jam52

Habitually overpack. Want to have whatever we might want. If it fits on the airplane, we take it. Always specify a large enough transport since 4 large bags won't fit in an S class car.

I was on the ship when the incident occurred. The dent was painted the next day

Tried the craft cocktails on the Odyssey in November. Really liked them but the bartender in the club was overworked and it took several minutes to get these more labor intensive concoctions. We switched back to basic cocktails so we didn't have to wait so long.

On a recent Encore cruise, I inquired about the specialty cocktail menu. They were able to produce the menu but said they didn't have several of the ingredients for most of them. Too bad.

I'm on Odyssey now wrapping up the grossly mismarketed "Sommelier's Odyssey" wine cruise. I concur that the level of service is down and that this does not feel like the line I've come to love at all. There are still things that are still classically Seabourn, but many that are now just phoned in "tick the box" type experiences.

 

A few of the highlights and letdowns of this sailing (pardon my stream of conscience rambling):

 

* The "wine cruise"... oh, where do I begin on what an epic marketing disaster this was. Guest relations and cruise director staff have all stated that they had NO idea this cruise was marketed as it was (on the Seabourn.com splash page rotation for months, via special promotion in the club news, etc.) I was told in advance via my agent (via sales) that they would provide a full listing of special events when we boarded but that there would be a couple dozen special offerings. Guess what? Nada. I asked in Seabourn Square and they looked at me as if I were speaking in tongues. I found out at dinner the first evening that there was a list of tastings and dinners on offer so I inquired after dinner. I was told "that is only for the people onboard who are interested in wine" and that if I was one of them, then I should have been at the lecture on Greek wine earlier that evening. (Sorry, I wasn't... both because it conflicted with the only solo gathering and because I don't find all-purpose port lecturers to be wine experts in general!) The sheet contained five events - a free olive oil tasting (already fully booked full, sorry), two pay-extra afternoon wine tastings, and two pay-extra wine dinners in Restaurant 2. I signed up for one of the wine dinners only to find out later that it was not a special dinner at all... just normal R2 dinner with a $75 supplement for 3 wines that night. What?!?! Other than a couple of "come after dinner and try orzo or grappa in the Observation Bar" type of events (with no publicity and barely even a mention in the Herald), that was the extent of the wine focus.

 

* The special wine shore excursion (added outside the normal Seabourn offerings) in Trapani was a trainwreck. Several of us complained and ended up getting 75% of our $170 fee refunded. Seabourn clearly did not vet this appropriately! No other special wine shore excursions were offered. (I don't count normal Seabourn excursions with food/wine offered throughout the Mediterranean season to be special wine shore excursions!)

 

* I was initially told "no Shopping with the Chef" due to a lack of suitable ports in which to do it. I have heard that same line on EVERY Seabourn cruise I've taken (although half the time there ends up being an event anyway). I think Seabourn either needs to execute this properly or do away with it.

 

* No Rock the Boat Party. No epicurean event (although I'm told that tonight the Officer's Farewell/Officer's On Deck will serve that purpose).

 

* They ran out of caviar at the Caviar By The Pool sailaway. I repeat, they ran out of caviar. It started at 5:00 pm and I got down there about 5:15 pm to find a queue of people waiting to be served. I grabbed at glass of champagne and waited for the line to go down (I don't like queuing on Seabourn!) and at 5:25 when I went back and got in the line, I watched the chef scoop out the last of the current tin for the guest before me. "Sorry, no more caviar" he said to me. I laughed. (Seriously, I laughed... this is Seabourn so surely he was joking!) Nope, no more caviar. No, they didn't run out on the ship... they just were not going to open any more for me or the folks in line behind me. "Sorry, no more caviar."

 

* Entertainment has been very good. I said this after the spring transatlantic and will say it again... Seabourn's changing with the times has been a positive. Its nice to hear music from the last decade in the Club and in the shows as well as to have some variation in the types of evening activities. The removal of the guitarist and replacement with both a trio and the Club band has been great. Suzanne Jade, the current pianist in the OB, is a true gem. We enjoyed her on the transatlantic and I'm thrilled for her that she'll get to move to the Encore (where one of her duties will be playing in the Thomas Keller Grill during dinner). I understand the Encore will have not only the pianist and Club band, but also a trio and a duo. I'm told the duo will not be one of the Filipino duos from the Little Sisters but the trio will be a Filipino one.

 

* Food has been okay. Better than it was on Odyssey during the low point two summers ago but not as good as on Quest earlier this year or Sojourn on prior sailings. The menu selections are fewer. At tables with more than 3 people, entrees rarely arrived at the same time. Sauces were left off dishes that were to include them, sides never delivered, items asked to be removed were left on. In a couple of cases, when items were sent back, the same items reappeared. I watched in horror one night as cold pasta was sent back from someone at our table and reappeared heated with twice as much sauce on top smothering it. Presentation is lacking. The best offerings I've had have been via room service. The greatest win in my book is that it has been the fastest I've seen. We've managed to sit down at 7:30 or later many evenings, enjoy 3-courses, and still have time for a cocktail before the 9:45 show, even with hosted tables. That's never happened before.

 

* The Thomas Keller offerings have largely been unappealing or unappetizing. (Yes... I said it despite my prior cheerleading!) I don't predict this will be a successful long-term relationship largely due to execution.

 

* I wanted to put together my own table for dinner one evening to showcase some wines I purchased in Italy w/ Sebastian's help. I inquired mid-cruise and asked which night would be best and what we might do with F&B to make this as little of an inconvenience as possible. On prior sailings, I've co-hosted tables or been a guest at them and they've helped us coordinate invites, even prepared special dishes. This time I was treated as an inconvenience and they tried to dissuade me on several occasions from doing this at all. I finally pulled it off successfully but it required me pushing the issue. I was told by one guest who I invited (who had also been invited to a staff hosted table) that when she accepted my invitation and declined the other, she was asked "are you sure?" Really?!

 

* Service has been variable. There are extremely attentive staff (like Nigel at the Pool Bar) and then there are those who clearly would rather be anywhere but on the ship based on the disdain with which they treat guests. (This coming less from my own personal experience and more from watching them interact with others.) I've seen servers get positively snippy with guests at hosted tables.

 

* I have had a brand-new suite stewardess (this is her second sailing, I believe) and while nothing has been horrible, it has definitely been unimpressive. Bathrobes disappeared from my suite one night (which I discovered when stepping out of the shower wet)... not only the one hanging on the hook in my bathroom but also the one that had been hanging in the closet all week. I had several occasions where items I had placed in the trash reappeared on the countertop after the room was serviced (among them, an empty medication casing, a discarded empty conditioner bottle, several empty envelopes, and folded day-old news sheets).

 

* So many new staff members. "No" or "we can't do that" seem to be familiar phrases now.

 

* Lots of hosted tables on this sailing. They took very good care of their solo travelers (and there were a LOT of them) on this sailing. I was invited to tables nightly. My only minor complaint was that they tried to corral us to the Colonnade for a hosted table on formal night... I guess the assumption was that solos don't want to be formal? I found that slightly disappointing but several of us declined that invitation and sat together on our own in The Restaurant with all the non-solos. We survived. (I only accepted 3 or 4 of my hosted invitations all sailing but it was nice to know I received them... I'd never have been alone unless I wanted to be. Seabourn is a VERY easy line for solos!)

 

* It took 3 days to get all my onboard credit applied correctly. I've never had that problem in the past but I'm glad now that I asked when the little onboard cards didn't appear in my suite on Day 1.

 

* I am convinced that the staff in Seabourn Square are hired solely for their ability to appear stoic and demonstrate absolutely no emotion or concern when troubles are presented. I visited with them on three different occasions about issues or questions. But only on Day 9 when another guest complained and mentioned me by name that I was already in touch with the US sales department via my agency did the Guest Services Manager call to ask me why I was unhappy.

 

* I booked a specific A1 suite because as a solo, they did not offer good supplements for anything V1 or above when I was booking (full disclosure - I paid 125% for the A1 but they wanted 175% for the V1 which I deemed too much). I am used to seeing buy-up offers come when the ship is not sold out and decided I'd accept one of those when offered. They never came... and my agent was told that there would be none forthcoming because the ship was sold out. This as they continued to discount cabins and offer them up on consolidator sites. I was told to ask at check-in. I was again told "no upgrades". Imagine my displeasure when I found out that several others on the same rate as me had been offered upgrades (some paid, some complimentary). I am told the sailing is not full and was never full - they lost out on the additional revenue I was willing to pay.

 

I need to state for the record that I am not a vocal complainer. I'm the type to suffer quietly and not speak up in the hopes that things will get better or that perhaps I'm overreacting. I've been a huge Seabourn fan girl/cheerleader in the past. But I just cancelled our transatlantic booking for 2017 as I feel the need to watch and wait as Encore comes on line to see what the overall impact will be on the brand.

Agree, we were on the same cruise. The sommelier part was invisible. It was the first Seabourn cruise that we NEVER received an invite on our cabin door about a wine tasting. I stumbled across a lecture on the in suite TV about a wine lecture that occurred days before. Also agree that the food seemed a notch below what we were accustomed to. That having been said, we still put down an open ended deposit.

I think you can use them before or after on the same day as a treatment for the full day.

Have friends on the 8th deck on the cruise. Noise must be pretty localized to 5.

Agree, the TV should be larger and at the foot of the bed.

I am Gold and applied for the shore excursions for myself and the premium wine for spouse. We got the discount on the premium wine we had at dinner, but when we both went to the wine tasting, only she got a discounted price. Seemed reasonable.

I have done 7 two week cruises and can't even recall hearing music on the deck. Mr. Oblivious I guess.

Fabulous news! Can't wait!

Another thumbs up vote!

They have brought rugs to our house twice. Bought a rug in Kusadasi but not from the home visits.

agree, really nice people! There daughter, Connie, was on one cruise as a guitarist and singer.

doing that itinerary in May. Did it the other direction in 08. Loved it.

We traveled at that time two years ago. The seas were not a problem. The weather was generally pretty good but one or two blustery days. One problem however, is that some hotels and restaurants in some of the ports are seasonal and are closed from November to April. We wanted to eat at Chateau Eze and it was closed.

Larger Televisions at the foot of the bed to take better advantage of all of the movies on hard drive.

Second the MDR open for breakfast and lunches idea. Dislike buffets.

Ajaccio is Napoleon's birthplace. The house that he was born in is a museum that is an easy walk from the ship. I definitely recommend

Also strongly favor the MDR for breakfast and for lunch if the weather is not good enough to sit outside at the Colonnade. Not really a buffet fan and I usually order off the menu when there. Have not tried the crab Bendedict but my usual is Eggs Royale which substitutes smoked salmon for Canadian bacon.

Make sure you see all of the Calatrava architecture in Valencia whether on a tour or by yourself. the tour is easy and worth it.

I love the large library of movies on hard drive on the Odyssey class ships. I would like to see a larger flat screen TV at the foot of the bed for better evening movie viewing.

Yes, the Silver Oak alexander valley is usually in the package. Once when they ran out, they substituted the Napa. I have found the packages a pretty good deal. However, the markup on the other wines on the wine menus is not that bad either.

I think this is a fair comparison between Crystal and Seabourn. I have never sailed Regent. I have sailed both of the first two more than once.I enjoy both of them very much. I prefer, Seabourn because I usually prefer the smaller ship experience. I don't like lunch or breakfast buffets and love to be served on the rear deck of Seabourn. I also prefer the all inclusive Seabourn experience. I realize that Crystal will try that this spring. I do think that if I had the time available to do a World Cruise, Crystal would be my choice because of the larger size and larger ship experience.

We completed our first Seabourn cruise in September. We would like to have some referral coupons to share with friends. Are they automatically sent recent cruisers from Seabourn or do they have to be requested?