Pride - Totally Disappointed!

[mef38]

It certainly does not sound like the typical "Seabourn Experience", but it doesn't sound like a nightmare vacation either. Certainly not anything that he needs to litigate as UK1 suggests.

 

I have no immediate plans to litigate this either. As we all know, the only winners in litigation are the attorney's. It's not worth throwing good money after bad. What I am interested in is hearing what they say and see if we can come to an agreement of sorts.

 

I just want to air my greivances and see if others were as disappointed on this trip as we were.

 

 

Mark

[LaPaloma]

Sorry old chap...when you are enjoying your evening martini and typing.... restituion and retribution are vertualy indistinguishable! It makes for more enjoyment though.

[SantaAna,CA]

Mark,

 

I'm really sorry you had such a disappointing experience on your cruise. I have yet to sail on Seabourn; I have a trip booked to the Caribbean on the Legend April of '06, but I completely emphathize with the many disappointments you experienced.

 

It sounds like the ship wasn't quite relieved of all the "bugs" after the dry dock make-over. It sounds like you posted a very honest report of your cruise. I'd also be interested to know of the response of the management to your complaints.

 

I hope this won't put you off Seabourn completely; from what I've read from these boards, they are a wonderful line.

 

Jane :)

[jaicat]

My husband and I were on this pride sailing as well and all that Mark has said is the truth. The ship was certainly NOT ready for passengers and any firstimers on seabourn would have been seriously disappointed and some actually said they would never sail again!

 

The suites had serious problems some with gaping holes in the ceilings, One couple I spoke to had water dripping on their bed. My suite had glue all over one of the bathroom sinks,the safe did not work, no Moulton Brown soaps, No bubble baths, robes sewing kit etc. I had to ask twice for a bar of soap and finally the stewardess brought 2 and asked me to chose one. We survived on that one soap and one bottle of bath gel for the entire cruise! After begging a few times the stewardess (bless her sweet heart) was able to "dig" and locate one bottle of bubble bath with great difficulty.

 

The staff lacked supplies and were seriously overworked surviving sometimes on four hours sleep over a period of seventy two hours and I know of at least one who had to give up his room for passengers. He slept on deck! The ship was filthy when they left dry dock and the staff had to do serious cleaning and physically put the ship to rights. For example there were no tables, chairs etc in the dining room when they went back on the ship etc. All the workmen on dry dockclimbing over each other at the same time and leaving a mess does not help matters.

 

Passengers who were left amazed at the level of disorganization and lack of the usual expected ameneties were then subjected for the first 3 days to the roughest weather I have experienced rivalled only to my cruise around the tip of South America where we had 25 foot waves! The overwhelming majority of those on board were seasick (including yours truely). You will admit that this did not enhance the experience and I suspect played a pivotal role in the decision of some to leave the ship. I understand that some may have been in the largest suite at the front of the ship.

 

In spite of all I give full marks to the chefs on board for the amazing food as usual and all the staff who soldiered on with a smile through it all. Mark is right. It got better and better as the cruise wore on but I fear that all the kinks may not have been worked out by the time we got off.

 

I agree that Seabourn took a calculated risk but I suspect that they did not realize the impossibility of completing the work until too late and had to work as we sailed. I would have been even more disappointed to have flown to the ship to be told then that the cruise was cancelled!

 

In spite of all my husband and I decided we would have a ball regardless and this we did! We know our next Seabourn cruise will be fantastic.

 

 

Faith

[mef38]

Faith,

 

Thanks for the confirmation (and also for your business card that you gave me on Sunday. I did pass it on as promised). I heard that the air conditioning in the galley was not working on the first night and the temperature soared to 145° and 3 chefs (cooks) passed out from the heat. They also had to boil water for coffee as none of the coffee machines were working the first couple of days.

 

Some of the crew also told us that the stabilizers were not functioning properly the first 3 days and that is why many (including crew) were very seasick.

 

Believe it or not, my wife and I felt a little queezy, but we didn't really get sick. We must have iron stomachs considering Helga Reiss was sick the first two days and shes been sailing for 7 years!

 

Again I still have to say that, despite everything, the food was great! :rolleyes:

 

 

 

Mark & Wendy

Greetings from Quebec, Canada

[jaicat]

Mark & Wendy,

 

Happy to know you returned home safely.

 

We were told by staff that the dishwashers were down at one point forcing them to wash by hand. The majority of washers were down (which could account for the scarcity and hardness of the towels and washrags?)The last two days we had no washrags and only 2 towels which we kept reusing. We had cold water the second day out and then the following days the water was uncomfortably hot and could not really be cooled down in the shower. From My perspective this is better than cold water which was all that some people had.

 

I expect that my travel agent will report what I relayed to her to Seabourn as she promised to do so. Please send your letter to Seabourn, I do believe that at least a 50% rebate on another cruise is reasonable.:D

 

Faith

[Iamboatman]

In spite of all I give full marks to the chefs on board for the amazing food as usual and all the staff who soldiered on with a smile through it all. Mark is right. It got better and better as the cruise wore on but I fear that all the kinks may not have been worked out by the time we got off.

 

I agree that Seabourn took a calculated risk but I suspect that they did not realize the impossibility of completing the work until too late and had to work as we sailed. I would have been even more disappointed to have flown to the ship to be told then that the cruise was cancelled!

 

In spite of all my husband and I decided we would have a ball regardless and this we did! We know our next Seabourn cruise will be fantastic.

 

 

Faith

 

It is nice to see some lemonaide out of the lemons.

 

From both your and Mark's comments it seems like the shipyard was substantially at fault and Seabourn was/is left to clean up the proverbial mess. I have the distinct impression that Seabourn will be seeking compensation as well as giving some out.

[bldsld]

Faith, Mark & Wendy,

 

If you write to Seabourn, it would not surprise me if they gave you exactly what you ask for. I would expect them to be very sympathetic to your concerns, as it sounds like the ship just wasn't quite ready.

 

Those of us who sail the line regularly and post here on this board are truly sorry that your first Seabourn cruise wasn't a stellar experience (trust me, we've been emailing each other!), but at least you got a taste of what "could" be, and usually "is"!!!

 

Hope we all get to meet on a future cruise! :)

Denyse

[cruiseyguy]

Where Seabourn fell down (especially if the company President was onboard) was its failure to immediately recognize that they could not provide a typical Seabourn cruise and to improvise a "Plan B," such as notifying the passengers on boarding of the true reason for the disarray (incomplete drydock refurbishments), designate the voyage a "shakedown cruise," offer a generous credit toward another cruise (in the range of 50% or, in the alternative, a lesser percentage refund) and somehow, in the Seabourn way, make the shakedown a positive and interesting event for the passengers. I'm really puzzled that no one, not even the President of the line, could come up with something better than what seems to have transpired.

[its_my_dime]

I find this a poor solution for both parties.

 

From SB's viewpoint, why would they want a group of people on future cruises talking about a trip they would best hope forgotten?

 

From the passenger's viewpoint...consider it this way.

 

If you had a really poor meal at a well rated restaurant, would you want the manager to say...come back again and we'll give you 25% off...or would you prefer..sorry, our fault, your (expensive) bottle of wine is on us and we want you to try again so here is a credit for a bottle on your next visit?

 

A few years ago, we had a bad meal at a well-regarded Manhattan steak house. On the way out, we spoke to the manager who immediately took out his business card, wrote $100 credit on the back and signed it. No questions asked.

 

We used the chit about a year later, had a very fine free meal (except for the tip which we gladly left in cash on the whole amount) and have returned several times since at full cost.

 

Repeat happy customers are the key to any business. I hope that SD things the whole process through before making a decision on this trip.

[BeachBumMama]

Like the others, I'm sorry to hear of your bad experience. Things do happen, and most times we can just let it roll and get on with it, but sometimes there are things that are obviously wrong, and they were obviously not prepared as they thought they would be. Certainly not your fault or the other passengers, but you had to pay the price for it. As one poster said, a Plan B and honesty would have worked and gone much further had they explained upfront, and its amazing the President of the line couldn't come up with one.

[mef38]

As you have some legitmate gripes, Seabourn will respond to you. Let us know what the result is.

 

I promised to let you know the results of my complaint and so here it is.

 

I received a response from the Manager of Guest Relations of Seabourn. Without going into too many details, I will say that I am quite impressed with their response. It was worth it (to at least get it off of my chest) and I do plan to cruise with them again.

 

Reviewing the information I posted, months after the fact, I still feel that it was an unexpected and unaccceptable hiccup. But, that being said, the cruise line still seems to be doing their best to make everything right.

 

So, if you plan to take a cruise with Seabourn, expect to be heard if you ever encounter a problem.

 

 

Mark :cool:

[Iamboatman]

It is great to hear that Seabourn made things right with you. It isn't a perfect world, but at least some cruise lines do respond to their passengers when things go amiss!:)

 

What is also nice to know is that you were so forthright in posting the good news. Thanks!:D