So many more questions about first time Seabourn on Ovation

[Salf777]

So I have booked my first Seabourn cruise and am very excited and have been reading almost all of the posts on here and have a few more questions please

 

1. WiFi- we aren’t in penthouse and I’m not concerned about days in port as I have an international plan on my phone so can always get access to what I need. Only one sea day on our journey so not to concerned. Does the Ovation have starlink? If I wanted the upgraded internet do you purchase onboard? I can’t seem to find pricing in the app

2. I have seen in videos they do things like caviar at the pool, do they announce or post these events so we can be sure to be onboard?

3. Excursions- I see a lot of excursions and we are doing a Yacht Harbors cruise and I don’t see like any thing like a day at the beach. We have done our own non ship excursions but I don’t particularly care for those just in case they get back late

4. Retreat or not? I know there are many opinions on this. I actually prefer a pool than a hot tub that the retreat has and we do The Retreat on Celebrity or Haven on NCL because we don’t like to deal with finding chairs or deal with chair hogs at the main pool. Does this happen on Seabourn?

5. Is there anything that’s a must do as soon as boarding? Like book dining or can we do all that prior on the app?

6. Boarding process. Does boarding get crowded? As mentioned we have only done Retreat on Celebrity or Haven on NCL and there was priority boarding and very easy. I am hoping with only 300 suites it shouldn’t be too bad. 
7. Lastly I know the subject of dress code is a time bomb. I see some saying elegant jeans are ok for men some saying not. Some say a polo shirt is acceptable and some not. I have seen some downright rude comments to people asking about jeans or polo shirts who are obviously just trying to get some advice. Is this the norm? We are looking for a more upscale experience but don’t want to be ridiculed should I not wear a jacket and tie every night

[Mauzac]

Hello and welcome!

 

1.  Wifi is Starlink and is excellent, you can buy the enhanced version onboard but I believe you have to purchase it for the whole trip and I'm not sure why you would need it.  We made Wifi calls and it catered for our needs.

2.  Caviar in the pool is on Sea Days, so you won't miss it, just keep an eye on The Herald or the app which will tell you

3.  Hard to answer... if there is a beach within tendering distance, you can just take it to the beach and then return at your leisure.  We have just returned from a cruise and did that twice.  Further afield is a bit more tricky

4.  I haven't used the Retreat.  We have never had a problem finding beds, but yes there are chair hogs around!

5.  I would book Solis in advance if you are able, I do it through SB's website in advance.  If you can't make your bookings, yes I would go early on to try and book.  Ask at Guest Services if you have trouble, they will help you

6.  We have only once had trouble boarding in all the SB cruises we have done... that was down to US immigration at Vancouver.  Apart from that it's plain sailing!

7.  My husband only wears a jacket and tie on formal nights, or maybe a casual linen jacket when dining outside but you really don't have to (apart from formal nights which are once a week in the main dining room).  His attire is a nice shirt and trousers (pants?!) or chinos which are smartish trousers in the UK. 

Hope that helps! 😃

[jondfk]

I’ll offer my opinions on #4, #6 and #7.

 

#4. The Retreat.  I have no Celebrity or NCL reference but on Ovation the Retreat is a semi private area of about a dozen cabanas surrounding a large hot tub.  We booked this for our Norway sailing last June and throughly enjoyed (although it was too chilly to fully enjoy about 3 days).  We enjoyed knowing we had a place to go without any question as to whether we’d find a space to settle.  We also enjoyed having lunch delivered to our cabana allowing us to avoid the Colonnade on busy days.  Is it worth the considerable price?  We thought so, many others do not.  Be aware that you are not booking a particular cabana rather a space somewhere in the Retreat, on a given day cabana selection is first come first serve, this was no issue on our cold weather sailing, on busier sailings I can imagine keen competition for preferred cabanas (they are all quite similar though some have sea views and others do not).

#6.  Boarding.  The ships are small so all of the land side procedures tend to run fast and smooth.  Still, once onboard you will be funneled towards the Colonnade for your first and least pleasant lunch.  I highly recommend either a) boarding a bit later, after 1:00 and avoiding the madness or b) turning around at the entrance to Colonnade and walking forward on the pool deck to the Patio where you’ll find many less people and a far more pleasant experience. 
 

#7.  Men’s dress.  On the non formal nights my attire is slacks and an open long sleeve shirt.  Offends no one and accepted anywhere onboard.  On formal nights I add a sport coat, again accepted without question.  
 

hope this helps a bit.

 

[stan01]

Re attire:  The Seabourn website states elegant casual is:

 

Evening (after 6pm): Elegant Casual. The following is the nightly dress standard for all dining venues:

    Men: Slacks with a collared dress shirt or sweater; Jacket Optional.

    Ladies: Slacks / skirt, blouse, pant suit or dress.

Elegant jeans are welcome in all dining venues. 

 

You will not see many polo shirts other than first and last night, but will see quite a few Tommy Bahama style untucked button down shirts especially in warmer climates.  For formal night add a jacket.  Tie or tuxedo optional.

 

The idea is "elegant casual" not "casual".

 

In warm weather I don't find jeans to be practical and don't travel with them.  Instead I use something like Lululemon ABCs.  I have worn those on "elegant casual" nights.

 

There are a few chair hogs who in our experience focus on the most sun protected locations but not to the degree of some other cruise lines. The sun beds above the Observation Lounge are always available in our experience and you will often have the jacuzzi on the bow to yourself.

 

[Isklaar]

Just to add a note to the excellent responses above.

 

I am not sure of your itinerary but you mentioned Yacht Harbours, if that's the name of your itinerary then I'm assuming its the Caribbean. Have done it several times.  If your itinerary includes Carambola Beach, St Kitts they will offer the 'Caviar in the Surf' event there, and there will likely not be Caviar in the Pool. The beach one is much better, the pool one is usually held during itineraries that there is no suitable beach. e.g on a Baltic cruise. When they hold the event at the beach you can look forward to a great day, caviar arriving by surfboard, unlimited champagne of course, and a lobster barbecue lunch. 

 

 

SB video here: 

 

Edited April 18 by Isklaar
added video link.

[Isr45]

4 hours ago, jondfk said:

I’ll offer my opinions on #4, #6 and #7.

 

#4. The Retreat.  I have no Celebrity or NCL reference but on Ovation the Retreat is a semi private area of about a dozen cabanas surrounding a large hot tub.  We booked this for our Norway sailing last June and throughly enjoyed (although it was too chilly to fully enjoy about 3 days).  We enjoyed knowing we had a place to go without any question as to whether we’d find a space to settle.  We also enjoyed having lunch delivered to our cabana allowing us to avoid the Colonnade on busy days.  Is it worth the considerable price?  We thought so, many others do not.  Be aware that you are not booking a particular cabana rather a space somewhere in the Retreat, on a given day cabana selection is first come first serve, this was no issue on our cold weather sailing, on busier sailings I can imagine keen competition for preferred cabanas (they are all quite similar though some have sea views and others do not).

#6.  Boarding.  The ships are small so all of the land side procedures tend to run fast and smooth.  Still, once onboard you will be funneled towards the Colonnade for your first and least pleasant lunch.  I highly recommend either a) boarding a bit later, after 1:00 and avoiding the madness or b) turning around at the entrance to Colonnade and walking forward on the pool deck to the Patio where you’ll find many less people and a far more pleasant experience. 
 

#7.  Men’s dress.  On the non formal nights my attire is slacks and an open long sleeve shirt.  Offends no one and accepted anywhere onboard.  On formal nights I add a sport coat, again accepted without question.  
 

hope this helps a bit.

 

Re Retreat booking - not true re not booking a particular cabana if book for the whole voyage.

[ejincali]

Also, if you're a caviar fan...its available anywhere, anytime.  We enjoyed caviar and champagne by the pool many times. 

[jondfk]

5 hours ago, Isr45 said:

Re Retreat booking - not true re not booking a particular cabana if book for the whole voyage.

Well, let me restate then to make it clear that in OUR experience a full cruise booking did NOT assure a particular cabana.  We never had the same one two days in a row, though we were ask each day which of the available cabanas we preferred.  We did develop a favorite two or three over the course of the 14 days.  Given that there were never more than six used on any particular day the choices were fine.  We were one of only two full cruise bookings and the only one purchased pre boarding, or so our host told me.

[Isr45]

1 minute ago, jondfk said:

Well, let me restate then to make it clear that in OUR experience a full cruise booking did NOT assure a particular cabana.  We never had the same one two days in a row, though we were ask each day which of the available cabanas we preferred.  We did develop a favorite two or three over the course of the 14 days.  Given that there were never more than six used on any particular day the choices were fine.  We were one of only two full cruise bookings and the only one purchased pre boarding, or so our host told me.

My experience of booking 4 full Retreat packages in last 12 months is all full package guests on our cruises picked from available cabanas on first day of cruise and had them every day. I think this is is fair when a full package is booked 😀

[jondfk]

2 minutes ago, Isr45 said:

My experience of booking 4 full Retreat packages in last 12 months is all full package guests on our cruises picked from available cabanas on first day of cruise and had them every day. I think this is is fair when a full package is booked 😀

Sounds great, just doesn’t match my experience, simple as that.

 

[Salf777]

5 hours ago, Isklaar said:

Just to add a note to the excellent responses above.

 

I am not sure of your itinerary but you mentioned Yacht Harbours, if that's the name of your itinerary then I'm assuming its the Caribbean. Have done it several times.  If your itinerary includes Carambola Beach, St Kitts they will offer the 'Caviar in the Surf' event there, and there will likely not be Caviar in the Pool. The beach one is much better, the pool one is usually held during itineraries that there is no suitable beach. e.g on a Baltic cruise. When they hold the event at the beach you can look forward to a great day, caviar arriving by surfboard, unlimited champagne of course, and a lobster barbecue lunch. 

 

 

SB video here: 

 

Thank you!

we will be in St Kitts so thank you and looking forward to that

[Robisan]

22 hours ago, Salf777 said:

I see a lot of excursions and we are doing a Yacht Harbors cruise and I don’t see like any thing like a day at the beach.

I wish SB would contract day pass excursions to some beach clubs or resorts on the Caribbean cruises with round trip transportation included. The crowded tourist beaches usually have very spartan facilities/amenities and are often beset with pestering local vendors. Beaches away from crowds usually have no facilities at all. There's always the nagging concern whether your return taxi will available. Etc. At our age, we prefer real facilitates, real food, ideally real cocktails and no worries.

 

9 hours ago, stan01 said:

In warm weather I don't find jeans to be practical and don't travel with them.  Instead I use something like Lululemon ABCs.  I have worn those on "elegant casual" nights.

Second this. The Lululemon ABCs are light and comfortable enough to wear daytime on excursions yet still dressy enough for evening elegant casual wear.

[APFBarb]

Disembarked Ovation a week ago (Caribbean cruise ).  Plenty of men wearing nice golf shirts in Colonade and Earth and Ocean at night.  And if you choose not to bring a sport jacket or suit for formal nights, you can feel comfortable wearing a button down shirt in these 2 restaurants plus Sushi and Solis.

 

Boarding and disembarkation were handled beautifully.  Also check out the area on deck 5 aft.  A small pool, 2 hot tubs and seating in sun and shade.  Also a lot quieter than main pool deck.

It's a great ship and experience!  Enjoy.