Odyssey Trans-Atlantic Formal Nights

[OrpingtonT]

Does she have an "open house" with everybody popping in to have a look?

[jimmyw9]

We were on the Quest also and I observed the same thing. However the whole world is becoming more casual and a "do your own thing" to a certain degree and Seabourn wants their money too, so with the bigger ships and more people, more of a variety of dress. I also brought my "finery" and jewels but to each his own on packing and what is bearable and what is not. I was merely trying to say that you could get by on the ships with a limited amount. I think I am pretty good at accessorizing and changing tops and jackets and get a lot of wear of say "black pants" and with Seabourn's excellent washing and dry-cleaning service, I feel I am clean enough for anyone. My husband had his tux, white jacket and several dinner jackets so I think he had enough variety for anyone (if they bothered to remember) and used the dry cleaning service.

 

And Fairbourne, you looked lovely in your finery every time I saw you with your "standout" tartan husband. Its nice to have a heritage.

 

 

 

We live in a "dressy" city where we are used to dressing and actually (nothing personal) we don't have to tell our "group" what to wear. They expect to wear a jacket and tie to a dinner if it is after 5. I do think it is nice that you had the penthouse. We have enjoyed going to parties there but have yet to have anyone tell us what to wear. We have been invited back so I guess we did okay.

 

The truth of the matter is we spend so much time worrying about what to wear and really no one even remembers most of the time (age and memory and busy lives and what's really important) perhaps?) A number of years ago I was worried about recycling some of my ball gowns for different events and I finally figured out I was the only one that remembered what I wore one two or three years ago. I certainly didn't remember what they wore! I will say anyone who was on the Quest maiden crossing will remember two married delightful gentleman. The one had outfits from all over the world he had made and I looked forward to seeing what he would wear each evening! They were beautiful.

 

I have to mention just coming off the Odyssey an interesting couple across the hall from us. She came with ten suitcases and had the suite changed all around to accommodate her large wardrobe. She was meticulous in organization and she had a chart on the wall with each day, temperature, port, outfit and accessories and she marked what she wore so she wouldn't wear the same thing again. Some of the organization tools she brought were amazing! She even had something built bySeabourn to go in the suite to accommodate her wardrobe, actually it was BOTH their wardrobes. She paid for this.

 

I think we are going to have to get used to this new way of casual/formal. I don't see full formal coming back anytime soon on any of the ships.

Anyway, each his own. We belong to casual and formal groups and enjoy them all. It really depends on what's inside!

 

Yes indeed Nancy, whats inside matters a great deal. We don't get to holiday/cruise as often as most people here on CC, so I suppose when we go away its not that great deal for us to take everything when we do. Also my partner and I would rather appear to conform to the rules than push the boundaries. We are fairly new to Seabourn and would rather keep below the radar so to speak until we are deserving of the treatment that repeaters/long standing Seabourers get.

[JaneBP]

>"We are fairly new to Seabourn and would rather keep below the radar so to speak until we are deserving of the treatment that repeaters/long standing Seabourers get."

 

I think I can say with certainty that 'newbies' get the same treatment as the 'repeaters'. (Except perhaps for having something built in one's suite for one's clothes!)

[fairbourne]

Yes indeed Nancy, whats inside matters a great deal. We don't get to holiday/cruise as often as most people here on CC, so I suppose when we go away its not that great deal for us to take everything when we do. Also my partner and I would rather appear to conform to the rules than push the boundaries. We are fairly new to Seabourn and would rather keep below the radar so to speak until we are deserving of the treatment that repeaters/long standing Seabourers get.

 

Jimmyw9 - As my DH is still working, we can only get away for one big holiday a year and we have the same approach as you, or at least I do;), pack it - rather have it than not! :D:D

 

I think you are being a bit hard on yourself to say that you feel in some way you have to become "deserving of the treatment of repeaters/longstanding SB's get"! We were on our very first SB last year - with you on the same journey - why do you feel you were treated any differently to return guests? I really would be interested as to why you felt like this?

[jimmyw9]

Jimmyw9 - As my DH is still working, we can only get away for one big holiday a year and we have the same approach as you, or at least I do;), pack it - rather have it than not! :D:D

 

I think you are being a bit hard on yourself to say that you feel in some way you have to become "deserving of the treatment of repeaters/longstanding SB's get"! We were on our very first SB last year - with you on the same journey - why do you feel you were treated any differently to return guests? I really would be interested as to why you felt like this?

 

Well probably seem quite petty really...

 

No invitation to the Seabourn Club Reception. We assumed since crossings tend to be club member heavy, I think there were a couple hundred at least on that cruise, then they probably need to exclude some. It was a shame since I find the trivia i.e. number of days sailed by members/member crossing milestone days interesting (sad I know). But it was a shame when we were told after that some friends had took other friends who were newbies along just the hell of it. But we would not just show up as we did not have an invite.

 

Invitations to officers tables. i enjoy hearing them recount stories of previous voyages etc. When we were on the Quest last September we were invited to the Captains table and it was interesting hearing about the Quest making a rescue in med back in the summer.

 

These may seem petty, but friends who have 100's of days sailing with Seabourn are not overlooked on such matters.

 

All I am saying is it will be nice when we reach those dizzy heights of fame :)

 

Jimmy

[fairbourne]

Well probably seem quite petty really...

 

No invitation to the Seabourn Club Reception. We assumed since crossings tend to be club member heavy, I think there were a couple hundred at least on that cruise, then they probably need to exclude some. It was a shame since I find the trivia i.e. number of days sailed by members/member crossing milestone days interesting (sad I know). But it was a shame when we were told after that some friends had took other friends who were newbies along just the hell of it. But we would not just show up as we did not have an invite.

 

Invitations to officers tables. i enjoy hearing them recount stories of previous voyages etc. When we were on the Quest last September we were invited to the Captains table and it was interesting hearing about the Quest making a rescue in med back in the summer.

 

These may seem petty, but friends who have 100's of days sailing with Seabourn are not overlooked on such matters.

 

All I am saying is it will be nice when we reach those dizzy heights of fame :)

 

Jimmy

 

 

Aaah Jimmy - don't you worry, the only invitations we received to hosted tables were by someone from Seabourn square (destinations person) which we declined as we had other plans, and one which I was happy to accept by Roger the wonderful singer, who was as it turned out a fabulous (and very handsome) host! We had seen him in the West End in the Lion King and he was brilliant in that so I was a very happy bunny to sit by him for dinner - and with the DH firmly planted at the other end of the table - and I didn't do the seating plans! LOL! Friends of ours sailing on the same voyage (again first time SB) were invited to the dancers' table and they really enjoyed that, but no officers for any of us. Anyway I did find the officers were very friendly out and about the ship and my DH was able to set up a meeting with one of the officers about water purification - you can bet your life I did not go to that! LOL! (He's in the oil business and they have the same challenge to provide safe drinking water etc on their rigs as they do on a ship and apparently on the Quest they have some latest system that he was interested in ..... are you asleep yet??? ;)

 

You could be right in that you have to work your way up! If we ever find ourselves on the same cruise, I'll be sure and invite you to our table:D Our US friends came to your reception in your suite - now where was our invite???? LOL!;)

 

If it's any comfort we didn't even know about the Seabourn Club reception (no reason for us to know). Shouldn't you have had an automatic invite as you were past cruisers but maybe as you say the numbers were too many. I have just realised who you guys are - you were checking in and boarding at the exact same time as we were and the member of the crew who first greeted you was sooo excited to see you he was jumping up and down! That was so funny! That was you wasn't it???

[jimmyw9]

Aaah Jimmy - don't you worry, the only invitations we received to hosted tables were by someone from Seabourn square (destinations person) which we declined as we had other plans, and one which I was happy to accept by Roger the wonderful singer, who was as it turned out a fabulous (and very handsome) host! We had seen him in the West End in the Lion King and he was brilliant in that so I was a very happy bunny to sit by him for dinner - and with the DH firmly planted at the other end of the table - and I didn't do the seating plans! LOL! Friends of ours sailing on the same voyage (again first time SB) were invited to the dancers' table and they really enjoyed that, but no officers for any of us. Anyway I did find the officers were very friendly out and about the ship and my DH was able to set up a meeting with one of the officers about water purification - you can bet your life I did not go to that! LOL! (He's in the oil business and they have the same challenge to provide safe drinking water etc on their rigs as they do on a ship and apparently on the Quest they have some latest system that he was interested in ..... are you asleep yet??? ;)

 

You could be right in that you have to work your way up! If we ever find ourselves on the same cruise, I'll be sure and invite you to our table:D Our US friends came to your reception in your suite - now where was our invite???? LOL!;)

 

If it's any comfort we didn't even know about the Seabourn Club reception (no reason for us to know). Shouldn't you have had an automatic invite as you were past cruisers but maybe as you say the numbers were too many. I have just realised who you guys are - you were checking in and boarding at the exact same time as we were and the member of the crew who first greeted you was sooo excited to see you he was jumping up and down! That was so funny! That was you wasn't it???

 

:) Yes that was us!

We had a ball. We were told by some friends that it was the best suite party they had been to.:cool:

I guess we would qualify for club things on cruises that don't have so many club members on. It is likely that on a 7 day med cruise there won't be so many club members as were on the crossing and therefore would have been higher up in the pecking order. They could have left a card saying that they were oversubscirbed on this cruise, but we value your loyalty..blah blah....you know what I mean. I know you can sometime luck out on hosted tables and sometime you don't. Some hosts are interesting and recount interesting stories.

[fairbourne]

I seem to remember they turned up for dinner rather squiffy! LOL! So we had to catch up fast! ;)

 

What a fabulous welcome back on board a ship and as newbies, lovely for us to see as well. :D

 

I look forward to meeting you again on board some day and we can all be dressed to the nines! :D

[jimmyw9]

I seem to remember they turned up for dinner rather squiffy! LOL! So we had to catch up fast! ;)

 

What a fabulous welcome back on board a ship and as newbies, lovely for us to see as well. :D

 

I look forward to meeting you again on board some day and we can all be dressed to the nines! :D

 

Yes the bar man we had serving in our suite was, shall we say heavy handed! :)

Yes hopefully see you on a Seabourn ship sometime soon....all dressed up to the nines as you say:p

[redheadednancy]

Well probably seem quite petty really...

 

No invitation to the Seabourn Club Reception. We assumed since crossings tend to be club member heavy, I think there were a couple hundred at least on that cruise, then they probably need to exclude some. It was a shame since I find the trivia i.e. number of days sailed by members/member crossing milestone days interesting (sad I know). But it was a shame when we were told after that some friends had took other friends who were newbies along just the hell of it. But we would not just show up as we did not have an invite.

 

Invitations to officers tables. i enjoy hearing them recount stories of previous voyages etc. When we were on the Quest last September we were invited to the Captains table and it was interesting hearing about the Quest making a rescue in med back in the summer.

 

These may seem petty, but friends who have 100's of days sailing with Seabourn are not overlooked on such matters.

 

All I am saying is it will be nice when we reach those dizzy heights of fame :)

 

Jimmy

Jimmy, as we were on the Quest and did go to the club reception and have been on a number of month long Seabourn cruises, I want you to know that I do not think Seabourn is organized enough to exclude you! I think it was pure chance. They would not do that, I would put money on. If it is oversubscribed, everyone stands or circulates in and out. On our last month long cruise there were several "overlooked", not excluded. They got extreme apologies and roses. There also is really no rhyme nor reason to the invitations except they do try to have people who have 300 or more days definitely at tables and it is easy for them to do because they know them. However, I think the system is not managed well at all and with all the new help and bigger ships, they do flounder at times with a system that was essentially pretty well run on the smaller ships

[JaneBP]

My observation is that one can never tell at a hosted table which one will be spectacular and which one dead boring. The talent is in the verb 'host'. Of course, the evening it was me, the Engineer, and 8 Germans all of whom were friends is another story, which I have often told.

[jimmyw9]

Jimmy, as we were on the Quest and did go to the club reception and have been on a number of month long Seabourn cruises, I want you to know that I do not think Seabourn is organized enough to exclude you! I think it was pure chance. They would not do that, I would put money on. If it is oversubscribed, everyone stands or circulates in and out. On our last month long cruise there were several "overlooked", not excluded. They got extreme apologies and roses. There also is really no rhyme nor reason to the invitations except they do try to have people who have 300 or more days definitely at tables and it is easy for them to do because they know them. However, I think the system is not managed well at all and with all the new help and bigger ships, they do flounder at times with a system that was essentially pretty well run on the smaller ships

 

Well that is useful to know the magic figure is 300! At least I can set my expectations at the right level for say....mmmm......the next 10 years until we break through that milestone :) Matthew and I thought that it must have been a mistake at us ending up at the captains table back in September. It is a shame we did not get roses or an apology:(

[redheadednancy]

Well that is useful to know the magic figure is 300! At least I can set my expectations at the right level for say....mmmm......the next 10 years until we break through that milestone :) Matthew and I thought that it must have been a mistake at us ending up at the captains table back in September. It is a shame we did not get roses or an apology:(

Jimmy, I didn't say it right, don't know exact number (probably should have said "many Seabourn days" but people with many days know many people and the people who got the apologies and the roses were those that made a stink about it! You didn't do that. It wasn't a mistake you ended up at Captains table, just the luck of the draw. They do try to spread it around. There just aren't enough captains for all in one cruise!! Seven years ago when we took our first Seabourn cruise on the little sisters, we were only one of two couples that had never sailed Seabourn before, and we both got to go to the Captain's table. That was the old days.

 

As for the hosted tables, Jane is right, some are absolute bombs and some are great, depending on host and who is sitting next to you on each side because they break up couples. I can usually talk to the wall but I sure have had some difficult ones next to me, that is why not being invited is a mixed blessing. I think we were only at one table on the Quest crossing. By the way, were you two sitting one night in the restaurant with two other gentleman friends. You all had white jackets on and I commented how nice everyone looked? Was that you two?

[lincslady]

Jimmy - May I just reinforce what Nancy has said. Invitations to tables don't seem to bear any relation to how many cruises you have done, or to whose table you are invited. Maybe they just toss the names into the air. However, I have noticed that people travelling alone do, quite rightly, get more invitations to give them the chance to meet others. Regarding the Club reception, I am quite sure that everyone who has sailed before, even once, is supposed to get an invitation, however many there may be, and it was definitely just a mistake on the part of whoever was supposed to be in charge. As was said, you didn't get an apology because you didn't make a fuss! And obviously you were not the only ones.

[SandyK1968]

Jimmy

 

I feel I need to add my penny's worth to this board! I'm pretty sure that the lack of invite to the Club Reception was an oversight, though a really annoying one, if you wanted to go. I know that invites sometimes disappear from doors ( I know that we've had the odd chaser call about a dinner invite which we never received).

 

I'm glad to hear that gentlemen still take care to dress elegantly..I do think that the effort pays off . We are doing the Odyssey TA next month with a couple of young men whose sartorial sense renders my husband green eyed with envy ( that is until they see his kilt and then it's the other way around).

 

As for hosted tables, I'm afraid that as a mother of 2 little ones, I cherish the time we get to spend alone on Seabourn and almost always decline invites to hosted tables, but as we're sailing with friends, I'm sure that it'll be more good cheer and less fine romance.

 

But perhaps not as much good cheer as you had at your in suite party!