20 Nights 20-Day France, Italy & Maltese Gems Cruise

Seabourn, Viking and Oceania

Having recently sailed on extended itineraries on Seabourn, Viking and Oceania, I thought it would be helpful to compare our experience on our recent 21 day Seabourn itinerary on Ovation, from Rome to Barcelona, to our most recent experience on Viking and Oceania. In our opinion, extended itineraries give you a better feel for the cruise line overall. Our experience on Seabourn was far, far above our experience on our 22 day Viking Jupiter itinerary last spring. We have now completed 6 ocean cruises on Viking and in our opinion, our most recent experience was a disappointment in comparison to our previous cruises. Although Viking does boast a happy and energetic crew which provides great service, the food and beverage was not close to previous standards and was very disappointing for an upscale line. We stayed in a penthouse veranda which does not compare near as favourably in layout or size to a standard cabin on Seabourn, which has a walk-in closet and much larger double vanity bathroom. We sailed on an 23 day Oceania Riviera itinerary on a cruise prior to Viking. Although Oceania offers a superior main dining room (MDR) culinary experience, Seabourn is fairly close in that regard. Oceania boasts the best food at sea and, in relation to their MDR offerings, they certainly kept that promise. Oceania’s refurbished veranda cabins on Riviera are much smaller than Seabourn but have a great layout and are tastefully decorated in modern colours (be aware that cabins below PH on sister ship Marina have not been refurbished to the same standard as Riviera). Unfortunately, food and service in their specialty restaurants was surprisingly subpar and a real disappointment in comparison to their MDR. Riviera carries twice the passengers as Ovation and therefore service is not as personal nor refined as Seabourn. This was our 5th extended itinerary with Seabourn. In our opinion, Seabourn offers a truly upscale experience in all aspects of the cruise in comparison to both Viking and Oceania (service, atmosphere, specialty restaurant, excursions, entertainment etc.). Service on Seabourn is consistently excellent, no matter which venue you are visiting. With only a 600 guest capacity on Ovation, service is both attentive and professional, a tribute to both the crew and management. If we were to rank the 3 cruise lines, our hands down favourite would be Seabourn, followed by Oceania with their excellent MDR cuisine and, a distant 3rd, Viking. We have 2 additional extended itineraries booked with Seabourn in the next 11 months which is testament how satisfied we were with our most recent cruise experience.

Uneven but still very good

The best part of this trip were the rooms. All very large with walk in closets . Bathrooms had 2 sinks and bath tub and separate stall showers. Nice small ship makes everything easy. Food is very good but uneven. Some meals great others not so good. Solis restaurant where we ate twice was outstanding. Service in main dining room was poor. Eat anywhere any time did not work well as staff were frequently overwhelmed. Service in the rest of the ship was excellent. Liquor plentiful. Shows were good for a small ship. As other reviewers have mentioned when they made these ships bigger they became too crowded particularly around the pool People frequently reserved beach chairs. Pool and gym were adequate. If you drink a lot the additional cost to be on this ship is justified . Deserts at meals were surprisingly bad. Food consistency varied from meal to meal

PEACEFUL AND ELEGANT CRUISE WITH GREAT FOOD

This was my second cruise on Seabourn. We cruised for 10 days from July 12-24, 2024. I'm inspired to write this review because I am honestly surprised that any one could criticize the service, food or ambiance of the ship. In addition, I thought about what would I like to know if I was considering booking this cruise. MEALS: Of course everyone has a different palate, but there were so many choices of what to eat and such an accommodating staff to change whatever you ordered or take a special order that I am perplexed at the criticisms. I found the chef to be outstanding. We ate all of our dinners at The Restaurant and had one dinner in Solis. We felt like a King and Queen each night... the food quality and taste, service and experience was all excellent. The Maitre'ds couldn't have been nicer, more friendly or customer oriented. They were perfect; we looked forward to seeing them every day. I asked for papaya and blueberries one morning and the Maitre' d asked me if I'd like them every day. No problem. CABIN As expected, and even exceeding our expectations, our V3 balcony cabin was like a large, beautifully appointed hotel room. The walk-in closet and large bathroom were a definite plus. It was kept immaculate by the excellent room stewards. SHOWS The shows were intimate, excellent, and varied. There is a show for everyone. The Cruise Director was friendly, around all of the time, and genuinely interested in everyone's experience. THINGS WE FOUND PERPLEXING Nearly all of the shore excursions return right before 2:00 PM. Lunch is only served until 2:00 PM in the Colonnade; otherwise you need to eat by the pool. Shade and a table was not always available by the pool. We couldn't understand why the lunch hour in the Colonnade wasn't extended to 2:30 PM. The "shop" on board is one of the worst on board cruise shops we have ever seen. Depleted stock, lack of interesting things and over-priced. We don't go on a cruise to go shopping on board, but it would have been nice to have access to a shop that sells items that are unique and fairly priced. SUMMARY We had an absolutely wonderful time. This is a staid, high-end cruise that may not appeal to people looking for constant activities, but for us it was perfect. Peaceful, elegant, serene, no hassles, excellent service and food, fascinating ports.