Greetings from the Good Ship Odyssey

[Seas_The_Day]

My wife and I are currently on the 20-day Odyssey Panama Canal trip. I am pleased to report that this journey so far is about as close to perfect as can get. The staff is upbeat and energetic and they are going out of their way to please the passengers.

 

The food coming out of all the restaurants is some of the best we have had (we are seabourn diamond). Having been trained and have cooked in Europe for 5 years – I can tell you that they are doing an impressive job for the passengers. This is not a 12-table bistro. I’m confident you won’t find better on any cruise line

 

The complimentary wine choices are very good and offer a great variety. If one can’t find a couple of wines they really enjoy – My guess is they don’t want to find one.

 

The CD and Ass’t CD (Sophie and Meredith) are the best we have experienced. They are fun and unpretentious and are making an extraordinary effort to add a nice Christmas touch to our trip.

 

The Captain manages to delight the passengers each day with a short Christmas poem as part of his mid-day update.

 

Of course, we all experience a couple of hiccups, water glasses not refilled right away, or one of the crew being diverted for a short time etc. We had an incident where we had to reorder our dessert 3 times because they kept bringing the wrong one. We had a great laugh with the server about it and it turned out to be one of our most memorable moments on board. In the end, we got our dessert (which we didn’t really need anyway) and no one died!

 

Unfortunately there is always a small set of passengers who want to focus on the inevitable imperfections one will find in an operation this complex. But we are finding that the vast majority of passengers are interesting, upbeat and friendly. It's a genuine privilege to just be able to sit back enjoy the wonderful crew and the great experience they provide for us!

 

Overall – I would recommend the Odyssey and her extraordinary crew to anyone looking to book an amazing experience.

 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, Fair Winds and Calm Seas!

[frantic36]

Seas The Day,

 

Thank you for your perspective of how your cruise is going. We are looking forward to get on board Odyssey on 4 January so take care of her for us.

 

I hope you have a wonderful celebration on Christmas and New Year.

 

Julie

[DC Traveler244]

Thanks for the review, Seas the Day. We're on the Odyssey too (joined in Ft Lauderdale on 12/15), and have been enjoying the cruise as well.

 

One big surprise: the onboard wifi was upgraded before the ship departed Ft Lauderdale. The new system isn't 'perfect (it was down for some hours today) but it's faster and has more bandwidth than what we've experienced on previous SB voyages.

[Seacap]

Thank you for your review,my wife and I are Diamond members like you and love cruising.Nothing in life is perfect,however Seabourn has always provided an exceptional product with exceptional people doing their best to provide you with an outstanding cruise experience .Is Seabourn perfect? of course not but they do strive to provide a exceptional product.I hope you are staying on board for the Jan 4 cruise,because I would LOVE to cruise with you.You are the type of person my wife and I seek out to enjoy the wonderful out of the ordinary experience Seabourn provides for a LUCKY FEW.

[markham]

Seas_The_Day,

 

I too thank you for your thorough and thoughtful review of Odyssey today! We are counting the days until 4 Jan when we are back on board and see our old/young friends including frantic36, other friends also already on your cruise, and those terrific, fun and dedicated officers and crew that make Seabourn our line of choice, year on year. "Where else in the world?" indeed!

 

And to DC Traveler244- we appreciate your mention and views on this wifi change as we use it a lot. We knew it would only be a matter of time for some type of improvement and would never compare an ocean going vessel's wifi to wifi on land. Nonetheless, this improvement is welcome.

 

Happy sailing, Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2016 from this confirmed Seabourn cheerleader!

[MARIANH]

My wife and I are currently on the 20-day Odyssey Panama Canal trip. I am pleased to report that this journey so far is about as close to perfect as can get. The staff is upbeat and energetic and they are going out of their way to please the passengers.

 

The food coming out of all the restaurants is some of the best we have had (we are seabourn diamond). Having been trained and have cooked in Europe for 5 years – I can tell you that they are doing an impressive job for the passengers. This is not a 12-table bistro. I’m confident you won’t find better on any cruise line

 

The complimentary wine choices are very good and offer a great variety. If one can’t find a couple of wines they really enjoy – My guess is they don’t want to find one.

 

The CD and Ass’t CD (Sophie and Meredith) are the best we have experienced. They are fun and unpretentious and are making an extraordinary effort to add a nice Christmas touch to our trip.

 

The Captain manages to delight the passengers each day with a short Christmas poem as part of his mid-day update.

 

Of course, we all experience a couple of hiccups, water glasses not refilled right away, or one of the crew being diverted for a short time etc. We had an incident where we had to reorder our dessert 3 times because they kept bringing the wrong one. We had a great laugh with the server about it and it turned out to be one of our most memorable moments on board. In the end, we got our dessert (which we didn’t really need anyway) and no one died!

 

Unfortunately there is always a small set of passengers who want to focus on the inevitable imperfections one will find in an operation this complex. But we are finding that the vast majority of passengers are interesting, upbeat and friendly. It's a genuine privilege to just be able to sit back enjoy the wonderful crew and the great experience they provide for us!

 

Overall – I would recommend the Odyssey and her extraordinary crew to anyone looking to book an amazing experience.

 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, Fair Winds and Calm Seas!

 

What a glowing report!

 

It would appear from your helpful review that the quality of the food and service has improved amazingly since the the previous two cruises when it was best desribed as patchy and there were substantial quality and service problems. Have you any idea how this can be - new Fand B manager, new chefs, new serving teams, stopped the TK experiment etc?

 

And on a minor matter, has the ship PA system been improved? On our November cruise it was very frustrating not to be able to hear clearly and understand what was being said? Especially the midday report from the bridge. Is Stig still your captain?

 

Merry Christmas and safe sailing.

Edited December 24, 2015 by MARIANH

[Jay23]

Glad you are having such a good time. Thank you for your splendid accolade. I was beginning to get worried, as some reports have not been so good of late.

 

Happy Christmas

[tv24]

Nice to get a positive report. Maybe the previously rocky issues have been resolved?

[PaulaJK]

Lovely report.........

[Isklaar]

I'm currently also on the Odyssey, and my experience onboard is far from that of the OP but much more in line with the less glowing reports about the ship here at CC that go back as far as October.

i didn't board the ship looking for issues, as suggests OP, but in fact my experience is that this is not the SB quality of one year ago.

[cwisleman]

I was told today that a technician would be coming on board on the 28th to try to get the internet problems resolved

[MARIANH]

I'm currently also on the Odyssey, and my experience onboard is far from that of the OP but much more in line with the less glowing reports about the ship here at CC that go back as far as October.

i didn't board the ship looking for issues, as suggests OP, but in fact my experience is that this is not the SB quality of one year ago.

 

Is poor food and service the main issue as highlighted by other posts. Or are there other issues as well ?

Edited December 27, 2015 by MARIANH

[Isklaar]

Is poor food and service the main issue as highlighted by other posts. Or are there other issues as well ?

 

Yes, food is the main problem. Issues as others have mentioned eg less choice, reduced quality, food temperature, odd menus and so on. I like so far the Thomas Keller food.

Service still a little spotty but improving. Several new crew members joined the ship some days ago. They are doing a great job so far although one or two of them are still a little shy when dealing with guests. Hopefully they will soon realise that most guests are pleasant and kind, and they will relax a little :)

 

This is my 3rd Seabourn cruise of 2015. Each time has been a little less good than the previous. It leaves me feeling quite sad to see how much it has changed this year.

[Isklaar]

I was told today that a technician would be coming on board on the 28th to try to get the internet problems resolved

 

This is good news, thank you for sharing. Let us hope!

[Isklaar]

Also for MARIANH, yes the pa is still poor, hard to hear the Captain, David Bathgate, very well.

[Emperor Norton]

Seas_The_Day,

 

I too thank you for your thorough and thoughtful review of Odyssey today! We are counting the days until 4 Jan when we are back on board and see our old/young friends including frantic36, other friends also already on your cruise, and those terrific, fun and dedicated officers and crew that make Seabourn our line of choice, year on year. "Where else in the world?" indeed!

 

And to DC Traveler244- we appreciate your mention and views on this wifi change as we use it a lot. We knew it would only be a matter of time for some type of improvement and would never compare an ocean going vessel's wifi to wifi on land. Nonetheless, this improvement is welcome.

 

Happy sailing, Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2016 from this confirmed Seabourn cheerleader!

 

You're keeping things ship shape till I join in Auckland? Just remember the further from the equator you get the worse your satellite connection (especially inet) will be.

[2SailingNomads]

We too are on-board and agree with the OP - it has been mostly very favorable. A few of the first contract crew could use some "paying attention and looking around more" training but food has been very good, service mostly great, and the WiFi is much improved.

[Emperor Norton]

We too are on-board and agree with the OP - it has been mostly very favorable. A few of the first contract crew could use some "paying attention and looking around more" training but food has been very good, service mostly great, and the WiFi is much improved.

 

So shortly you'll be posting your own thread?