Travel Weekly cruise editor Johanna Jainchill just got off a seven-day segment of a 12-day Caribbean sailing on the Seabourn Odyssey. Her second dispatch follows.
Half of the people on this cruise are new to Seabourn, and half have sailed before.
This may sound like a high repeat rate, but it is actually low for a Seabourn cruise that often has much as 70-80% repeat guests onboard.
But the line is happy about this. With two ships of this size coming out over the next two years, more than doubling the line’s current capacity, Seabourn needs new clients.
Several passengers onboard said they chose Seabourn because the Odyssey was new and had more to offer than Seabourn’s smaller ships.
They have been sailing with Regent Seven Seas, Crystal and Silversea, and said they had tried and liked Seabourn in the past, but wanted balconies and more dining choices.
"They came back to us when we got those things," said Guenter Steinbrunner, the Odyssey’s hotel director .
This ship has four dining venues: the main dining room called The Restaurant; the indoor/outdoor Colonnade, a lunch buffet during the day and a cozy, low-lit place to eat al fresco at night; Patio Grill, a casual, poolside grill that has table service for lunch and dinner; and Restaurant 2, which Seabourn fans here recognize as the name of the alternative restaurant from its other venues.
On the Odyssey, Restaurant 2 is a sleekly decorated, 48-person venue that does a nightly small-plates tasting menu. The ship opens reservations 48 hours in advance so that everyone has a chance to eat there at least once.
The alternative dining areas are popular, and the one night we ate in the main dining room it wasn’t very crowded. Because of the way the two-room space is designed, with billowing white curtains that divide the room into smaller areas, it manages to keep an intimate feeling even when not full.
Steinbrunner said that about 200 people per night eat in the Restaurant on this cruise, meaning more than half of the passengers scatter around the ship. Every night, Seabourn delivers to cabins the next day's menu for each venue, which helps make this difficult decision.
Besides the Restaurant, most people go to the Colonnade, my preferred nighttime venue. And Restaurant 2 always was at its 48-person capacity.
"Guests are moving away from the formality of the traditional restaurants," Steinbrunner said. "And all the restaurants are so attractive. The guests are eager to try them all."