Odyssey to Alaska

[SDuckers]

I gave up trying to post from the ship for the second half of the cruise.  Internet access was incredibly slow and often non-existent.  Really the one truly negative thing I have to say about the trip.   

 

But to catch up, here are a few more pictures.  In Juneau, we went to the dog sled musher camp, where we got to ride on a wheeled vehicle pulled by the sled dogs, plus meet some sled dog puppies.  Weather was really lousy -- steady rain and cold.  But it was still a lot of fun.  

 

 

[SDuckers]

After Juneau, we travelled back for a second view of Glacier Bay, this time spending more time at Marjorie Glacier.  Still didn't get lucky enough to see a glacier calving, but the weather was beautiful.

 

We had dinner at Earth & Ocean (I think it was this night) and I had the ribeye steak topped with seared foie gras.  It was SOOO good.  Rajeev Kumar is in charge of E&O and also the Patio Grill in the day time.  He is fabulous! 

 

[SDuckers]

Next up was Wrangell.  All the excursions that day were already sold out, so DH and I went to church in town.  It is the oldest Catholic Church in Alaska.  The people there were very welcoming and friendly.  We also did a quick walk-through the museum in Wrangell (not all that impressive).  I can't remember now where we ate for dinner.  See what happens when I can't post each day?

 

Next day was a cruise of Misty Fjords via catamaran.  The "ribbons" of waterfalls were really a sight to see.  We also saw a number of bald eagles and fledglings.  They served small cups of clam chowder and vegetarian chili.  I had the chowder and it was delicious.

 

Dinner again at Earth & Ocean.  DH had both the vegetarian paella and the fish (Mahi Mahi, I think) with bok choy. I had the chicken with white beans (I know the menu had better descriptions than that!) And of course we had the baked camembert for dessert!

[SDuckers]

Next stop was Prince Rupert island.  Again, all the excursions were sold out, other than a tour of the town.  We decided to just do our own walk-about.  A really cute artisan collective gift shop where much gift buying occurred.  Not touristy stuff -- really nice local-made items.  We also walked to the Courthouse and around downtown.  Not that much to see.   While we were out and about, the ship was doing their mandatory emergency drills, so it is just as well we were off the ship during that time.  

 

At breakfast, the Colonnade staff celebrated our anniversary with a nice surprise of heart shaped pancakes and mimosas.  A very nice touch!  Our room team also decorated our bedroom.

[SDuckers]

The last two days onboard were sea days.  Alert Bay was not *supposed* to be a sea day, and we had booked to go out on the Zodiac tour,  but all Zodiac tours ended up getting cancelled due to heavy fog.  I was really bummed about that, because we never did get a chance to go out on a Zodiac this cruise, and this was the one I really wanted to do, because of the likelihood of seeing Orcas.  Ah well, weather can't be helped.  

 

Chef's dinner was delicious.

 

Final night on the ship was the sail away farewell from the crew.  I am glad the weather ended up turning out nice for that event.

[nancygp]

Great photos and narrative…happy anniversary and thanks for sharing your trip 

 

Nancy

[Mr Luxury]

What a good review and some lovely pictures.

[SDuckers]

Trip conclusions:

I had been a little concerned whether Seabourn's quality had deteriorated based on the posts I had been reading here about the service folks were getting on the Quest.  I have to say Odyssey's staff & crew are much better than what has been reported on the Quest.  But I did notice little things that are not quite as good as they once were.  In particular, it seemed to take awhile for staff to learn our names, even in places where we were regulars.  Not a big deal, but that used to be somewhat of a Seabourn hallmark.  Food and service in The Restaurant was extremely variable.  Sometimes it was excellent, other times entrees or appetizers were lukewarm, and sometimes it took awhile to flag down a server to either correct a problem or refill water or wine glasses.

 

I was really struck by the much more aggressive attempts to up-sell to the premium wine list, particularly in the TK Grill and the Colonnade.   I didn't mind as much at the TK Grill because we had already intended to order off the premium list there (and they have a very nice selection of half-bottles at decent prices) but at the Colonnade it was a little annoying.  I am perfectly happy with the included wines for meals there.

 

The reliance on the Source app for everything is also frustrating at times.  As I have noted elsewhere, we asked twice to get a printed copy of the Herald delivered to our suite, with no success.  When I tried to read the Herald on the app on my phone, it constantly would jump back to the top of the page  as I tried to scroll down.  Maybe user error, but it would jump back to the top even when I wasn't touching my phone.  Also, the Source app didn't always work well when the internet was down (which was rather often during the second week of the cruise).

 

The food was mostly very good to excellent.  My clothes really shrunk during the trip!  Both DH and I are particularly fans of Earth & Ocean now.  We would have eaten there more often but some of the days it was just too rainy/cold to be able to enjoy it, even with the provided lap blankets.  The Napa Burger at the Patio Grill, along with their wonderful french fries, were a regular lunch treat for us.

 

The selection of live TV channels continues to suck.  I find it hard to understand why the only US news channels offered are Fox News and MSNBC.  I don't watch a ton of TV while cruising, but I do like to catch up on current news events (and particularly when Hurricane Fiona and Hurricane Ian were out there) and those two channels are both just horrible.  I also was surprised that there was no channel on the lineup that would provide any college or NFL football games.  I understand they can't show all of them, and probably ESPN charges too much to carry that network.  But there were multiple channels showing European futball, cricket, tennis etc.  And I couldn't even find a station to give US college or football scores.  OTOH, I was impressed by the large selection of on-demand movies and we enjoyed several of them.

 

DH and I aren't really that into the nighttime entertainment, and it's a good thing.  We went to the Tim Rice show (again) and it's still fun but something new would be good at this point.  There was a comedian during the first week who was just awful.  We actually got up and left.  He wasn't offensive.  Just not funny.  DH went to see a pianist perform and thought she was quite good.  I opted to lose money at black jack instead :-).  

 

All of the Seabourn excursions we went on were very well done and fun.  The only frustration was how many excursions had sold out by the time we got on the ship.  I was glad I had pre-booked the ones we got.

 

We have put down a deposit for the Dover to Lisbon cruise next fall on Ovation and I can't wait to sail again!

[gojirra]

Were on the Odyssey to Alaska on the cruise before yours and we had the printed copy of The Herald delivered automatically to the room on the bed every night since day one. 
Agree with the excursions being well done and enjoyable.

Agree with food overall being variable/inconsistent, and I would say the same even for Thomas Keller.

I think all the staff are great though, at least those I have interacted with.

[phillipahain]

Currently on Odyssey .....Getting hot food in Dining Room has been a challenge but thanks to a brilliant Ukranian waiter and Oscar looks like we cracked it 

 

Totally agree with comments about TV and Entertainment etc