.......idle jottings

[ho-hum]

Ho-Hum, I stand corrected. One thing a man of the West can do is take blame when due. It is, after all, triple digit heat out here so a cooling beverage or two can affect memory. I do remember watching Gunsmoke re runs the other day but my all time favorite (favourite) is Have Gun, Will Travel. Richard Boone was a mean Paladin. On a side note, should you and Blondie ever return to the scene of whatever resulted in Ho-Hum Road, I do have the entire John Wayne collection on disc for your edification. Many of his best Shoot Em Ups were filmed locally.:D

 

Sounds a swell idea, pardner, might mosey on down and share a few suds out on the ranch bucco. (Sorry this is the best attempt ho hum can muster).

Thanks for the kind offer Jim.

Keep cool as best you can.

 

Did you read about the tragic shooting in Payson on Tuesday ?

[Jim Avery]

Sounds a swell idea, pardner, might mosey on down and share a few suds out on the ranch bucco. (Sorry this is the best attempt ho hum can muster).

Thanks for the kind offer Jim.

Keep cool as best you can.

 

Did you read about the tragic shooting in Payson on Tuesday ?

 

Yes, very small child found a gun. I wonder why such small children were left unattended? As you said, tragic.

[ho-hum]

Ho hum, being married to a Brit I am reminded daily of my status as a cherished colonist.;) And being married to a Brit, I am served a G&T every afternoon to ensure my continued good health and to ward off malaria.:) Only allowed martinis on special occasions (English wins at the World Cup), I'm afraid.:eek:

 

As for my Commodore status, it is definitely first class (I am in charge of a yacht club) and bordering on becoming Lord of the Admiralty should Mr. Carney need assistance.

 

As for kids, Jim will be pleased to know that I do not allow them on my yacht, and especially never on the poop deck. Atle at SD has a different policy.

 

I look forward to your continued addled jottings. :D

 

 

When esteemed seamen like yourself say they "run a tight ship" does that mean they are.....errr under the influence ?

[Jim Avery]

When esteemed seamen like yourself say they "run a tight ship" does that mean they are.....errr under the influence ?

 

Always worked for me.:eek::eek::D

[ho-hum]

And so to paraphrase the Monty Python's "Parrot" sketch.

 

This thread is no more!

It has ceased to be!

It's expired and gone to meet 'is maker!

It's a stiff!

Bereft of life

It rests in peace!

It's pushing up the daisies!

It's metabolic processes are now 'istory!

It's off the twig!

It's kicked the bucket

It's shuffled off 'is mortal coil

It's run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!!

THIS IS AN EX-THREAD !!

 

Before the band of "grumpy old men" and "easily offended women" jump on poor old ho hum calling on him to be "drummed out" of the forum.

 

Please allow ho hum to finalise a view in just one more post on the subject.

Ho hum concedes he has gone on far too long on this issue and he sees several of you mouthing "Oh my God, he's off on one again ! Get to the damn point" !

Tomorrow, tomorrow, the end is nigh !

 

PS For the actual Monty Python sketch see;

[ho-hum]

And so it comes to this. Here is ho hum almost at the end of this enquiry.

 

And so what remain out of all this broo-haha ?

 

What remains, is the appalling and downright rudeness of non-communication and non-response from SD management/owner in addressing legitimate concerns raised by loyal and repeating clients.

It's just damnably rude and from a Norwegian of some breeding t'boot !

Quite Extraordinary !

 

If this were not bad enough, the company appears unable to clearly identify who their actual market is aimed at and so with desperate ploys there is an un-dignified scramble touting for anybody who can crawl up the gangway.

 

Ho hum cannot believe the problem lay with shoreside management.

Surely any half competent company these days would clearly understand the importance of responding to their clients concerns.

 

The departure of the former CEO (who undertook a thorough enquiry into the strengths and weaknesses of the company) is most likely due to the intransigence of the owner to address concerns. Dont anybody believe she felt like a career change.

 

It seems SD are wondering around dazed and confused, completely dis-regarding the faithful regulars who adore the actual ship experience and crew and without whom there would be no Sea Dream as they consistently are in the majority of most voyages.

 

So increase that loyal customer base by addressing their concerns thus preventing disappointed clients moving away from Sea Dream and actually incentivise the existing loyal client base by encouraging them to bring similar minded new clients to the Sea Dream experience at a slightly discounted rate and finally, give some kind of damn loyalty reward to the existing client base (however small).

 

All of these minor discounted inducements are far more effective than the expensive one-off itineraries which are poorly booked and hence provide in-sufficient revenue and the crazy costs of commissions paid to TAs on charters.

 

It has gone beyond issues (Engines, Kids, Itineraries, Charters and "booze" in darling lincslady's case or whatever next month's issue may be).

 

And it has even gone beyond lack of communication as there appears to be an autistic level of insularity and criticism just cannot be tolerated let alone addressed to find a solution.

 

It stops at the owner, pure and simple.

A man who has seriously wandered off into a distorted reality and who has insulated himself from listening to adverse criticism and (probably) restricts his entourage from addressing criticism too.

 

So we each individually have to choose whether we accept Sea Dream as it is.

Now some will and some will not.

The "refusniks" have been absolutely clear and have very credible reasons which ho hum concurs with.

HOWEVER

When all is said and done.

The onboard experience and crew remains overwhelmingly the BEST out there (though this too may be at threat....you will have to wait for yet another post for ho hum to elucidate),

 

Another break.

[ho-hum]

Sorry ho hum mislead you (and himself) there are yet another few parts to this ....broo-haha.

And they will have to wait a few days as Ho hum has two consecutive weddings to attend in different parts of southern England.

 

The reception for one of them is in a Mongolian yurt in a damn field ! A yurt is a tent with large ruddy gaps around the bottom thus allowing wind to funnel through, perfect if you are cooking a Mongolian yak but not if you wish to keep warm !

Ho hum is told it's trendy these days.

Comfortable is the only trendy ho hum does and with a good drink t'boot !

Rumours are, that an inferior brand of prosecco is the choice for the happy occasion.

Not happy for ho hum.

And the weather dont look good either.

Blondie is already half demented worrying how her shoes will fair in the mud that will likely ensue when rain deluges grass.

How will she keep warm and look knock out.

What does one wear with Wellington boots !

Oh hell !

The arguments are brooding.

Both of us are fully armed with varying wound inflicting retorts and ready to lob them at one another.

At the moment an eerie silence and grave foreboding is all that is evident.

Ho hum's biggest worry is just how long he can keep the fixed smile going.

 

The first wedding is not without it's peculiarities either but as ho hum suspects the father of the bride may be reading this thread all ho hum can say is how much he is looking forward to it and will relish the lavish amounts of champagne provided (in which ho hum gave his valued expertise in their choice whether it was requested or not).

If ho hum discovers that his friend is not a reader of this thread then of course he will spill the beans and reveal the "accommodation" he has selected for himself, his missus and ho hum and blondie !

But the poor guy has already exceeded the immense budget for the wedding a few times over (probably due to ho hum's choice of champagne) and will be in no mood to endure ho hum's snivelling criticism of the special day.

Quite rightly dear chap.

Ho hum realises more and more the world does'nt revolve around him !

[JES4845]

Bravo on all counts!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[ho-hum]

And if you are wondering has ho hum ever told the owner this, well he tried.

In a mis-guided spirit of fraternity coupled with a "we can work it out attitude".

He wrote to him asking whether ho hum could visit him in Oslo and take him to a restaurant of his choice to put across this point of view.

Yes he would even go to a Raw Cuisine restaurant but he would at least insist on drinking (the owner is a paragon of virtue and does not imbibe; what kind of creature is this Spock ?).

 

Naturally there was no reply.

 

Ho hum felt a little foolish for reaching out and rejected. But humility was learnt (yet again),

Who the hell does he (ho hum) think he is ? He is not important in the scale of things.

Tis true but something did'nt give in but now, well........maybe it's time, maybe ho hum is slowly accepting the way of things.

 

Its also time for the owner to accept the way of things.

Frankly he is not up for the job anymore.

Nice knowing you, yes you were great in the early days, a real legend but now......no, tis time to let go and settle into glass blowing in a far off Norwegian island with no communication except a postal delivery once a month depending on the weather.

 

Make way for a new dynamism that is open to communicate and that actually loves to communicate and is damn proud of the product and who can enhance and promote the classic experience doing the classic itineraries with the amazing crew.

 

One final aspect that the owner lacks and a damn important aspect it is.

He is not a hotelier nor does he understand a hotelier's importance in creating an ambience onboard.

Ho hum suspects this is also lacking in the management too.

An owner of any establishment who is a hotelier or who fully appreciates the role of a hotelier gives the establishment confidence, "swagger" even, style, panache, attention to detail, ambience, joie de vivre.

Furthermore he has a knack of attracting the best at service. These tend to have "artistic" temperaments and need careful nurturing and care but when they are on song, they can make a voyage. They also have the capacity of running up to three times more tables than the rest !

This owner does not have a clue, more so he sees privilege or style as abhorrent.

It is against his spirit-crushing, ultra-Protestant principles where, assuming he actually were able to celebrate anything in his life, it would be plain-ness.

Norwegians generally are the plainest, dullest people on the planet.

They make Amish look a fun crowd.

God they are dull despite copious amounts of alcohol morning, noon and night and a very liberal sexual outlook (maybe ho hum will tell you the story one day).

Of course there are always exceptions to the rule and it has been a delight and pleasure to meet up with individuals and couples but collectively !

Dire stuff !

It seems they fall into a collective consciousness akin to a cross between a provincial Town Council meeting and Quaker service where it is customary for each male in the assembly to actually stand up and give a monotone speech about moose hunting or snow or the like.

Of course this creates absolute havoc with serving.

Ten courses come out under domes, a Norwegian stands up, the waiter carrying domes do a quick tour of the deck and disappear in the wings whilst they frantically pray the speech ends soon so they can return the continually cooling meals.

If the speech is particularly long winded then the meals do another tour back to the galley.

A period of further waiting ensues whilst the chef cooks up another ten or more dinners. Sensing a lapse in service, the next Norwegian arises to outdo the last one in numbing boringness soon before another round of capped meals come out which the horrified waiters see that another speech has started ! Ad infinitum !

 

Ho hum did meet a Norwegian hotelier once on Sea Dream and he was bowled over by the experience onboard. He had fun ! Worrying, what is this feeling ?

And he ran one of the top hotels in Oslo but he was dull, terribly correct but oh so duuuuuulllllllllll.

 

By the way have you seen what the owner and Mrs.Owner have done to the main salon on SDII !

It resembles an uber-chaotic disco in 1970 Oslo.

Cold silver and greys with fu-fu blinds that are already sagging.

Very often the air-conditioning in the rear seated area (opposite bar side) goes into overdrive; you now feel you are in a freezer !

Pay for an interior designer guys !

Thank God they left the dining salon in tact, unfortunately they did nothing to re-stuff the saggy bottomed chairs either so that people's chins are set about a foot off the table !

 

Before the Administrator bans ho hum from this forum, there is just one more criticism and then frivolity can return.

[Jim Avery]

Once again you are on the mark Mr. Hum. You might have heard it here (albeit with a lesser word count) first concerning issues with owner/management. I regretted Larry Pimentel's departure as he was a customer oriented and approachable executive. Pam Conover might have had a shot as well but why bother hiring good people if you refuse to get out of the way and let them do the jobs for which they were hired? You make many excellent points. Keep up the good work!

[commodoredave]

Ho hum and Jim, your comments are all correct. But a good number of SD pax are sheep, and they will follow the owner off a cliff regardless of his arrogant attitude. Let's just hope that when the sheep are gone and no longer filling cabins, that the owner will wake up and pass on leadership of SD to a more capable and younger executive who will bring the line back to what it should be.

[ho-hum]

The irony is not overlooked by ho hum, that without the owner there would be no Sea Dream in the first place !

 

He was one of the most talented persons in the industry and was hugely admired whose contribution was immense.

The upgrading of the vessel from Sea Goddess to Sea Dream was beautifully undertaken providing one of the most unique vessels of style creating fabulous open deck areas for outside dining as well as the famous TOYB.

He has a loyalty to the crew and shoreside personnel and they to him, retaining some long serving key personnel that demonstrates testimony to the man for being a great boss and creating a family like atmosphere of personnel with great experience.

A particularly remarkable occurrence in any business but especially with the highly fluid interchange of personnel in the cruising industry.

Ho hum believes him to be a kind person and principled and trusts him to be fair and honest too.

There is so much to admire and praise.

 

Ho hum will be ever grateful for all the wonderful times onboard and the wonderful people he met as well as the wonderful crew.

Sometimes ho hum pinches himself and says to himself "where in the world can you have an experience like this" nowhere, it is truly remarkable and unique and maintains an amazing level of repeaters that surely is the envy of most in the cruising industry.

 

The loyalty and love of Sea Dream is not blind nor is it unconditional and this important re-balancing of critique shows an historic acknowledgement of captivating reasons for supporting and enjoying Sea Dream in the past.

[JES4845]

Both enjoyed ho hum's postings while sad they are right on the mark as to the future. Speaking of which, I seek to recall a recent posting where it was implied that one or more key crew might be departing. Any news to report on that front?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[ho-hum]

Both enjoyed ho hum's postings while sad they are right on the mark as to the future. Speaking of which, I seek to recall a recent posting where it was implied that one or more key crew might be departing. Any news to report on that front?QUOTE]

 

 

Oh no, nothing implied by ho hum (and ho hum would'nt possibly say even if he knew !),

 

Of course personnel leave quite regularly for all sorts of the usual reasons but their term of employment is really quite long compared to other lines where turnover of crew is more frequent.

Ho hum has been told they are well paid in comparison to other companies but they do work a lot harder and generally have to share accommodation.

Yet Sea Dream is unlike any other lines and there is greater job satisfaction and camaraderie.

And not forgetting, there are a significant number of former crew wishing to return after "time out" or finding the "grass was not greener".

 

But what ho hum can say is the pressure these guys are under is increasing and it is beginning to show and the non-renewing of contracts by senior personnel is potentially more likely as well as requests for time off above and beyond the usual rotation periods to allow them to re-calibrate their lives.

 

Suffice to say running an older ship and maintaining it's components, increased ship compliances and the demand for information from Oslo on top of their ship-side duties is an immense responsibility creating long working days combined with the added responsibility to shoreside management, passengers, fellow crew etc... which can be occasionally exacerbated by "requests" to extend long and arduous contracts if a suitable replacement is not found to replace them at the end of their contracts which only creates even more stress when they are further kept away from family and shoreside friends.

 

The Asian itinerary was particularly demanding in so many ways (heat, humidity, air-con problems etc..) chiefly not being able to leave the vessel as frequently as they had been used to, in order to have some restorative R&R.

[commodoredave]

The irony is not overlooked by ho hum, that without the owner there would be no Sea Dream in the first place !

 

He was one of the most talented persons in the industry and was hugely admired whose contribution was immense.

The upgrading of the vessel from Sea Goddess to Sea Dream was beautifully undertaken providing one of the most unique vessels of style creating fabulous open deck areas for outside dining as well as the famous TOYB.

He has a loyalty to the crew and shoreside personnel and they to him, retaining some long serving key personnel that demonstrates testimony to the man for being a great boss and creating a family like atmosphere of personnel with great experience.

A particularly remarkable occurrence in any business but especially with the highly fluid interchange of personnel in the cruising industry.

Ho hum believes him to be a kind person and principled and trusts him to be fair and honest too.

There is so much to admire and praise.

 

Ho hum will be ever grateful for all the wonderful times onboard and the wonderful people he met as well as the wonderful crew.

Sometimes ho hum pinches himself and says to himself "where in the world can you have an experience like this" nowhere, it is truly remarkable and unique and maintains an amazing level of repeaters that surely is the envy of most in the cruising industry.

 

The loyalty and love of Sea Dream is not blind nor is it unconditional and this important re-balancing of critique shows an historic acknowledgement of captivating reasons for supporting and enjoying Sea Dream in the past.

 

The world of business is littered with the carcases of arrogant leaders who stayed too long and lost the plot. There is nothing wrong with SD that a change of leadership would not fix, and fix quickly.

[ho-hum]

Well Jim, ho hum has you in his sights old chap: this views on this thread are becoming close to your all time highest thread: the catchy entitled:

"SD II November 29, ST. Maarten/San Juan, preview/review"

 

Ho hum was intrigued how Jim's thread created such interest and large number of views, so he returned to read the opening post which he has part edited and copied below:

 

"The voyage starts when you receive the document. I GOT MINE!! The new folder is, in my opinion, an improvement over the zippered day planner format. It is a blue leather and cream canvas travel wallet (for lack of a better term) 10" high by 5.5" wide and should fit into an inside jacket pocket. The inside has a large pocket with the passage contract and itinerary and is also large enough for boarding passes/hotel reservations, etc. Also included are two very nice blue leather and cream canvas luggage tags with the SeaDream logo embroidered on one side. An informative "Welcome Aboard" brochure with all the amenities, rules, etc. and two cards with all the SDII contact info (for the baby sitter or better yet dog sitter) in case anyone needs to contact you and finally, a welcome back Club Member card inviting you to email them the name you wish on your personalized PJs"

 

You are kiddin' right ?

You wrote about the folder !

Gripping, on the edge of your seat stuff !

Cant wait for more !

Haha

 

A small point: the folder is 10"x5.5" and can fit in an inside jacket pocket !

Really ? Where on earth do you buy your jackets ? The Magic Circle props department !

Something big enough to also store a pair of doves, white rabbits and a couple of bunches of flowers too, no doubt !

Or do you carry around huge wads of cash !

[Jim Avery]

Well Jim, ho hum has you in his sights old chap: this views on this thread are becoming close to your all time highest thread: the catchy entitled:

"SD II November 29, ST. Maarten/San Juan, preview/review"

 

Ho hum was intrigued how Jim's thread created such interest and large number of views, so he returned to read the opening post which he has part edited and copied below:

 

"The voyage starts when you receive the document. I GOT MINE!! The new folder is, in my opinion, an improvement over the zippered day planner format. It is a blue leather and cream canvas travel wallet (for lack of a better term) 10" high by 5.5" wide and should fit into an inside jacket pocket. The inside has a large pocket with the passage contract and itinerary and is also large enough for boarding passes/hotel reservations, etc. Also included are two very nice blue leather and cream canvas luggage tags with the SeaDream logo embroidered on one side. An informative "Welcome Aboard" brochure with all the amenities, rules, etc. and two cards with all the SDII contact info (for the baby sitter or better yet dog sitter) in case anyone needs to contact you and finally, a welcome back Club Member card inviting you to email them the name you wish on your personalized PJs"

 

You are kiddin' right ?

You wrote about the folder !

Gripping, on the edge of your seat stuff !

Cant wait for more !

Haha

 

A small point: the folder is 10"x5.5" and can fit in an inside jacket pocket !

Really ? Where on earth do you buy your jackets ? The Magic Circle props department !

Something big enough to also store a pair of doves, white rabbits and a couple of bunches of flowers too, no doubt !

Or do you carry around huge wads of cash !

 

Mr. Hum, why else book SeaDream except for the wonderful folders they provide? Obviously, by the view count, people want to know about such details. Food? No, every cruise has food. "Free drinks"? Not hardly. But the nice folder? Only SD has that! And I buy travel jackets at Travelsmith which holds my unique SeaDream folder nicely, thank you very much. I leave my doves at home as they are rather messy creatures. Same for the rabbits but I do carry cash, though not in the copious amounts you are known for. I strive to one day have that room full of Pound notes you have there at Posh Palace. I will need to borrow a few when I come over to pay my debts.:eek:

[Jim Avery]

And you went back to page 14 to find that?? Waaaaayyyyyy too much time on your hands when not on SeaDream, Mr. Hum.:D

[ho-hum]

And you went back to page 14 to find that?? Waaaaayyyyyy too much time on your hands when not on SeaDream, Mr. Hum.:D

 

Well quite a few corrections and rebuttals to get through from Jim's short missive but ho hum knows you're a stickler for accuracy, so let's get started:

1. The post ho hum quoted, was (as actually previously advised) Jim's opening post (please read ho hum's post more closely).

The post was on Page 1, post 1, not page 14. So no "going back" was involved and anyway would'nt that involve initially require going back and then going forward ?

2. In a day, nobody actually has more time than anyone else? It is quite evenly distributed actually. One of God's actual successes. Yes the one who took just seven days (without any outside contractors too) to create the world or was it the universe too ? And what about the multi-universes ? Maybe he did sub-contract those out.

3. Time is not actually on one's hands. More like the mind. However the body does have circadian rhythms but they are not confined to hands.

4. In replying to the post twice ! Does it not demonstrate that JA too may be suffering from this same, yet to be verified, affliction. Please note that ho hum has shortened Jim Avery's name to just the initials to save further time (although ironically writing this has actually taken more time to do so than writing the full name in the first place).

5. Some people make it their life's work to study the works of Shakespeare. Ho hum prefers to devote every minute of his time studying the works of Jim "The Legend" Avery. Ho hum feels it gives him a wider education and understanding of the world (and there are much funnier lines).

6. Ho hum posts mainly on one thread, yet Jim posts at any one time on 5-6. Kindly correctly re-arrange the following popular phrase: black - the - kettle - calling- pot.

7. Ho hum has to find as much dross as possible from any conceivable source to feed the post hungry hoards out there, as you should understand with your post of the description and excitement of receiving a folder ! Padding out at it's absolute finest with no care at all for sustaining the interest of the poor, excitement lacking reader. Quite cruel, if one thinks about it but demonstrates a master at his work.

8. Quoting Jim Avery or making reference to Jim Avery helps tremendously to create interest as readers love a star to read about.

9. It also helps tremendously with increasing views and thus edge closer to passing Jim Avery's highest viewed thread. How deviously cunning.

10. It also helps when two additional valuable replies are received as it also increases the overall number of replies. Going back, one sees that this thread is 8 places higher than JAs highest replied thread. So maybe this was a trick Jim overlooked.

11. And when one casts one's rod and you land two Jim Avery reply posts: well there is no finer feeling of accomplishment. Of course being a sport, ho hum releases the netted Jim Averys back in the forum waters, eventually. Only to be caught yet again and so continually increase the view numbers exacerbating Jim further. Fine example of the "triple whammy",

12. Ho hum was requested by a lady called Lois from Arizona to keep posting as it kept her husband busy around the house (which she liked) as opposed to running off every hour of the day to the ranch for gun shootin' practice ! No matter how hard he practices, that barn door remains wholly un-scathed. Happy to help Lois.

13. Ho hum hopes this is sufficient to start with. Parts 2,3 & 4 in ho hum's elaborated reply will be appearing over consecutive days.

14. For green, fuel efficient, minded readers; this post took just 7 minutes 23 seconds to write: so little time wasted but it gives some much pleasure.

15. It was also written in a comfortable partly elevated position in bed only requiring two inner digits to type. So also very energy efficient, ho hum hopes you agree.

 

Jim, aaahhh that pint of beer ! Ever closer, ever closer.

Haha

[Jim Avery]

I surrender!:eek: I know when I am whipped. Your view count mounts prodigiously daily. I will pay off my debt. The only thing better than a good pint is a good pint someone else buys. I do have one correction to the corrections though. I was referring to page 14 of the SeaDream threads, not page 14 of my review thread. You had to go back to page 14 of the SD threads to find it. Weird.:D If you really have a desire to study my works, you might also check over at Cunard, Princess, Seabourn, Paul Gauguin, and an occasional River Cruise post. I am still researching public records over here to try and deduce what it was that caused the town of Carefree to name a road after you. I am sure it will turn up.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Jim Avery

[ho-hum]

Two beloved crew members say "I Do"...Fatima & Doramas

Love is in the air!

Two of SeaDream I’s favorite crew members are getting married in the Philippines Saturday, June 14.

Waiter Doramas Calderin and stewardess Fatima Perez will tie the knot at the Lord’s Transfiguration Parish Church in Pampanga province on the island of Luzon in the north of the country.

Courtesy of Sea Dream Facebook.

[ho-hum]

Underwater ?

[CDreamer]

Two beloved crew members say "I Do"...Fatima & Doramas

Love is in the air!

Two of SeaDream I’s favorite crew members are getting married in the Philippines Saturday, June 14.

Waiter Doramas Calderin and stewardess Fatima Perez will tie the knot at the Lord’s Transfiguration Parish Church in Pampanga province on the island of Luzon in the north of the country.

Courtesy of Sea Dream Facebook.

 

Aw, that's wonderful news - congrats to Doramas and Fatima!

[knotheadusc]

Awesome!

[commodoredave]

Congrats to Doramas and his bride to be.