Crew Experiences--Do you have some to share?

As I have posted, we recently took a 21 day voyage on the Ovation. The wonderful time we had was due, in a large part, to an exceptional crew aboard this ship.

I wanted to share just a few small experiences and hope that some of you will share some of your own good experiences with the SB crew.

1. I am a very early riser (my husband is not) and some mornings, I would get up, take my shower, get dressed and go out on the ship at about 6:30am. I would usually stop by the Observation Lounge to watch as the ship approached a port (usually not fully arriving until 8am). I would enjoy having a cup of tea and a pastry. The first day I did this, a crew member was interacting with another passenger. As the hot water and tea bags are all arranged for you, I helped myself to my favorite morning tea and a pastry. The next morning, I returned to the Observation Lounge to do the same drill. This time, the crew member who had been assisting another passenger the day before was there---immediately called me by my name, and insisted on bringing me tea---somehow knowing that I had served myself Camomile tea the day before! He must have been looking out of the corner of his eye while he was helping another passenger the previous morning. I was astounded. He also brought me a plate of pastries--saying "have what you want and leave the rest."

2. One day, I wandered into the Colonnade toward the end of breakfast time (I never ate there) but my husband had slept late and I was going to find him. A crew member with one of the hats worn in the serving line for the Colonnade was walking quickly past me and into the kitchen. I had never seen this man before. He said, "I hope you are having a great day Mrs. Daniel." He had a big smile on his face, probably reacting to my shocked expression at the realization that a man I had never seen or met knew my name. He was having a good time with this.

4. The same crew member (Sirhi--from the Ukraine) who remembered that I drink Camomile tea in the mornings, was our waiter when we dined with friends one night in the MDR. The service he gave was impeccable. While my husband found him a bit too cloying, the rest of us enjoyed being pampered. In addition to our desserts, he brought cheese plates to our table, thinking that we might enjoy them.

5. Many of the crew members are 10 years or more younger than our own children. I enjoy talking to them and hearing about their lives. I got to know one waiter in particular--Maikel from the Netherlands. He brought our RS breakfast several days, as well as serving us on the patio at lunch, in the TK Grill and also at Earth and Ocean. I got to know him fairly well. Toward the end of our 21 days, he told me that he would only be on the ship for 14 more days and then his contract would be up. While he was a truly exemplary crew member (even though he knew he was leaving), he had found that the ship life was not for him. He said that the work was harder and longer than he had imagined and with very little time to go into ports. Plus, he has a girlfriend and they miss each other. He said that he calls her every day. His girlfriend also works in hospitality and is currently in Australia and that is where he is going next. Evidently, there is a guest worker program they are going to avail themselves of. I told him he was doing the right thing to leave the ship and concentrate on an important relationship. He was such a dear young man--25 years old.

6. I loved Anastasia from Ukraine. We knew her mostly from the TK Grill Bar where she served us with such joy and hospitality. One day while in the bar, we learned something very important from her. We were in St. Petersburg. The port is adjacent to an area of very large Soviet Era apartment buildings. They are not attractive. They are very grey and unappealing. Downright ugly according to our sensibilities. On a particular day, my husband and I were in the bar, looking out the window at these looming apartments. We discussed (quietly, so that no one heard us) that they were very grim and perhaps something could be done about them. A few minutes later, Anatasia appeared and told us that she loved being in St. Petersburg because it reminded her of home. She pointed at the apartment buildings and said that she loved them because she grew up in an apartment building just like the ones outside our window. She looked at the apartments with such love and wistfulness in her eyes. It was then that we realized (again) that our perspective is not the only perspective and that it is important to try and see places that we go through the eyes of others.

It's only something small, but it was from our first SB cruise, and it typified what hooked me to take more!

So... first cruise, first few days, lunch in the Colonnade, still finding our way round. I decided to go and look at the desserts (don't normally have dessert lunchtime). There was pannacotta. I said out loud "ooooh, pannacotta, is my favourite dessert of all time, I have to have one!" Didn't think anyone heard me as I was really talking to myself.

Three days later, lunching again on a sea day in the Colonnade and a different waiter at the end of our meal, brought me out a delicious lovely presented pannacotta, saying 'this is especially for you MrsMauzac, because we know it is your favourite"

:):)

What a great story Mauzac. Thank you for sharing it.

I want to add that I could go on and on with stories. Many many crew members called us by name and served us with smiles and a real effort to make our stay on the ship memorable. Yes, there were a few crew members who did not smile (I would have loved to know them better as well--but, as might be expected, they were not very chatty.) I remember one crew member in the Colonnade at lunchtime who gave excellent service, but never smiled. Also, the head bartender in the Observation Lounge (from Hungary) never cracked a smile. But, he was very diligent and good at his job.

Cruise stop in Mykonos. Anthony had learned our preference for one of the three Sauv Blanc wines on offer. We returned to the ship and headed to deck 5 aft which was literally empty. We put our gear down on a lounge and headed to the room to get changed. We returned around 10 minutes later. The place was still empty, but there were 2 glasses of wine on the table next to our stuff. We thought we took someones spot, so we moved over a couple lounges. Anthony appeared and asked us if we wanted something else instead of the wine. I was dumbfounded. I asked how he knew we were going to be there and he said he recognized my camera, which I had left on the lounge

These stories bring such a smile! We are getting ready for our next cruise in a couple of months. We keep coming back to Seabourn for many reasons, but mostly it’s the people!

Sent from my iPad using Forums