lexus man

Lyndsey Lewis

Sorry, apparently I misunderstood what I was told. Maciej has only done 1 month of his 4, so he won’t be leaving until July.

Sorry about the delay, I wanted to check the spelling. We have the delightful Maciej Katny, who is on for another month.

I concur with Margbem. Some years ago they cost me about $200 and I eventually consigned them to my wardrobe as I couldn’t abide having them in my shoes. In fact, you can have mine if you’d like them!

On Encore we found some heated benches, a steam room, a ‘Mediterranean’ sauna (not very hot) and the highlight, two strong body showers. We could not envisage wanting to spend a day in there.

1 hour ago, SLSD said:

Just so you know, as of around June 11th, The Restaurant is open for lunch every day on Seabourn ships.  I was very grateful for this.  

Sorry to cast doubt on this, but on our recent June 14th -25th Encore cruise the restaurant was closed for breakfast and lunch every day, except for the Galley lunch one day.

Karolina Grannatas is the Guest services manager and Peppi Schuppier is the Hotel Director 🛳️🛳️

Leesre,  John is only on for this cruise, but he did sing a George Michael song at the Club members’ cocktail party. Gale force 9, I’ve ordered caviar and champagne twice to the room, and an unopened bottle has arrived each time.

We’re just approaching the end of our long-awaited return to cruising. The ship is near enough capacity; I’m told only one free suite. It’s been a very hot weather Med cruise and deck 9 has been heaving with people on the two sea days. First time I’ve met Captain Sybe de Boer; he seems a very affable chap. Cruise director has been Clark on his first CD contract; he has been shadowed by John Barron. Obviously new as he let his first trivia question descend into fierce debate about the accuracy of the answer. 

      We have three nights left on board and have noticed a sudden surge of attentiveness from the wait staff. It’s a shame it’s taken over a week for glasses to be filled without effort. It’s been a strange mix of guests, with many Australian pharmacists on board, clocking up continuing professional development hours in Seminars. 

       We had a great Chef*s shopping tour in Syracuse with chef Lindsay. He made certain we had tastes of everything he was looking at. But it was strange that when I asked about a special order of Nigerian shrimps, he said there were none on board, and lo and behold the next night they were the main course at Earth and Ocean. Full credit to Patio Maitre’d Jonas for recognising that I was thrilled with the dinner and he brought over another round of the crustacea without my asking.

      In a nod to previous questions, i’m delighted that we can now order room service champagne by the bottle. As little as 4 years ago I was told that I could have as many glasses as I wanted, but a full bottle left in the suite would be charged to my account.

    Have to go now as I’ve just been given a pina colada and it would be rude not to drink it.

When I asked a similar question at the spa recently, the receptionist said I would be able to negotiate a price with the spa manager.

On 1/2/2020 at 10:18 AM, norm2002 said:

Thanks for all the helpful comments. I was thinking of the Day in the Spa Serene Area for my wife. I read somewhere that it is quite good. If I don't choose it as a Club benefit, is it something I can just buy for her? If so, what does it cost?

        We recently preselected the Serene day for our Ovation cruise, only to be told at the spa that this was unavailable on the big ships because the serene areas were too small to accommodate the possible numbers. 

I’ve been looking ahead at some ship excursions out of Adelaide and I was rather surprised to see the following information at the end of the description of a wine tour:

Wine purchased on this tour is exempt from the on-board corkage fee (offer limited to one bottle of wine per person).

Can anybody shed any light on what this on-board corkage fee is?

4 hours ago, pnsnkr said:

.  In fact, you can order a full bottle of any of the included wines with room service. 

  Out of interest, have things changed? Last time I tried to order a full bottle via room service, I was told I could have as many glasses as I wanted, but I would be charged if I wanted them to leave the full bottle.

9 hours ago, koalapanda said:

I always take a Dentist with me on all Cruises. He is also handy as a dinner companion, suitcase lifter and pays for my Cruise. A Fang Farrier with out his instruments can do very little if you crunch a bone or something similiarly hard. The Farrier himself had this experience, a front tooth. Only ever trusting a known fellow colleague to repair his Fang, he spent 20 days like this until he returned home. So relaxed is Panda he still managed an enjoyable holiday.

     Koala panda, had you been on a World Cruise, do you think he would have spent 140 days thus?

I’m contemplating going on one of the longer voyages in 2021. What I’m wondering is has anyone out there on such a cruise ever had dental problems, such as a broken tooth, and what was the solution?

Thanks for the input so far folks. I shall have to see if I can hook up with a Club member going on the same cruise.

I’ve just placed a deposit on Bridgetown to Bridgetown, April 19 - April 27, 2020 on SDI, our first time on SeaDream. Can someone advise me on the mechanics of the referral scheme please? Many thanks. Alan.

On disembarking Odyssey after our TA crossing we need to get from the docks to either Sant Apollonia or Oriente railway stations for the train to Porto. Both stations seem relatively close but has anyone experience of the time we should allow given early morning city traffic etc. Thank you

If it’s any help, Santa Apolonia station was walking distance from where I boarded Europa2 last October

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Going to the US, no table side prep of anything could be offered, even in the evening. Also, the Yakult disappeared from breakfast buffet ( could not guarantee temp below 5C) and there could be no polishing of cutlery or glassware.

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English Voyager thank you for your observations. I found it amazing how far the Pool bar smoke carried. When the roof was closed I could detect it from the far side of the pool. Also, the door to Collins was frequently left open and aromas would drift down to the theatre area. Having said that, it was never bad enough to prevent me from returning in the future!

Further to your video, we had the pleasure of Jonathon Beaumont’s company on this cruise, as a fellow guest, and, yes, I can heartily recommend the complimentary gin-tasting experience. We thoroughly examined how the addition of first garnishes and then tonics, can completely change the flavour.

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I’m on my way back to UK now following the Lisbon to NY T/A. This was my first taste of this wonderful ship after 20 yrs of Seabourn. So all experiences were new. Would there be a language barrier? How would I get on with non-included bar?

I have to admit that on my last Seabourn cruise in the summer, I was underwhelmed with the food offerings. I found them unimaginative. So the step up to the multiple dining options on Europa 2 came as a blast of fresh air. We usually favoured the speciality restaurants at lunch, when no reservation was required, and either the Yacht club or Weltmeere in the evening. This worked very well for us. The first minor grouse here was that on boarding we were told that speciality evening reservations could only be made 48 hrs in advance. Imagine my surprise when on the third day I was told all restaurants were now booked up for the entire 12 day cruise, but I could go on the waiting list! But overall, the food was wonderful and varied. Service was generally efficient, with the odd exception in the MDR, especially if sitting in a corner.

There were about 20 English-only speakers on board, although only 9 or so turned up for the International welcome party. But at no stage was language ever a problem. All staff seemed to have sufficient English and entertainment was suitably multinational.

We were fortunate in receiving beverage credit for this cruise, but there was so much free drink floating around on boarding and at various receptions or parties, that we only just managed to use it up.

This could easily become my cruise ship of choice, although there were a few things I didn’t care for. There was a pervading aroma of cigarette smoke in most areas, especially around the pool if the retracting roof had been closed and I found it astonishing that they charged for water, out of the Suite.

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Very true. A good example of Sergei’s care was when we asked for sea salt in a grinder. He regretted no such thing was on board. But by the next meal one was sitting proudly on our table; he’d popped ashore and scoured the village for one.

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We missed Egon on our cruise last month. He’s great! But Toby and Sergei did such a great job looking after us. .

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We missed Egon on our cruise last month. He’s great! yBut Toby and Sergei did such a great job looking after us. And, though I knew nothing about whisky on our first cruise, I have now been to quite a few distilleries and know my way around a dram!

 

 

 

I think I am totally ruined for large cruise ships now. We used to sail on Sea Dream, but even that seems kind of big to me now. :D I think our next trip will be on a barge cruise, only because we want to visit somewhere besides Scotland, as much as we love it.

 

 

 

Anyway, I am glad to see this review posted, even if it is eight years old. It’s still a pretty accurate description of what the cruise is like.

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This was posted in 2009. However, it WAS the review that made me want to book Hebridean Princess for the first time back in 2012. We just finished our fourth cruise on Hebridean Princess last month and we had a wonderful time, as usual. It's a very unique ship with a wonderful staff and outstanding food.

 

 

 

My one complaint is that if you're not careful, you can spend a lot of time on coaches, since all of the excursions are included.

We’ve not long experienced the unique brand of Hebridean hospitality for the first time and have to agree with knotheadusc - it’s a potentially addictive form of cruising. You’re treated like old friends from the word go. The attentive and friendly staff always seemed to be armed with a bottle of champagne to refill your empty glass. Food was top quality too. The point about excursions is well made; there was a risk of coach over exposure. We loved the Hebridean Hamper that accompanied many trips; a wee dram would be produced at just the right moment. We had no knowledge of malt whiskies before our trip, but Egon in the bar took it upon himself to rectify that oversight. The ship may be old, but it is oozing with personality.

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