Exceptionally underwhelming

[Emperor Norton]

I hate to use the word "fake," but perhaps more evidence is that Ryan has failed to post anything additional to support his original post or to participate in the discussion on this thread.

 

Generally the Seabourn forum isn't as pitchfork and torch like as say Oceania or Crystal or Regent but if someone receives an angry crowd reaction they may well feel that it's not worth their time to post again as the loyalist mob will just drown them out. This happened here a while ago with a person who heard construction noise from his suite. Though that person put on an asbestos suit and added further posts/clarification.

[tv24]

Why would you read all this negative claptrap and all the evidence supplied that refutes it, and then sit back waiting for Ryan to defend himself and NOT use the word fake?

 

How about crank, phoney, troll? They all seem to apply, in my humble opinion.

 

I am on the Odyssey now. AND I always stand by what I write.

 

Happy sailing!

 

I'm just trying to be kind and polite, in case Ryan really does exist.

[lincslady]

Nigella has posted that she is to put in her report on this cruise perhaps later today. She may, like me, like to keep a diary of onboard happenings, and then take a few days to settle in back home and form a carefully thought out opinion on her cruise.

 

I rather hope that she may like to say whether she thinks the OP was on board, and if so is speaking the truth as they see it, or whether they are just a troll or phony.

 

She obviously does feel that things were by no means perfect, and it will be interesting to read in what way they have deteriorated. I have found her to be prepared to tell it like it is, and would trust her to judge fairly, comparing recent cruises with those she enjoyed some time ago.

[shipcamein]

Alright, as a Seabourn Neutral Reader, I'll play Devil's Advocate, since he's not defending himself.

 

>He said he's been on continual vacation for two years - never home. That's 104 weeks, plenty of time in there to take 72 one-week cruises, maybe some were longer. I think there are people on this forum who have spend 4 months at once on Seabourn, perhaps more than once, so - it's not impossible, and may even have been (relatively) affordable.

 

>He said the "free" wines were awful. If you truly love wine - is that comment hard to believe?

 

 

>He said he expected maid service three times daily. The response that "once should be enough" (to paraphrase) may be OK for some folks. But if you get three on other lines - then three it is!

 

 

>The dinner problems have been widely reported, even by some of you, as the changeover to both new menu and new technology is happening. Not hard to believe.

 

 

>He's not the only one that has complained about breakfast crowds. Every thread bemoaning the lack of Restaurant at breakfast has said the same.

 

 

>He's not posted before because he just made up this name for this one post. He may or may not have posted under other (dozens) of names. Or this may be his first post - not everyone that cruises reads CC. Better to say MOST people who cruise NEVER post here, or read it. If you doubt that - count the total number of Seabourn reviews since CC was created - then estimate the number of passengers that have sailed. You'll be somewhere around 1%. Maybe less. Probably less for mass lines, not more.

 

 

 

>And he's not responding now because - of course - he is on another cruise. No internet.

 

On the other hand - his post contains the most negative elements of the last several reviews - if you cherry-pick the bad spots and wrap them altogether, you get this review. Unlikely? Yep. Impossible. Sadly, nope.

 

Jus' sayin'.

[Nigella]

Nigella has posted that she is to put in her report on this cruise perhaps later today. She may, like me, like to keep a diary of onboard happenings, and then take a few days to settle in back home and form a carefully thought out opinion on her cruise.

 

I rather hope that she may like to say whether she thinks the OP was on board, and if so is speaking the truth as they see it, or whether they are just a troll or phony.

 

She obviously does feel that things were by no means perfect, and it will be interesting to read in what way they have deteriorated. I have found her to be prepared to tell it like it is, and would trust her to judge fairly, comparing recent cruises with those she enjoyed some time ago.

 

I'll address in detail each of the points made by Ryan as soon as I have time. Our cruise wasn't so awful as his, but I do recognise some of the points being made.

[vistaman]

the truth is since the introduction of the Odyssey standard on SB slipped away quite seriously

some items are details , other items are evoking the question : is this still luxury and / or five starred?

on a five star ship with complimentary champagne they should not serve prosecco accompanied by sausage rolls ...

and unilaterraly closing down the main dining room and serve pre maid orange and grapefruit juice in a supermarket style cooler

it is extremely obvious they must struggle with a far too narrow budget in the F and B operations - if you ask for cheese for dessert on SB in the MDR you hardly do receive 2 ounces of cheese ... in a good restaurant a cheese serving for dessert is estimated around 4 ounces at least

and wine service is not so good if you do order special wines -

writing a very severe critic is indeed causing nuisance by some people : for some people the favourite cruise company will be the same for ever ...it is like an idol

[Emperor Norton]

Prosecco? That's new. Do they no longer serve that cloyingly sweet Nicholas Feuillate Brut Reserve?

[vistaman]

the champagne Feuillatte was still free but on that party it was prosecco !

but all other drinks were available by simple request - must honestly agree on that.

i hope it is not a crime to feel extremely sorry on the degrading of cruising on five starred level in general - not only on SB :(

[Emperor Norton]

Swapping champagne for prosecco was something I got tired of on Silversea. They kept doing it even when called on it.

 

 

I wonder if the lower quality food and service stem from lowering the dress code;)

[English Tim]

Swapping Champagne for Prosecco would definitely be a huge negative for me, as the premium paid to sail SB, accounts for such luxuries.

 

Last April we were on Odyssey and recently we sailed Celebrity, now back to SB with Sojourn. With a premium drinks package, one can pay a lot less and still have an excellent cruise, so in order to sell itself as a premium line, SB must maintain it's standards.

 

We have suffered slow service in the outside section of the buffet, but as soon as a comment is made, the situation improves dramatically. I think it essential that we are candid with our remarks, so that problems can easily be identified and quickly rectified, but also to show praise for a good job, which improves crew morale and offers the chance of promotion.

[vistaman]

the dress code is very easy nowadays on SB and Crystal

"suggested formal "

on SS it still rather formal - however i do consider SS as the weakest of the 3 companies despite the very good and not so expensive wine list ....( to purchase ) for special champagnes and european wines.

[Chairsin]

For a few years the bubbly at receptions on board has been prosecco -- all you have to do is nicely ask the waiter to bring you a glass of champagne instead. No big deal. Elsewhere it has always been the NF. As to cheese -- 4 ounces is a very large portion -- I myself appreciate the quality over quantity approach. We often order wine from the premium list at night and it has always been served correctly -- correct temp, opened and served in the large glasses refilled as we desire during dinner. In all my years on Seabourn the OJ has been the same-- never encountered fresh (would it be nice ? Sure , but do you know how many oranges it takes to fill a six ounce glass? Well as I grown my own I can tell you it takes 3-4 depending on the variety. How in the world could they store that much fruit?) A discussion of the problems can never be helped by one or two posters exaggerated or misleading comments. I am more persuaded by the comments of those on in the last month or at present.

 

That said it would appear that there are some problems -- perhaps from the TK roll out or the new ordering system of maybe even a problem with the chef. But has Seabourn changed drastically overall -- it does not appear so. So yes, there are issues and some are being resolved. Will the big ships ever be like the little ones -- no , wishful thinking on the part of those of us who loved them. Some of you may decide this is the time to try other cruise lines -- I can understand we each are looking for the best one that suits are needs. Go for it .For now when we cruise we will stick with Seabourn -- warts and all.

[Mr Luxury]

Just a note to say that if anyone wants more cheese at dinner or more of a particular type,just ask your waiter and you can have as much as you like.

It's never been a problem.

[vistaman]

if Crystal can offer fresh juice and Hapag Lloyd can offer 4 freshly juices why cannot SB ?? "from concentrate it is cheaper ":mad:

i simply do hate cutbacks in F an B operations - sorry about that.

i never did receive a reply concerning my complaint about the closing down of MDR not one word - on the other issues a lot of humbugging

however SB still does present itself as the ultimate in luxury nearly similar as with the triplets ( very homesick for those )

[lincslady]

I have probably foolishly assumed that the SB orange juice was fresh - it does taste quite good to us, and infinitely superior to the normal concentrated stuff. We noticed the striking difference on a different 'luxury' line this summer, where the juice was pretty awful. Anyone know how it is produced, as it is certainly superior to most of these concentrated juices?

[oregon50]

In all my years on Seabourn the OJ has been the same-- never encountered fresh (would it be nice ? Sure , but do you know how many oranges it takes to fill a six ounce glass? Well as I grown my own I can tell you it takes 3-4 depending on the variety. How in the world could they store that much fruit?)

 

Celebrity was serving freshly squeezed up until a year ago. H-L and Crystal still do. Silversea has served liquid rubbish for years. SS and SB supplies the oranges and I squeeze 'em. Some cruise lines keep pushing the death by a thousand cuts business model. 12 year old single malt scotch going the way of freshly squeezed orange juice.

[Able Seaman H]

I'm going to be a bit controversial here. One of the places we visit in Thailand does freshly squeezed and blended drinks during their breakfast buffet. It's the one thing I dislike about the place! Give me my usual " made from concentrate" any day.

 

One of the issues with freshly squeezed orange juice is the fact you are beholden to the oranges which go into it. Fine if you are based in Florida and cruise the same route week in week out. When you are further from your umbilical connections you need consistency and foods which will keep, allowing you to ride out the peaks & troughs.

 

We had a deluge of people wanting whole lemons in boiling water in lieu of tea on our last cruise. We ran out of lemons. Something happened which upset the balance. On the next cruise they will probably end up with half a tonne of lemons spare.

 

It is very difficult organising a supply chain at arms length so far from home. America is easy, Europe is easy but the Antarctic, Asia. These are countries who have very different native tastes and products. Seabourn wants to offer a standard product which spans these continents.

 

If Orange juice is your thing then cruise with a company who caters for your needs. I like HP brown sauce. It's an English thing. The stuff stores for ages so it's quite easy to provision for but sometimes they don't have it on board due to a influx of peoplle just like me. If it bothered me that much I'd bring my own but I adapt, just as I do with sausages that aren't from Lincolnshire and tea that's made from water which hasn't come from my tap at home.

 

Henry :)

[oregon50]

It's great to enjoy OJ from concentrate and well done steaks. Both are delivered to ships in same container.

[Able Seaman H]

It's great to enjoy OJ from concentrate and well done steaks. Both are delivered to ships in same container.

 

If you organised separate shipping for all the various components of a cruise you would end up in a right old mess. SB need to source from central suppliers to maintain quality and yes, to beat them up on price.

 

The steaks on board Sojourn were indeed magnificent. I wish our local restaurants could do as well.

 

Henry :)

[Nigella]

Cheese portions in the MDR at least, were larger this time than previously. However they didn't serve those lovely matched preserves alongside them even though they were on the menu. :confused:

And there's now only one cheese plate on the menu, whereby there were always two to choose from in the past. Some people have been known to select both in lieu of dessert ;)

[markham]

Orange juice is essentially sugar water, the LAST thing you need when pursuing a healthier diet at the start of the day.

 

Haven't wanted orange juice for years. At least eating an orange will get you some fiber which is worthwhile.

 

Happy sailing!

[Nigella]

"Ship: The Odyssey is in bad shape compared to other cruise ships. Many of the fittings and furnishings are heavily worn. There were many mechanical issues, especially in our suite. I have a hard time believing that this ship was re-furbished in 2014. I felt that the public areas were perfectly well maintained, however the cabinetry in the suites is looking a bit battered. We had no mechanical issues in our suite and I'm not sure what the other mechanical issues that Ryan refers to may have been. Certainly don't agree that the Odyssey is "in bad shape compared to other cruise ships".

Service: The service was exceptionally slow. I don’t believe they have enough staff. Most luxury lines have three cabin services per day, morning full-service, afternoon refresher and evening turn down. We felt lucky to have our suite serviced once a day. This didn’t always happen, and it was commonplace to be waiting for the room to be cleaned until after dinner. The girl simply had too many cabins assigned to her. Our suite was serviced twice daily as normal, so was my brother's. Both suite attendants were efficient but thorough, ours was the best we've had on SB. I've never, on any SB cruise, had the impression that the suite attendants have too many suites assigned. The service was twice daily, as normal.

Service during meals was even worse. Good luck getting a drink in the Colonnade. There were far too few wait staff available. I am at a loss to find the proper words to describe how bad service was in the main dining room. Besides having too few staff, they were inadequately trained. They were unknowledgeable of the food and wine they served. They didn’t know how to properly enter your order in their system, especially if you wanted to modify something. The confusion and disorganization resulted in many mistakes. You would get the wrong food. Hot food would come out at room temperature. Cold food would come out at room temperature. And the wait between courses was interminable. Start to finish, our fastest meal in the main dining room took 2.5 hours (breakfast, only two courses), the longest was over 4 hours. We found meal service at dinner in the MDR to be too swift! I'm not sure how dinner service could take 'over 4 hours' given the opening hours in the MDR....Water glasses were a challenge to get refilled, wine not so much. We didn't get the wrong food but I agree with comments about food temperature. Every single time we ate in the MDR, at least one of us had a cold plate and lukewarm food that should have been hot.

Food: This was the biggest area of disappointment for me. While it is hard to separate the impact that bad service had on the food quality, I do believe that the food quality was far below cruise industry norms. I am not going to talk about taste, because I think that is highly influenced by personal preferences. Some people just like things saltier than others. What I will say is that the quality of the ingredients was very poor. This was most objectively observed in the uncooked items like fresh fruit and raw tomatoes. Lastly, food shortages with certain items were routine. At different times they ran out of salad (lettuce), various fruit, and yogurt amongst other things. The day they ran out of coffee in the morning made for a grumpy bunch of passengers that afternoon.

I've commented elsewhere about the food, but if they ran out of coffee, yogurt or lettuce, I didn't notice it. Nor did I hear any other guests mention it. Some fruits were in short supply, but that's been the case on many of our 10+ day cruises, Silversea included.

Wine: The complimentary wines were terrible. If you are used to good wine, you will have to bring your own or buy a package. Also, the wines offered at dinner did not coordinate with the dishes served in any way. I am at a loss as to how the complimentary wines were selected. For us the complimentary wines were perfectly adequate, as usual. We always purchase wine for dinner anyway but for lunch and general drinking we chose the included wines.

Crowding: The cruise was too crowded. Every suite was occupied, many with more than two passengers (extra kids). The Colonnade was a mad house during peak hours at breakfast. Getting a table was impossible. I have been on many 1,000+ passenger ships that felt less crowded. I have been on many cruises during peak vacation times, and none have felt as crowded." The ship didn't feel crowded to me. We've been on several SB cruises that were full to capacity and as others will know, even with a full ship it doesn't feel crowded. I'm not sure how "Ryan" can state that 'many' suites were occupied with extra kids, as there were only 4 kids onboard and they were all with the same family. The family had premium suites and connecting. The Colonnade was rather busy some days at breakfast. This could be solved very easily by extending the MDR breakfast opening times. The weather on this cruise was very hot and humid for the most part, and even people like us who usually prefer to eat outside The Colonnade were putting pressure on the indoor seating due to the heat outdoors.

 

 

I said I'd respond to each of Ryan's points. Quote function not working yet again for me so apologies for the clunky format of the post.

 

Hmm. To sum up, I'm not entirely convinced that "Ryan" was on board, for this specific cruise at least. Rather he/she has gleaned information to use here from my own and other poster's prior comments. Not sure if there's any way for CC to verify that, and if I'm wrong then "Ryan" I do apologise. ;)

[Jay23]

"Ship: The Odyssey is in bad shape compared to other cruise ships. Many of the fittings and furnishings are heavily worn. There were many mechanical issues, especially in our suite. I have a hard time believing that this ship was re-furbished in 2014. I felt that the public areas were perfectly well maintained, however the cabinetry in the suites is looking a bit battered. We had no mechanical issues in our suite and I'm not sure what the other mechanical issues that Ryan refers to may have been. Certainly don't agree that the Odyssey is "in bad shape compared to other cruise ships".

Service: The service was exceptionally slow. I don’t believe they have enough staff. Most luxury lines have three cabin services per day, morning full-service, afternoon refresher and evening turn down. We felt lucky to have our suite serviced once a day. This didn’t always happen, and it was commonplace to be waiting for the room to be cleaned until after dinner. The girl simply had too many cabins assigned to her. Our suite was serviced twice daily as normal, so was my brother's. Both suite attendants were efficient but thorough, ours was the best we've had on SB. I've never, on any SB cruise, had the impression that the suite attendants have too many suites assigned. The service was twice daily, as normal.

Service during meals was even worse. Good luck getting a drink in the Colonnade. There were far too few wait staff available. I am at a loss to find the proper words to describe how bad service was in the main dining room. Besides having too few staff, they were inadequately trained. They were unknowledgeable of the food and wine they served. They didn’t know how to properly enter your order in their system, especially if you wanted to modify something. The confusion and disorganization resulted in many mistakes. You would get the wrong food. Hot food would come out at room temperature. Cold food would come out at room temperature. And the wait between courses was interminable. Start to finish, our fastest meal in the main dining room took 2.5 hours (breakfast, only two courses), the longest was over 4 hours. We found meal service at dinner in the MDR to be too swift! I'm not sure how dinner service could take 'over 4 hours' given the opening hours in the MDR....Water glasses were a challenge to get refilled, wine not so much. We didn't get the wrong food but I agree with comments about food temperature. Every single time we ate in the MDR, at least one of us had a cold plate and lukewarm food that should have been hot.

Food: This was the biggest area of disappointment for me. While it is hard to separate the impact that bad service had on the food quality, I do believe that the food quality was far below cruise industry norms. I am not going to talk about taste, because I think that is highly influenced by personal preferences. Some people just like things saltier than others. What I will say is that the quality of the ingredients was very poor. This was most objectively observed in the uncooked items like fresh fruit and raw tomatoes. Lastly, food shortages with certain items were routine. At different times they ran out of salad (lettuce), various fruit, and yogurt amongst other things. The day they ran out of coffee in the morning made for a grumpy bunch of passengers that afternoon.

I've commented elsewhere about the food, but if they ran out of coffee, yogurt or lettuce, I didn't notice it. Nor did I hear any other guests mention it. Some fruits were in short supply, but that's been the case on many of our 10+ day cruises, Silversea included.

Wine: The complimentary wines were terrible. If you are used to good wine, you will have to bring your own or buy a package. Also, the wines offered at dinner did not coordinate with the dishes served in any way. I am at a loss as to how the complimentary wines were selected. For us the complimentary wines were perfectly adequate, as usual. We always purchase wine for dinner anyway but for lunch and general drinking we chose the included wines.

Crowding: The cruise was too crowded. Every suite was occupied, many with more than two passengers (extra kids). The Colonnade was a mad house during peak hours at breakfast. Getting a table was impossible. I have been on many 1,000+ passenger ships that felt less crowded. I have been on many cruises during peak vacation times, and none have felt as crowded." The ship didn't feel crowded to me. We've been on several SB cruises that were full to capacity and as others will know, even with a full ship it doesn't feel crowded. I'm not sure how "Ryan" can state that 'many' suites were occupied with extra kids, as there were only 4 kids onboard and they were all with the same family. The family had premium suites and connecting. The Colonnade was rather busy some days at breakfast. This could be solved very easily by extending the MDR breakfast opening times. The weather on this cruise was very hot and humid for the most part, and even people like us who usually prefer to eat outside The Colonnade were putting pressure on the indoor seating due to the heat outdoors.

 

 

I said I'd respond to each of Ryan's points. Quote function not working yet again for me so apologies for the clunky format of the post.

 

Hmm. To sum up, I'm not entirely convinced that "Ryan" was on board, for this specific cruise at least. Rather he/she has gleaned information to use here from my own and other poster's prior comments. Not sure if there's any way for CC to verify that, and if I'm wrong then "Ryan" I do apologise. ;)

 

Ryan's post is extremely disturbing and made we wonder if we would consider cancelling (can't cancel of course as we would lose our deposit). I now think perhaps that was the purpose of his post. Why, I wonder. There clearly were some problems but, Nigella, you have put them into perspective. Thank you.

[Mr Luxury]

Anyone think that Ryan might be the CEO of Silversea

[Mr Luxury]

I'm going to be a bit controversial here. One of the places we visit in Thailand does freshly squeezed and blended drinks during their breakfast buffet. It's the one thing I dislike about the place! Give me my usual " made from concentrate" any day.

 

 

 

One of the issues with freshly squeezed orange juice is the fact you are beholden to the oranges which go into it. Fine if you are based in Florida and cruise the same route week in week out. When you are further from your umbilical connections you need consistency and foods which will keep, allowing you to ride out the peaks & troughs.

 

 

 

We had a deluge of people wanting whole lemons in boiling water in lieu of tea on our last cruise. We ran out of lemons. Something happened which upset the balance. On the next cruise they will probably end up with half a tonne of lemons spare.

 

 

 

It is very difficult organising a supply chain at arms length so far from home. America is easy, Europe is easy but the Antarctic, Asia. These are countries who have very different native tastes and products. Seabourn wants to offer a standard product which spans these continents.

 

 

 

If Orange juice is your thing then cruise with a company who caters for your needs. I like HP brown sauce. It's an English thing. The stuff stores for ages so it's quite easy to provision for but sometimes they don't have it on board due to a influx of peoplle just like me. If it bothered me that much I'd bring my own but I adapt, just as I do with sausages that aren't from Lincolnshire and tea that's made from water which hasn't come from my tap at home.

 

 

 

Henry :)

 

 

Spot on Henry

For one moment I thought that you might say that if you want fresh orange juice then you should go and live in Florida.

 

Some people do think that when going way on vacation that things will be exactly the same as they have at home.

Don't mention the coffee.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Mr Luxury