"You can't win if you don't play". <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" /> My husband had always wanted to try a Seabourn cruise. He had heard wonderful things about the line. Well, about a year ago, we saw an ad in the Washington Post for rates of 65% off. After a little bit of research, I called them up and booked the cruise "Caribbean Gems" leaving St. Thomas, travelling through St Barts (where was watched a magnificent regatta), St. Martin, "Prickly Pear Island", Turks and Caicos and ending in Ft. Lauderdale. My husband had a broken ankle at the time (from slipping on ice during our snowy February here in Va) so we didn't do any "excursions". Our first evening, there was a "sail away" party where everyone was up on deck, a band was playing and the staff was pouring liberal amounts of Perrier-Jouet champagne. Our cabin had a small "french" balcony and was nicely appointed. They stocked the fridgie bar with whatever we wanted and was restocked as needed. The only complaint I had was that there was not enough shade on the decks. We had spent two nights in St. Thomas before the cruise and I got a bit sunburned and didn't need any more sun. No reservations were needed for meals (unless you wanted to have dinner at "Restaurant 2" - a more "foodie" dining area). Each evening when arriving for dinner at the Restaurant, one of the waiters (maitre d?) would offer his arm to me to escort me and my husband to our table. Kind of a nice touch. The food was good and nicely proportioned. Not too much, but I'm sure one could have had more if he/she wished. There was entertainment at night, though we only stayed up for one - sort of a '60's to '80's decade party. It was fun! The staff gets to know your name and starts to anticipate your wants - my husband ordered a rum punch the first few afternoons - then one day, around the time he would have ordered one, a server brought him one while on deck reading. The Legend holds about 204 passengers and the Odyssey holds 450. I'm very curious to compare the two. I would highly recommend Seabourn. They really do take car of their passengers and I think it's worth the price.
