Points Scrounger

Chase Sapphire Reserve card, I believe.

747FC

Chase Sapphire Reserve.

boerne

can confirm Viking, Silver Sea, Regent, Uniworld, Oceania, and Lindblad all get 3X points on CSR whether you go through a TA or do your own directly with them.

747FC

You've been pretty busy traveling this past year!

prncess674

I have done several Seabourn cruises and think they are a great value for the money. All rooms are suites and all but the lowest level has a balcony. When you look at it on a per square foot basis it far beats the competition. Seabourn also doesn't sort guests by room type booked, which I liked. The ships are casual by day and "country club casual" in the evening so no need to bring a tuxedo or long dress. The most I bring now is the little black dress and some sparkly jewelry if I feel like getting fancy.

The other nice thing is that all the menus are delivered to your room the day before and in the evening you can have anything that is served in the MDR served in your room. The rooms are big enough and comfortably seat two with full place settings. They come and set the table with white linen table cloth, bread basket and plates, wine and water glasses, etc. There were plenty of nights where I was tired and didn't feel like putting on makeup or anything more than my PJs, but the MDR had an item that I thought sounded appealing so I would just have it delivered and eat it while watching a movie in the room. They will serve it course by course, but that just seemed too extravagant for me so if I wanted a dessert or salad course I would just have them deliver it all at once.

If you ordered room service breakfast it was also a white table cloth experience and was great for early morning ports where all you wanted was a quick bagel and coffee while getting ready. You could have the whole enchilada if you want, My favorite breakfast on board was lamb chops and eggs over easy. Needless to say, my waistline took a beating on these cruises.


If you are looking for a child free vacation then book cruises that are longer than 7 days. Also, watch out for cruises that are really just back to back. It may be listed as a 14 or 21-day itinerary (you see this a lot in Europe in the summer) which are also sold as 3 separate 7-day cruises, so potentially 3 different sets of guests. There will be a different dynamic on those and there is more likely to be kids on the ship. If there are enough kids on the ship they will organize some child centric activities but there certainly isn't a "kid's club" onboard.

I liked the generally relaxed vibe on the ship and for the most part, people were nice, though the age did skew older than the crowds of Royal Caribbean or Carnival. Most folks were well traveled and because of the no set dining times and flexibility, they ask if you would like to join other guests or just dine alone. Some of the most interesting conversations were with random dining companions.

Kagehitokiri

i recall doing course by course, with both entrees as separate courses

seem to recall it being timed pretty well

think only other room service i did were special order sandwiches

747FC

We are great fans of the room service. After all-day excursions that can be exhausting (e.g., hiking nine miles up and down a volcano and other features), we struggle to find enthusiasm to bar-hop and mingle over a two-hour dinner in the MDR.

I have room service bring it all in at one time. I set the table so I can dismiss the waiter and we can have our privacy. We put the cold desert in the fridge and serve ourselves at our own pace. It is great!

prncess674

Totally agree! I have also been known the just order popcorn and dessert in the evening and have my own movie night in bed. The amount of food on Seabourn can be overwhelming.

Too funny you mention hiking volcanoes. I think jennidallas was ready to throw me overboard for making us/her do Mt. Bromo in Indonesia.

One of the great things about Seabourn is the flexibility of activities and dining. Since many of the cruises are longer, there is only so many long MDR dinners you want to have in that time frame. I was good at mixing it up, whether it meant just ordering the lobster mac & cheese when on the patio grill restaurant or heading to the colonnade for Indian night.

My only mild complaint (and I mean seriously mild) was wanting to eat something from the patio grill at lunch on a sea day and not being seated at one of the tables simply threw them for a loop. I was happy to go the self-serve options at the patio grill during the daytime and wanted to either sit at the bar or eat it poolside in my lounger (think nachos or a sandwich) and it was like I was from planet Mars.

747FC

Glad to meet you, fellow Martian! I've snacked at the bar too.

Food tip: We asked the chef if he could have an Indian meal prepared for us in the MDR. The staff went all out for us, and we had a fantastic array of everything Indian, from appetizers to desert.

hedoman

You had a jackass managing patio grill. It's normally not a problem and that guy is long gone.

Kagehitokiri

only had one 'problem' with special order room service on seabourn, never anything else, while i had tons of issues and 'no' and arguing on silversea

prncess674

I have looked at some of the Silversea cruises but I am turned off that the standard Veranda room doesn't have a proper table for dining in the room, several of the restaurants are additional covers, and the bathroom looks a whole lot smaller.

mauld

princess674, if I may be so bold as to ask were you travelling solo ? and if so, how high are the single supplements on these cruises. (Anyone one else with that info is also welcome to comment )

prncess674

I have not done a solo on Seabourn, but I know that techgirl has done solo on Seabourn. There are some cruises that they will drop the single supplement. I would get in touch with a luxury cruise travel agent and let them know you are looking for solo cruises and they will let you know when an offer comes up.

You could also just try to convince a friend to go with you. The standard Seabourn suite is huge and very spacious.

Randyk47

We've cruised on Carnival, Celebrity, Holland America, and Silversea in everything from standard verandah cabins to multi room suites. I can't speak to other lines but none that we've been on had a "proper table for dining" in standard verandah cabins. Yes, on all Silversea ships there one or two restaurants with additional covers. We're not fond of that aspect but considering there are a number of choices without upcharges even on the smaller ships it's not been an issue. On the Wind it's one out of four venues while on the Spirit it's two out of six venues. Cruise ship bathrooms are pretty standard and the verandah cabin bathrooms on Silversea seem pretty comparable to other lines. Now the bathrooms in the higher suites, like a Silver Suite on the Spirit, are downright spacious but you get what you pay for. Always have cruised with my wife so single supplements are not something I'm familiar with but I think Silversea charges 25% for most of its standard cabins which apparently is very competitive and much better than several of the mass market lines like Holland America.