scm
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Posts posted by scm
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Thank you for taking the time and effort to post pictures from your trip. On the Sea Days set with the picture of the motorboat is that your tri pod? If so how'd it work out for you on/off the ship?
I realized this weekend I needed to crop that out!
Tripod worked great. Got some early AM shots of the Marina Bay Sands complex that couldn't have been gotten otherwise. Also some nice sunrise shots on board.
It is a Vanguard Veo 235AB. Folds down to about 15", and goes nicely on the side of my camera bag. It isn't carbon fiber, but still pretty lightweight. Just a great travel tripod at a reasonable price.
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Now that we are back (post cruise trip to HK), uploaded the first batch of pictures from the 6-20th cruise. Will add a few more this week.
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But a couple of posts here say they haven't as well. Always been good still are.
Shouldn't matter from guest to guest, crew to crew, cruise to cruise. It should be the standard, and not left to chance.
Otherwise, it isn't a standard.
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scm.....wow...we were on the Sojourn for 36 days ending on Dec 6 and it seemed EVERYONE knew our names. We noticed that some of the passengers just didn't look up to notice their fellow passengers or say hello to anyone. I wondered what they were even doing on a shipboard vacation.
Maybe if we'd been on 36 days, they'd have learned our names by the end as well. :)
One example - whatever his name in the MDR (if he's not going to learn my name when it is his job, why should I learn his?). Night one - we walk up, he asks our suite number, we tell him, and are seated. Ate in the MDR the next five nights. Same drill - NEVER greeted us by name. Compare to our first Legend cruise. Ate aft the first night, second night walk up to the maitre d for the first time, he says "Good evening, Mrs. SCM, Mr. SCM. Will you be dining alone, or would you like some company?" Stunned DW says incredulously, "How did you know our names?" Wryly grinning, he says, "It's my job to know your name." Seemingly no longer in the job description.
Completely agree about Adam in the Colonnade. But, yet again, despite sitting in his section for 75% of our bkfsts, most of our lunches (when not at the pool or off the ship), and several dinners (after we'd abandoned hope on the train wreck that was the MDR), had no clue what our names were. On one of the last few days, I was in the laundry when David E. Greene, the CD, pops in to iron a shirt. Think he greeted me by name? Now, I'd never said JS to him other than hello in the Captain's dinner receiving line. But if they still have the sheets and sheets of names and pictures, and the requirement to know them in 48 hours, I doubt we'd be 12 days in with the guy in charge of conviviality having no clue who you are when trapped in the laundry with you. Same for Wayne in Seabourn Square and Cynthia at the pool - delightful people who served us admirably every time. But guess what was missing?
Sorry to go on and on about this, but to me it was an enormous part of the Seabourn 'mystique". In my experience, it is dead.
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Then there is the argument: why is the U.S. Government paying for federal workers to fly on Emirates planes, even if Jet Blue is the putative airline being booked?
The law says that the only portion that has to be on US ticket stock is the over water portion - not all the way to the destination. Plus, codeshares have been on non-US carriers for decades. AA had several city pair contracts to Seoul when they have never flown there -- all were on Asiana metal, but AA flight numbers.
Frankly, as a taxpayer, I want the fares to be the lowest possible and could care less who operates the a/c as long as it is done safely. After KAL's string of accidents in the 80s, the USG stopped letting any US gov't business be flown on KAL, no matter whose flight number was on it. Don't see that being a problem -- heck, bet the service on Emirates is better than on UA at lower fares. Win - win.
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That evening, one of the frequent flyer blogs I follow reported that United had lost its US government subsidy for nonstop flights to Dubai to Jet Blue [fronting for Emirates] and had therefore cancelled the daily nonstop flight just that day. I guess the telephone agents were left out of the loop! Linda
It wasn't a subsidy they lost. They lost the annual competition for the GSA contract for US government funded air travel to Dubai. Service ends 1/23/2016.
Those contracts are awarded purely on price, meaning that shifting to a Jet Blue codeshare operated by Emirates results in a savings to the US taxpayer. UA's (and DL's, who had already cancelled DXB service) gripe is they can't compete with the gulf carriers.
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We were forward of the elevators on Deck 7, blissfully ignorant of the "festivities" further aft.
Agree totally on the train wreck that was service in The Restaurant this cruise. After arriving at 7:15 on the second formal night, we had the mains cleared at 9:30. DW wanted to see the pianist show at 9:45, so she left sans dessert. Wasn't the first case of interminably slow service in that venue - so bad we gave up for the rest of the cruise, and dined in The Colonnade, R2, or the Grill. I don't think it is the numerical lack of staff - I think it is the lack of anyone "owning" the table. Gone are the tux wearing captains of The Sisters, with their retinue of assistants and the dramatic simultaneous reveal by removing the metal cloches. One can be assured none of them would have tolerated the 30 minute waits from ordering to apps arriving. None of them would have allowed you to run out of bread sticks and wine during that wait. And none would have sat silently while you waited yet almost another hour between finishing the apps and the mains arriving. If they weren't in the kitchen screaming, they would have at least been keeping you informed. Now, in the world of "all Indians and no Chiefs", who has that responsibility? And I have no further comment about the "I'm a member of the water pouring Union, so I can't get you a glass of the open wine sitting in the nearby ice bucket" ridiculousness.
Also agree about Vladan in The Club - the ONLY crew member that greeted us with our name during the entire two weeks. If that isn't an indication of the death of "The Yachts of Seabourn " culture, I don't know what is.
As far as the "goods", loved our stewardess, Florentina - and thought the ship looked remarkably good. Sorry to spend so much time on the "others".
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As a resident of the 76107, I can think of several:
You don't even WANT to think about the dress code for servers at restaurants here in Austin - restaurants recognized as some of the best in the country.
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We look forward to welcoming you aboard the beautiful Seabourn Sojourn for our sailing departing December 6. At this time we do need to advise you of a change to our itinerary.
Due to unscheduled maintenance we will extend our call to Singapore to include an overnight stay, and will set sail once the work is finished. We expect to complete the maintenance within 36 hours and to depart Singapore at approximately 8:00 pm on Monday, December 7. We apologize for this itinerary revision and greatly appreciate your understanding.
In order to enhance your additional time in Singapore we’re happy to provide a very special onboard event on the evening of December 6 to celebrate the culture and artistry of Singapore. Our onboard team will have more information for you once you embark.
We’d also like to offer you a complimentary shore excursion in Singapore on December 7; our Destinations team is finalizing some unique and exciting excursion options to choose from once you are aboard. Please visit Seabourn Square upon embarkation to select your preferred tour.
In addition, we’ll also provide complimentary round-trip shuttle service into the city throughout the day, to allow you an opportunity to enjoy some shopping and sightseeing. Again, times and destinations will be provided on board.
As a result of our extended time in Singapore we have also cancelled our port call to Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. Any shore excursions you booked through Seabourn for Georgetown will be refunded to you, and any applicable revision to the taxes, fees and port expenses for this voyage will be posted to your onboard account. Our revised itinerary is as follows:
Offer is $150/pax shipboard credit as compensation.
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I lived in Germany for three years, and learned German at my local Volkshochschule (adult continuing education) - Deutsch als fremdsprache (German as a foreign language). There are two reasons you won't have a problem speaking English on E2: most German speaker E2 passengers will have been educated in the pre-uni Gymnasium course. For them, English is the first language they learn past German. I never found a uni grad that didn't speak great English. Second is, Germans realize how limiting speaking only German is. They WANT to be proficient in what has become the world's lingua franca in the Internet age. In my German class, drawn from all over the world, when the instructor wanted to make a point she couldn't get across in German, she used English, knowing that most people in the world have a working English knowledge.
Post retirement, we will certainly try E2, and look forward to it.
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I have ignored all the what ifs and suppositions based on guesses and will form my own opinions on Odyssey in December.
My minister of almost thirty years passed away last week. He was internationally known, author of multiple books. We always laughed that he only really had three sermons, and all were just a riff off one of those three. But one we all talked about during the reception following the service was "Wait To Worry". The tag line from that one was "it isn't a problem until it is a problem."
Great words to live by. I too will form my opinions on Quest in December.
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That's a pity to hear they are dialing down the spice... a good deal of the Seabourn food is already lacking in that arena.
Such is the curse of the bold flavor loving Texan ...
s/
your fellow sufferer.
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I would recommend reading David McCullough's Path Between the Seas. Understanding what had to be overcome to build that, and the people that conquered those challenges makes the canal transit so much more interesting.
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I've never seen s burger at a Thonas Keller restaurant big based on interviews going back a decade, Keller has long discussed wanting to do a wine-based burger joint.
I know burgers are served at Bouchon, Beverly Hills.
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A couple of years ago on Quest,we had beef from RR Ranch. It was widely promoted as being from this ranch. I have no idea who, what or where RR Ranch is, but IMO it was the worst beef we have had. Since then, we have had cruises on both Quest and Sojourn, and no mention of RR Ranch beef - I hope it stays that way.
They supply to several high end shops like Williams-Sonoma, and get excellent ratings from those who have bought from them.
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/double-r-ranch-prime-ribs/?cm_src=AutoRel
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Is the dock the 30 pin or the new Lightning version? If the former, just have to remember to take an adaptor on our next cruise.
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If the Ad Lib restaurant follows the Ad Lib land version menu, I will be quite happy to see it replace Restaurant 2.
http://cdn.thomaskeller.com/sites/default/files/media/15-adl-016_display.menu_.3b.pdf
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The RR Ranch on one of the menus is the featured supplier of beef in the Pinnacle Grill on HAL ships.
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California White Sturgeon Caviar
Grilled Culotte of Prime Beef
Cassoulet of Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans
Temptation Au Chocolate
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... a U.S. Navy captain would be essentially dismissed in similar circumstances.
Depends. Barney Kelly comes to mind.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_J._Kelly
Then, on the other side, you have my good friend B McEwen who was relieved when his ship, USS Wasp, hit rocks off Somalia while he was asleep. Gone.
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Having been around ship's overhauls many times in my Navy career, my guess is that the weeklong period at the start of the month is where the heavy work will be done. The second, four day period after you disembark is probably a "contingency" period, to correct anything discovered after the first period is done. Could be nothing is done then at all.
I wouldn't think there will be much effect on your cruise -- unless something major is discovered during, that wasn't corrected in the first yard period.
My .02.
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The word on the ship is that the act was willful on the part of the woman.
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I think you've pushed me over the edge on the slider issue. Been looking at the Glide Gear 24" and now will pull the trigger before our December cruise. Spend some time getting to know it. How long did it take you to get the smooth manual slides? Also might have convinced me to go away from the camcorder plus pocket to a Nikon DSLR.
Final question - how did you get the sweeping shot over the stern? Know it isn't a drone/GoPro, but could you imagine what one of those could do for you?
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Henry, I'm curious - what equipment do you use to shoot these?
And your stuff IS marvelous.
Is there a blurring of the line between Seabourn and HAL?
in Seabourn Cruise Line
Posted
I don't really want to start a fight, but there are a couple of disturbing data points that I've run across recently.
We were having a discussion with Richard Maier, who we remembered as a junior waiter from our first Seabourn cruise in 2009 - now a "manager of public spaces". He said he was onboard for the launch of the new craft cocktail program after the start of the new year. Turns out it isn't just on Seabourn
Then, last month, we also saw the Encore promo video, detailing how fortunate it was that Adam D. Tihany was the designer for the interiors for the new ship. Well, it turns out that isn’t the only ship he’s been designing for:
I have to believe this is an inevitable outcome of the move from Miami to Seattle and being placed under HAL. These are two data points that are out in the open -- how many aren't?