Cruise Director currently on the Encore

[Isklaar]

6 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Yes indeed but there are still a few old time crew that are here.

Unfortunately on this week of our cruise there are 240 Australians who are in a group paid for as an Incentive from one Company.

It's been a difficult week for regular guests and what the poor crew have had to put up with.

On one sail away there were forty people in the pool drinking from glass beer bottles which is a complete no in my book for safety at the very least.

The Hotel Director has been complained to by many regular guests who are understandably not happy. 

The CEO is also aware.

The group should have chartered a ship as it affects everything.

Seabourn should not take large group bookings especially at this time of year as they would have filled the ship anyway.it is complete madness.

One couple who I have spoken to have cancelled their next three booked cruises.

Silversea would seem to be the likely benefactor from this situation going forward.

 

 

Our first cruise was with Silversea. There was a group of people on a corporate freebie onboard, I believe 300 in total on Silver Spirit which at that time had a capacity of 540.  We cruised one more time with SS, there was a group again but much smaller and far better behaved. Still had a negative effect on our enjoyment. This was 12 years ago. We moved to Seabourn after that.

 

Do any of the luxury lines not take group bookings? I know SS still did just prior to Covid as two regular CC posters were on the same cruise posting about a badly behaved group.

Edited August 19, 2023 by Isklaar

[nancygp]

19 minutes ago, Isklaar said:

Do any of the luxury lines not take group bookings? I know SS still did just prior to Covid as two regular CC posters were on the same cruise posting about a badly behaved group.

crystal took group bookings prior to covid

 

Nancy

[Cantara24]

We have had the pleasure of benefitting from a corporate reward event, was held at Maui Weston Kaanapali. When onsite we used the convention rooms for all entertainment and banquets so any use of hotel facilities was small groups or couples.

I cannot imagine that event being held on a ship that was not a full charter and for our taste days moored at a beach vs. many ports.

 

We have experienced a multi-generational family group on Spirit which destroyed the dynamic and really tested the crew. Our 1^st Seabourn and we learned never do 7 day BTB’s.

 

If Seabourn is so desperate for this market segment they should notify regular  guests of a mass booking and give them the option to cancel with full refund or rebook both with a healthy OBC.

 

Sorry guess this has gone off topic.

Edited August 19, 2023 by Cantara24
typo

[Mr Luxury]

7 hours ago, lincslady said:

Sorry to read that,  Mr. L.  Are you disembarking, or staying on, and if so presumably this group will have gone, and hopefully not another arriving?  The groups being 'comped' by their companies are always the worst in terms of drinking, particularly as most are not used to the idea of inclusive alcohol.

I am disembarking tomorrow,home for a week and then off to the Pursuit where I understand all is calm and well.

The Antipodeans are also disembarking tomorrow.

Apparently the ship had to take on board more supplies of Corona beers to keep them hydrated.

[Mr Luxury]

2 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Unfortunate news on the partial charter.  We are 21 days on Encore end of October. The first leg of (7 days) are sold out.  I fear a partial charter.  This is my first time on a ship over 500 people. Perhaps my last.

 

Wishing you calmer days ahead. Or, grab a bottle of beer and jump in the pool....OK, maybe a bottle of PR Winston Churchill. One must maintain some sort of standard.

Funny you should mention the PR Winston.

I got on the 6th August and had the last bottle on board that night.

No more since.

I had LR Crystal and Crystal Rose.

DP 2013 and the last battle of LP Grand Sicele.

Quiet a few on the list were not available.

I have a better cellar at home.

Pursuit has been emailed and instructed accordingly 😀

Edited August 19, 2023 by Mr Luxury

[Mr Luxury]

33 minutes ago, Cantara24 said:

We have had the pleasure of benefitting from a corporate reward event, was held at Maui Weston Kaanapali. When onsite we used the convention rooms for all entertainment and banquets so any use of hotel facilities was small groups or couples.

I cannot imagine that event being held on a ship that was not a full charter and for our taste days moored at a beach vs. many ports.

 

We have experienced a multi-generational family group on Spirit which destroyed the dynamic and really tested the crew. Our 1^st Seabourn and we learned never do 7 day BTB’s.

 

If Seabourn is so desperate for this market segment they should notify regular  guests of a mass booking and give them the option to cancel with full refund or rebook both with a healthy OBC.

 

Sorry guess this has gone off topic.

This particular group booking was accepted nearly two years ago.

At this time of year no cruise line needs to take a booking like that as thry will fill the ship anyway.

All lines will take group bookings as they are fearfull that if turned away,the group will go to another line.

[saminina]

Luxury, have you ever read the label of your champaign?

Sorry about the partial charter.   Not a pleasant experience.

[highplanesdrifters]

3 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

I got on the 6th August and had the last bottle on board that night.

No more since.

Oh the humanity.

[lisa6191]

9 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Unfortunate news on the partial charter.  We are 21 days on Encore end of October. The first leg of (7 days) are sold out.  I fear a partial charter.  This is my first time on a ship over 500 people. Perhaps my last.

 

Wishing you calmer days ahead. Or, grab a bottle of beer and jump in the pool....OK, maybe a bottle of PR Winston Churchill. One must maintain some sort of standard.

How do you know that leg is sold out? We are on an 11-day sailing on Encore at the beginning of October, so maybe right before you. Hopefully no large groups! (Or white fluffy dogs!)

[Mr Luxury]

8 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Oh the humanity.

It is certainly a leveller 😀

[Mr Luxury]

8 hours ago, saminina said:

Luxury, have you ever read the label of your champaign?

Sorry about the partial charter.   Not a pleasant experience.

I have just received a letter telling me that due to the group on board,I have been credited 25% future cruise credit for the inconvenience that they have caused.

I think this fair.

Senior staff on board listened and head office acted promptly.

[lincslady]

Good - and presumably this will also apply to the other non-group passengers.  And make them think about continuing with this practice.

[markham]

Mr Luxury,

 

25%? Well done, matey.

 

Here’s my deal: we have B2Bs on Encore in Aug., 2024 for a terrific Greece/Turkey itinerary. The fear is that there will be infamous incentive groups from industry groups or rowdy Antipodeans at that time of year for one or both segments.

 

So, what to do? Is there an early notification system somewhere indicating the risk of such a fiasco? And related thereto, is there an advance signup for a 25% future cruise discount if the worst outcome prevails? Heck, I might even settle for a 12.5% FCD if I were to cancel now and rebook another cruise. That would be good for me and Seabourn saves something.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[highplanesdrifters]

14 hours ago, lisa6191 said:

How do you know that leg is sold out?

Perhaps "sold out" was the wrong term. I should have used waitlisted. I just checked and waitlist is gone and all suites available. Perhaps another Seabourn IT glitch.

 

8 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

have just received a letter telling me that due to the group on board,I have been credited 25% future cruise credit for the inconvenience that they have caused.

I'd happily swim around in a pool of drinking Aussies for a 25% FCC.

[saminina]

I'd be very surprised if 25% was offered without a push.  Just knowing that someone was able to get it serves as a benchmark.  Valuable information.

[Vineyard View]

I just checked our B2B next April on Encore and most categories are open on both segments. All this talk about large group bookings on B2B has me wondering about our choice. It seems that SB doesn’t like booking 14 day segments. That scenario would ruin the total experience for anyone not part of that group. 

[SLSD]

1 minute ago, Vineyard View said:

I just checked our B2B next April on Encore and most categories are open on both segments. All this talk about large group bookings on B2B has me wondering about our choice. It seems that SB doesn’t like booking 14 day segments. That scenario would ruin the total experience for anyone not part of that group. 

I'm very concerned about the same thing.  Any time a whole new group of passengers embark, everything changed onboard.  

[FlyerTalker]

5 hours ago, SLSD said:

I'm very concerned about the same thing.  Any time a whole new group of passengers embark, everything changed onboard.  

 

Sometimes that a bad thing.

 

Sometimes it's a good thing.

 

 

[SLSD]

4 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Sometimes that a bad thing.

 

Sometimes it's a good thing.

 

 

Exactly.  Each embarkation group changes the vibe of the cruise.  

[lincslady]

3 hours ago, SLSD said:

Exactly.  Each embarkation group changes the vibe of the cruise.  

Depends whether it is a homogenous organised  group travelling together, or just the usual random couples, singles and friends, surely.

[SLSD]

6 hours ago, lincslady said:

Depends whether it is a homogenous organised  group travelling together, or just the usual random couples, singles and friends, surely.

I've seen the vibe change considerably even when it is random couples, singles and friends.  One of my favorite cruises was an itinerary which began in Amsterdam and included ports in Poland, Germany Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Denmark.  We then had another week (a B2B) which included St. Petersburg.  The passengers who embarked for the St Petersburg leg were totally different.  All of us who remained from the first itinerary noticed it. 

[florisdekort]

On 8/19/2023 at 7:53 PM, Tallante said:

I replied to a similar post on Seabourn Sailors who posted there was a group of 237 Australians currently on board the Encore.  I said we had a corporate group of 250 Mexicans on board in May and I was called a  Racist for saying ‘Mexicans’ although merely agreeing that a large Corporate group did alter the dynamics of a cruise for the Guests.

You are leaving out one important detail. You wrote “250 Mexicans”. You never mentioned “corporate group”. If you had explained that the 250 Mexicans were traveling as a corporate group, you would undoubtedly not have received any pushback. Nobody likes corporate groups taking over cruise ships. Your post however 100% read as anti Mexican, not as anti corporate group. You were even asked what the difference is between 250 Americans (as there are on every Seabourn cruise) and 250 Mexicans, and yet you still didn’t mention “corporate group”. You just posted more criticism of “Mexicans”. Reads like all of that could have been easily avoided!! 
 

 

[Tallante]

2 hours ago, florisdekort said:

You are leaving out one important detail. You wrote “250 Mexicans”. You never mentioned “corporate group”. If you had explained that the 250 Mexicans were traveling as a corporate group, you would undoubtedly not have received any pushback. Nobody likes corporate groups taking over cruise ships. Your post however 100% read as anti Mexican, not as anti corporate group. You were even asked what the difference is between 250 Americans (as there are on every Seabourn cruise) and 250 Mexicans, and yet you still didn’t mention “corporate group”. You just posted more criticism of “Mexicans”. Reads like all of that could have been easily avoided!! 
 

 

The original post was re a corporate group of ??? Australians and mine merely said ??? Mexicans.  As the subject was about large corporate groups it seemed pretty obvious to me that the Mexicans were part of a corporate group but you and a few others chose not to read it as that. There was no criticism of the Mexicans personally just that a large corporate group changes the vibes on a ship. You chose to read it as anti Mexican, I wonder why!

 

Life is too short for all this nasty backlash from a Seabourn Cruiser!

 

 

 

L

[margbem]

Mr L - could you possibly find out when Ross is taking over as CD, please? We board on the 17th September and would love to meet him again. Thank you.

[Mr Luxury]

On 8/20/2023 at 2:34 PM, highplanesdrifters said:

Perhaps "sold out" was the wrong term. I should have used waitlisted. I just checked and waitlist is gone and all suites available. Perhaps another Seabourn IT glitch.

 

I'd happily swim around in a pool of drinking Aussies for a 25% FCC.

You didn't see the colour of the water in the pool.🫣