hoosier74

Mine were gone also for our Feb, 7 Sojourn cruise. I tried rebooking yesterday and it wouldn't put it in the cart. Today it did but after I did one, it said I had reached my limit. The whole cart thing is confusing and we didn't understand it on our first cruise after TK was introduced. You have to go through and finalize, including checking terms and conditions, even though there is no charge. I'm not sure if our originals reservations are still there because it let me make three. I didn't print out my first confirmation but I'll go back and check the dates.

I had told myself to ignore this thread but I find I can't help myself! First, it is my belief that over the past 10 years or so, people, particularly in the US have seen so many abuses of the 'service animal' designation that we are more than skeptical if the person with the animal does not appear to need a service animal and the animal does not act like a service animal. Service animals are wonderful and provide much needed assistance to their owners. Our church congregation has a woman with a service dog for her panic attacks and he is so inconspicuous that I have never actually seen him. However, I have also experienced very small (as in a toy Yorkie) dogs in service vests on National Park trails quite a distance from the trail head which present a danger to the owner, other hikers and park animals. In spite of numerous warnings, people don't understand that dog urine smells just like wolf urine to other animals. And of course, we have all seen the story of the support peacock. Secondly, I have cruised on several lines other than Seabourn. Each of those cruises had things that I enjoyed, but also things I didn't like and I chose not to return to those lines. However, I do not haunt the boards for those cruise lines sharing all my dislikes, and trying, probably with the best intentions, to warn others off with my stories of what I didn't like. Those cruises were my personal experience and probably others with different tastes, expectations, and experiences would not feel the same.

If you see a destination on your itinerary that says "Carambola Beach, St. Kitts and Nevis'" this is typically an included excursion called Caviar in the Surf. It's a Seabourn event of a day at a private beach, BBQ, champagne, caviar and lots of fun. You don't have to participate and there may be other excursions offered.

I've been longing for pump bottles, particularly in the shower. I find it a huge pain to keep flipping the top back and squeezing the tubes with soapy hands. And inevitably after a week or so the top won't close so it leaks. LOVE the pump bottles and love the care for the environment. And I really don't want to take anything home. And yes, most of the top drawer hotels we have stayed at lately have the pump bottles.

Isn't brunch usually a buffet?

There is no "Retreat" area on Pursuit or Venture according to the online deck plans, so perhaps Seabourn has 'retreated' on the concept. However, oddly enough, a small area on Deck 11 on the Quest, Sojourn and Odyssey deck plans labeled "The Retreat." Basically the putting greens. We had huge amounts of OBC on our Ovation cruise last fall and used some of them for a day in the Retreat. Nice Champagne, good food, great service, terrible TV (but that was happening all over the ship that day), Tote bag and flip flops, very relaxing. But I must say, not worth it. Recent treads have been very critical of the "Seabourn concept" as it applies to premium suites, wanting extra perks to go along with them. I rather like the concept and agree that the Retreat is a bit of an anomaly in that regard.

To clarify, for the Silver level of Seabourn points, you can elect one bag of laundry per CRUISE. Above that it's one bag per week, until you get to Diamond when it's unlimited. We can put almost a week's worth in a bag....I added up the per item cost on one of my bags on our last cruise and got $97. On our south American/Amazon trip when we were sweaty, sometimes a bit muddy and had ample mosquito repellant on our clothes, we did quite a bit of self serve. I've never had an issue with the laundry. Love finding the little tags months later at home.

When Seabourn had the small ships (200 passengers) the Ephesus concert was in front of the Library. The area is too small for larger capacity ships. I would guess Silversea does the Library with it's smaller ships. Windstar had the Library concerts after they bought the triplets and before they expanded them. Disposal of plastic is a huge issue world wide. Seabourn has gone to reusable water bottles, wooden stir sticks, and maddeningly collapsible straws. I think the issue with the water bottles in the room is that they don't get changed out and if the previous occupant didn't use them, the water can get quite stale....or in our case, we couldn't get the top off. We always empty them out and refill if we use them but we bring our own refillable stainless steel water bottles as we found the Seabourn ones occasionally leaked. Tap is fine for us but we don't like fizzy.

The reef at Belize and the Blue Hole are spectacular. The Mayan ruins at Laminai are also spectacular. Ambergris Cay is a wonderful resort destination. Belize City is not

On the Quest in August from Dover to Montreal, the Restaurant was open for breakfast on 4 of the 8 sea days and for lunch on all of the sea days. (I went back and looked at my Heralds.) We never went to breakfast there. I think we've eaten in the Restaurant for breakfast once in our days on Seabourn and on that occasion, we were the only ones there. We did eat lunch there twice on this past voyage and it was very nice, and quite busy. I can tell you that the menu in the Restaurant has the same offerings that are available to order in the Colonnade but they also offer specials every day that I don't think are the same as the specials in the Colonnade, but I'm not sure, having not eaten in both places for lunch on the same day.

Just FYI...I'm making an assumption here that the critics of Chef Bala did not go to his cooking demonstration, which BTW was the best I'd ever seen on any ship. any cruise line. He has been with Seabourn for 14 years and is the chef who works with the TK organization to coordinate their services on board. He shared with us that the TK menus are being reviewed and may be revised, soon. Menus are standardized throughout the fleet (allowing for local variations, obviously) as is provisioning. There certainly have been supply chain issues....HORRORS!!! we did not have Seabourn fries for two weeks!!!! I know there was some criticism of his Indian food, which I couldn't comment on as I'm not a fan in general and didn't go to Indian Market, but perhaps you just don't like the food from Madras, where he is from. Others thought it wonderful and the sample we got at the demonstration was very good.

I understand that they are also available from the ship's doctor free of charge, but I've never gone that route.

I get them every time we go on a cruise. My husband got sick about 10 years ago but not since. I pack them, they expire and I go get another pack.

If you were seasick the night of the very rough seas, I was wary of even getting out of bed. Crew members were running in the hall outside our cabin securing doors. a pool lounger smashed into and broke the glass on the on-deck shower. It was a interesting night. I can very well understand a delay in delivering room service. Being seasick is not fun (I've been told...doesn't seem to bother me), but we carry our own meds just in case.

We were among those 'poor, unfortunate Quest cruisers." Totally agree that the sugar needs to be rethought. What came with room service was fine, other than that, No. The service in the Colonnade was not up to Seabourn standards,and sometimes really frustrating, but we didn't find it nearly as bad as others who voiced their opinions. Service in the Restaurant was also sometimes slow. However, I thought the food was just as good as always (even though they had supply issues and didn't have real Seabourn fries for about 2 weeks!!!!!) but my husband thought it was not quite as good. I think he's just used to it. Other than that, the ship looked absolutely great. We had no issues with spaces being clean or tidy. Seabourn Square did a great job, just one glitch with some ArriveCanada info which they aided the rush of confused passengers and sent out additional information right away. Our room stewards were superb. Herald delivery was always there and very helpful. Enrichment speakers, Venture team and officers were all great. I found the experience not quite Seabourn, but I also experienced that last fall on Ovation when we had the first Covid cases on board and so many events were changed.

Just FYI. The Restaurant has been open for lunch on Sea days. The Restaurant, like the Colonnade and the Patio, also has a daily menu in addition to the standard lunch offerings.

We had signed up for the chartered boat tour but it got changed because the seas were too rough. So be aware that could happen. The tour was still great but it took much longer.

My only surprise upon waking this morning was that everything in the cabin wasn’t on the floor. We also heard some voices in the hall and on the crew stairs in the dark of night. My husband slept through most of it. cabin attendants can certainly be variable. On our last cruise we met one ever so briefly the first day. She said she was getting off in two days and we never met the new one . This time, they have been superb and we couldn’t ask for better. No towel animals but some laugh out loud antics with my little stuffed corgi I got at Buckingham palace. there is a sliver of sunshine over the ice cap in the distance so there is hope for a sunny day.

We are headed off to the distillery tour for my husband who loves his scotch, but there was a fascinating program, maybe on Smithsonian or PBS about the castle, the Duke and Duchess, clan Campbell and the town and the Castle. She’s actually a Cadbury so probably didn’t marry for his $$. I am always interested in the ways they figure out how to keep these places going. Hope they are working in the gift shop so you get to meet them.

Interesting to read the comments about the excursion yesterday. Overcrowding is NEVER pleasant. We got cancelled from the Royal Yacht Club, and I’m very suspicious that the visit to Cowes Week by Princess Anne had something to do with that. Went to the Botanical garden for a ho-hum excursion. The whole marina scene yesterday was quite festive and it was so cool to see the WWII Spitfire flying around. the enrichment speakers have been great so far. we had a great dinner on embarkation day at the restaurant and another last night at the TK Grill. Captain’s reception tonight. Looking forward to that twice baked goat cheese. No Covid mention for limit in activities. Trivia was packed and really fun.

Sorry to hear that you are still positive. I hope you get to see Jersey. I'm glad that you are reporting on the food and that it seems to generally please you. When I had Covid, I found that I did not entirely loose my sense of smell and taste, but it was diminished. I've actually think that the TK fried chicken is my least favorite of the theme meals in the Colonnade and/or the Grill. However, we live very near Kentucky and I am something of a fried chicken aficionado (did you know Col. Sanders was actually born in Indiana?). Do they still have the TK theme meals available in the Restaurant? Hoping to meet you on board (we get on in Dover).

I'm so sorry to hear that you are ill. Last fall in Greece, the spouse had to isolate with the infected party, but I fail to see how anyone could be so irresponsible....especially because it is my understanding that you can have covid and be contaigious for about 48 hours before you test positive. Of course, doesn't apply to all cases. I have a question which is very US based but is there Paxlovid available on board to treat the cases? We are vaxed and double boosted but got covid in April/May and had almost no symptoms. I have no idea how widespread the distribution of the antiviral is, but it worked great for us. Our MD usually gives us an RX for an antibiotic but I don't think we could get a 'just in case' antiviral. Just a mention, also in Greece, we were ALWAYS reminded to use the hand sanitizer when entering the Colonnade.

We had a connecting room once and I would certainly prefer not to have one again. One issue is that the door is directly opposite the small makeup mirror/desk area in the regular suites and if someone is sitting there talking, it can be heard in the next cabin. Actually I have had ideas on eliminating it by putting something between the doors (blanket, thin sheet of styrofoam?) but I have no idea if that would work.

Formal night jacket requirement: The Restaurant Formal night no jacket needed: Room Service (where I think you can still get the restaurant menu, even on a formal night) Earth and Ocean TK Grill Colonnade (which is not usually a buffet in the evening). No additional fee in ANY dining venue.

KJBacon We are also early risers and my husband does not like room service. We will also be on the same cruise as you for the last 24 days (I've read your posts previously). I think part of what you pay for on a luxury cruise is to have things the way you want them! You do need to understand that the Quest is a much smaller ship than Regent (except for the Navigator )or Oceania ships and will have fewer options in some areas. I would suggest that you go to Seabourn Square after you board and explore the possibility of having room service serve you breakfast at a different location on the ship if you want to be out and about. I know they do this all the time in the afternoon/evening with canapes and caviar so it might be a possibility. I don't think the pool deck would be a good because they are cleaning it at 6 am and this also might be an issue with other public areas. You might think about the aft deck behind Seabourn Square. Being outside might be an issue on the middle part of our cruise but it certainly will be light enough. They might also have other suggestions.