I regular refer people looking for objective evaluation of cruises and cruise ships to avoid magazine polls (Conde Nast, Travel & Leisure, Porthole, etc.) and look to objective experts like Douglas Ward (Berlitz) and Stern’s Guides. The reason is that the magazine polls can easily be skewed by improper voting, readership that doesn’t actually sail on the particular line and a host of other reasons.
“All of us are tremendously gratified by these honors” said Seabourn’s President, Richard Meadows. “We’re extremely proud of our hardworking crew who truly deserve the recognition for these awards.”
The editors of Cruise Critic’s authoritative web presence have collectively spent thousands of days at sea on hundreds of cruise ships. So when they single out Seabourn Odyssey, Seabourn Sojourn and Seabourn Quest as the “Best for Luxury,” they know whereof they speak. They also must have sampled the sublimities in quite a few shipboard spas before selecting Seabourn Sojourn and Seabourn Quest as being the “Best for Spa-Lovers.” Cruise Critic’s U.K.-based sister site also selected Seabourn as representing the “Best of Luxury” for the second consecutive year.
The newly released December issue of Portholemagazine announced that its readers had named Seabourn Best Luxury Line, and Seabourn Quest as the Best Small Ship in its 13
th Annual Readers’ Choice Awards, and had also cited the fleet for offering the Best Accommodations afloat.Douglas Ward, the longtime editor of Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships, is renowned for the meticulous and detailed scoring system he uses to rate ships of all sizes and shapes. In the 2012 edition, he once again rates all of Seabourn’s ships five-stars-plus, and also includes all six of Seabourn’s vessels on a comprehensive list of the ten highest scoring ships overall.
