On board the Odyssey

lincslady,

I was very happy with this 2 week cruise which was comprised of 2 one week segments. And since I had not been on a summer cruise in a couple of years, and only 3 weeks ago was dreading those reports of lots of boisterous children and their difficult parents, I am very pleased with how things turned out:

1- Ody is shining due to its usual high maintenance standards and refit. The crew is happy, a combination of seasoned Seabourn hands e.g. Sean, Paul, Milos, Antonio and James in the Beverage Dept., Ivan, Astor, Marko and Dordi in the MDR, MD Jean Paul and Nbosa in Colonnade, MD Ivan in TK, Chef Kurt and then Frank, and in the Tour Dept new head Murat and an absolutely charming blond young lady from South Africa whose name escapes me.

Then there are "new to me" HM Stratos, F&B Mgr David, Rest Mgr Ali and sommeliers Onur and Katrina, and AMD Maczek in the Colonnade. Morgan, head at Seabourn Sq, takes care of anything else. Our stewardess Anastasiia was always on top of things.

So if this looks like my post cruise review for Seabourn Seattle, well, you are on track. I am waiting for the form now to show my appreciation to these people and a few others.

2- About the vibe, again, this is a happy ship. About half had never sailed with Seabourn and the demographic was mixed with maybe a quarter under 40. Maybe 10-15 children, a few families of 4-8, no sign of the turbulent tribe(s) that must have (been?) disembarked just before we embarked. No venue ever seemed busy, much less crowded. Of course the weather was always hot and we had 13/14 port days so maybe many were fatigued... And there were no overly vexing issues re dress code matters apart from what Sunprince noted (and we dealt with above). OK, there were some tee shirts and shorts in the Observation Bar but they generally moved on by 6:30 pm.

3- I was very happy with the food in the MDR, TK and Colonnade. Easy to find a table (or book for TK which we did before boarding) and great service was the rule. Bar service was fine, too (and I continue to live in hope that Nicky Fooey is supplanted).

4- About the CD, Drew was in charge the first week, and I hope he gets a permanent head role soon. I would add he is very experienced and he just looks very young. And when veteran Jan took over upon her return I noted that he was on top right away of a couple the innovations she added. Yes, he is ready, in my view. Then there was the 2nd ACD whose voice and manner always charmed. I just wish I could recall her name, too!

That's about it and since I did not attend the shows I cannot comment on that side of things. But the cavair in pool events (2), the marina day, and the 2 Officer on Deck farewell parties were just plain great! And I very much enjoyed the 2 Captain Bathgate Welcome and Seabourn Club Parties.

5- And another thing about summer cruising... just prepare for crowds, especially when those 2000+ ships are at the same ports. Santorini and Dubrovnik are not pleasurable when you throw on 6000 cruisers plus the normal tourists. And our disembark at Venice was "interesting" (and went very well considering) since there were 7 MSC, Costa and Royal Carib ships there too.

As I have said many times, the Ody class ships have the space inside and on deck to deliver what I value about Seabourn- facilities that the "little ships" did not have and the ratios regarding guest/staff and facilities - that larger ships either just plain don't and/or are hard pressed to duplicate. And so the Ody ships are my preferred Seabourn class.

Our next cruise is on Quest in the Antarctic. Insofar as Ody service standards are concerned, I am sure that Quest will measure up equally well.

If anyone has any questions, please let me know!

Happy and healthy sailing!

Markham - we sailed a couple of weeks before you - was it Deborah the lovely SA blonde lady? - she also did the onboard bookings as well as helping with tours.

Many of those names you mentioned were on my feedback form too. We and I am sure many others gave JP (Jean Paul) glowing feedback last year and it is fantastic to see that he has been promoted. Ali the new Restaurant Manager was definitely keeping up with Antonio by ensuring he knew everyone's name and completely agree about Drew - great fun and he seemed to be everywhere at once.

Love Seabourn and the Odyssey but still wondering about giving Encore a try. Maybe next year

Techno123,

Thanks for the assist... I could kick myself for not writing down the slight blond South African young lady's name from the Tours Dept and also the name of the American female Asst CD under Jan and Drew. But I don't think that the former was Debbie. When and if I see them on my future Ody and Quest cruises I will do a lot better! My next Ody is in 15 months, and assuming they are still there I admit that that's a long way off.

I have just completed the rating survey and made note of all the wonderful and well trained staff and their officers who delivered such a great cruise. Yes, that makes me feel better.

Happy and healthy sailing!

The Asst CD was Darcy. She didn't play much of an Asst CD role when we were onboard as she was singing in the Club most nights. I guess we have a different view on her singing ability, but the common view I heard onboard was that she was overly theatrical and came off as fake when singing. No where near the abilities of JC or the other two female singers. However she was a nice young lady.

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Thanks for Darcy's name. While I enjoyed her voice at deck events eg sailaways, I formed a very positive impression of her style - voice and appearance - at the Grand Salon receptions when she sang and moved with that "theatricality". She reminded me of something out of the 1940s or 1950s and I thought she was a lot of fun!

Happy and healthy sailing!

Markham and Sunprince - thank you both for the reports on your recent trips on Odyssey. Also well done for mentioning names of the particularly exceptional staff - I know it gets noticed and can help with deserved promotions.

Not too sure about the 'theatrical' singing young lady in the Club - surely a quiet guitar and/or singer is what is needed here, pre-dinner anyway.

Lincslady,

I was referring to the Grand Salon intros to the captain's party and the Club member recognition party. You had guests entering, the 5 piece band playing old hits and Darcy, with her hair and curves, doing the business. And I liked her voice, too. Win win!

About the Club, I seldom visited as I prefer the views at the Obs Bar. Just an old habit of mine! So I can't much comment on the entertainment there.

Happy and healthy sailing!

Markham- I got the impression from Sunprince that the young lady singer performed in the Club, which is actually our preferred venue before dinner. We will be on Odyssey in the not too distant - hence my interest in your comments - and are hoping for quiet music in the Club. Sadly, too often is is either very loud, and/ or rather incompetent!

I will probably come back with some comments after our cruise, but am rather reluctant to say when we are actually on board - just a personal preference. But will eventually come back with praise for staff where is is due, of course! And comments on how we found the ship overall.

Lincslady, unfortunately I did not bring the Heralds home with me too verify this information (too much paper). However if I recall correctly, there were two different groups that provided entertainment in The Club. The first I believe is called "The Trio" who played earlier in the evening. The second was "The Band with Darcy" and they played later, usually after the evening show (I.e. After 10pm). I did not hear the Trio play and suspect their style was a bit quieter. The Band played much more lively music for dancing.

Hope this helps.

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Yes, thanks. Usually on all the ships (well Odyssey class anyway) there is a soloist, duo or trio playing (hopefully) fairly quietly around 6.30 to say 7.30, and the louder music after dinner. The standard of these musicians varies enormously, from some really lovely duos to the odd young guitarist/singer who was pretty terrible. And went on and on after he was supposed to have finished!

We seem to prefer the Club before dinner to the Observation bar; a bit quieter and more comfortable seating - for us anyway. It is good that we don't all want the same thing.

The bands recently have been young mainly British musicians, as against the Filipino bands previously. I imagine this is still the case. Both types have their charms; some of the older Filipino players were really brilliant, and had been at sea for many years.

Perhaps you will enjoy Pierre in the Observation Bar. He plays and sings after dinner and has a nice mellow sound. Great guy too!

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Sunprince - never mind, unfortunately we didn't always manage to make the rendezvous at the promised times, depsite best intentions. There was one occasion we would certainly have been in the Obs Bar at the right time, but were hijacked by the TK staff who came round to ask people to go and eat in the Grill because they had so many cancellations! It seemed churlish to refuse, so we left early!

Hi Marama, until next time! Hope you enjoyed The Grill, we were always told it was fully booked, but again we dine late not early and I think they had cancellations for the early evening time slots vs later.

On another note, will you be offering your thoughts on this cruise? Would love to hear them!

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We were on the Odyssey early August and the trio in The Club were excellent. South African female vocalist and another South African (male) on keyboard and a Brit (male) on bass. The men were also doing vocals. IMO a really great sound and not intrusive before dinner.

They are certainly on the Odyssey until end September. Also agree about previous mentions for Pierre in the Observation lounge.

As mentioned by Baz-t, and in speaking with many of the experienced crew, it seems like there may be a rather big turnover in crew on the Odyssey in September. Many will be leaving for two months and then quite a few will be deployed to the Encore.

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Please don't tell me that means that our first Seabourn cruise which starts on Oct 4th is going to have all new crew ?

As mentioned by Baz-t, and in speaking with many of the experienced crew, it seems like there may be a rather big turnover in crew on the Odyssey in September. Many will be leaving for two months and then quite a few will be deployed to the Encore.

 

 

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I doubt there will be all new crew. But several of my favourites will be taking a well earned break. Perhaps they will be replaced with other experienced crew. I would not worry.

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Many thanks to Sunprince for this thread, as well as to the other contributors. It's been an interesting read.

Hi Marama, until next time! Hope you enjoyed The Grill, we were always told it was fully booked, but again we dine late not early and I think they had cancellations for the early evening time slots vs later.

 

On another note, will you be offering your thoughts on this cruise? Would love to hear them!

 

 

Sunprince, I was being lazy and your review was so comprehensive that I feel there is little I could add. However, since you ask, here are a few notes:-

We loved being back on Odyssey and it was especially 'special' because we were on Encore earlier in the year and didn't like it as much. I think that particular ground has been well and truly covered. One good thing to come out of that was that we made some new friends on Encore who then joined us on Odyssey and made the cruise an even better experience all round.

I am afraid that I did rather lke the new (and well overdue) striped covers outside Seabourn Sq and thought they looked rather smart - quite comfy to sit on as well in shorts for me, anyway. (Sorry!) That area became one of my favourite spots.

 

The Patio Grill was streets ahead of our Encore experience - loads more choice and good service. We thoroughly enjoyed TK (twice, as already mentioned). Next time you can't get a booking, just wait until the TK Ribs night is announced in the Colonnade. That was the night everyone cancelled TK to go and eat ribs (and yes, don't deny it, you were there too even if you were not one of the no-shows). The poor TK staff were roaming the ship between about 7-7.30 hijacking anyone they could, to fill the gaps. They were rightly baffled that anyone would want to cancel the Grill just to eat ribs! We commisserated - and tucked in. Unfortunately we had a stewardess who seemed to throw everything out that was not nailed down. The next day my bag of TK cookies were gone - in the bin, it seems - great disappointment and no midnight snack for us porkers.

 

The band as a whole were excellent, especially the Frankie Vallee evening. Nothing at all wrong with Darcy, but agree that I would have liked to hear more from the other two female singers who I did feel had slightly better voices. If anyone reading this knows what happened to Heather Clancy I would love to know. She was the singer on Spirit in 2014 and what a talent and what a voice - just made you go 'wow'. We never missed a show. It would be great to know where she is now.

 

We were very impressed with the Restaurant Manager, whose name I failed to remember. He was highly visibile, working the tables every single mealtime and chatting.

 

Finally, We had a exceptional guide on our Seabourn excursion in Patmos - Nicholas Alafakis. Clear, organised, efficient - the best ever, only equalled by Brigitte Feyt - our guide on another Seabourn Excursion in Nice. I have contact details for both if anyone should ever want them. So now we are home in the middle of the latest heatwave and looking forward to our next time on Seabourn - but not sure just when that will be, at the moment!

The RM is Ali and I hope that everyone who meets him is as impressed with his diligence as you and I were and then includes him in their post-cruise surveys as a "top performer".

Heather left Seabourn as a CD 2 years ago. She went to Oceania, I believe.

Happy and healthy sailing!

I think Heather is now with Viking Ocean.

The RM is Ali and I hope that everyone who meets him is as impressed with his diligence as you and I were and then includes him in their post-cruise surveys as a "top performer".

 

Heather left Seabourn as a CD 2 years ago. She went to Oceania, I believe.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

110% agree Markham. I was very impressed by Ali. At first I didn't realize who he was because he spoke to us every day at lunch and I didn't pay much attention to his title. Then I thought: who is this guy...and realized he was the Restaurant Manager. He is a very genuine, warm person. I was very impressed by him compared to some of the other officers (I will not name them) who never spoke to us. Ali is a real gem and I hope we will sail with him in the future.

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I Marama, thanks for adding your comments and glad that you enjoyed your cruise. Just to clarify, the comment I made regarding the seat cushions was related to the vinyl covered cushions outdoors in the Collonade, not the outdoor striped cushions at the aft deck of the Square. Those were proper (Sunbrella type fabric) and quite nice, the cushions in the Collonade were of inferior quality and too hot. They were not suitable for hot weather cruises ( and I suspect they would be cold and clammy for a cool weather cruise), so IMHO they need to be replaced.

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I haven't received my post cruise email survey. I received a welcome home and thank you email from Rick Meadows but no survey. It over 2 weeks since disembarkation and thought I would have received it by now. Has anyone else received the survey?

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Yes, I received by email 3 days after the cruise ended. I think it was with the Rick Meadows letter. Maybe you should look again at your In box or else contact someone at Seabourn for it?

Happy and healthy sailing!