My husband and I just returned from our first Seabourn cruise. While we don't take as many cruises as many of you, we have been on six previous cruises with Regent. This trip we sailed from Venice to Istanbul and these are my thoughts:

THE GOOD

The Odyssey is a beautiful ship with wonderful public areas like Seabourn Square. We thought it was the perfect size at 450 passengers.

While the verandah cabins are laid out differently than those on Regent, we found them to be spacious and functional. There is no desk, but the table works fine for this purpose. The cabinets across from the end of the bed make for a tight space, but we just used them to store items that we did not access frequently.

The food and service with a few minor exceptions were outstanding.

Our pre and post cruise arrangements were handled flawlessly. Both hotels were lovely and our Seabourn Journey tour in Istanbul involved an excellent local guide for a very small intimate group.

Overall the shore excursions were well done and they kept the groups on the small side. Most of the guides used were interesting and well informed.

Onboard entertainment was varied and surprisingly good except for one corny comedian.

The ship sponsored evening concert in Ephesus was an incredible experience.

THE BAD

The spa is handled by Steiner and I thought their services were overpriced. No one offered to show me around and no one escorted me to my locker. My hot stone massage was nice but I did not choose to sign up for any additional services.

Restaurant 2 was a disappointment. I don't like the way you have to call for reservations for this alternative dining venue and many people had trouble getting in. We were approached by someone working there when we walked past on our first day and he made our reservation for us however. The tasting menu was an interesting dining experience, but we did not care for the food.

Due to rough seas that made it difficult to run the tenders we missed three island ports. On our first segment it was Cephalonia and it was replaced with a sea day. On the second segment we had to skip both Patmos and Chios. We ended up having extra time and overnights in both Kusadasi and Istanbul. The staff scrambled around and arranged excursions for Istanbul and the evening concert at Ephesus was moved up. Given our port intensive itinerary the schedule changes didn't bother us that much, but I heard that some of the passengers were very disappointed and were spreading rumors that it was really due to mechanical problems. I have no reason to think that was the case and I'm sure they have to be concerned about passenger safety.

The onboard lecturer was dry and boring compared to some we've had on our Regent cruises.

The bathroom could have benefited from a larger shower instead of a separate tub and shower.

We missed our free internet and this is why I didn't post any seamail.

THE CONCLUSION

We had a great time and we would highly recommend Seabourn to anyone. I think most Regent cruisers would find it a very pleasant experience.