Seabourn Odyssey - 6 Stars or NOT

[MARIANH]

I am pretty sure that caviar is still freely available, t

 

I have to say, again, that complaining about the unchanging canapes in the Observation Bar without managing to discover the completely changing little plates of canapes in the Club Bar seems a bit unadventurous to me. Both are pleasant venues to my mind; the Observation noisier and more 'chatty', the Club Bar quieter but just as enjoyable, with a pleasant quiet singer/guitarist playing for a while after 6.30.

 

Many thanks ref caviar.

 

Since you mention the Observation Lounge and wishing in no way to fan the flames, could I ask if it is now a "smoke-free"area. When we were last enjoying a pre prandial ( or two) there two years ago, smoking rendered the Lounge a "no go" area for us.

 

Not trying to be inflammatory nor reviving the smoking debate!

[lincslady]

You are safe from smoke in the Observation Bar prior to 8 p.m., so fine for most people preprandially (is that a word?) but smoking is allowed after 8, now on the port side! We have never gone there after 8, obviously all depends on the number of smokers on board.

 

I think the demographic varies a lot from cruise to cruise regarding busyness at the bars, but on our recent ones the seats at the bar in the Observation Lounge have been full, with lots of chat going on, whereas the Club has been quieter - this is on the new ships, of course. I think the opposite applied on the little ships. The music in both venues before dinner was pleasant and quiet, the guitar/singer in the Club and a pianist in the Observation Lounge.

[lincslady]

Nigella - yes, our cruise was a definite 14 days. I quite agree about inconsistency, it should be stopped so that everyone can make up their minds about whether they want to be aboard if there is no regular opening of the dining room for breakfast and lunch. We prefer the Colonnade anyway, but the inconsistency is aggravating. Incidentally, most days there were only about 5 or 6 tables occupied in the dining room for breakfast and lunch when we walked through, and the opening hours are not too good, just an hour for each. I do get the feeling that it is the individual Hotel Director's decision.

[Nigella]

Nigella - yes, our cruise was a definite 14 days. I quite agree about inconsistency, it should be stopped so that everyone can make up their minds about whether they want to be aboard if there is no regular opening of the dining room for breakfast and lunch. We prefer the Colonnade anyway, but the inconsistency is aggravating. Incidentally, most days there were only about 5 or 6 tables occupied in the dining room for breakfast and lunch when we walked through, and the opening hours are not too good, just an hour for each. I do get the feeling that it is the individual Hotel Director's decision.

 

Thank you.

I agree with you, from my experience in September and other poster's comments here on CC, it does seem that it's up to the individual HD.

On our longer cruise on Sojourn this year it was only open for an hour for both breakfast and lunch, same as yours.

[PaulaJK]

We had booked a Feb/March 2016 cruise...wrote to HQ and inquired re: MDR for lunch. Took more than a week to get a reply [perhaps really investigating] ...and the answer was that they could not say at this time. I guess that we can interpret this anyway that we wish but to me, at least, it meant that SB was no longer dedicated to keeping it open as they promote. So we cancelled and looked elsewhere.

[Bostonactor]

You cancelled your cruise because you might not be able to have lunch in the MDR?

[LEESRE]

Must agree with the OP on our last sailing with Seabourn (This Year) we felt as though things were starting to slip.

We asked each evening for our meal in the MDR to be HOT but most nights they were only just warm. This is after speaking to the Maitre'd about it and even asking when we left the MDR each night, how was the food!!

[Nigella]

Must agree with the OP on our last sailing with Seabourn (This Year) we felt as though things were starting to slip.

We asked each evening for our meal in the MDR to be HOT but most nights they were only just warm. This is after speaking to the Maitre'd about it and even asking when we left the MDR each night, how was the food!!

 

I posted here about lukewarm food on our last cruise, but that was in the Colonnade at lunch.

It was a short cruise and we only dined in the MDR on a couple of evenings. The atmosphere in there this time was frantic, each time they were unable to give us a decent table away from the serving stations and it wasn't enjoyable. The food temperature was ok in the MDR though.

[galeforce9]

Update from sojourn. Lukewarm scrambled eggs this morning in colonnade. Actually nearer cold. No time to complain as off to Israeli immigration. However, happy to report that main dining room open for breakfast lunch and dinner so only using colonnade when it is a necessity. Mdr food is outstanding.

[Nigella]

Update from sojourn. Lukewarm scrambled eggs this morning in colonnade. Actually nearer cold. No time to complain as off to Israeli immigration. However, happy to report that main dining room open for breakfast lunch and dinner so only using colonnade when it is a necessity. Mdr food is outstanding.

 

Very good to read that the MDR food is outstanding.

Have a great trip to the Dead Sea.

(I love your puffin, btw!)

Edited November 3, 2015 by Nigella

[Able Seaman H]

If scrambled eggs too hot they will keep cooking and dry out.

 

As it is they are usually pretty good and not the usual over-cooked rubbish you normally get in a buffet.

 

Henry :)

[galeforce9]

If scrambled eggs too hot they will keep cooking and dry out.

 

 

 

As it is they are usually pretty good and not the usual over-cooked rubbish you normally get in a buffet.

 

 

 

Henry :)

 

 

They were excellent in the restaurant. Hot and perfectly done. Cooked to the same degree in the colonnade but then left to go cold. Anyway enough said but I knows my eggs :-)

[dalliowner]

This is the problem with all buffets and the reason I prefer the MDR

[Able Seaman H]

They were excellent in the restaurant. Hot and perfectly done. Cooked to the same degree in the colonnade but then left to go cold. Anyway enough said but I knows my eggs :-)

 

Obviously in a buffet they have to sit for some time. In the MDR they came to your table and were wolfed down immediately :)

 

I still maintain that for a buffet the scrambled eggs in the Colonnade are very good.

 

Henry :)

[wripro]

The best scrambled eggs I have ever had in my life were at the breakfast buffet at the Crillon in Paris. I don't know what they did to them but they were almost life changing. And they were luke warm, the perfect temperature to taste the complexity of the mysterious ingredients.

[RustyRollock]

We were on the same cruise as OP (review submitted) and agree that service could be very slow at times, especially the MDR (which was open for breakfast and lunch BTW). Several experienced Seabourners said that staff levels definitely seemed lower and there were other signs that the bean counters at head office had struck, eg, only Molton Brown toiletries available now. Was the cruise perfect? No, there's no such thing. Did we allow the really very minor irritations we experienced ruin our whole cruise? Absolutely not. Maybe we are more easily pleased or maybe we have realistic expectations in the first place.

[Emperor Norton]

I don't think there really is such a thing as six stars except where a cruise line like Regent awards itself that honorarium which means exactly nothing. Seabourn certainly does not do that.

 

All that aside a long discussion with the hotman should provide some improvement, unless of course, it's Vitor Alves, in which case things might actually get worse.

 

IIRC there was only five star lines/reviews until Crystal came about and then one guide said that they were that much better than the other 5 star lines. AFAIK the only line thats really jumped on that rating has been the one with some of the most dishonest claims/adverts: Regent.

Edited November 4, 2015 by Emperor Norton

[wripro]

Exactly! Never trust a rating that one gives oneself! Otherwise we'd all be six star passengers!

[Winner]

Exactly! Never trust a rating that one gives oneself! Otherwise we'd all be six star passengers!

 

And here I thought thee and me ARE 6*!

[wripro]

And here I thought thee and me ARE 6*!

 

Of course, present company excluded!

[2SailingNomads]

We were on the same cruise as the OP - and had been on for two weeks before they joined. Never did we wait more than maybe 20 minutes - and as I noted on another thread I do not like my meal rushed anyway - for a course to be delivered in the MDR. While I agree not everything was served "hot" neither was any dish we had lukewarm.

 

When you are on for 6+ weeks a lot of staff changes over so there were two different F&B managers while we were on: Michael - who is excellent and would take care of any little issue; and Kevin - who while I had no issues with him - was not as involved with the pax as Michael was. I never had a reason to seek Kevin out with a problem so I can't comment on his responsiveness but Michael took personally a request my wife had and insured it was always available for her. Michael got off shortly before the TA part (in Funchal I think) so I am relatively certain if the OP could had spoken to him he would have resolved their problem. (Sometimes just sitting with the right staff can make all the difference in service quality).

 

Teresa was the Hotel Manager after Stephan had to leave unexpectedly in Athens. She was always visible around the ship and interacting with the passengers and I am also sure if a problem was brought to her attention she would have contacted the passenger directly. Murat was the Guest Services manager - not sure when he got on but it was before Barcelona (Venice I think) and when an issue we had was brought to his attention he went out of his way to rectify it. So I am surprised by the comments of the OP. We found the senior people to be responsive to any issues we encountered.

 

To answered the caviar question: it was freely available. We last had some on Oct 27th, the day before we disembarked. Although we rarely take advantage of it, we just had to do so the last day :)

 

The cocktail hour crowds seemed to prefer the Observation Bar this cruise - which was comprised of 4 segments - so folks getting on still flocked to the OB. One disappointment was the OB used to have on the port side various small food offerings before dinner that you could serve yourself, that was no longer present. The Sky Bar was open until 7 every night and often pretty empty. Interestingly the Herald only listed the Sky Bar hours as 12-7, but in fact it was open almost every night from 9-11 - and usually no one was there since it was not listed in the Herald. Alex did not have too much to do most nights unless there was a Rock the Boat party.

[jenidallas]

When you are on for 6+ weeks a lot of staff changes over so there were two different F&B managers while we were on: Michael - who is excellent and would take care of any little issue; and Kevin - who while I had no issues with him - was not as involved with the pax as Michael was. I never had a reason to seek Kevin out with a problem so I can't comment on his responsiveness but Michael took personally a request my wife had and insured it was always available for her.

 

Kevin is at corporate in F&B now so I wonder if he was on more in transitional capacity or helping evaluate the TK transition? We have been on with him in the past where he's been overseeing changes in the service flow and when Odyssey was transitioning to the new kitchen plating standards last year. It definitely is a different feel when the corporate guys are on.

[mpfund]

My husband and I have just returned from 2 weeks on Europa 2 and found almost all of it just plain fabulous. Once I get past my jet lag I will post a review, but for now all I can say is that they really do deserve their #1 luxury spot.

[lincslady]

My husband and I have just returned from 2 weeks on Europa 2 and found almost all of it just plain fabulous. Once I get past my jet lag I will post a review, but for now all I can say is that they really do deserve their #1 luxury spot.

 

We all look forward to reading your review. One question - does it help to speak German? And if one doesn't, does one feel a bit out of it at all?

[Able Seaman H]

We all look forward to reading your review. One question - does it help to speak German? And if one doesn't, does one feel a bit out of it at all?

 

It is only recently that their website had an English version. I know I've visited in the past and dismissed on the grounds that I could find an English translation. I also found them very expensive, certainly more so than SB.

 

I've just popped onto their website again and it has a horrible drop down bar that descends every time you scroll upwards.

 

They obviously don't think English speaking punters have enough cash for the private jet Charabang trips. When you ask for "English" it throws you off and sends you back to the main site :)

 

Henry :)