Odyssey down under

[Emperor Norton]

Last night - Obs bar packed pre dinner, lots of wind noise. Post dinner (early) lots of wind noise but empty. Post dinner (early) club only had a few pax taking issue with the casino being closed. Room service dinner far more expedient than the restaurant. Today was Milford Sound. Amazing views, gnats really obnoxious. Mimosas, hot chocolate and glu wine served during the viewing.

 

Trivia was Handre and Sophie. Unlike a certain other cruise director Handre was willing to admit a question was bad and allow multiple other answers. Sadly we lost an Australia question due to a passenger from Australia not believing Volvo came up with a Kangaroo avoidance system. Still probably the most mellow trivia I've experienced on Seabourn. Breaksfast and lunch in the restaurant were mostly empty. Another few sea days and potentially rough seas before our next port. About the time we left the fjords we were enclosed in fog, so glare and a fog horn sound on deck.

[Nigella]

 

The warm chocolate dessert arrived partially hot and partially ice cold.

 

Interesting development following our Odyssey cruise in December when it was the MDR proteins that were being served hot on one side and cold on the other!

Looking forward to reading your full review (hopefully with pics).

[Emperor Norton]

4 Feb - Sea Day dinner was in colonnade with the new thomas keller ribs menu (Salad with green goddess dressing, corn pone with whipped butter, baby back ribs, crackers with honey mustard and blueberry cheesecake. I think I preferred his version of the steak house. Ad-Hoc fried chicken will in theory only be available post dry dock r2 refurb as it needs new friers. Supposedly the new cocktail program has started on Sojourn.

 

Staff seems slower to open up to passengers than on little sisters but they are opening up.

 

Only took one smoker to flood the observation bar with smoke. Then another person to smoke in an elevator.

 

The in room menus are nice when they’re helpful but as they don’t list lunch options or occasionally do something like “New Zealand market dinner” they could imo be better utilized (or perhaps make full menus available on those tvs. Kitchen staff seems to need more time to adjust to the surface tablet orders as they’re not reading the tickets. Foods been good but mostly of the ho-hum variety.

[medroots]

Once upon a time there was a cruise critic member named sea bounrnetraveller.

 

Sent from my Blackphone 2 using Tapatalk

 

I understand that the above referenced seabournetraveller has gone on to his final port of call.

Like Frantic we are aboard and don't think we are odd. Especially when we are sitting with her!

[tv24]

Thanks for your posts, Emperor. Ho-hum food was the essence of the problem for us.

[lincslady]

I am puzzled about the half hot half cold dishes. Could it be that, rather than being 'a la minute', they are pre-made, frozen, and then incorrectly microwaved?

[markham]

Lincslady,

 

Surely yours cannot be serious questions?!? You really think preprepared food gets served after microwaving?!?

 

Also, I don't know what the Emporer is referring to with his slights of the food and service onboard either. I have been here with frantic and medroots since LA and we are similarly puzzled.

 

This is a well run and happy ship. The little sisters are over. The crew is first class as are the management (Daniel) and the facilities e.g Seabourn Square and verandas that put the former ships to rest elsewhere. For a reason.

 

Now... If John Delaney, who visits here in Sydney, would put to bed this ridiculous allowance of smoking in the Observation Bar and verandas once and for all, I won't have any further recommendations for improvement. That's my reality.

 

Happy sailing!

[lincslady]

markham - I am not sure if your first sentence is ironic or serious - I remember Nigella saying she had had the same problem with dishes, and I honestly wonder why; to me it is more than likely that some dishes have to be pre-cooked, and then somehow reheated; I would not find that a problem, although hope the important meat and fish dishes are indeed specially cooked to order.

 

However, I agree with the rest of your post entirely; I think you are lucky to have Daniel, Handre and Sophie on board, and I am, as you may have noted before, a big Seabourn fan, my only real complaint being just the same as yours - the smoking policy.

 

Glad to hear that most on board are having a good time.

[wripro]

I agree with Markham, No one loved the triplets more than I but they are gone forever so I fond it pointless to keep comparing the O ships to them. It's simply not possible for a ship carrying 450 people to be as intimate as one carrying 200.

[Mr Luxury]

I agree with Markham, No one loved the triplets more than I but they are gone forever so I fond it pointless to keep comparing the O ships to them. It's simply not possible for a ship carrying 450 people to be as intimate as one carrying 200.

 

 

Exactly Henry,

 

If there is anyone wishing for the days of the triplets try sailing on them now that Windstar is operating them,you will soon be singing the praises of the O class ships.

Move on,embrace and enjoy where we are now and look forward to Encore

[markham]

"There are no microwave ovens in the passenger galleys of Seabourn ships. Only in the crew galley."

 

Source: Altin, F&B Manager, 3 minutes ago, Port of Hobart.

 

Happy sailing!

[Nigella]

markham - I am not sure if your first sentence is ironic or serious - I remember Nigella saying she had had the same problem with dishes, and I honestly wonder why; to me it is more than likely that some dishes have to be pre-cooked, and then somehow reheated; I would not find that a problem, although hope the important meat and fish dishes are indeed specially cooked to order.

 

 

Lincslady, we did have a problem with some of the food in the MDR coming out with one half hot and the other half cold. The food was completely cooked, I should make that clear.

We discussed it amongst ourselves several times and the only theory we could come up with was that there was a problem at the pass when the food was plated and ready to go.

Either the pass heat lamps were not working properly on one side, so the plated food sitting there was being kept hot on one side of the plate but not the other.

Or, there were too many plates being placed onto the pass at one time and as a result some of them weren't positioned completely under the lamps.

As I say this is just our theory, we don't know for sure and weren't offered any explanation when we mentioned it onboard.

 

I'm not sure if this is the same thing that Emperor Norton is experiencing but it sounded similar.

 

I'd also like to add that apparently our chef left the ship somewhat unexpectedly on the day we disembarked. And I shall leave it there ! :)

[Nigella]

 

I understand that the above referenced seabournetraveller has gone on to his final port of call.

 

 

Not sure if I'm reading this correctly, but will just say that every time I board a Seabourn ship I have a brief moment of dread in the event that person and a horde of "heatens" may be onboard with us!

[Emperor Norton]

Lincslady,

 

Surely yours cannot be serious questions?!? You really think preprepared food gets served after microwaving?!?

 

Also, I don't know what the Emporer is referring to with his slights of the food and service onboard either. I have been here with frantic and medroots since LA and we are similarly puzzled.

 

This is a well run and happy ship. The little sisters are over. The crew is first class as are the management (Daniel) and the facilities e.g Seabourn Square and verandas that put the former ships to rest elsewhere. For a reason.

 

Now... If John Delaney, who visits here in Sydney, would put to bed this ridiculous allowance of smoking in the Observation Bar and verandas once and for all, I won't have any further recommendations for improvement. That's my reality.

 

Happy sailing!

 

Daniel is no Karl and Rajat is no Jess. Thankfully Handre seems to run a more civil trivia game than David E. You're welcome to come eat off my hot/cold plate the next time I get one. I've found the service is very Regent like. The full 77 day passengers seem to get better and faster treatment than those who boarded at a later date.

[Chairsin]

Emperor Norton, do you not think that perhaps what you see as faster and better treatment of those passengers who have been on since LA might actually be more a matter of the fact that the crew has gotten to know them, and their presences, and thus what might be perceived as preferential treatment is more a matter of familiarity?

[lincslady]

"There are no microwave ovens in the passenger galleys of Seabourn ships. Only in the crew galley."

 

Source: Altin, F&B Manager, 3 minutes ago, Port of Hobart.

 

Happy sailing!

 

Thanks for the clarification - I admit I would not have thought that the possibility of microwaves being used in the passenger galleys might apparently have seemed offensive!!

[lincslady]

Thanks for the clarification about microwave ovens - I would have thought there could be perfectly acceptable reasons for them being used sometimes in the passenger galley. Thanks Nigella for your possible explanation of the half hot/half cold dishes appearing.

[lincslady]

Apologies - thought the first post had not gone in.

[Emperor Norton]

Emperor Norton, do you not think that perhaps what you see as faster and better treatment of those passengers who have been on since LA might actually be more a matter of the fact that the crew has gotten to know them, and their presences, and thus what might be perceived as preferential treatment is more a matter of familiarity?

 

Absolutely. That's why I made my Regent comment. I was last on Regent for the back end of a World Cruise and for those of us that joined at the end it was not anywhere near advertised service. It was painfully obvious however that those who had been on earlier were getting better service. This is the first time I've seen such on Seabourn, but also my first time on an Odyssey class ship so my assumption (correct or not) is that there was better service on the little ships.

[Emperor Norton]

I am puzzled about the half hot half cold dishes. Could it be that, rather than being 'a la minute', they are pre-made, frozen, and then incorrectly microwaved?

 

The dish that generated the biggest temperature differential was one of the new Thomas Keller dishes that was part frozen hot chocolate and part valhrona chocolate. While the souffle part was warm (though badly needing of straining - it was risen scrambled eggs) the rest was ice cold. Handling the dish showed the problem of the hole in the bottom and the dish not going all the way down. The bigger issue was it took 30+minutes to "cook" this - so when it was mentioned that it was multiple temps the offer to bring another seemed like a sick joke on top of a 3+ hour dinner due to the multiple TK courses that night.

[frantic36]

Daniel is no Karl and Rajat is no Jess. Thankfully Handre seems to run a more civil trivia game than David E. You're welcome to come eat off my hot/cold plate the next time I get one. I've found the service is very Regent like. The full 77 day passengers seem to get better and faster treatment than those who boarded at a later date.

 

Emperor I am fully cognisant of your argument that I am not eating of your plate and agree things can vary. However though we have had some misses with luke warm food it has for ourselves been very good.

 

I have eaten Chef Jess's food which I have enjoyed, but I have to say for my palate the meal Chef Rajat served two nights ago on formal night was one of the best my husband and I have eaten.

 

I agree that the Colonnade Prime Rib meal a few days ago was not s good as the first we had. The Humboldt Fog cheese didn't have the centre ash parting and there was not enough honey served with it.

 

I am not on for the 77 day but maybe since I have been on in LA the staff know me all to well :p. Also I am not a usual long segment or world cruiser and do try to hide in corners.:)

[Emperor Norton]

As over moderated as CC is, I wish they'd take the ADV Rider approach to leeches on trip reports. Start your own if you care that much about others reading your opinion. Especially if at the end of the day you're not going to do a trip report.

[frantic36]

On a totally different aspect rather then the food on board............Hobart was lovely!:)

 

We were here on Saturday so got to enjoy the Salamanca markets. Over 300 stalls of clothing, jewellery, crafts, produce, food and various buskers to liven up the area. It was Navy week so we had the Navy musicians and people circulating. You could even do a tour of one of their vessels.

 

We bought some lovely hand made items........including a Tasmanian Devil soft toy made by a local for my new great niece. Other passengers I met found some gifts for family........though I am sure some didn't.

 

We found a restaurant Mures near where the ship was docked. Downstairs though it had lots of seafood variety, it had a food court atmosphere. However my clever husband found there was an upstairs restaurant that had a more subdued feel. So we dined on fresh Tasmanian oysters and a seafood platter that was great. They served wine by the glass so we had a nice Tasmanian riesling. Sorry Oban but maybe it is home country prejudice but we liked these Australian Oysters better :o.

 

We then visited the Gas Company Wine Shop where we could taste various wines for a minimal price. We loved some Traminerer, a riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. So had some sent home and bought some to enjoy on the ship. Only two bottles for the ship as we have found they have served some nice wines on board.

 

Tonight we enjoyed a Tasmanian riesling and a cabernet that Sebastian purchased for the passengers to try.

[Nigella]

The dish that generated the biggest temperature differential was one of the new Thomas Keller dishes that was part frozen hot chocolate and part valhrona chocolate. While the souffle part was warm (though badly needing of straining - it was risen scrambled eggs) the rest was ice cold. Handling the dish showed the problem of the hole in the bottom and the dish not going all the way down. The bigger issue was it took 30+minutes to "cook" this - so when it was mentioned that it was multiple temps the offer to bring another seemed like a sick joke on top of a 3+ hour dinner due to the multiple TK courses that night.

 

That's definitely a different issue to the one we experienced. Sounds awful.

[frantic36]

As over moderated as CC is, I wish they'd take the ADV Rider approach to leeches on trip reports. Start your own if you care that much about others reading your opinion. Especially if at the end of the day you're not going to do a trip report.

 

Sorry Emperor I didn't mean to upset you.

 

I have just had such trouble getting on the internet at times I have posted where and when I could. I will leave you alone to your opinions.

 

Julie