, service, and ambiance at the cost of the cheapest cabin on the ship. We typically do not buy a larger suite on Seabourn (we feel there is no need) & instead stay on the ship longer in a lower priced regular balcony suite. Also important for us is fewer kids with no specific kids features. They are different experiences. Try them both as see what you prefer. You might like both at different times.

From Seabourn site: Elegant Casual• Men: slacks with a collared dress shirt or sweater; Jacket optional• Ladies: slacks / skirt, blouse, pantsuit or dress.• Jeans are not appropriate in The Restaurant after 6pm• Elegant jeans are welcome in all dining venues. My read of that is that elegant jeans are welcome in all dining venues, but ordinary non-elegant jeans are not welcome in the Restaurant after 6pm. Seabourn not helping matters.

We enjoy cruising a lot, but some things are best done separately from a cruise. If at all possible Cinque Terre is better done on a land based trip of multiple days whether you can walk or not.