We love Seabourn so what other lines would we like?

Sea Dream? I called it Sea Nightmare. Found it was nothing like Seabourn.

I think they gave themselves 6 stars - I gave it three - never again

For the Caribbean, check the SeaDream itineraries.

Thanks. But as I posted earlier I don't want to have a cabin where I can't open the window. Other than that....well probably fantastic.

Tony

For the Caribbean,

............... Azamara

I looked but it is similar to the Seabourn trip. The difference is that Seabourn offer 14 stops in 14 days and the Azmara is twelve days of which four are 'at sea'.

Tony

Pearl Seas is a new company with some Caribbean cruises. Cabins appear to be larger and have opening doors or windows. I have not sailed with them so have no direct experience. Then there is Windstar........

This is an interesting thread. Most opinions will reflect posters own preferences and cruise experiences. - as will my post.

I will admit straight up that we are mainly Seabourn cruisers over the past 5 years (80+ nights) Before 2009 we had been on several Regent (Then Raddison) and Paul Gauguin (once under the Raddison banner and once under its new ownership.

The original poster asked about warm water cruises. I do recommend Paul Gauguin which is a little smaller than the Odyssey Class Seabourn ships (aprox 300+) it's an older ship but maintained well and suited to cruising around Tahiti and surrounding island groups. Fully inclusive, good food and service and a truly tropical experience - swimming, snorkelling and water sports etc from the rear marina. I think the Weather around Christmas will be the wet season and quite humid, but the showers seemed to be short and sharp and quickly cleared up. The other issue for the OP is the travel distance from England. Far easier for Aussies and Americans to cruise the Pacific.

Another option is Azamara which we cruised for the first time Christmas 14/New Year 15. Azamara Quest did an Asian cruise itinerary and we had a mix of the warmer a south Asian waters and the colder North Asian waters (although winter in North Asia, it was certainly not overly cold). We found Azamara to be a great cruise line with food in the speciality restaurants the best we have encountered on any cruise ship - and we are Seabourn Food cheerleaders !!! Whilst drinks are fully inclusive, they are not up,to,Seabourn standard. Wines were fine, but the inclusive beer list is very small and quite ordinary and the inclusive spirits list is very basic. We generally paid for the higher level drinks and had a very generous OBC which helped ($2,000 USD).

To sum up, Seabourn is our first preference for luxury cruising, but if the itineraries do not work for us or a warmer water cruise itinerary is required, Azamara and Paul Gauguin should be considered.

Pearl Seas is a new company with some Caribbean cruises. Cabins appear to be larger and have opening doors or windows. I have not sailed with them so have no direct experience. Then there is Windstar........

Thanks Jim.

Any views on Pearl Seas or Windstar from this forum?

Tony

Most opinions will reflect posters own preferences and cruise experiences. - as will my post.

 

The original poster asked about warm water cruises. I do recommend Paul Gauguin ....... The other issue for the OP is the travel distance from England. Far easier for Aussies and Americans to cruise the Pacific.

 

Another option is Azamara

Thanks and don't worry about the personal preferences. That is what I want. As I said at the top we love Seabourn. What would we miss by using another company?

Yes, the travel to the Pacific can be daunting to us Brits. For example I have just looked at the Azmara Bali to Cairns across Christmas. The cruise looks good value. The snag is that Bali takes about 18 hours from the UK with one stop. Getting back from Cairns is at least 24 hours with one or more stops - and pretty expensive in Club.

I'm looking at Gaugin and Azamara now.

Tony

The Paul Gaugin and Azamara Journey were both recently featured on episodes of "Mighty Cruise Ships" on Quest channel in the UK.

It was a very good series and I am sure that you will be able to catch up on Sky TV.

We were on Paul Gauguin last month. See my review over on the Paul Gauguin board. We loved the ship. Reminded us a lot of Seabourn. Food was very good, maybe a half step behind Seabourn but the crew was as good as we have had anywhere. Possibly the 220 crew had an easier time with only 198 passengers (330 max) but they went above and beyond to make sure we had everything and anything we wanted. The only negative to the whole week is the terrible Air Tahiti Nui flights. Paul Gauguin Cruises has a second ship, Tere Moana, that sails the Caribbean. Have not sailed her yet. Somewhere in here Yall will find a fun warm weather cruise. Tough choices all.

Thanks Jim.

I'd looked at that Gaugin itinerary. Snag, for us, is that we really wanted a two week cruise and putting the 19th and 26th December ones together involves a bit of repetition. But I'll look again.

I think places like Tahiti are out for us. My wife is far from an invalid but she has a back that needs to be kept mobile. If I told her I'd booked her on a 24 hour long flight she would simply burst into tears. I guess the solution is to book onto a really long cruise with a nearer start point but we have so many commitments (fun ones I hasten to add) at home that we are reluctant to be away for a hundred plus days.

Another thing I felt talking to Seabourn fellow cruisers was that those on board for a hundred or more days seemed more blase and less excited than we folk who only went away for one or two weeks at a time.

Tony

I don't think anyone has mentioned WindStar.

I know some of the ships have very few balconies but what about the ex-Seabourn ones?

Or is the service just too far below that we SB folk have come to expect?

Tony

Comparison of the size of ship. Windstar, Ruby Princess and Odyssey, at Santorini.

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Bear in mind that the ex-Seabourn Windstar ships only have what is known as a 'Juliet' balcony - fully sliding doors, and an area outside you can just about stand on if your feet are not too big. Not a real balcony, although we did like them for having fresh air coming in, and being able to lean out and see the view. I do not think Windstar have drinks included, or some of the other Seabourn niceties.

Thanks about the balcony.

On the Sojourn we rarely sat on the veranda but we had the window open every night.

I have yet to look at what Winstar includes for liquor. I do wonder how much liquor I need to drink for the sums to work in my favour. What I do like is the fact that one does not get stuck in 'rounds'. I am not mean but when I go to the bar for one drink before changing for dinner I find it awkward if someone else says they will buy it for me - and then I have to buy one back and I have had twice as much as I intended.

So nice, on the Sojourn, to meet people for 'a drink' before dinner and not to worry about who's round it is.

Tony

I found this post interesting as I wondered if there were any lines out there that were worth considering for us as well............. I do not know about you T&C but quite frankly I feel all things considered that we are generally better off staying with Seabourn. The Gaugin Tere Moana and Pearl looked quite interesting but then it reminded us of a modern Seadream, which was just not for us, we actually did not enjoy it at all, we were and still are totally amazed at what the fuss was about with Seadream. Being honest Silverseas was very good, it is similar to Seabourn and we enjoyed our cruise on the Silver Shadow very much but we are both very comfortable with Seabourn, we enjoy the style and the product, and we are now quite nicely up the scale on the rewards programme that I do not really want to swap lines again, I suppose you could say we are happily hooked.

I think if I wanted a Caribbean cruise where Seabourn were not going to I think I would wait till they do...the World is big enough for us still to find plenty of places that Seabourn visit. I await you conclusions also.

I await your conclusions also.

I am building up a spreadsheet based on the recommendations of this thread and my wish to cruise somewhere warm and (accessible to the UK) this Christmas.

Not much choice when it boils down - if one wants SB standards.

Tony

I await your conclusions also.

 

I am building up a spreadsheet based on the recommendations of this thread and my wish to cruise somewhere warm and (accessible to the UK) this Christmas.

 

Not much choice when it boils down - if one wants SB standards.

 

Tony

Not much choice is right. We really enjoy Seabourn but find lately that they have few itineraries that fit our interests and or time frame. People have also asked about River Cruises and which would provide a Seabourn type experience. I believe the short answer to that one was "none". But, with all that said, we had a wonderful cruise on Pacific Princess to Alaska. We had one of the very large aft Owner's Suites and were well cared for with only 680 passengers. Sometimes the larger lines smallest ships and best suites can provide a very nice cruise approaching, but not completely there, to "Seabournish".:D:D

We have 80 or so days on Seabourn. Our only other “luxury” experience was on Regent’s Voyager.

The suite & ship’s interior were equivalent to Seabourn, but the food & service were significantly inferior. We had one meal that was as good as an average meal on Seabourn. The rest of the meals ranged from poor to mediocre. Service ranged from inattentive to surly. We did witness some confrontations between restaurant staff & officers so this may have not been a typical Regent experience. If our experience were “normal” for Regent, they wouldn’t have such a loyal following no matter how subjective food is. We would not return unless Seabourn’s food & service deteriorates significantly & Regent eliminates its included excursions.

We also did a “luxury” river cruise. While I think our experience was as good as it gets on river cruises & it was quite expensive, the suite, food, & service were not “luxury” by Seabourn standards.

We have over 200 nights with Silversea.

Last year on a 2 week cruise, we slept 2 nights out of the 14 due to the noise from the pump filling the pool. Our complaints were not answered. We wrote a top executive and had no reply. Plus the service was lousy (Cloud).

We could not cancel our 2nd cruise (penalty too high), this one on the Wind.

We had a quiet cabin, the towels in the bathroom were grey and rough. the furniture battered, not what one would expect from a luxury cruise line. Our butler was super, but the quality of the food gets worse on each cruise.

This year we are going Seabourn.

You've asked about Windstar. I can only tell you that I have a future booking on the Windsurf in the Caribbean. We chose this cruise because the SB itineraries did not work for our dates. Windstar has sailings from St. Martin and we can fly direct from Paris without filling out ESTA forms and dealing with the complicated immigration protocols. This is a huge plus for us.

The cabins are only 18 sq meters, but for approximately the same cost as a SB verandah cabin, we have booked a suite 36 sq meters. The draw back is that you cannot open the windows (butt;) there are 2 bathrooms).

The marina (weather permitting) will be open daily, if you are looking to get into those beautiful blue waters without taking an excursion or a life threatening taxi ride to get to a beach.

As far as the food goes....it can't be worse than the food poisoning my husband encountered on Regent. The drinks package can be purchased once on board, so we'll wait and sea (pun) what will work best for us.

The itineraries are only 7 days unfortunately, so we will prolong our vacation at the Samanna.

For more insight, you'll have to wait until this time next year. I have great memories from 3 different caribbean cruises on the Seabourn Legend and Spirit. If I could only travel in time...

Don't let this post stop any fresh and untried suggestions - but I thought I'd list my researches to date.

I am looking for a cruise of around two weeks, in the Caribbean area, on a smallish SB style ship, in a cabin where we can open the windows. We are looking to be away across the upcoming Christmas/NYE.

So far, following (I hope all) the suggestions to date I think the options are:-

Azmara 23.12.15 12 days Miami to Caldera Costa Rica 4 sea days and only 5 stops

Paul Gaugin 19.12.15 7 days Panama to Costa Rica

26.12.15 7 days Costa Rica return but almost same ports as above

Silver Seas 21.12.15 17 days Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale 8 at sea

22.12.15 14 days Fort Lauderdale return Whisper 4 at sea

22.12.15 15 days Fort Lauderdale return Wind 4 at sea

Seabourn 15.12.15 20 days Fort Lauderdale to LA but 9 at sea

Windstar All 7 day cruises that simply repeat

Sea Dream Windows do not open

I am not sure how to make this easier to read as spaces sometimes don't register. However, the answer seems to be that if one does not want to do that 20 day Seabourn trip with almost half the days at sea the only other option is SilverSeas.

Thanks to all who contributed so far. I have learnt a lot.

Tony

I've sailed on Regent and recently Oceania...as well as in a suite on Celebrity.

Nothing compares to Seabourn.

 

Kevnzworld

 

I am fascinated that of four of the next trips are with Celebrity - which I reckon is about times the size of the Seabourn ships.

 

Not questioning your logic but simply wondering why size seems not to matter in your case?

 

Tony

I like the activity on Celebrity, more nightlife, dining venues etc. I prefer a smaller ship like Seabourn for port intensive Mediterranean cruises though. I'm essentially conflicted. On March 31 we are doing our first Seabourn transatlantic, which traditionally we've only done on Celebrity. It made sense because we are staying on the Quest for the following 2 week Mediterranean cruise.

The Celebrity Alaskan cruise in June is just for a week, and the motivation there was partially to try the new suite only restaurant Luminae which debuts in April. ( we only stay in suites on Celebrity )

Which cruises we actually sail on after that will somewhat depend on these next two experiences. As I wrote, we booked a fairly last minute Oceania Caribbean cruise a few months ago to try it out, because they have a few itineraries ( Tahiti ) that are pretty good. That was a complete no go. Not for us.

Next up, Seabourn for a month.

T&C Fulham,

I wan't sure from your post if you were under the impression that Windstar included any alcohol at all. It doesn't, just in case you were.

One thing to note Re: Azamara

They sail two really old ships, ones they purchased from the long defunct Renaissance. The staterooms are small with small balcony's and...shower curtains. yuch!

The suites are more $ than a Seabourn stateroom, and almost the same size 300 sq ft.

This is why I've avoided them.

As I wrote, we booked a fairly last minute Oceania Caribbean cruise a few months ago to try it out, because they have a few itineraries ( Tahiti ) that are pretty good. That was a complete no go. Not for us.

Next up, Seabourn for a month.

Well, we're about to do this, in reverse. We are about (next weekend) to embark on a 29 night Seabourn cruise, which we know we will enjoy.

We have booked an Oceania 14 night cruise in November, largely itinerary-driven, but also to try a new line. I'd be interested to know what you disliked about it so much?

We enjoyed our last cruise, which was our first on Celebrity, which went to Iceland / Faroe Islands and Norway, but it just wasn't the same as Seabourn! However, we do like variety (our land-based holidays vary from self-catering cottages to luxury hotels and most points in between) and are even trying another line in the summer, as my elderly MIL wants to try a cruise and we're going for something which sails from a relatively nearby (2 hours) port and with which we feel she would be comfortable. If she enjoys it she may want to try another line. We know that that cruise will be NOTHING like Seabourn, but it hasn't been chosen for us to enjoy the luxury, but to introduce her to cruising in a style which she can afford.