Catlover54

You were on Ovation, as I recall, not the Quest or this cruise. YMMV. Even within one line, ship service and ambience can vary and of course cruises and experiences vary, as I already noted when the travel agent now referred to ( I learn new things every day on these boards, LOL) asked if I was "on a different Quest" . Even on Crystal, I loved the Endeavor, whereas I only liked the Serenity, and was not Diamond or anyone important there. My status on SB ( including one bag laundry per person per week, yay!) was also earned and not comped. BTW, DH and I are about the farthest thing away from being travel agents or anything close. My TA just emailed me that she was told SB has kept many of their better people on the newer ships ( Encore and Ovation, and now Venture). If I cruise SB again, that is where I will go, but I have many other options.

DISEMBARKATION was very smooth, by group, and quick. Rooms had to be vacated at 8, which is usual. That way the stewardesses can quickly prepare rooms sooner for those guests coming on! Both Colonnade and Restaurant offered dinner, but we just ate in-room leftovers ( by choice), supplemented by two of the standard mini-pastries from the Observation Bar. Luggage was easy to locate ( by color), and there was friendly porter help to get us to a cab. A handful of officers bid departing pax goodbye.

No, my report of the "Japanese} dinner definitely did not take longer than the 1.45 or so hour dinner. I have a handy " dictate" function on my mobile device, and for editing I type over 90 wpm ( I have arthritis in various parts of me, but so far not yet in my key typing fingers :)).

You may have missed it in the flurry, but I already posted ( #221) about the 20% FCC with SB being offered to everyone who paid money for this cruise. It can be used on any SB ship within 1 year ( does not have to be the Quest).

Perhaps it was all the salt from Server 2's hands last night that was then put in those dishes so as not to waste it? 🙂 The Hurricane is also not SB's fault and I assign no blame to them for that. The rest is top management's fault (way on top), either directly or indirectly, with the tone and direction they have chosen in the Covid context. With Covid going on and on, there needs to be a bigger margin of people for management staff to call on to help if some staff gets ill, without seriously effecting service. With competitive labor pricing, that means paying workers more (and likely charging pax more), and allowing proper rest periods to avoid workers comp issues (my first petite stewardesss is out with a wrist injury from lifting and hoisting, poor girl). Will pax pay more?It's a tricky balance. But there is more than that -- observing, there are so many inefficiencies and redundancies, while key factors for good service are ignored. I see what other lines are doing to be efficient but not diminish service, and it is impressive (and likely there is even more behind the scenes). SB (basically Carnival) will have to be able to compete with all the guys doing it better in many ways (though no luxury line is perfect) . I am not an expert on hotel or cruise ship management, of course, and what works well for my needs may not work for others who like SB a lot even for the high price product ratio.

We came almost an hour early in Montreal recently, expecting to be turned away but thinking it wouldn't hurt to ask if things were not busy. Things were going smoothly so they did not ask for the boarding time card, and we then had time to get on and for lunch. But that was Montreal, not NYC, which may be different scenario, of course.

Management personnel just slipped a notification under guest doors, stating a FCC of 20% of the base cruise fare paid will be given. It can be applied to a new reservation booked and sailed within one year from the date of the letter (so, sail by 10/3/23). It cannot be transferred or refunded, and will be attached to one's SB Club number.

Further into the cruise the stewardess delivered the larger, traditional SB chocolates for a couple days, but then the little ones reappeared. I like both, so did not complain. I am glad you enjoyed the posts and photos. We finished off the full day in Montreal with a botanical gardens visit (20 minutes by Ueber from the port). It is a nice place for a few hours exercize (depending on stamina and interest in botany), and relaxing (a nice outdoor alternative pre-embarkation, too).

It is a unique part of the world, indeed, with so much more to see (including of course by land). We still need to get to scenic St. John's (if we go within 2 years, we can use the credit for the private photographic sunrise tour we had signed up for, canceled due to the island being hit with hurricane, but still nonrefundable). I also want DH to see Halifax, lenses in hand.

Meanwhile, off on the sides, I saw Server 2 working on a dish to send to a table. I then saw her lick her fingers on one hand and use them (presumably by reflex) to firm up a strand of her hair that appeared to be in her way in her face, and then (without hand washing), off she went to deliver the plates to customers. Finally, it was time for dessert, (tapioca on a small dessert crust for me, chocolate pudding for DH, the latter quite tasty) and I requested tea to go with it. I was given an empty mug with a spoon placed inside it, front face and center. After 10 minutes cynical DH wondered if they had forgotten the water and tea, but I had patience and confidence, and eventually a pot of water with a tea bag in it arrived (by the look of the water, the bag had just been inserted a minute or so before, fine ) . I poured some after waiting a bit, and reached for the sugar container -- but the sugar flow was stuck in its container. DH and I burst out laughing, and of course DH offered to 'help' again, but I knew better and declined. I tried the artificial sweetener container and that was stuck too, with nothing coming out, as was the brown sugar container. However, with some shaking and gentle coaxing, we were able to get enough brown sugar liberated to sweeten my tea. Exhausted, we returned to our suite, and I was loudly laughing despite not having consumed any alcohol. I voraciously ate the little pillow chocolates, bust into our box of Canadian maple cookies, and contemplated our "first world" $1500 per day and then some 'problems.'

(Cont'd, Japanese, 3) I decided I still needed to speak up about being served dirty silverware, even though I had DH's spoon to use (I had given up on trying to get hot soup). So when the staccato speech guy came by cheerfully asking if we wanted a glass of some of his pre-poured sake from a tray he had prepared with many glasses, I declined, and instead reluctantly and with concern showed the dirty spoon to him, noting it had been brought with my soup, and asked for its removal. I hoped to alert him or for him to alert whoever checks silverware to make sure it is clean (he was the one who'd originally brought the spoon). Without any apology for the gross dirty spoon, he grabbed it, clearly irritated, ran off, and I saw him drop it off with another worker (server 4) at a set-up area, after which he then resumed delivering the sake tray to other guests. The dirty spoon got casually tossed into a container and that was the end of it. No one seemed interested in investigating how a grossly dirty spoon got served to a customer, because there was simply not time, and/or no one cared, and/or it happens too frequently to care, at least at the level of Servers 1-4 (none of whom had the mystery sleeve). I planned to talk to the maitre d', when available. Later came the main course of beef which, though extremely tender, was also essentially tasteless; the rice and veggies were ok. Again, I reflexly tried to reach for salt, but a new salt container had still not been brought back by Server 2 to replace the spilled one she had swept up with her hands (plus the table pepper was still stuck and as noted, the limited soy sauce was long gone). I even briefly fantasized about reaching for the salt crumbs still on the table that Server 2 still had not cleaned up since her cupped hand partial clean-up, but sanity prevailed and I rejected that obviously unhygienic, much less luxury option. There was no one whose attention I could get, so I also contemplated "borrowing" a shaker from a nearby unoccupied table , but settled on just eating the rice and pepper veggies which at least had a bit of flavor on them (of course, this was after checking the fork for old food). I then sent the flavorless meat back with yet another guy who offered to clear the table of plates (server 5). I almost never return meat, even if not tasty, and at home I could have just drowned it in any variety of sauces and eaten it, just to not waste the protein. But I was done with impromptu experimenting in the Colonnade. The head waiter came by (Server 6), whom we had only briefly seen when we came in, after noting my meat was returned, and asked if I wanted the cooks to make me another of the same meat plate. I advised no, but that I would appreciate cleaning up the salt mess that was still lying on our table, especially before any dessert was served, and I also told him about the dirty spoon. He asked why I had not told him about the spoon before. I advised I had told the waiter who had served it (and indicated the staccato speaker, whose name I still did not know). Yet another server (7) then came on instruction of the D and finally properly mopped up the salt residue.

(Cont'd Japanese, 2) Engineer DH decided to 'help' (it was after all a form of hardware problem), and landed up removing the bottom stopper of the salt container, shook some salt out for my soup, and then put the stopper back. Unfortunately, the stopper slipped all the way into the container, where it simply disappeared. DH, now mortified, then rested the now open salt container on its side, with the plan to, (with embarassment and apology), alert the next server of any number or sequence who appeared to carefully take it away and avoid spilling it. But when Server 2 suddenly returned, she grabbed it and put it upright (thinking she was helping) before we could say anything, spilling huge amounts of salt onto the table. To clean up, instead of getting a proper table rag and container to sweep the salt away, the server just took one bare hand and pushed the mound of salt towards her other bare hand at the end of the table, then ran off with cupped hands to the nearest trash (leaving a bunch of salt still on the table), saying "I'll be back." Within just a few seconds (not enough time to wash one's hands) I could see her handling glassware and other dishes for another table on the far side of the room (meanwhile also leaving the leftover salt on our table). Meanwhile the staccato server (3) came to perfunctorily ask how my soup was. I told him I was frankly not happy with it, that it was too bland. He asked if I wanted something else, so I requested chicken consomee (a Quest standard soup, always available and good for what it is this voyage ) which I thought would be an easy replacement because it was on the alternative menu for the Colonnade that day. He sternly warned me it would take a long time. I said I understood and that would be fine. Twenty minutes later, the chicken consomee indeed arrived, (lukewarm of course as most soups are brought to us lately), briskly dropped off by Server 3, with a spoon to go with it , without comment. Unfortunately the spoon had a big splotch of very obvious old brownish sticky food firmly stuck to its handle. DH offered me his own spoon to use instead.

Sunday Oct 2, "Japanese" dinner service comedy (with help from DH! :)) The reader shoud skip this part if he/she does not want to hear unflattering comments about our experience in the Colonnade last night. DH and I decided to give The Restaurant a rest, due to our service issues fatigue there (even with a little extra maitre d' attention the last couple days it was still a battle to get proper service despite the delight of usually tasty and interesting menus). So we went to the Colonnade for a Japanese dinner instead. We had had good success there with the French menu before, service had been marginally better, and we had no prior negative experiences we could remember about the Japanese dinner offerings in the distant past. Now, we unfortunately have such experiences and memories. As has become our habit on this cruise, we asked the water server (hereinafter "Server 1" -- unfortunately I cannot read the tiny name tags without reading glasses and going very close to a server's chest), for Perrier or other bottled sparkling water. This was to avoid the taste and flatness of SB's faux custom 'sparkling' water, and we also asked for a glass of ice cubes on the side as the bottled water is usually room temperature. Server 1 seemed to understand, nodded, but then for unclear reasons, she decided to grab our water glasses and promptly disappeared. After a while a server for generic included wine ("Server 2") came by with her offerings of the day (the usual sauvignon blanc style white and a thin red). Since over ten minutes had passed since our water glasses had disappeared, and no Perrier or other bottled sparkling had been delivered, we inquired about the status of the water from Server 1. We were awkwardly told "she is on the way." We then observed Server 2 engage in animated discussion with Server 1, whereupon Server 1 grabbed a half empty bottle of Perrier from the counter and slowly headed for our table, and also brought back the same style glasses she had previously taken away (for unclear reasons). As happens all too often, we were then poured flat and room temperature bottled 'sparkling' Perrier from an already open bottle (presumably not many people order it, as it repeatedly has enough time to sit and go flat on this cruise). Then off she ran before I had tried it and found out it was, once again, flat. I am not sure what the point was with the original removal and then return of the identical water glasses. So, we reflagged Server 1 and asked her to bring an *unopened* bottle of Perrier (and we explained the reason was that the previous one was flat). She quickly appeared with it, noting it was unopened -- and then poured sparkling water into the old flat water glass. Finally, a waiter with a rapid staccato speech style, (Server 3), clearly in an understandable hurry, and hard to understand even though his mask was under his nose and mouth, came to take our order. I ordered the special miso soup as an appetizer. Not too much later, without warning, an arm with what looked like the cuff markings of some kind of an officer's jacket (pardon my ID ignorance) suddenly appeared from directly behind me, extending a hot soup container past my left side towards my place setting. I felt breathing from behind, and a voice instructed me to enjoy my soup. The attached person did not identify himself and I could not immediately see who it was when I felt his breath on my neck, heard him, and saw the striped jacket sleeve quickly appear and disappear. Then the sleeve was gone as quickly as it had appeared, before I had a chance to try and kink my neck around and see who owned the arm that had snuck the soup in, so I could to acknowledge and thank its owner. It's of course good that higher level crew were helping out, whoever they were. The tasteless concoction masquerading as miso soup, though very nice-looking and aesthetically presented, did not taste like any miso soup I had every had at home in any Japanese restaurant (with many authentic Japanese restaurants nearby ) or on a ship, and was not flavorful at all to me (yes, I know food is subjective). DH had a pretty good view of some Japanese pax behind me who had also been served the soup, and he said the couple was laughing , as they (presumably experienced with what should be good miso) pushed their uneaten soups aside. So much time had passed that I decided to try and rescue the soup in an attempt to get on with the business of eating something, even if it was imperfect. I poured the small amount of soy sauce that was in a container for DH's sushi appetizer on the table into the soup, but that small tablespoon was not enough to pep it up. So I reached for the table salt container (salt fixes 90% of food flavor problems for me if I am hungry enough:)). Nothing came out (presumably due to the frequent known problem with the sea humidity jamming up salt containers, and of course their not being routinely checked -- this was not the first time we had a jammed container on this voyage). I reached for the pepper container as an alternative , and nothing came out there either (presumably for the same reason). (cont'd)

Scenic cruising yesterday down the St. Lawrence Seaway, through QC, Trois Rivieres, on the way to Montreal: Time lapse: IMG_2435.MOV

The galley lunch yesterday: In line for fondue: Parma ham and greenery: Crackers etc. (the Sandeman port wine standing there was just for decoration, not open): Dessert: Description not required: This little bunny managed to escape the galley lunch carnage:

I am glad you are enjoying DH's photos, and that you are having good, old memories return. There is always something comforting when I read stories or see pictures about places we have been in the past, on CC, and I think "I remember that." We did not have time for touring the recreated industrial town in detail in Baie-Comeau (we had already done two things that day and I was beat, plus it was late in the season so unclear if possible). But both DH (recently retired electrical engineer) and I would likely have enjoyed it. We love seeing factories, old and new technology, production lines of how things work or worked in different fields, and how over time, man has managed to create so much, from so little, to not only survive but to thrive, to a great degree advanced by technologies. These things have their own kind of intrinsic beauty to us, independent of the birds, trees, and forests we love so much, and live in (though I know some people find factories ugly). One of my favorite pictures is that of a nuclear power plan in southern France, with a vineyard in the foreground. As for the hooded windbreakers and cold , they and that excursion were a good practice run for me for an Antarctica expedition I am contemplating (either on the Venture or another luxury line) , e.g., if I could not handle that, no way could I handle Antarctica, even if I had my special Iceland windproof pants on (which unfortunately I did not this cruise -- I had gained too much weight from my last few cruises before this one post-Covid, and need to secure a bigger size :).

I love that bath tub in the window, its location and size

DH appreciates your praise (but he does not think he is up to his photographic best this cruise).

Day 12, Sea Day (heading for Montreal) We have a beautifully clear low-keyed sea day ahead , 41 degrees, light winds. The usual assortment of cruise activities is going on, e.g., bridge education , information about Chinese herbs and mindful living , a jewelry quiz, Trivia, and also a deck game known as "baggo" (?): The retired elderly Australian colonel who is on board to give little talks (about 35 minutes per talk) is doing two of them today (SB calls them "conversations"). Pax can also listen to the "conversations" talks on their suite TVs the next day, instead of coming in person. In addition to the "popcorn movie" SB is airing, called "Jungle Cruise", there are numerous movies on demand on the small TV in the veranda suites. The TVs are positioned on the wall between the bed and sofa areas, so regardless of where you sit, you are viewing the TV in a twisted position. When we cruise, we hardly ever watch TV in our suite as we are too busy with other things on what are usually port intensive cruises. So we don't care much about the small size of the TV and the awkward positioning, but we know some pax who spend a lot of time on their suite TVs (e.g., those who immediately noticed when TV did not work, which is when the internet did not work) hope this dated feature will be updated in some future dry dock (but I have not heard of any plans to do so). We did enjoy an interesting documentary called "Automat" . For NYC fans old enough to remember the Horn and Hardart chain of vending machine food stores, it is about the chain's founding history, their innovation, and their rise and fall. The MDR (closed every day for lunch, and not just because of Covid among crew chefs -- this is sadly apparently the standard practice on this ship ) will have a galley market lunch there today. SB galley lunches tend to be elaborate and very special, (though a bit loud). SB Source had also earlier in the cruise posted availability of a galley tour, (masks required), which we have done in the past (always fun) , but not this time.

After lunch, we got chased out of town by a local: the guide reported the population in the area had been declining: The Quest was waiting for us in the harbor: We later set sail for Montreal, and had scenic cruising as sunset approached. Tomorrow is a sea day, our first.

There was no room at the inn in this multistoried Bird Hotel. But there was plenty of space for these seals (I think they were harbor seals, but I could not hear the announcement clearly due to engine noise): We even saw a blurred bald eagle dining on --- something: The island is presently uninhabited (not allowed) but there are old vacation cottages and a picnic area (per the local guide, not a great picnic site, due to guano smells, but still beautiful) Heading back (sad flag):

Day 11, Gaspe We had another gorgeous clear, crisp slightly windy day waiting for us as we sailed into the Gaspe peninsula area. DH and I did an excursion to the village of Gaspe to Perce village (accents skipped), and then past Perce Rock and around Bonaventure Island. This was quite popular, with 2 buses of people, about 40 pax in each. First we tendered (about 10-15 minutes), then drove in a very comfortable bus for 75 minutes (fortunately not a school bus -- the school buses waiting for SB pax were for the people doing self-tours of the town, who did not do an excursion) , then got on a boat with both inside and outside seating, and toured in that for about an hour. After about an hour of time for a short lunch in town (we had just enough time to order, get our meal, eat, use the rest room, and walk 10 minutes), we reversed the course. There was no official walking time, but our pedometers still showed 1.7 miles for the day, with all the little walk connections. If anyone wants to read details about the geology in the area, look here: https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/travels-geology-geological-riches-quebecs-gaspe-peninsula A few quick DH pictures from the day: this one may be from a bus window: Indian Head Rock (with green hair, and I'm not sure if the 'war paint' is guano or someone went in and modified the rock). There is of course a legend behind the history of the rock, (written for tourists like us). Each house gets its own big rock: Without human distractions (which has pros and cons):

Yesterday, as an early show, an assistant CD Nick sang a number of traditional/standards crooner songs (e.g., Sinatra style), some Billy Joel, and a few others. He is a good-looking young man with a good voice and great enthusiasm (though that genre is not anywhere near our favorite, he performed competently, and there was a good turnout)

Those traits are not required to be considered dreadful by some. A couple are described in the first two paragraphs of post #50. And then there is the first paragraph of post #32, though a bit more nuanced in its messaging.

I am delighted that you are having a different experience and have had no service problems at all that you have reported to anyone! Or did you perhaps report them early in the cruise as soon as a problem occurred , (e.g., staff dropping off your breakfast tray without set-up), thus leading to extra attention from management? And if you have had no problems with service, e.g., destinations and excursions, and internet information detrimental reliance, which calmsea, , Dave, and conchy Joe also reported, why did you write post #160?? In any event, the reality is that experiences will vary based on who people are, where they sit, what time they go eat, how proactive they are, what expectations are compared witih other luxury lines for price paid, personality (we are reserved and not pushy people) and sometimes just luck. I like to hear about all of them them to better assess the different luxury cruise line options and decide if I want to pay for them or explore other places. That's why I asked others to partake in this thread. For one thing different , I note you report you are on deck 9, a more expensive deck. For another, I note you were a frequent Crystal cruiser. I like to distinguish between objective facts and subjective experiences (e.g., 40 minute wait for food to come, 20 minutes to order dessert -- undeniable facts, as time is measurable and objective). Something either did or did not take 40 minutes. And there is subjectivity (e.g., I did not "like" eating my cold mushroom pasta or cold and rubbery souffle with solidified, unpourable cream filling because it was served cold -- likely due to lack of staff to pick it up on time). I'm not sure how to classify the overpowering inappropriate aftershave of the somm, objective or subjective (no 'smellometer') -- but perhaps you did not interact with that somm, or have nasal congestion or another explanation so cannot smell him, etc., or think it is a trivial staff issue on a "luxury" cruise, so it is not an issue for you. As for Covid, will all due respect to your "all due respect' preface, I see no respect. I simply reported would the maitre'D told me -- *he said* that 12 chefs were out with Covid. So by telling me about your 'table outside the room' standard, you are actually suggesting that either the D is lying that chefs are out with Covid (he could be, to make excuses for our service experiences all week -- it has happened with other personnel on other lines ), or that I would deliberately make something like that up knowing it to be untrue, even though it could scare people about having Covid on a ship when there isn't any. Do you know for a fact that infected crew are all housed in rooms with a little table outside, and therefore there is only 1 infected crew? I am loyal to no lines. I cruise many different (mostly luxury) lines, and sometimes write blogs about my cruises, listing pros and cons of ports, food, service, etc., *as I experience it* (you can look at my prior blogs and reviews), to help other pax know what is going on and help them -- as they have helped me make judgments and plan my trips (e.g., thanks to just this blog, I learned I could ask for a coffee machine even though I am not entitled to one in my level suite on deck 6; and I learned from Dave posting about getting access to the Mystery Excursion the other day that never appeared on the SB app, that on SB one may need to be quick on the draw and aggressive and/or it helps if you know someone else not staff to tell you things, to find out about events that might not otherwise be announced. I learn very little from blogs that always tell me everything is always wonderful, (especially if there is a different status and/or there is a secondary gain issue, whether monetary or not), so I try not to write them (unless everything really is only wonderful) . I have no loyalty, and love to compare lines (yes, there is a point -- we pay a lot of money), but almost always enjoy aspects of them all and cannot think of a cruise I took I wish I had not taken, even if it was just a learning experience. If I expected perfection, I would just stay in my very nice home. I am sorry you are unhappy with my blog, and hope you enjoy the rest of your first SB cruise.