M&PGermany

On 9/17/2020 at 8:46 PM, SLSD said:

I agree with Markham.   M&P Germany, your post really cheered me up.  I'm sitting here in our house in Dallas during an over six months  "stay at home"  ordeal.  We are fortunate to be able to change to our farmhouse when we tire of being here in the city.  You describe our memories of Seabourn so well.  We don't ask for perfection as the desire to please on the part of Seabourn employees was enough for us.Your description of your "perfect" German cruise made me laugh.  I'm sure it was wonderful, but understand the things that you missed.

 

  Mr.  SLSD and I would love to join Markham on the Ovation cruise, and hope that things are somewhat back to normal by then.  It would help to have a unified fight against the virus with everyone pulling to make it happen.  

 

Isklaar, We also feel that something important has been taken from us.  When I say this, I am also mindful of the families who have suffered deaths in their families and of those who have lost their jobs during this dreadful time.  We put our privations into perspective I hope.  

 

I've been hearing from Seabourn friends over the last few days, and all of them are poised to sail as soon as Seabourn is sailing and they feel safe.  

Dear SLSD,

I feel with you. Some good friends who travelled with us on the Encore last year are from Dallas, too. They would have loved to go on the Europa2 as well, but of course weren‘t able to because of the travel restrictions. 
 

All the best.

8 hours ago, MJN1 said:

M&PGermany,

many thanks for sharing. Which ports did you visit and where you able to get off the ship? Importantly (for us), how did you find the smoking policy on the ship? SB finally banning smoking on the Balconies was a major improvement. We have no problem with the Cigar Lounge, but are worried about the prevalence of smoke in other areas on the Europa.

Hello MJN1,

the trip should originally have taken us into the Norwegian Fjords but was changed to the Baltic Sea after the Hurtigruten desaster. Hamburg overnight, Visby (Gotland), Stockholm overnight, Gdansk and a number of days at sea. Beautiful trip. We were able to get off everywhere and took advantage of the complimentary bikes a lot. 

Smoking still allowed on ALL balconies, the YACHT CLUB terrace and Collins Bar. And yes, it will waft through. But not a lot of smokers on this trip. Below 100 guests and full crew.
 

Dear all,

we just stepped off the beautiful, immaculate and in every detail thought-through Hapag Lloyd EUROPA 2.

Is this the best ship in the world? No doubt, YES!

Best suites, best Michelin-star food, best wines, best spa, staff all trained in the finest hotels (e.g. Kempinski, Steigenberger, Four Seasons...).

The whole 2 week experience was breathtaking (again). Everything on Hapag Lloyd is perfect. From the first moment to the last. 

Even during COVID 19 with daily temperature checks, social distancing and wearing masks when walking through the ship, even if it was just the Baltic Sea we found that cruising was absolutely possible in September 2020.

BUT...

... we missed our fellow travellers from the U.S. (yes, even those Republicans ;-), the ever so entertaining Aussies and the always funny Brits that

we spent so much time with on our many Seabourn cruises. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen that we are still in contact with today.

Please don't make us sail on a golden cage of Germans again... some of them can be so boring it took them 8 days to warm up a little.

We missed the Seabourn cruise directors, Handre, Ross, one going crazy by the colour if his scarf, the other one going crazy before jumping into

the pool.

We missed the waiters who instead of being just "etiquette perfect" were funny and were steadily trying to be perfect.

We missed the bartenders who had the cocktail waiting in the TK Bar because they knew we were professional alcoholics.

We missed hotman Fabrizio ordering us some caviar to the whirlpool and waving "enjoy your Seabourn moment".

We missed the block party.

And when we went down to front of the ship we noticed that Hapag Lloyd had forgotten THE FRONT WHIRLPOOL !!!

Well the world has changed. 

Cruising will be different.

But please, SEABOURN, come back soon!

Your German friends M&P

Will be joining the Sojourn again in April (after having done Odyssey and Encore this year) and can't wait to experience the excellent service by these hard working guys and gals once more! I don't mind their tattoos - actually, would love to even see the hidden ones of some of them ;-))

I just watched a video on the "services" of the new Norwegian Encore (... I wonder where they got this name from?!).

Almost everything is to pay for - what a total turn off.

I'm sure if you tell the F&B that you don't like the shrimp he will send someone diving for bigger ones.

That's just what SB is all about. Kudos to them!

Yes. Sauna and small steam room in gents changing area available free of charge. Kneipp pool in the Serene Spa is out of service with plants put on top of it. 

Oh, I just LOVE the look on people‘s faces when they return to „their“ reserved sunbed just to find out that SOMEBODY (of course it was me!) has removed their stuff and the sunbed is now occupied by ME! 🙂

We used to take care of a cat for some time. When our dog came back inside the house and the cat was on his sofa: SAME LOOK ON THE FACE! 😄

So to all the sunbed hoggers on the Encore in September: be careful. Your stuff is not safe any more because I will be around! 😎

2 hours ago, tijc52 said:

 

M&PGermany, thank you for sharing the details.  Did you happen to take any photos of the changes?

No, sorry.

@Daneite

Yes, USB outlets now on both sides of the bed (if I remember correctly 2 each)...

2 minutes ago, machotspur said:

DCCruiser57 - this is useful thank you.

 

To build a little more.

 

Not that I know much about reviewing wine but Vivino appears to be a very well visited site, with the sample size of reviewers very significant e.g the Montaudon rating of 3.9 comes from over 6,000 reviewers.

 

The Vivivo site categorises a rating of 4.0 with a no nonsense descriptor of 'very good stuff'.

 

Moet gets 4.1,

Tattinger also 4.1

Mountaudon 3.9

 

So - i'm not a statistician (or wine guru !) but a very large number of people on Vivino appear to rate Montaudon almost as highly as a couple of well known non vintage Champagnes ! 

 

 

I totally agree. It is all about marketing anyway. Experienced sommeliers in fine dining Michelin star restaurants would never suggest these champagne brands anyway as they prefer small and not very well known wineries in general. Also, keep in mind, that there are many Proseccos, Cavas and German Riesling sparklings out there who are priced much higher than the average champagne...

27 minutes ago, rols said:

I do hope this doesn't turn out to be a case of 'being careful what you wish for'. Never minded the NF myself, last cruise I barely drank anything else (apart from sparkling water). Sure the new one will be ok too. I don't expect free flow Moet for the price SB charges. 

 

PS where was this announced? 

It was not announced, I believe, but since I just spent a few days on Odyssey I was surprised to see M instead of NF. It's a nice champagne in my oppinion but will -- of course -- never reach the level of a vintage champagne (or a Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle or Cuvee Louise for example), nor will Moet by the way. To be honest, with all the NV champagnes I dont see a very big difference. For a free flow champagne it was lovely and the secret to it is:  more you drink the less you will notice any difference...

... it's MONTAUDON from now on!

Dear all, Odyssey has indeed had some work done to the public areas in dry dock. We just got off the ship in Civi aka Rome. First of all, the ship looks completely new again from the outside - as white as on the first day. Inside the staterooms, new white marble furnishings were installed on the shelf facing the bed, inside the showers as well as the addition of automatic night lights under the nightstands, which were new as well. Also inside the hallways a lot of wooden walls were renovated, etc etc... so indeed they are trying to keep her in shape... what a lovely ship she is...

Could the Seabourn moderator (or maybe someone else) tell me how to order caviar for my face whilst I am enjoying a Nicholas Feuillatte footbath in the spa? Also, is Dr Andrew Weil's beard available for purchase for my next Halloween party? Does Thomas Keller have a cellar? ... Enlighten me Seabourn ;-)

There will, in fact, be a glut of small luxury expedition ships on the market within two years. Seabourn, Crystal, Hapag Lloyd, Le Ponant, Scenic to name a few. I certain;y hope there are enough well heeled intrepid travelers out there who will keep them filled. The alternative is lower fares.

:') Good Point!

... and don't forget Hapag Lloyd's HANSEATIC nature and HANSEATIC inspiration ! I think the first one will debut in 2019.

https://www.hl-cruises.de/schiffe/expeditionen/hanseatic-nature-hanseatic-inspiration

Thank you very much for all the wonderful photos! It's the perfect preparation for our upcoming trip... I love what I see ... :cool:

What a shame. I thought they had moved the shuffleboard to a different place. I wonder how Regent managed to come up with a shuffleboard space on Explorer...

But thanks Seabourn. Glad you put soooo much thought into Ovation :-)

Anyone?

Are there any facilities on Ovation or Encore like on the Odyssey class ships?:confused:

But another question:

Can the administrator please close the thread?

It is really outdated now and should not be commented any more....

Hi, sorry you had problems. It's sounds like we were on different cruises. We just wrote a review at the end of our trip report (SS Explorer, Grand Crossing 11/24). We had a great trip on the crossing. The only problem with food was the first night with cold sides from Prime7. Once they found the problem it was corrected---next time in Prime 7 perfect. We ordered eggs over easy also, they yolks nice and yellow and cooked just the way I enjoy them. I'm sure your problems are real---but honestly that wasn't are experience. Thanks for your review, glad most of your trip was good. Wish you had are experience because it was great, in fact we have 2 more cruises booked with Regent and our TA is looking for another one we want-we'll book it as soon as it comes up. Rick & Ron

... good for you :)

I however won‘t be looking for another Regent cruise anytime soon.

Cheers, M&P

All these stories are not what I would call a 5-star-luxury service...

Ohh.. and one final comment on the missing outside observation area at the front of the ship.

Do you think that..

a) the Italians at Fincantieri forgot about it because it was dinner time at home.

b) management thought "naaahh, the big ships don't have it any more, why bother..."

c) a cool sea breeze is overrated.

d) the Regent suite was more important.

;)

Can you take a picture of the red wines with pricing and post that? If it is very long, take a snap of the California and Italy reds. Enjoy your cruise and thank you.

Dear Irishwitchy,

I took the pictures of the wine list for you. Just let me know where you want me to mail them to...

All the best,

M&P

Dear all,

I just got off the Explorer (the travel stress being the reason for my late reply) and I will be working on my report shortly. As I mentioned before the service issues never disappeared... although after I spoke to some of the maitres in the restaurants they seemed to have given the others a "heads up". But that's not what I wanted. I dont need special treatment - I was looking for a relaxed and friendly luxury atmosphere.

Regent undoubtedly has perfect hardware, probably the best that is out there, but the software was (with a few excellent exceptions) not more than average. I heard the comment twice by supervisors that "We at Regent are the best" and you should have seen the faces when I told them that they simply were not. From my point of view the stiff and unrelaxed work atmosphere is not in the best interest of the guests (with ship's management being responsible for that!). The officers on deck would not even stop to say hello or at least hold a door open for you... The room stewards and stewardesses in contrast were always cheerful, up for a chat and funny - even those that were not even taking care of my cabin.

Quite a few crewmembers especially in the Food and Beverage department seemed very unhappy and stressed - no small talk, very few smiles. I was never - except for the lovely maitres in Prime7 and Compass Rose- adressed by name. Most of the things you have to actively ask for, e.g. peanuts with drinks, minibar set up, coffee after lunch, a champagne refill... It's not that everything was bad, I had great service by some, e.g. french Louise in Chartreuse or the guys in the observation lounge but all in all it was very far from a luxury service experience.

I will give you a few examples and you be the judge:

1) The minibar set up arrived 24 hours after I ordered it.

2) After returning from an excursions I asked if I could order a club sandwich to the cafe bar to have it with my cappucino: "No, you have to do it from your room via room service".

After I spoke to a maitre: "Well, this is our service standard".

3) Showing up at Pacific rim for our reservation, the maitre was busy clearing a table so I eye-contacted another supervisor in uniform. She finger-pointed to the maitre signalising me that I have to wait. I later asked the maitre who the other woman was: "That was my boss".

4) Chef Salad delivered to the room without the dressing. Had to call again, dressing delivered after another 20 minutes.

5) See photos... Tables in the Cafe and the Pool Grill.

So, there will be a lot to write about in my report and OF COURSE THERE WERE A LOT THINGS ON THE POSITIVE SIDE AS WELL. It's the sort of "It was an excellent cruise, BUT..." report...

I'm very much looking forward to all your comments.

All the best,

M&P