Legend Transatlantic

Hi All!

Because this is my 4th year in a row, crossing on the Legend, I will forego a review this year.

I would like to point out some obsevations though.

The service this year (other than the club bartenders) was the very best I have ever encountered on Seabourn (if thats possible). The staff was unbelievable! From Jan (tigger), Zoltan, Erik and Luca in the verandah, to James at the sky bar, (not to mention Christine our stewardess). I will miss them terribly! Another treat was that fact that Sir Cliff Richard and Jane McDonald, 2 huge talents from the UK were on board. They were extremely nice and fun, and performed for us at the Club (impromptu).

Marla, the assistant cruise director and entertainer, as a true standout (and knockout, in my opinion). So very talented!!

A few things that were missed (minor), was the lack of hot hors-d'oeuvre set-up at the Club, and decent snacks for trivia. Also, if ever traveling with Dr. Herb Kaplan as the guest lecturer, dont waste your time (unless you have insomnia). By far the worst lecturer I have ever seen, on any cruise. It was kind of like a bait and switch move. Compelling topics like "body language", "dream interpretation" and "supersticions" (sp), all uninformative, obvious and read in monotone. His "following" dwindled to the single digits on his last lecture.

Trivia.. Hmm what do I say about trivia? Well, Dan Hodge incorrectly gave the win to the British team (The Cosmopolitans) in error. He asked how many bar stools in the Club. We said 8, they said 9. We were correct, they were not (2 cruises ago they removed a bar stool, and Dan didnt know). After a recount, we were declared the winner, by 23 points. He already gave the other team the carved boxes, but promises to mail our team members (The Comeback Cruisers) a box. (I'll believe it when I see it)

All-in-all, had a fantastic time. I'd be happy to hear any comments from others on the crossing!

CruiserDan

CruiserDan

Thanks for the report. Congrats for the trivia win. Was the bar team there?

Any info on any changes in Seabourn that have been mentioned on this board? Will there be a crossing in November 05?

Last year I thought the lecturers were a little weak.

Was the ship full? Again, thanks for report.

Lefty Bob

Lefty Bob,

Yes the "bar team" were the Cosmopolitans (brit group), that mistakenly was named the winner (and received the nice first prizes AGAIN!) :)

The ship had 176 passengers on board, and yes there will be a 2005 crossing.

No changes as mentioned on another post as of yet. Itll be nice to see the ships go to dry dock, and come out sparkling fresh!!

The only other weak link I forgot to mention was the Club entertainment. Vocalist and her husband. Very timid, average voice. Bruce Tilden, are you reading this????!!

CruiserDan

PS Cruisecrazyone was truly missed..

Dan

Some friends of ours tried to go on the cruise and were told it was full. Were some cabins closed for repairs, cleanup, etc?

Lefty Bob

Hi everyone and especially members of the elite "Comeback Cruisers" (the real trivia winners!):

This was our 3rd year in a row, crossing on the Legend, and although it is hard to believe it has been better each time. It is so much fun to see our good friends again - it truly makes the cruise special.

Dan, I have to agree with you completely - the service was even better this year. Especially James in the Sky Bar, and also Phillipe, Zoltan, Bogden, Jan (she's the only Canadian crew), Luca, Andrea (they are all so good).

And, of course, the Captain - Geir-Arne Thue-Nilsen - is the best there is! He manages to keep us out of bad weather, and is so friendly and visible to the passengers. It is a joy to travel on the Legend when he is the Captain.

We have booked again for next year - November would not feel right without going on this cruise even though you must endure the trek to Tenerife. Next year we will try a different hotel the night before the cruise. The Mencey is nothing special but an adequate place to crash after several long flights.

Lefty Bob - the ship was full - all the suites full - but the reason that the number was only 176 is because there were a lot of singles in double suites and then of course the lecturers, bridge directors, etc. have suites which takes up space. I understood that the ship was virtually full.

This crossing is a fabulous cruise - 11 days of heaven with the greatest crew on the seas today, in my opinion. If only they could get Bruce Tilden back in the Club, the cruise would be perfect.

CeeJay

P.S. CruiserDan - Did Dan Hodge really say he'd mail out the boxes??? :)

CeeJay,

Yes, Dan Hodges assured us that each and every "couple" would recieve a box.. Like I said before, Ill believe that when I see it!

CruiserDan

Hi Dan,

Are you going on the March crossing?

Regards,

Denyse

Hi, we were on the crossing, our first as I was worried about rough seas, I did not need to though as my relief band saw me through! It was a real treat to have Cliff and Jane on the cruise, the night they performed in the Club is one we will NEVER forget. Luckily I videoed part of it with my digital camera and have already played it back loads of times! I agree though about Solie and Andre the "entertainers" in the club, although I would have put them at below average, bordering on "crap", we were all wishing she would sit down and let Cliff and Jane get on with it! Personal taste though as we saw a few people telling her how great she was!!!????

I also agree about the lecturer who only succeeded in putting everyone to sleep! We thought the other one who was in Liar's Club was a riot though! He had us in stitches! That night was also BRILLIANT.

In fact the whole cruise was far above excellent, we are already booked on the March and November crossings it was so good! Our daughter is thinking about it too, but as they have never cruised she is a little unsure.

We never did get to trivia, just could not find the time!! So cannot comment but am sure the British Team were excellent, HA HA!!

All in all I think I could say it was the best cruise yet, but then I say that everytime I get back (apart from QM2).

We do think this captain is THE BEST, he is so much FUN. Someone complained about his 10 am updates, saying it disturbs them, so he announced he would not do anymore, I think there were many more complaints about there not being one, so they carried on, but everytime he made an announcement he said "sorry to disturb you but", it was very funny.

We have just been told by friends that Gloria Hunniford has written a piece in the newspaper about the trip, saying she was TERRIFIED when the ship broke down in the Atlantic as she cannot swim!! A fat lot of use being able to swim would do anybody out there!!! But true to his word the Captain said the power would be off for about an hour and it was!!. So we still did everything the same but just an hour later and coincidentally the clocks went back an hour that night so we did not suffer at all!

It was also brilliant to see even though we were a little jealous, that Cliff and Jane did a concert for the crew only, they thought it was wonderful, I am sure it was, there are some pictures of it on the Captain's website.

Roll on March!

Daneite

Cliff Richard? Wow, what a step back in time! Do you think we could get Seabourn to book Gerry & the Pacemakers for the March crossing (no doubt Gerry is wearing one by now!), or Freddie & the Dreamers?

;-)

Denyse

So happy all of you had a grand Legend Cross! My good friends from N. Carolina called and told me all about the great voyage.......also about Cliff Richard and the Brits. Some friends of theirs had a private cocktail party and he was the guest entertainer........they said he "wowed" everyone!

O.K, Denyse, K. and Daniete, et al.......start readying for the Pride "Royal Crossing"..........it will certainly be the very grandest gala that I've hosted! "A Royal Affair" will start with cocktails in the Constellation Crown Room, dinner in the Queen's Dining Hall and the "Royal Ball" (YES, with dance cards for the royal ladies) in the "Puttin' on the Glitz Club".......Some of the gentlemen are wearing tails, we gals in ball gowns. We'll don royals sashes, badges, medals.........crowns and tiara's! Just decide who you would like to be.......

This year, instead of TWO large cardboard box's with my duct tape handles, I'll be boarding probably with FOUR! (And, of course, as always, the new sailors to Seabourn, waiting to board, will be mortified at my BOX'S!!!! If only they knew the contents! ha!)

Happy you had a wonderful time Legend Sailors.......and welcome home!

Martita B.

Gee, Peter and I have not even been able to unpack what with the constant trips to the post office to check whether our Trivia First- Prize- After- the- Fact Box has arrived. What a farce, and very poorly handled by Dan Dodge, I mean Hodge. I thought the duo Club "entertainers" -Andre and Solie-should have been beaten with sticks and tossed overboard. Marla was fab, and we also enjoyed Dorothy. We agree--great service, which improved in the Club once the hulking Deirk was replaced with Slavo. And CeeJay--we are also loitering at the mailbox waiting for our Captain's Photo Contest prize (actually a fun exercise in group dynamics.) All in all a good time was had by all. And Sir Cliff told me I was a good dancer---what more could a boy ask for?

How was the chicken(s) ?

I am so sorry about the Legend Club duo........on the Pride Sept. Crossing we were entertained by THE BEST I have ever heard.......David Stringer and Allison Law. They are both from The Isle of Wright and are so very talented! I hope Seabourn adds them permanently to the Seabourn Family!

Happy all of you had a great time!

MB

CruiserDan & CeeJay11

Thanks for answers to my questions. I am hoping to repeat our wonderful time in Nov. 03. We will study up on trivia.

Lefty Bob

CruiserDan, thanks for the information. My wife and I are considering doing a transatlantic either in the fall or next spring, so this is good information.

Love the deal that Seabourn has on the Legend this spring, but don't think we can do it at that time.

Silversea just came out with some good deals though on their spring Med cruises up to 50% discount, so we may do that in the late spring though.

Don

Sorry to disagree with you Martita, but David and Allyson were not our favorite entertainers by any means! They are, admittedly, talented, but they refused to play anything but show tunes and a few classical pieces despite the protestations of many on our just completed 14 day cruise with them. They kept promising that they would play requests but the only ones honored were Tennessee Waltz and New York, New York! (We didn't mind it in the past, but if either of us hears New York, New York again we will vomit!!) Other than that and a few obnoxious 7 day American cruisers the second week it was a fantastic cruise as always on Seabourn!!

Cruisecrazyone,

Have to agree with you on all counts.

Certainly hope I wasn't included in that fore-mentioned group.

mcboo

No way!!! For those of you who have not had the good fortune to meet and sail with McBoo all I can say is that he is an absolute living doll and lots of fun to boot!!! So happy you guys contested the incorrect trivia answer--hooray for you! When is your next Seabourn sailing McBoo? Glad to know that you agree with us re the two aforementioned "items"! Champagne wishes, caviar dreams, and endless Seabourn cruises for all of us!

Cruisecrazyone,

We are thinking of doing the Med next summer or maybe spring trans-atlantic. Haven't decided yet. Will be checking the roll calls to help me decide;);)

Did you get home on Sunday night or were you enjoying the line of 700 of our new closest friends in the Miami airport courtesy of American Airlines?

It was a pleasure to meet you and your husband onboard.

mcboo:):):)

So sorry that you guys had such an horrific time! We did not enjoy that day (and night) either. Fortunately, (I think), we had booked a few nights in Miami and avoided the new "friendship connection with the 700". Unfortunately, we did not arrive at our hotel until after 11 pm. This made for a "lovely" loooong day, to say the least. The Mandarin riental has some "issues". We were forced to "explain some things" to the manager after which things got only marginally better. The price is, definitely, not worth it. It is an interesting place architecturally. At one point the manager told us that it is only a four star hotel so what can we expect. Unbelievable.Definitely not the "Seabourn Way"!

Cruisecrazyone,

Sorry to hear about the Mandarian Oriental. Very surprised by the managements statement. At least you made it home safe.

Looking forward to sailing with you and your husband again. You are both truely a class act.

mcboo:):):)