M&PGermany

Of course I will be posting a review very soon. All I can say right now is that the Explorer is the most luxurious ship I have ever sailed on! ...with some serious service issues (for a luxury cruise line) and a major design flaw.

:cool:

Greetings from sunny Barcelona.

... and willing to answer any questions... :cool:

I did not find it theatrical at all. It's the regular service standard that you will receive at any 1-star-Michelin restaurant in Europe nowadays, which I am quite used to and which I very much appreciate. The staff in R2 was excellent. What I find much more theatrical is the "flambé"-Show in Queens Grill on Cunard. I brought an extinguishing blanket every night just for safety... ;-)

I'm a fan of both - SB and the big O.

There are things SB does a lot better: personalized service - they know what you want after a few days, personal space on the ship, service attitude of crew, included drinks and tipps, friendly atmosphere amongst passengers, luxurious special events (caviar by the pool, marina day), etc....

And there are things that are better on O: food! Better buffet restaurant (esp. fruit selection, variety of salads, soups taste much better, desserts, ice creams.) Specialty restaurants on O give you a lot of menu variety which is sadly not available on SB.), room service better and presentation nicer. Butler service in penthouse is superb as is the cabin layout! Pool loungers much more comfortable.

If the price is right and the itinerary what you are looking for BOTH cruise lines deliver an excellent product!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

are you serious?

The only thing that I would add to this discussion of abundance is the huge amount of plastic rubbish that comes up every day. They could just as well provide dispensers like they have in the spa. The brand is just fine. As is Elemis, as is Bulgari, etc etc. Chemically it's all the same anyway. If your hair doesn't "like" MOLTON BROWN just bring your own stuff and don't torture the stewardess with that nonsense.

I really liked R2 on our recent Asia cruise. It's such a nice and quiet atmosphere in there. The service was perfect. But it's also good to see that Seabourn want to come up with new ideas. The current concept of additional Thomas Keller menus in the main restaurant and reserved nights at the Colonnade was a bit confusing, in my oppinion. So I think it's a good idea to give TK a special place... Plus, I don't think it will be TK forever.... So let them try something new from time to time. :)

And to all those Cunard fans: The whole Seabourn experience can't really be compared to what Cunard has to offer - even in Queens Grill. The personalized service on SB, the small number of passengers, the space on open deck, luxury food, drinks, etc etc... it's a very different product. I like both - but in warmer climates would always opt for Seabourn (for the open deck dining options, more relaxed dress code, etc.)... And please don't get me started on the food in that LIDO restaurant (on QE) again :o If you are a buffet fan, AZAMARA, Europa2 and Oceania have the officially best buffet restaurants at sea.:cool:

Will be on the Sojourn later (Sept)12 days to Alaska.

 

Are they still serving breakfast and lunch in the Main Dinning Room? It has been several years since we were on Seabourn.

 

We much prefer eating in the MDR. Yes, I know that many people love eating outside etc, not us. In fact, we spent 23 days in the Queens Grill recently and loved having the restaurant open every day. It use to be that way on Seabourn.

Hi there,

yes, the Restaurant was open on almost all days for bf, lunch & dinner and everytime I walked through at bf or lunch time it was almost empty.

Enjoy your trip !!

Firstly, I hope you enjoyed your cruise. I - and I suspect others - would love to know who your Captain, Cruise Director, Chef, Hotel Director and Restaurant Manager were. Also, did you feel that staffing was up to the correct level and as efficient and friendly as it was a year or more ago? Did you try any of Thomas Keller's dinners or dishes, and if so what did you think?

 

I guess you are only just back - when you have unpacked and got your breath will do!

 

Thanks

Hi Lincslady,

this was the crew:

Cpt. Hamish Elliott

CD Sophie Tehrani

HD Helmut Huber

Chef Henning Giese

Rest. Man. Mihaela Radu

... and many others, who were hard-working, friendly people from all over the world.

I didn't experience ANY service issues or waiting times during breakfast, lunch or dinner. Everyone in the crew were trying their best to deliver polite, professional and fast service - even though at times they were really given hard times by some grumpy guests. A shame really. So, kudos to the crew!

Thomas Keller :rolleyes:...is not a very well thought-through concept. Even though I appreciate the effort of bringing on some fresh ideas (the repetitive menu in the Restaurant needs help!!) the whole concept seems confusing. Why they don't just include one TK item each night and decided to put another menu right next to the two existing menus (daily and SB classic) is weird. On 2 out of 3 nights we wanted to try the TK menu they had run out at 8.20pm and we were simply not given the TK menu any more.

Also, the food itself was underwhelming, therefore I really don't understand why everyone was so crazy for the food and ordered it. Even the chefs get all crazy about it. At the Adhoc dinner at the Colonnade they took photos of their own dishes before they sent it to the table. Some dishes were ok, but nothing more than that (The salad at the Adhoc dinner for example was completey tasteless, whereas the rib main course was excellent.) And what about that TK Burger and TK Hotdog that is on the Pation lunch menu EVERY DAY?? :rolleyes: Oceania and Azamara have 4 or 5 different burgers and each one of them tasted better than the TK thing... I guess TK works much better in its own space...

To sum it up: Food 7/10, Service 10/10 :)

... and willing to answer any questions :)

As a regular Napoli visitor I wouldn't recommend to stay in that city more than necessary. It's loud, it's dirty and there are much nicer places in the vicinity. IF you want to stay there I can recommend the Royal Continental Hotel because of the good location (opposite the castle) with sea views. The rooms are with balcony and the prizes are fair. If you want luxury go to the neighbouring Grand Hotel Vesuvio. However, why don't you take the ferry (approx. 1 hr) to Capri or Ischia and get a nice hotel there. They even offer porter service for those cruise ship bags. It's a bit more expensive there but beautiful, quiet, and really dolce vita. Enjoy!

Pisa is only a 20mins train ride away from Livorno (trains run often). Just take a taxi from the port to the train station in Livorno and when u arrive in Pisa everthing is walkable so you can spend a lot of time there. Enjoy your day in Italy! :cool:

I've done several SB cruises and so far all marina days got cancelled. However the "Caviar in the Surf"-days offer watersports activities as well...

We don't usually travel Queens Grill but in this case it was only slightly more expensive than the July Balcony price for QV and was for 10 nights and included the OBC.

That might have been because November can't really be considered high-season for the Med, don't you think...? ;)

Fares in July for Queens Grill are a bit different.....

But these are very port intensive cruises, so there is little to no spend during the day. On our last cruise we had to buy things in the shops to use up our OBC.

I get enough free wifi on Cunard not to have to pay for any.

I think there would be a fairly small number of UK passengers for whom this would make financial sense.

But you were in Queens Grill, right? That comes with a lot of extras (dining as good as any speciality restaurant, lounge coffees, wet minibar...) already. How does a Queens Grill fare compare to Oceania (or Azamara, or Windstar, or Seabourn, or Silversea, or Crystal...) when you take ALL the things into account that are included on these other lines? ;)

Even I would struggle to spend £900 in extras on that length cruise !

Really? I wouldn't. :D

Few glasses of wine for lunch and dinner, sparkling water for lunch and dinner, in-room minibar, specialty restaurants, specialty coffees, use of spa facilities, bottled beverages in the gym, wifi, etc etc ... you get the idea of what I'm talking about.

But UK market prices are Cunard £1600 and Oceania £2503 for the same cruises so you can understand why UK travellers don't often consider the two as similarly priced can't you?

Absolutely. And therefore I just tried to point out the importance of looking at the FULL prize package. ;)

True!

You really have to add up all the extra costs and then decide on the cruise line. That is why I decided against Cunard for my next tour in Asia. And I think that Cunard should finally include non-alc bevs (esp. bottled water!) in the cruise fare.

But don't get me wrong. I really like Cunard and I would go on any Cunard cruise without hesitation but it would only be in the Grills... especially because of the food. Also, it seems they are working on the quality of the buffet restaurant as well (started with QM2...). So they are listening to customer feedback. Which speaks for the company.

I have not seen comparable prices offered for UK travellers, that QV price looks expensive but then I don't usually travel in July.

These might be the German market prices, but this forum is not exclusively for UK travellers, is it? So it's fair to compare ;)

Both usually more expensive than Cunard Britannia though so hardly fair comparisons for most travellers.

Med/July: 9 Nights on Queen Victoria standard balcony from 3150 EUR including nothing extra.

Med/July: 8 Nights on Riviera standard balcony from 3329 EUR INCLUDING non-alc beverages PLUS beverage package for lunch & dinner plus free wifi.

Not much of a difference, is there? ;)

My wife and I might well be in a minority but almost without exception the food that we have been served on all Cunard cruises has been excellent and of a high standard. We have returned from cruises and discussed whether we could think of a single course throughout the whole of our time on board when our expectations were not met (and we also eat well at home).

 

My view is, if you don't like a course - ask for it to be changed, if a portion is too small - ask for a larger one, if you enjoyed a course and would like more - ask for another one.

 

We tend to sit on tables for 8+ people and I am staggered by the negative and critical comments from some of the diners who I'm convinced are just "attention seekers". Food is obviously subjective to the diner, but come on some of the criticism on these postings are difficult to understand.

 

David

I am not so sure about the "attention seekers"... This is a discussion forum. People come here to share their views. In my opinion, it's always good to be able to compare the cruise lines. Things they do well and things that need improvement. David, why don't you try another cruise line just to find out what we (the complainers) are talking about... Maybe, Oceania (wonderful food all over the ship, all restaurants, all outlets), Azamara (excellent buffet, disappointing, mediocre main restaurant, very good speciality restaurants), etc etc...

Nowadays it shouldn't be any problem at all to design a bright, modern, well-ventilated space inside for those who like to smoke - whatever they want to smoke ;-)

In my opinion, the way you look at food (amount, quality, etc.) on a cruise ship is very much influenced by the food culture in your home country as well as the fact if you cook yourself or not.

I consider myself a "foodie" (yes, I even take photos of dishes in restaurants) and I also cook myself.

The food on Cunard is very good to excellent in the Grills (with huge amount of food every day) and satisfactory to good in Britannia. They offer great menus but they are not overly creative in their cuisine. The items on the menus also have a tendency to be rather heavy dishes (terrines, duck, cakes, custard, etc.) It is simply not a very mediterranean cuisine - more like a solid British-French mix. The buffet restaurant (Lido), however, is the worst restaurant I have ever seen on any cruise ship: sad pizzas, grey and brown bowls of something, terrible salad bar and desserts we had one day before in QG. Also, afternoon tea (which was always very good, best AT however was on Oceania...) is in addition to other meals. Not instead of a proper evening menu...

I just had to decide between 14days on QM2 and 18days on Seabourn Sojourn in Asia for my next cruise. The vote was in favour of Seabourn and I can say food also played a role in my decision making. It is also a HUGE disadvantage that QM2 doesn't have any outside fine dining. For me, especially in warmer climates, that is a part of the cruise experience.

Have any VW execs gone to prison

No. That's the point ! They SHOULD !

I am absolutely disgusted by their procedures. They should be banned from European ports and those responsible (not the guys that executed it but the ones in the executive offices) should go to prison! SHAME ON PRINCESS!!

I have no problem with your saying what you like and didn't like but correcting inaccurate statements like the size of Club Continent suites (50% bigger than veranda staterooms, not just "a bit") and that main dining room meals are "brought up in bulk on large trays" I will continue to do.

Hi Marinaro,

thank you for the update on Club Continent suite sizes. I shall take a note, that 50% more of something that is not very big (e.g. a room which is 175 sq ft.) does make it huge. ;)

On a different note: Let me correct you as well. I never said that "main dining room meals are brought up in bulk on large trays". In contrast, I tried to state that it is quite natural that staff bring out more than one plate at a time.

Enjoy your day.