Nigella

Oh dear indeed, Jeff!

Mysty's got the right idea. Go on... treat her

Never fear, Markham! I'll be on a mission to investigate fully and will be sure to report back.

Yes, I know. It's just not the way I'm pitching this cruise to my husband! I suspect we say goodbye to the Med around Tangier.

 

My spouse isn't the best sailor and he enjoys lazing on deck, sunbathing. I did get him on a New England/Canada cruise in late October and there was not too much grousing about the chilly temperatures and the storm we hit, so I thought I would try this. (He is NOT a party to the upcoming Antarctica cruise).

 

I was in Lisbon in late March on a girlfriends trip and it was chilly and windy and it poured, but we still had fun. I'm hoping we will have a few nice days and it sounds like the weather might cooperate at least some of the time.

 

Thanks for the info. Linda

Oh you'll be fine I'm sure. :)

Of course what feels warm to me may not feel warm to you, if you live in Arizona or somewhere. That's why I tried to quote typical day time temperatures. But the Canary Islands in particular tend to be very pleasant at that time of year. If you can plan your excursions to get away from the very touristy areas each of the islands has something to offer.

I'm with your husband on Antarctica. I would love to go, but I love the sun too much and can't imagine using my holiday time from work to go somewhere cold. Now if I could do Antartica followed immediately by 3 weeks in the Caribbean, that would work. :)

Reading all these posts made us curious, so we have booked Ad Hoc in Yountville for Jan. 6. We'll let you know what we think. We have another Keller restaurant booked the night before (Bouchon). No possibility of French Laundry. Oh, well.

We're at Bouchon the night before you. It's a Monday and apparently they have "Ad Hoc's Famous Buttermilk Fried Chicken" available that night. I'd like to try that, assuming that I'm not Keller-ed out after disembarking Odyssey the same day ;)

The quote function isn't working for me again, but replying to lincslady.

I do feel that the poster has shot him/her self in the foot, although I'm waiting for them to come back and inform us all, as if we don't already know, that SB will be paying wholesale for the wines so they're even cheaper than the erroneous prices posted ;)

The prices quoted for the champagne, I managed to track those down. The price is for a 187ml bottle, those cute picnic sizes that you can buy in Waitrose during the summer time. Not even half bottle price, they are quarter bottles.

I rather enjoyed the $4.01 Italian rosé in the Med in September and would be thrilled if I could find a couple of bottles at that price when I'm in Florida soon.

Glad you're finally underway. Looking forward to reading your reports .

TC2, once again, great photos thank you for sharing.

As for the margins issue, I use a browser to access CC and the sizing used above works much better than the sizing on earlier photos. I was struggling to read the thread previously, but this new size works perfectly in a browser. Thank you!

Hi, I am new to the Seabourn board - just booked a cruise for 2017 - but definitely interested in wines. Thanks for the list - interesting to compare to what we were just served on our recent Regent cruise.

 

However, I do know what some of these wines cost, so I would suggest you double-check the prices you provided. The Santa Margharita really goes for about $21.99 to 24.99. That 8.95 you saw was a typo. Also the Nicholas Feuillate goes for around $26-27.99. The price you saw was for a 375 ml split I believe. I didn't check any of the other prices - just knew those two were wrong since I am in wine stores pretty regularly!

Thanks for this clarification.

I did a double take when I saw that the Nicolas Feuillaté was cheaper by a considerable amount than it is in France. Same for the French rosé. I don't like Nicolas Feuillaté but was very impressed that it's only $10 a bottle over there.

And welcome to Seabourn!

Actually I've just taken a look at some of the prices you list.

Are they supposed to be retail prices per bottle? Or wholesale per case?

If retail, some appear rather unrealistic, but I haven't purchased low price wines in the U.S. since ca. 1990 so perhaps I'm out of touch.

I firmly believe in the old adage "You get what you pay for." So I decided to look up the current price of these wines in wine searcher. This is a good source because it shows prices from brick and mortar stores. You can get better prices with Amazon, but wine searcher will find more unusual things. So here it is:

 

WHITES

Santa Margharita Pinot Grigio ( Italy) $10.99

Gruber Roschitz Dry Reisling (Austria) $11.99

Wingspan Sauvignon Blanc( NZ) $6.70

Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc (NZ) $8.47

Frontera Sauvignon Blanc ( Chile) $4.98

Stags Leap Chardonnay ( USA) $17.99

Pascal Bouchard Petit Chablis ( France) $22.99

Chateau Saint Armand Sauternes( France) Unavailable

 

RED

Jamieson Ranch Pinot Noir ( California) $8.99

Castello Banfi Chianti ( Italy) $4.01

Bodegas Lan Rioja ( Spain) $6.60

Tall Sage Cabernet Sauvignon (Washington State) unavailable

Domaine Sas, Du Plo Corbieres ( France) $8.58

Zolo Malbec (Argentina) $9.95

Constentine Zinfandel (California) unavailable

Kendall Jackson Avant Cabernet Sauvignon (Caslifornia) $16.24

Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz/Cab ( Australia) $6.78

Goose Ridge Cabernet ( Washington State) $10.99

 

BLUSH/ROSE

Beringer White Zin ( California) $3.57

Barton Guestier Cote du Provence ( France) $5.99

Centine Banfi Toscano ( Italy) $4.01

 

CHAMPAGNE /SPARKLING

Nicholas Feuillate ( France) $10.86

Cantine Maschio Prosecco ( Italy) $3.99

 

Average price per bottle of Seabourn's wines = $8.25

 

Wow! What "luxury". Aren't you glad you paid extra for an all-inclusive experience that provides such low end wines?

Thank you for your research, but I'm sure most of us who know even a bit about wine are fully aware that the quality of the included wines is not the best and are familiar with the approximate price points of these wines.

Those who don't know the difference between an everyday drinking wine and fine wine won't care what they're drinking anyway.

For me, the point is that I can always find a couple of wines amongst the included selection that I'm happy to drink at lunchtime. If I happen to want to drink something of better quality, I ask for the wine list.

At dinner anyway, we always choose from the wine list, unless we're dining at Patio Grill.

I do think that Seabourn needs to alter its marketing and not refer to the included wines as "fine wines", because that simply isn't true.

As for your comment about luxury, it's not included wines that make luxury for me. The wines are actually the least important aspect.

As long as I consider that I'm getting the luxury experience that's important to me, I'll continue to choose Seabourn. When I don't feel that I'm getting value for my "luxury" experience and SB is no longer meeting my needs, I'll stop choosing the line. There's a chance that will happen in the next few weeks, we'll see, but it won't be because of the included wines.

This is not a bad list. And for those who are fussy about wines there is always the premium list.

I agree, we enjoyed the included wines in September so I was quite pleased to see the same ones in the current selection.

Overall I think that the included wines have improved over the last couple of years.

Likewise, David. Hope we meet up again, would be grand.

 

Now ensconced in Barbados for three days at the superlative Sandpiper in a Tree-top Suite with ocean view -- and loving it. http://www.sandpiperbarbados.com. What a great find is this place!

 

I'll be writing a wrap-up of our cruise experience later in the week once we get home so, stay tuned to this spot on your dial.

 

MasterEcho, your posts have been great, as if someone were expertly narrating our holiday, thankee.

The hotel looks fabulous. It is a great find as I've struggled in the past to find a decent hotel on the island. Have you dined there, how's the food?

Looking forward to reading your wrap-up.

Nigella - this sounds a bit reminiscent of a certain other line you and I both know, and not at all like Seabourn. Let's hope it is something soon resolved, and also of course that the OP comes back to report on findings.

That was exactly what I thought when I first read the post!

I'm hoping OP comes back too.

I have dry feet and am still in Blighty thanks to FlyBe :mad: the most unreliable airline ever.

Will be going back tomorrow, no great shakes really, I can lounge around here doing my own thing. Which actually isn't very much :).

Christmas lights adorning La Cucina look fab. I like Cote d'Or chocolate very much, I get it from Ocado when I'm here as they usually have it on a deal and not many of the shops have it. Haven't tried that nougat one though.

Sophia I'm :D thinking of you in the contact centre. Hope the blue badge is sorted out now, it can be quite challenging to renew them.

Terrible images from Cumbria, parts of Lancashire and the Scottish Borders. My brother and his wife live in Lancashire in a very rural area, it's rained very heavily but no flooding for them.

We board Odyssey next week and are concerned about the noise. Does it permeate to deck 6? Curious that only Gary has posted a complaint about the noise

eliana, I don't know if you've seen it, but I've posted on the Roll Call for the 32 day cruise to ask current guests for further feedback. No responses as yet - they're obviously all enjoying their cruise too much!

Thanks Marianh. We have always found the sommeliers on Seabourn reluctant to let us have a wine list. We are fussy about wines and a list would certainly help our choice. We are sailing on Odyssey next week and although the whites on your list are fine the reds are poorish. I hope they have a better selection next week.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I don't think the selection will be much improved next week. We were on Sojourn in September and the wines we had onboard then were the same as this list, give or take one or two.

Just as the old adage says ( well sort of) - "One woman's meat is another man's poisson". No doubt applies also to TK concoctions

:)

I'll have to let you know about TK!

Same on the Odyssey this year. American friends persuaded me to try the Pumpkin Pyyye ( phonetic). It was truly awful. And no, it was not a TK version!

I have a confession. I'd never tried Pumpkin Pie, had never fancied it. Anyway, Christmas dinner on Sojourn last year I decided it was time to try it.

I loved it :eek:

This cruise goes from Barcelona to Morocco through the Canaries to Portugal.

Any comments on the seas/ weather that time of year? Is the Med still those beautiful blues and greens? Thanks for all the input. Linda

Hi Linda!

Not to be too pedantic, but surely that itinerary is only going to consist of just a couple of days in the Med, the majority of it will be the Atlantic.

The Med in November, especially western Med, is unpredictable. The days can be quite warm and sunny or wet and stormy. Definitely cool in the evening.

Nobody can guess the sea conditions but I will say that the worst sea conditions I've experienced on cruises have both been in the Med.

Once you move down to southern Spain, eg Malaga and then out into the Atlantic, towards Morocco and the Canaries the weather is likely to be getting warmer and eventually in the mid to high 70s or warmer, with plenty of sunshine.

I'm going to guess that you have a port stop in Madeira. The weather in Madeira is totally unpredictable! Due to its location it tends to have its own climate. Temperature wise it will probably be high 60s to low 70s but could be sunny or rainy and usually breezy.

No idea about the climate in Lisbon, I've never been there!

Please get back to Nigella about the details!

 

And hockey pucks! Believe it or not, we are in 514 in a few weeks and so are all ears, too.

 

This noise business and purported failure to make good regarding your understandable complaint is unprecedented in my 15 years of Seabourn travel.

 

Happy sailing!

Markham, you're a dark horse! Odyssey twice in just a matter of several weeks? Chin up ! It's a hard life. ;)

I'll definitely update when I've been onboard for a couple of days although we're on deck 6.

1) yes to both. They won't deliver a full bottle of champagne to your suite (ie room service) after you've consumed the boarding welcome complimentary bottle, but they'll bring it by the glass. No limitations on caviar.

2) Latte and espresso available at Seabourn Square, no charge. Also available with meal service. Don't know about room service as have never requested either, but I suspect it's not a problem.

3) Bottled water is included. You can ask for the fridge in your suite to be stocked with it, in addition to whatever alcoholic beverages you've requested to be stocked. At meal times if you want it instead of ice water, just let them know. Smaller bottles are also provided when disembarking the ship in ports.

4) Yes, Pellegrino is available shipwide and again, included.

5)No corkage fee for your own wine.

Thank you for your reply about the construction work.

I'm quite shocked by Seabourn's response to your complaint and I completely understand you being angry and disappointed. Have they offered to move you, or is the ship full?

I can't imagine what they're doing to the suites on Deck 4, given the location of your suite.

Are other guests also complaining about the noise or does it only seem to be in the vicinity of your suite?

Just checking in on you lot before I depart these shores!

Jeff's Sunday roast looks delicious, agree with Lincslady about trying to get a decent piece of beef for roasting though. Most of the time I'm only cooking for two of us and it's quite a challenge finding a good joint if there are less than 6 of you.

I'll try to catch up when I'm on the ship.

Have a good week, Coolers :)

Thank you for taking the time to write up that list, marianh, I know people do appreciate it.

I'm glad that you found the wines better this time.

Interesting that there's a 'secret' Valpolicella, must try to hunt a glass of it down!

We got on last Thursday in Fort Lauderdale, and we are staying on deck 5----

They are doing major construction work on deck 4--from 9am to 5 pm it is so noisy you can stay in the rooms

 

We are unable to stay in the room to even have a conversation,

Seabourn says' oh well -too bad for you . The work started Friday and will go for several weeks,

 

If you are coming on next week bring ear plugs,,,,

 

Last trip on this line

 

Gary

What sort of major construction work ?

Edited to add : Maybe SB is following in Silversea's footsteps (or should that be wake) and building new shops mid-cruise. ;)

But on deck 4? Perhaps they're turning the Restaurant into a large boutique? :p

I board next week. I'll be sure to pack several pairs of ear plugs.