Odyssey down under

I snuck on in Auckland. The colonnade for breakfast and lunch has been like STs Zoo just without the attack verbage. Dinner its been quite sedate. Some of the Keller foods seem to be upgrades (burger, restaurant items) others seem o.O (yountwurst). Upside if breakfast and lunch in colonnade is speed downside overcooked food. Restaurant has been quite nice. Trying Keller's full dinner tonight in Colonnade. Rock the boat was first night. Thankfully no sign of regents hallway party.

Club and obs lounge seem comparatively dead. Weathers been cooperative. Odd passengers this time round.

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Rajats onboard training someone else. We have I think 3 extra hotel managers on and thankfully Sebastian the corporate wine buyer.

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Is this new cocktail program being implemented?

STs Zoo... Odd passengers this time

What's "STs Zoo"? And care to elaborate on the "odd passengers"?

Not officially. Unofficially getting cocktails made with fresh squeezed citrus and other ingredients than say sweet and sour or triple sec is just asking where in the past I've found it to be a pita.

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If your looking for something to do at Dunedin this is really good

http://www.dunedinrailways.co.nz/

The train comes onto the wharf

Once upon a time there was a cruise critic member named sea bounrnetraveller. He described the movement in the colonnade as a Zoo where animals attack. I have to partially agree with the noise and people blocking flow.

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I snuck on in Auckland. The colonnade for breakfast and lunch has been like STs Zoo just without the attack verbage. Dinner its been quite sedate. Some of the Keller foods seem to be upgrades (burger, restaurant items) others seem o.O (yountwurst). Upside if breakfast and lunch in colonnade is speed downside overcooked food. Restaurant has been quite nice. Trying Keller's full dinner tonight in Colonnade. Rock the boat was first night. Thankfully no sign of regents hallway party.

 

Club and obs lounge seem comparatively dead. Weathers been cooperative. Odd passengers this time round.

 

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Have a great time Emperor! Keep sneakin' in!

Emperor Norton, Your Zoo description is why we enjoy lunch in the MDR....

and while recognizing that the market lunch involves the galley, otherwise what is the difference from the Colonnade buffet [both cold and hot sections].

Have a great cruise. Write lots so that we can travel with you.

I snuck on in Auckland. The colonnade for breakfast and lunch has been like STs Zoo just without the attack verbage. Dinner its been quite sedate. Some of the Keller foods seem to be upgrades (burger, restaurant items) others seem o.O (yountwurst). Upside if breakfast and lunch in colonnade is speed downside overcooked food. Restaurant has been quite nice. Trying Keller's full dinner tonight in Colonnade. Rock the boat was first night. Thankfully no sign of regents hallway party.

 

Club and obs lounge seem comparatively dead. Weathers been cooperative. Odd passengers this time round.

 

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Agree the club has been quiet this segment but when up in the observation lounge two nights ago prior to dinner had trouble finding a seat.

As a fellow passenger I don't particularly like being called odd when as far as I know we have never met. Maybe I might make the same assessment of yourself?

As for the Colonnade we tend to eat around the side if I go for breakfast, where it is quieter. Lunch we prefer to eat onshore when we can or go before the trivia people come out.

Julie

I can vouch for you Julie and I can say that you are definitely not odd.

As we do not know Norton and have not met we can only assume that Norton is not odd either.

Name calling is just not on.

Odd as in different from what I'm used to on previous Seabourn cruises. Broad brush but not as outgoing, will sprint to take handicapped seating grabbing things from buffets with bare hands rather than tongs things like that. I realize this isn't everyone. You aren't the Julie thats named a tall pink drink the Victoria? I spoke with the bar manager and it seems the new cocktail program will start Feb 9 and require new equipment and a lot of training. The Keller dinner in the colonnade was OK wasn't blown away. Recommend asking sauces on the side. Another Napa burger from the patio grill for lunch.

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We have a bagpipe band playing for our departure. Whenever that is as it seems at least one person is still MIA.

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Looks like NZ has put some good weather on for you

Hope it stays this way for you going through the Sounds

We were lucky when we went through the Sounds a couple of years ago there wasn't a cloud in the sky

A grab from the cam at Royal Albatross nesting colony as you sailed through the heads this evening .

That is a lovely pic of the ship and the bird, thanks.

It would be good to have a bit more news about the cruise - maybe from Julie, though if you are busy busy it could wait until you get home!

I believe you have Handre, Sophie and Annabel on board, which should be a great combination. I wonder how many passengers are doing the whole round trip.

I don't quite follow the stuff about cocktails, but if it means drinks are going to be made properly, and not with that mix in a plastic bottle it can only be good news. Though harder work for the bar staff, I imagine. They do seem to be introducing lots of new things at once - this as well as the TK food.

Great picture Kiwi Kruzer!! Yes it was a glorious day and we spent it travelling through the countryside and visiting Oamaru. We travelled via Shag point to see Penguins and Fur Seals. About 70-80 fur seals basking in the sun and swimming but no penguins. None to be found in Oamaru either, however we learnt they are usually more prolific in the late afternoon and early evening.

Oamaru has lovely Victorian style buildings and is a heritage town. The buildings are made from Oamaru limestone blocks. Lots of antiques of various types available to view and for sale in the area. They have a brewery here as well and a friend who travelled with us said the beer was very pleasant.

The other quirky aspect was the town is big into "Steam Punk" with various shops selling clothing and jewellery. Also a large Steam Punk Museum. This is a quirky modern Science Fiction genre and not something you expect to find in a country town in New Zealand. Being a science fiction fan I thought it was wonderful.

Apparently Dunedin was very busy for those that visited as Voyager of the Seas was also in town. A lot of crew stocked up on Cadbury chocolates though :).

We have arrived in Oban and it is very grey and misty. Hopefully this will disappear later as the sun gets warmer, but it is nearly 8am so I don't have strong hopes.

Emperor I am a champagne or dirty martini type for pre dinner drinks so don't know any drink called Victoria.

Mr L thanks for your kind words.

Julie

I will agree with Emperor there are some passengers who are frustrating. Every stop in New Zealand our CD announces the bio diversity restrictions. Saying not to take of any fresh food or drink products and to check with NZ staff if any product other then bottled water is acceptable.

At our Akaroa stop some passengers on a tour started chomping away on croissants and cookies. When another passenger questioned them, their answer "the CD didn't say anything about Pastries not being allowed". So the next day our CD included pastries in his announcement.

I am grateful that generally people are more respectful of countries bio diversity rules and restrictions and hope those that aren't get a hefty fine.

Julie

Julie ..... Oban was one of my favourite stops when we were in New Zealand. We did the tour to the bird sanctuary on Ulva which was marvelous. In the afternoon we walked into the township and then took the scenic route back via the walking tracks.

Julie,any chance that your grey and misty start to the day had anything to do with Champagne and Martinis the night before?

Was twice bitten by Thomas Keller selections in the restaurant yesterday (after spending 4 hours chasing a single penguin chick). First it seems that the TK dishes can take an extra 10-20 minutes as they're cooked a la minute (odd Seabourn advertised cooking everything that way...) and then there are some surprises. The gnocchi was certainly not what I was expecting but the egg, bacon and onion marmalade were good. The warm chocolate dessert arrived partially hot and partially ice cold. Its raining today and found an issue with the patio bar - all the seats get wet in the rain. How that got past the design stage I dont know.

Julie ..... Oban was one of my favourite stops when we were in New Zealand. We did the tour to the bird sanctuary on Ulva which was marvelous. In the afternoon we walked into the township and then took the scenic route back via the walking tracks.

We have been here before and agree it is a lovely place in the sunshine. Last time we did the Pelagic boat tour and saw many varieties of Albatross and then had lunch at a place high on a hill with great views. This time we will get off and walk around in the mist and pretend we are in a Scottish port :). Planning to have some oysters though while ashore as we enjoyed them last time we were here.

Julie,any chance that your grey and misty start to the day had anything to do with Champagne and Martinis the night before?

Cheeky devil :D

We went to bed early after our busy day driving around all day.

Some people got on in Auckland with TB or the plague or something. This same group of some don't seem to use hand sanitizers nor cover their mouth when coughing. I caught part of a blast as did a Seabourn square employee. No sign of Anabelle but Handre has been making rounds. Have Daniel as HM but also Gunther and 2 other HMs.

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I'm not on Odyssey though I will be briefly when she reaches Australia next week. However, I did come through Auckland airport today into New Zealand. I was through immigration in 3 minutes but then another hour getting through Biosecurity. They do take it seriously here with justification.

Good to get some news of this trip - though not all entirely good news. We have never seen passengers on an excursion eat anything from the ship except a few sweets (candies); very bad manners apart from the rules.

The patio bar design, I agree, does not work in bad weather. On the little ships they could move through from the Sky Bar to the Observation Bar, as the servery was between the two. Now, the Observation Bar has to be set up from cupboards at the side every time, and the powers that be are very unwilling to open it during the morning. They insist you can get a drink at the Square, but it is not set up for most alcoholic drinks. One of the few unpleasant encounters we have had with bar staff was a very grumpy chap crashing the bottles in the Observation Bar, as he had been told to open it at noon on a very wet day.