jondfk

Stavanger was announced to be another tender port, but lo and behold morning found us alongside the old city, so a walking we will go. What a lovely place with all manner of (seemingly) local merchants bars and restaurants, an illusion, perhaps as what should appear but McDonalds. Somehow, with very little effort we steered around to find a local coffee shop instead. A bit of browsing and a few trinkets later back on board. Dinner was our second go at Earth and Ocean, perhaps the late sail away or the relatively warm evening or both had every table taken within 5 minutes of opening which is surely stressful for the team. The meal itself was I think better than the first though we again went a different direction from the crowd ordering the asparagus for our mains when the consensus decision was the lamb shank. Memories of the lambs baa ing at me yesterday scared me back. Another lovely day, few remain now, luggage tags arrived today, sigh.

It’s always a good morning if you find you’re being served by Mietra!

I’ll put my vote in for either Lee or Miguel as well we’ve been alternating between them receiving excellent service by both. They can be hampered by their assignment to the two largest sections but if effort is a measure of excellence neither will disappoint.

Well, ones birthday on Seabourn is an all day affair. The suite staff seemed to take usual note of our departure for breakfast. While we were gone they created a towel cake and place a happy birthday banner. Most everyone we passed in the hall wished me a happy birthday. We were scheduled to tender into the small port of Skjolden today, when we arose we heard…. Sheep baa baa ing what looked to be on our verandah. We were instead tied up alongside an idyllic pier. Mrs. doesn’t like tendering and will do it only with great reluctance, the surprise change made for an impromptu wander around the lovely little, completely non touristic town (well perhaps not quite, the majority of the tow is made up of a series of rental homes overlooking the fjord) a lovely day, warm but a bit overcast. As if playing some sort of script rain held off until very near the all aboard time. Evening took us to The Restaurant for my special meal, the effort was very much appreciated, the meal good, but not especially better than many others we’ve enjoyed, there just wasn’t a lot of room to raise the bar. We enjoyed superb service from one of our two favorite servers. A special very rich chocolate dessert was presented, wonderful though just a few bites had me pushing the plate away. All and all a very magical day.

Well, another day dawns on Our Seabourn Ovation (tm), lol. This one happens to be my birthday. Yesterday in Leon was just lovely, and I mean every aspect. It’s a beautiful place and the weather could not possibly have been better. The Herald forecasted a high of 44* F / 7* C, don’t believe everything you read as the actual high was 71*F, the briefest of morning showers gave way to clouds and then full sun by noontime. The tender was comically short, something like 500 yards across a glassy fjord. The day ended with a second visit to Keller Grill which we again enjoyed very much though our table was amongst the bench seating towards the back, with every table filled the noise level was much higher than our first visit, many would scribe this as “lively” but I found it distracting, voices had to rise to be heard. Still the food was great and the service attentive. We stop by Seabourn Square every evening and have reached point where our order is delivered without any discussion aside from the days events. The order is handed to me with a thank you Mr. jondfk which is a bit odd as I can’t recall ever sharing my name with the lovely hostess. Today, for my day, we’ve made a special request of the chef, something I’ve never attempted before. Expectations are high, I’ll report the result tomorrow. Sadly, we’ve started to consider the going home process. Perhaps to distract we both booked spa appointments for the final day. Packing up to go home is so much easier, mainly just a matter of emptying everything out. We’ve learned the whole process takes an hour max.

Most recently on Oceania. What we don’t care for (in general) is the forced pacing of the fixed menu. I’m aware that a great many people look forward to and love this evening. For us it was great to have such a solid alternative as E&O. we’re on Odyssey on the August 11 sailing. RT from Vancouver.

Last evening we made it for the first time to Earth and Ocean. This wasn’t our original intention but the weather was so lovely with the deck awash in low angle Norwegian sun, we couldn’t resist. it was Chefs dinner night, never our favorite, which I think explained the fairly packed house. The servers were just lovely though a bit stressed by the every table full situation. The meal itself was very good, neither of us had the steak which I think made us quite exceptional. A very nice first exposure and certainly something we look forward to doing again though perhaps not until our next sailing on Odyssey, in, can it really be, just six weeks!

a good thought though we have meanwhile been provided the list. It’s a bit of a yawn, but I’ve identified a serviceable white and very good Cab which cover my, admittedly pedestrian wants.

We too. In fact after finding us moving it from the shower to the sink our suite attendant delivered a second. Hmmm, maybe THAT was our surprise and amaze moment.

I do thank you for this suggestion. On the other hand I find it a bit discouraging to learn that this problem is so common as to have a solution readily at hand, but to deploy it only to those who actively point out the problem. I’ll probably leave it alone for the remainder of this sailing, but will surely ask the first day on Odyssey in August.

I couldn’t agree more there is nothing whatsoever luxurious about the towels. Small, thin and scratchy, to which I’ll add non absorbent. The last Holiday Inn we stayed in had far better. Were we at home such towels would likewise have been retired many years ago if indeed we ever made the mistake to purchase them to begin with.

SLSD isn’t it interesting, as you noted prior, how different peoples opinions can be of what could be expected to be the same experience. Case in point, we considered dinner in the Restaurant las night to be the best of the voyage thus far. Mrs. ordered a main course size portion of the raviollo, I the chicken cordon blue, both were in our judgement excellent. Coupled with the much lighter load (many skipped due to the Galley lunch) we left feeling better served and completely happy. We’ve yet to make Earth and Ocean an omission which is sure to be corrected either tonight or latest tomorrow.

Had a long chat with one of the senior restaurant staff about this last evening. He explained the roll out process which includes the executive chef spending time on each and every ship for implementation. I was told that fleet wide rollout will takes some months, but certainly will be complete this year. Ovation is expected to see the changes September ish though many things could impact the exact schedule.

The first of two sea days sailing down the coast of Norway, bright and sunny from dawn to dusk. The schedule filled morning to night with lectures. The main event for the day was the Galley Market lunch which I know is a big big deal for SB regulars. We seriously considered going but we’re put off by the expected (and real) line out the door. Better a trip to the patio where we found all of the others who took a miss. A lovely day to be outside which was a very nice consolation. Another very pleasant afternoon in the retreat followed. Some don’t enjoy sea days, but we always have. Perhaps a few words about out suite service team. Both couldn’t possibly be sweeter or more pleasant. They do their jobs competently, aside from problems with our bar set up at the start, nothing has ever been missed. One night we surprised them by arriving back to the room a bit after 8:00 to find the room unmade. No big deal but a bit a surprise as we had out the service sign out at 5:00. On the other hand someone said we should expect to be surprised and amazed, well, not so much. Then again do we really need amazing suite service? Early in the sailing someone complained about the absence of coffee early in the AM, perhaps a not unreasonable request given our land of the midnight sun sailing. Surprisingly the ship adjusted the start of the early rise service to … I don’t know when but it’s been fully set up when I arrive usually by 5:30. While I didn’t make the request I have been the very happiest of beneficiaries! It’s my opinion that the early coffee in Observation is the best on the ship, perhaps only because I enjoy my first cup so very much.

Sky bar: Michela thought on the cold days she is in Observation. observation bar: Lauren and William until he departed. Patio and Club I can’t say because so far we’ve only had table service. Will look out.

Haven’t found much to write about in recent days, exploring Tromsø and Honningsvag both lovely in their own ways. SLSD does a better job sharing the sites with her photo stream I really have nothing to add. On board it sounds boring to say nothing new, but that’s the truth, we’ve settled into our routine developing relationships with favorite staff. To the absolute greatest extent has been lovely. We did learn that our very favorite bartender was called home on an emergency, so sad to not even have a chance to say goodbye, we can only hope that whatever has occurred can be worked out with his presence. Prayers.

Well, now we’re approaching the halfway point, perhaps a few words about the cabin. Overall we like the design. For us, the walk in closet it probably more an obstruction than an asset it seems every time the door is open it’s in the other persons way. We’ve taken to closing ourself in, sure it’s a walk-in, but hardly a “dressing room”. So, okay, but no great asset. Bathroom, very nicely finished. Moultin Brown products are fine, the pump bottles as the usual are hit or miss, some work fine, others don’t, just like home. Towels are of surprisingly average quality and fairly small size, somehow the hand and wash cloths are of more expected plushness. Let me guess…supply chain. The furnishings of the main room are good, as expected. The bed is good it’s of medium firmness which is a good way to get close to offending no one. Our particular suite is has a sleeper sofa, normally I avoid these as they make poor sofa’s, this one is okay though, we don’t spend a lot of time in the cabin, but do typically sit and watch a few minutes of a movie pre dinner, it’s fine for that duration. The table and chairs are fine for breakfast. We’re unlikely to use them for a room service dinner, just not our thing. The balcony is very large but has had limited use due to the temperature, perhaps later in the sailing. Those with a good memory might recall we booked years ago, initially in a V1 room. An upgrade / onboard credit appeared some months or a year ago, a call got us bumped to a V4 suite plus a few hundred in cabin credit. Frankly, we’d have been just as happy in the V1 we originally booked and probably wouldn’t spend extra to upgrade in the future. I did appreciate the ease with which I got the better offer, one phone call most of which was spent selecting our new cabin. A slightly warmer day today in Tromso, time for a bit of exploration. More later.

Oh gosh, what an oversight on my part, yes we very much enjoyed here and lingered for several minutes to hear “just one more”. I joked that she certainly knows her demographic. John Denver, the Carpenters, the Eagles, a wide range from the 70’s and 80’s. Lovely.

Too cold today for any time in the Retreat, but the powers that be opened Observation bar for the afternoon, we hung out for a couple hours reading, talking and playing a few card games. Lovely. Tonight was our first at Keller Grill. Very impressed, lovely service. I’ve read others complain the Cesar salad lacks flavor, couldn’t disagree more, we found the flavor perfect, not overpowering but plenty bold. We shared the NY Strip for two, this was plated perfectly. The sides we selected were on the fancier end, we agreed to stick with more basic mashed and spinach next time. And oh that coconut cake, wow, so glad we decided to share. Overall, a major hit, no doubt we will enjoy our second experience in a few days time. A lovely day all in all despite a gray drizzling sky. Tomorrow Tromso with, we hope, a few less clouds and a few more degrees.

I heard today that the restaurant did 380 covers last night, capacity is 441 so, yeah, that’s slammed. Also told that the ship has been caught by surprise with the split between venues, with far less choosing E&O and Colonnade. Tonight is the Keller rib dinner which may draw some upstairs. For our part we will have our first meal in TK Grille, a report tomorrow.

I feel compelled today to comment on the planning of events onboard, or the poor planning of the same. The featured speaker on our cruise is Steve Wozniak co founder of Apple. This is a great choice and it was clear he would be a hot ticket. I’m not sure the capacity of the Grand Salon but it was filled with ~30 people standing outside in the hallway looking in. Here’s the poor planning part. He was scheduled to speak pre dinner at 6:15 assuring that the entire audience would hit the Restaurant at 7:00. Having had the pleasure of meeting Woz previously we elected to skip the event and move towards the dining room closer to opening hoping we’d slip under the crowd. It was so quiet when we arrived that I thought my watch was wrong and they were closed. No such luck however our starters were served as the wave started to build, it seems the kitchen decided to focus on starters until every person in the dining room was served making for an hour delay between our starters and mains. It would perhaps have been smarter to schedule this particular speaker at say 2pm allowing folks to fan out a bit before the next collective event? Worse yet it has been announced that his second talk will be …. At precisely the same time. Oh dear don’t I sound grouchy this morning. Sorry for that.

it’s changed, no list is provided. Doubtless a meeting with the sommelier could help narrow the choices. Around us at dinner last night we heard three tables be told “that’s the last bottle of this, tomorrow you’ll need to choose something different. its entirely possible that SB keep track of people who have wanted a list in the past and provide it to those passengers without request.

pits a personal judgement of course, yesterday the temp was 8*c / 47*f, probably not too cold we’re there no wind, but there was 11knt wind from the north, and the ships speed as 17knts combined, too cold. Today, same temps, but at anchor, basically not a breath of wind so, perhaps.

As it happens the restaurant manager made a lengthy stop to say hello as we were finishing up lunch. We had a ranging discussion which included the reintroduction of daily lunch, towards the end I expressed my surprise as how wines are handled, his explanation was that SB have more or less given up procuring from their historic vendors as they cannot reliably deliver at the moment. Therefore they have shifted to much more local port by port procurement which means they buy what’s available where they are, and in far smaller volumes, than might be normal. This all makes sense (though I’m in the number who see “supply chain” as more excuse than reality these days). He further explained the day to day changes makes maintaining a list challenging. Still, he took the feedback well and promised to supply something for a baseline reference, it was understood that this could be changeable as supplies run out on particular favorites.

One of the assistant managers is our host in the Retreat, I’ll start there and work out. I’m probably a bit too passive, I asked my waiter, was told there wasn’t one, and stopped there. This is where actual experience is worth gold, knowing the first answer isn’t the last word. Experience helps! Then again, what’s the logic behind keeping such secrets? Hmmm. and yes Techno123 we are indeed having a lovely time.