January 19, 2014

Maui, Hawaii

So, one could ask “what is it about small ship cruising you like”?

Well, for starters, everything is close to your suite, it’s not a mile to the dining room.  There are more square feet per guest than on the large ships.  More crew per guest than the big ones.  There is never a line for anything.  There is always an open table at the restaurants, in the Grand salon and at any bar.  There is a sense of community among guests and crew.  The ships officers are always around and available to you.  By the third day, all crew address you by name. There are several ports that cannot accommodate the large ships, so we get to go places that they don’t, and we often get to dock right in town while the big ships usually dock in a port or away from town.  When we went to Antarctica, they allow ships with less than 300 passengers to get off the ship and explore the Islands, walk with the pinguins, while the large ships just tell you what you’re looking at.   So, what makes Seabourn our choice of all ships?  Seabourn is ultra all inclusive.  Once you pay for the cruise, there is almost never that you are charged for anything.  Tipping is not expected, if you want a bottle of top shelf liquor in your room, just ask and it will be delivered.  If it happens to get a little light, they put a new full one behind the old one.  I have a six pack of Lagunitas IPA in the refrigerator and it magically regenerates too.  Free laundry, free internet, free specialty restaurant reservations.   There is a charge for most excursions, but we usually prefer exploring on our own, taxi, uber, bus, etc.  Jackets are never required and if you want to eat in your room, you can order anything from any restaurant during dinner time and they bring it to your room.  It’s not just any old room service though, they set your table with white tablecloth, all the fixing of a formal set up.  The food is always great.

All that to say the level of service is so far above would be considered normal.

I hope you enjoy learning more about our journey.