Nigella

The menus are ok for me, but I prefer to choose where I want to dine whilst I'm dressing for dinner.

I found it very restrictive to have my options reduced. I really did miss Colonnade as an option, especially as the menu in the Patio Grill has been seriously reduced and anyway it was a bit too hot and humid for us Northern European types to eat outdoors!

Incidentally, we found out at the end of the cruise that there was usually availability in the Colonnade on TK nights so it would have been possible to get a table last minute.

Catlover, thanks for replying to Ithaca on my thread on the SB board!

I was trying to follow your thread while I was on the SB Holiday cruise, and the internet was terrible. I read several posts but didn't have much success with the photos, so I'm going to read again.

oh, just re read what you wrote. "Alternate evenings"?? Please don't tell me that we can only choose the casual Colonnade dining, every second night??

That was how it worked on our cruise, with the exception of Formal nights when the Colonnade theme was 'Elegant', and the menu we're familiar with. I'm not sure but I imagine it will stay the same until they get R2 refurbed.

Nigella,

Does this post mean that you will be crawling back to Silversea after a bad Seabourn cruise [emoji13]

Under no circumstances!

They held a dinner dance during our Med cruise on Sojourn.

 

The dancers on board gave exhibition dances and provided a backdrop for anyone who wanted to take to the floor themselves. It wasn't intrusive and didn't detract from our meal that evening.

 

Henry :)

Interesting that it was held on Sojourn too, sounds as if it may be something they're looking to introduce permanently.

I didn't catch the dancers, we must have missed them as we do dine quite late. It was just fellow guests when we were there. I'd have probably been less of a grump if I hadn't been subjected to the awful repetitive pool deck music earlier that day!

By the way Henry, after this cruise my husband said we should have saved our money, stayed at home and watched your Panama Canal video instead of going on the cruise! :D

Balcony smoking is allowed.

It's possible to completely avoid the smell of smoke at the dining venues as long as you choose not to sit outside The Colonnade on the starboard side as smoke can drift up one deck from the outside smoking area at Seabourn Square. Cigar smoking is permitted in that area also.

This information is detailed on SB's website. It's a hot topic here on the boards.

During the Odyssey Holiday 2015 cruise, Keller menus were served on alternate evenings in the MDR and The Colonnade.

In the MDR, 3 courses were offered. Diners have the opportunity to try the whole menu, or they can take just one or two courses from it and the others from the regular menu.

A couple of menus :

Menu 1

Moulard Duck Foie Gras "Trifle" - Gros Michel banana, Celery Branch, Balck Walnut Dacquoise and Banyuls Vinegar "Gastrique"

Herb-Roasted Saddle of Elysian Fileds Farm Lamb - Confit Biyaldi, Tarbais Bean Purée and Roasted Garlic Jus

OR

Caramelized Fennel Bulb - Corona Beans, Aged Asiago "Cromesquis", and Sweet Pepper Sofrito

Ginger and Yoghurt Semifreddo - Whipped Green Tea and Persian Lime Meringue

Menu 2

Pacific Yellowtail Crudo - Globe Artichokes, Hass Avocado, Preserved Meyer Lemon and Country Bread Croutons

Snake River Farms Pork Tenderloin - Applewood Smoked Bacon, Raclette Cheese Croquette, Young Leeks, Spiced French Prunes and Grain Mustard Sauce

OR

Buckwheat Dumplings - Citrus Roasted Golden Beets, Napa Cabbage and Barrel Aged Tamari Glazed Shiitake Mushrooms with Yuzu Gastrique

Frangipane Tarte - Poached Plums and Raspberry Jam.

This second menu was a winner for me, although the dessert was quite heavy and the portion size of it could have been smaller.

The quality of the ingredients was similar to the food we've experienced in the past on SB on the regular dinner menus. So it was considerably better than what was being served in general on this cruise, but not that much better than what we expect from SB food. Presentation was as step up, as one would expect.

In The Colonnade, dining was by reservation only.

It's based on TK's "Ad Hoc" restaurant. It's a set menu of four courses.

The dining is "family style" which was a new concept to me. The food isn't individually plated, it's brought to the table on a large platter or serving dish, and diners serve themselves.

On our cruise the usual included wines were served, however I've read elsewhere on CC that sometimes there are different wines available for the TK menu. The wine is served in stemless wine tumblers. We use similar at home for red wine if we're having an informal supper, however the ones on the ship weren't very good quality. The ship's regular wine glasses are better quality and I prefer them for white wine in particular.

Menu 1

Waldorf Salad - crisp chicories, Fuji apples, celery branch, white wine poached currants, candied walnuts, Roquefort bleu dressing

Grilled "RR" Ranch in Ribeye - blistered green asparagus, whipped red bliss potatoes, Santa Maria remoulade, A4 sauce

Humboldt Fog - Marshall's Farm honey, grilled country bread (this was a delicious goat's cheese)

Chocolate Silk Pie - whipped Chantilly

Menu 2

Gem Lettuce Salad - slow baked beets, radish, fried capers, chopped egg, green goddess dressing

Hickory Smoked BBQ Ribs - braised greens, baked beans, corn pone, whipped honey butter

Jasper Hill Farm Cabot Clothbound Cheddar - Maldon flat bread, Blue Apron Ale mustard

Potted Cheesecake - poached blueberries and vanilla Chantilly.

The plan is for the O class ships to have Restaurant 2 changed to this Keller Ad Hoc theme, I believe it will happen as each ship goes into its next dry dock. This means that The Colonnade will revert to as it was prior to Keller.

Just received an email from my TA. She was able to get the discounted fare in full from Seabourn, thereby saving us around $5K on this cruise! I am so fortunate to have a good TA, and now she has a lifetime client. Thanks to everyone on this board again for the advice. I never would have noticed the rate change had it not been for CC.

Good to read this. CC has saved us a considerable amount over the years due to our TA offering generous discounts, finding out about the referral coupons on SB and helping us with price reductions after paying our deposit.

Nigella,

As you know every cruise is different and I am sorry to read about your personal experience on a particular cruise.

The next one would possibly be the best ever but as you will not sail Seabourn again please let us all know which cruise line you will sail with and what board you will post on.

It's been good to read your posts.

I honestly can't see another cruise line that will fit us.

My current stance is that I'm taking an extended break from Seabourn, mostly dependant on reading some much better reviews here. My husband's stance is that we're not sailing with them again ever.

I'll win ;)

Thanks, Nigella. We have now had an ad. in the post from Seabourn, with some reduced prices, following one from the Agent we usually use with very different prices. As we are (slightly) thinking about a cruise in the early summer I have been on the phone to the Agent, and the prices are again slightly different! But about what one would expect, and not over the top. Presumably pricing alterations due to pressure or lack of it on accommodation, which can vary day to day. We will make up our minds at some point whether to do this cruise, and take whatever price is then going.

 

Thanks also for your responses on the other threads - your response to 'Ryan' was very helpful, and said about what I would have expected - like the facts about suite tidying; I have never known it to be done 3 times a day on any ship, but always twice on Seabourn. Some other things are rather intangible, as we all have different experiences on board.

I've often found that pricing is all over the place. Our agent does offer a very good discount though.

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back to CC with some more comments. I've been very busy since we returned, and this time I'm suffering with horrible jet lag the worst I can remember. I'm going to add some of the TK menus on my thread when I have the chance.

Apologies for being a board hog this afternoon, but well, it is my thread :)

I forgot to mention that we experienced a Seabourn Dinner Dance for the first time on this cruise.

I don't remember reading about this previously on SB, although I know that SS sometimes offers it.

It took place in the MDR. Tables had to be cleared from a large area in order to make a reasonable sized dance floor and space for the band.

Some guests were dancing and did seem to enjoy it. The reduced number of tables did give the seating hostess a few issues though.

I don't need to be hearing someone else's choice of music when I'm dining, especially after a morning on the pool deck where the crackly speakers played O Sole Mio and The Theme From the Godfather 4 times each in the space of 90 minutes. My view is that there's plenty of opportunity to dance, and there's no place for it during a dinner with bad food and worse service!

Happy New Year, Coolers! Albeit it a little late.

This is the first year for a couple of decades that we have been facing a totally clean slate with regard to travel. We have no plans at all for the year ahead, I feel I need to rectify that very soon.

I want to apologize to everyone for not being able to complete this analysis. I ended up developing, perhaps from hauling luggage, a critical problem with my cervical spine which made my hands stop working. I have now had successful two level spinal disc replacement and will be cruising on Crystal in July. Truly, I loved both lines. I would give the design edge to Silversea and food to Seabourn. Looking forward to experiencing Crystal again. Very sorry to have fallen off the face of the earth for a while here but have finally recovered.

Good to hear that you are now recovered.

I had read your Silversea board posts, and was keenly awaiting your thoughts about SB, particularly as you were cruising such a lovely part of the world.

Thanks for coming back to update, and wishing you a super Crystal cruise in the summer.

Noticing from these posts, and also the Seabourn blog dated 6th Jan., that there are reductions in many cruises - as far as I can see there have not been any new reductions in the UK. Anyone know if there are any here? Certainly not at present with the TA most people use.

 

Thanks.

We've had an email this morning about some reductions on UK pricing.

Obviously we won't be taking SB up on their offers, :eek: but if you want more information let me know and I'll give some more details.

"Ship: The Odyssey is in bad shape compared to other cruise ships. Many of the fittings and furnishings are heavily worn. There were many mechanical issues, especially in our suite. I have a hard time believing that this ship was re-furbished in 2014. I felt that the public areas were perfectly well maintained, however the cabinetry in the suites is looking a bit battered. We had no mechanical issues in our suite and I'm not sure what the other mechanical issues that Ryan refers to may have been. Certainly don't agree that the Odyssey is "in bad shape compared to other cruise ships".

Service: The service was exceptionally slow. I don’t believe they have enough staff. Most luxury lines have three cabin services per day, morning full-service, afternoon refresher and evening turn down. We felt lucky to have our suite serviced once a day. This didn’t always happen, and it was commonplace to be waiting for the room to be cleaned until after dinner. The girl simply had too many cabins assigned to her. Our suite was serviced twice daily as normal, so was my brother's. Both suite attendants were efficient but thorough, ours was the best we've had on SB. I've never, on any SB cruise, had the impression that the suite attendants have too many suites assigned. The service was twice daily, as normal.

Service during meals was even worse. Good luck getting a drink in the Colonnade. There were far too few wait staff available. I am at a loss to find the proper words to describe how bad service was in the main dining room. Besides having too few staff, they were inadequately trained. They were unknowledgeable of the food and wine they served. They didn’t know how to properly enter your order in their system, especially if you wanted to modify something. The confusion and disorganization resulted in many mistakes. You would get the wrong food. Hot food would come out at room temperature. Cold food would come out at room temperature. And the wait between courses was interminable. Start to finish, our fastest meal in the main dining room took 2.5 hours (breakfast, only two courses), the longest was over 4 hours. We found meal service at dinner in the MDR to be too swift! I'm not sure how dinner service could take 'over 4 hours' given the opening hours in the MDR....Water glasses were a challenge to get refilled, wine not so much. We didn't get the wrong food but I agree with comments about food temperature. Every single time we ate in the MDR, at least one of us had a cold plate and lukewarm food that should have been hot.

Food: This was the biggest area of disappointment for me. While it is hard to separate the impact that bad service had on the food quality, I do believe that the food quality was far below cruise industry norms. I am not going to talk about taste, because I think that is highly influenced by personal preferences. Some people just like things saltier than others. What I will say is that the quality of the ingredients was very poor. This was most objectively observed in the uncooked items like fresh fruit and raw tomatoes. Lastly, food shortages with certain items were routine. At different times they ran out of salad (lettuce), various fruit, and yogurt amongst other things. The day they ran out of coffee in the morning made for a grumpy bunch of passengers that afternoon.

I've commented elsewhere about the food, but if they ran out of coffee, yogurt or lettuce, I didn't notice it. Nor did I hear any other guests mention it. Some fruits were in short supply, but that's been the case on many of our 10+ day cruises, Silversea included.

Wine: The complimentary wines were terrible. If you are used to good wine, you will have to bring your own or buy a package. Also, the wines offered at dinner did not coordinate with the dishes served in any way. I am at a loss as to how the complimentary wines were selected. For us the complimentary wines were perfectly adequate, as usual. We always purchase wine for dinner anyway but for lunch and general drinking we chose the included wines.

Crowding: The cruise was too crowded. Every suite was occupied, many with more than two passengers (extra kids). The Colonnade was a mad house during peak hours at breakfast. Getting a table was impossible. I have been on many 1,000+ passenger ships that felt less crowded. I have been on many cruises during peak vacation times, and none have felt as crowded." The ship didn't feel crowded to me. We've been on several SB cruises that were full to capacity and as others will know, even with a full ship it doesn't feel crowded. I'm not sure how "Ryan" can state that 'many' suites were occupied with extra kids, as there were only 4 kids onboard and they were all with the same family. The family had premium suites and connecting. The Colonnade was rather busy some days at breakfast. This could be solved very easily by extending the MDR breakfast opening times. The weather on this cruise was very hot and humid for the most part, and even people like us who usually prefer to eat outside The Colonnade were putting pressure on the indoor seating due to the heat outdoors.

I said I'd respond to each of Ryan's points. Quote function not working yet again for me so apologies for the clunky format of the post.

Hmm. To sum up, I'm not entirely convinced that "Ryan" was on board, for this specific cruise at least. Rather he/she has gleaned information to use here from my own and other poster's prior comments. Not sure if there's any way for CC to verify that, and if I'm wrong then "Ryan" I do apologise. ;)

Cheese portions in the MDR at least, were larger this time than previously. However they didn't serve those lovely matched preserves alongside them even though they were on the menu. :confused:

And there's now only one cheese plate on the menu, whereby there were always two to choose from in the past. Some people have been known to select both in lieu of dessert ;)

To Julie (frantic) and anyone else reading who is currently onboard. Glad to see the update about the chef change and that food at least seems to be much better now.

My husband wants to make a more official complaint to Seabourn. I've completed the post-cruise questionnaire but he wants to write to them separately too.

Can anyone suggest the best point of contact? Should I just email to Seabourn Club or write a snail mail to Seattle?

This little scenario sums up what makes any restaurant service less than good. In my view this is down to the restaurant head waiters, or whatever they are titled on the ship. It is the head waiters who should be noticing empty glasses, and uncleared tables when they have been overlooked by the waiters. J

I was concerned that it would sound petty, especially in the context of the other issues we had, but it drove me quite mad constantly having to ask for more water.

I understand that there can be a short period of waiting for glasses to be refilled, of course I do, but sitting there for more than 10 minutes while crew members were walking past empty handed just gazing round did my head in. As did trying to catch someone's attention. I nearly stooped to waving the empty glass in the air above my head. Nearly.

Nigella has posted that she is to put in her report on this cruise perhaps later today. She may, like me, like to keep a diary of onboard happenings, and then take a few days to settle in back home and form a carefully thought out opinion on her cruise.

 

I rather hope that she may like to say whether she thinks the OP was on board, and if so is speaking the truth as they see it, or whether they are just a troll or phony.

 

She obviously does feel that things were by no means perfect, and it will be interesting to read in what way they have deteriorated. I have found her to be prepared to tell it like it is, and would trust her to judge fairly, comparing recent cruises with those she enjoyed some time ago.

I'll address in detail each of the points made by Ryan as soon as I have time. Our cruise wasn't so awful as his, but I do recognise some of the points being made.

Sorry. My mistake. I thought I had read that i-Pad were used. Obviously not. J

I think I read earlier this year that they were being trialled. They weren't being used by the order takers, wish I'd asked them about it now.

Same for us re: deposits and cancellations as we use a UK based TA, but even if we booked in France it would be the same. I believe it's EU-wide?

Nigella, Thank you for your review. Would also like to hear about lectures and entertainment.

 

It seems to me that there is a significant deterioration afloat...sadly...and it cannot all be laid at the feet of the TK introductions. There seem to be several reductions in selections and rather consistent errors in preparation. SB continues to struggle w. Keeping alternate dining venues open, pushing everyone into the Colonnade, like it or not.

 

Nigella is not alone in posting concerned or negative comments about recent cruises, particularly Odyssey. We,too, have more than 100 days on SB and hope that this line/ship a rights itself.

Hi Paula. We have friends who were on Sojourn and they also reported some issues, although not to the extent we did on Odyssey.

The lectures were good. We had Steve Wozniak talking about his experiences at Apple and how he 'Grew Up Geek'.

There were interesting lectures about the countries we visited, Mayan history, geography, culture and so on.

We also had a speaker we enjoyed last year. His name is William Gurstelle. I very much enjoy his talks, he makes science interesting to non-scientists like myself. There were also talks about the music of the countries we visited, the speaker's name was Karen Hansen. I was told that she's William Gurstelle's wife but I'm not sure if that's true.

We don't go to the shows so I can't comment, although with Sophie as CD I'm sure that they were enjoyable to those who do like them.

The entertainers were a very mixed bag. There was a pianist, David Howarth, who I think we saw on Sojourn in 2014 on the Hong Kong to Singapore segment, you may remember him? There were two comedians, one was terrible. The other was called Lee Bayless, he was sharply observant and very funny indeed. There was also a magician, I didn't see his shows.

The pianist in the Observation was very good, I enjoyed his selections during Afternoon Tea.

The band were great, although I didn't care too much for the singer.

Thanks, Nigella. The feeling I get from your report on the food is that quite a bit of the problem might be due to the integration of the TK menus; reducing the number of dishes on the regular menu, etc., and possibly both galley and waiting staff not being at home with it yet. Should not happen, if current passengers are having to pay a lot of money to be 'guinea pigs'. Maybe a lot more shore based training was necessary before trying to introduce this concept - but no doubt the bean counters do not want to have staff being 'unproductive' and having to employ more to sort it out. Do you think this might be the case? I also understand that computerised ordering is being brought in; did you find that to be happening?

 

When we first cruised on the brand new Sojourn I remember asking wait staff if they now had computerised ordering, and they said that, sadly, they did not.

Hi lincslady. I'm really not sure what the reason is for the issues.

With regard to food quality, I can't help but wonder if the budget has been blown setting up the TK deal, and in order to offset that they've made cuts in the quality of ingredients being purchased.

I feel that there are fewer crew, although I don't know that for a fact and have no idea of actual number. It appeared that there were a lot of crew running around like headless chickens, especially in the MDR.

I've never taken any notice of the ordering system previously, so I'm not sure if there have been changes. The order taker wrote the order by hand with a pen, they have a form with tick boxes to complete. I did notice someone using a tablet-like device at the stations, and the order appeared to be entered into a touch screen monitor which was on the station.

We started cruising with Seabourn 3 years ago, and now have just over 100 days onboard. This was our first time on Odyssey.

Captain was David Bathgate, HD Daniel Putzhammer, CD Sophie Tehrani.

We travelled in a group of 4, with my brother and his wife. Our ages range between 45-53 years old. The demographic on this cruise was older than our previous Christmas/NY cruises. We found our fellow guests to be friendly, interesting and well travelled, as usual. It was good to see many familiar faces from last year’s Cape Town round trip. There were approximately 5 children onboard.

I’ve been hesitant to write this review as I know there will be some who wish to dismiss my concerns. This review is based on my/our own experience. I acknowledge that there were guests we spoke to on board who were very happy with food and service. Before shooting this messenger though, perhaps other posters may recall that there have been a number of less than favourable reports about Odyssey recently.

For food and service, at these prices, I expect both to be very good to excellent most of the time. I’m fully aware that food is subjective, that slips happen from time to time and I don’t expect perfection.

Let’s start with the positives.

Included wines. I found 2 white and 2 red wines that were more than adequate for lunchtime quaffing purposes. I continued to enjoy Sananda’s $4.00 bottle of rosé!:p We tend to select from the wine list at dinner. I find that SB does go for the safe option when choosing wine producers, and this is especially true when it comes to the choice of wines from Burgundy. Our main home is just outside the town of Beaune in Burgundy so we’re very familiar with the better producers and I would like to see SB try some of the smaller producers rather than going for the commercially well known names. We like to try wines from all over the world but our favourites are the Premier and Grand Cru whites of Burgundy and the wine list choices were somewhat disappointing in this regard.

MDR opening times. The MDR was open daily for breakfast and lunch, only for one hour each time though. There was often considerable demand for tables in the Colonnade and longer opening hours of the MDR may have alleviated this. This was mostly a very hot weather cruise, with high humidity and although I like to dine outside as often as possible, there were many days on this cruise when the outside temperatures were too hot to make for a pleasant dining experience so I would have welcomed later opening of the MDR for lunch.

Our Suite Attendant was just the best ever. Quick, thorough, great attention to detail and unobtrusive. Toiletries were replaced in a timely manner. She was great.

Pool deck bar service was excellent, with the usual frequent serving of drinks such as fruit punch, sorbet treats, margaritas and various other cocktails. Requests for specific choices were met quickly. Cold towels, SPF, glasses cleaner offered regularly.

Thomas Keller food . We found to be very good. The quality of ingredients was better than regular menu items, presentation was nice too. I’m not a frequent burger eater, but the Napa burger was very good indeed.

I will post some TK menus and write more about how the concept was working on this cruise in a separate post.

Smoking. There were a few smokers, but we had no issues with balcony smokers, nor did my brother and his wife. The only place I noticed the smell of smoke was on deck 5 aft out by the pool, and the people smoking stayed in the designated smoking area there.

Colonnade coffee at breakfast. Much more consistent than previous cruises. It’s still not really to my taste but at least it as pretty much the same every day.

The not so positives.

Internet. Was awful and has been discussed already, did see an improvement in the last couple of days.

Food. The first night we were pleased to see TK menu in the MDR. We ordered all 3 courses from it. The server then returned to the table and informed us that both the starter and the dessert weren’t available. He then went off to get menus so we could make an alternative selection. We’d already chosen our wine for the dinner from the wine list and it had been opened and tasted. This happened a few times on different evenings. I’d like SB to improve communication between kitchen and restaurant floor so that servers are able to inform diners of unavailable items before they start to choose from the menu.

Food often arrived lukewarm, served on cold plates. Sometimes one half of the plate and the food would be warm to hot while the other side was cold. This was only a problem in the MDR, we didn’t notice this at all in The Colonnade.

The menu choices have been reduced. In MDR, Seabourn Classics are still available but the daily menu now has only 4 appetisers and main courses. Patio Grill has no plated appetisers at lunch. The only appetiser option is a salad which is plated on request by a crew member. At dinner, the plated appetisers have been reduced to two from four. The protein main courses reduced from four to three. Desserts reduced from five to four. No pizza in the evening.

In all three venues we found it difficult to get red meat cooked as ordered. It was frequently served well done when medium was requested, although it also arrived half cooked to medium and the other half rare.

Fish was served overcooked to the point of being rubbery, also I had Dover Sole that was full of bones.

There seemed to be very few vegetables plated and I soon learned to make an additional side order. Proteins (except the TK items) were of poor quality, chicken breast that was watery and mushy, overcooked fish, even the beef wasn’t as good as usual although I had an excellent filet mignon at the beginning of the cruise.

Overall I was very disappointed by the food as I always found it to be very good on previous SB cruises. Some of the quality and presentation reminded me of Brakes Bros food, as served in chain pubs in the UK. I will say that the desserts were generally excellent, although I’m not sure to what degree they’re pre-made.

The service was inconsistent. Many crew just weren’t attentive, seemed to be lacking initiative and there was very little of the intuitive, anticipatory service that many of us are familiar with, and that Seabourn still markets strongly.

I’m getting depressed writing this so will sum up.

This cruise was lacking in so many areas and just didn’t feel like a luxury cruise. This is our second disappointing SB cruise in 3 months, on two different ships and different crew and officers, and it’s clear that SB is no longer such a great fit for us. We thought the experience on Sojourn in September was mostly due to it being a 7 day cruise and while it wasn't up to previous standards, it was much better than this Odyssey cruise.

We didn’t take advantage of the future cruise deposit this time, although we do still have one from a previous cruise. We’ve decided to leave SB for a while, and sincerely hope that this is a simple ‘au revoir’ and not a permanent goodbye. I’m quite sad about this. I liked the SB product a lot, I love being at sea, and I can’t see an alternative cruise line that appeals.

Over the next several months I’ll be following posts here closely and hoping to read better overall comments.

More to follow about TK menus, concept etc.

Goodness me, haven't they fixed these problems yet? Three years ago (November 2012) we travelled on Sojourn. The food and service in the MDR were terrible. Men in suits arrived from Head Office to try and fix things, but failed. Why is it that on a relatively small ship the Main Dining Room food and service cannot be fixed?

 

For 5 star cruising we stick to Silversea where we have not encountered these problems. Also you can have both breakfast and luncheon in the Dining Room. Every day if you wish, unlike Seabourn which is when it suits them, not when it suits you.

We started cruising with Seabourn in 2012 after a few Silversea cruises, the last two of which were disappointing.

We've accrued 100+ nights with SB since then, so I'm quite familiar with the product by now and can confidently say that for us, these issues are not ones that we've encountered previously. That said, there were some let downs on SB in September, although nothing on this scale, so I have concerns that the product has deteriorated and that this cruise wasn't simply an unfortunate one-off.

I'm just writing up a more detailed review and it will be posted later today.