Meals on Seabourn

[Able Seaman H]

"We have never used the main dining room for breakfast ourselves but that's not the point".

 

It is entirely the point.

 

For the bulk of cruises the main dining room will be open for breakfast and lunch, not that you or I use it. For some very port intensive Med cruises it won't be because there is no one left on the ship.

 

By closing the main dining room it allows the ship to deploy staff to where they are needed, the colonnade or room service, the latter being particularly staff intensive.

 

I'm not saying things are perfect, as mentioned previously I struggle with changing opening hours for breakfast in the Colonnade on a random daily basis only notified by the Herald as you go to bed and feel it would be better served by standardisation.

 

As for children "Badly behaved" is subjective. Young Emily is better behaved than most adults and yet she has met with disapproval from some senior guests. There is no pleasing some people. So as soon as you mention the "C" word I'm afraid I label you as a habitual complainer.

 

I don't smoke and don't care to smell the smoke of others but accept that smokers need somewhere to puff. I have never suffered on the balcony, given it only takes a couple of minutes to smoke a cigarette maybe our paths have never crossed.

 

If you expunge the ship of people and situations which don't meet with your approval you will need to pony up considerably more money to step on board.

 

If people were prevented from smoking, the dining room was open for lunch & dinner and no minors were allowed on the ship would you pay an extra $2,000 per person ?

 

 

Absolutely campaign for change but choose your wars carefully. If we get to the point where the MDR is closed on normal non Med intensive short cruises I'm with you. But we aren't there yet.

 

Henry :)

[galeforce9]

"We have never used the main dining room for breakfast ourselves but that's not the point".

 

It is entirely the point.

 

For the bulk of cruises the main dining room will be open for breakfast and lunch, not that you or I use it. For some very port intensive Med cruises it won't be because there is no one left on the ship.

 

By closing the main dining room it allows the ship to deploy staff to where they are needed, the colonnade or room service, the latter being particularly staff intensive.

 

I'm not saying things are perfect, as mentioned previously I struggle with changing opening hours for breakfast in the Colonnade on a random daily basis only notified by the Herald as you go to bed and feel it would be better served by standardisation.

 

As for children "Badly behaved" is subjective. Young Emily is better behaved than most adults and yet she has met with disapproval from some senior guests. There is no pleasing some people. So as soon as you mention the "C" word I'm afraid I label you as a habitual complainer.

 

I don't smoke and don't care to smell the smoke of others but accept that smokers need somewhere to puff. I have never suffered on the balcony, given it only takes a couple of minutes to smoke a cigarette maybe our paths have never crossed.

 

If you expunge the ship of people and situations which don't meet with your approval you will need to pony up considerably more money to step on board.

 

If people were prevented from smoking, the dining room was open for lunch & dinner and no minors were allowed on the ship would you pay an extra $2,000 per person ?

 

 

Absolutely campaign for change but choose your wars carefully. If we get to the point where the MDR is closed on normal non Med intensive short cruises I'm with you. But we aren't there yet.

 

Henry :)

 

 

Many seabourn cruisers have been to the med ports many many times before. Don't assume that everyone is off the ship all day. It really isn't the case. Some are happy not to get off at all.

[Roxburgh]

You are 100% right. We have had misbehaved children, smokers, etc. Nothing has been done about any. Talked to our agent from Canada,MD ,HOM ,etc, seems like SB is loosing it grip on what people want. We have never gone to breakfast, always have room service but not the point. We love SB but lately are starting to think outside the box. We have many perks so giving her up with be with sad thoughts.

 

On one cruise (out of ten) we had some children who got a little over-excited. That was quickly fixed by the parents and by Seabourn providing some game console. But I have also seen adults 'falling-down' drunk, couples engaging in a screaming match, a man doing the butterfly in the pool and splashing people trying to have lunch and other examples of grown-up rudeness. We know there are some smokers and we don't like smoke. But while it isn't illegal, I think that Seabourn does a reasonable job of controlling it. Then there have been the chronic complainers who never seem to be happy about anything and are a misery to be around.

 

Unfortunately, when you have 450 people plus crew in close proximity, the chances of getting something or someone who is a pain in the rear-end is quite high.

 

On the subject of restaurants, I do think that Seabourn should open the MDR at breakfast and lunch. It is all about options and a luxury line should be offering those.

[wripro]

"We have never used the main dining room for breakfast ourselves but that's not the point".

 

It is entirely the point.

 

For the bulk of cruises the main dining room will be open for breakfast and lunch, not that you or I use it. For some very port intensive Med cruises it won't be because there is no one left on the ship.

 

By closing the main dining room it allows the ship to deploy staff to where they are needed, the colonnade or room service, the latter being particularly staff intensive.

 

I'm not saying things are perfect, as mentioned previously I struggle with changing opening hours for breakfast in the Colonnade on a random daily basis only notified by the Herald as you go to bed and feel it would be better served by standardisation.

 

As for children "Badly behaved" is subjective. Young Emily is better behaved than most adults and yet she has met with disapproval from some senior guests. There is no pleasing some people. So as soon as you mention the "C" word I'm afraid I label you as a habitual complainer.

 

I don't smoke and don't care to smell the smoke of others but accept that smokers need somewhere to puff. I have never suffered on the balcony, given it only takes a couple of minutes to smoke a cigarette maybe our paths have never crossed.

 

If you expunge the ship of people and situations which don't meet with your approval you will need to pony up considerably more money to step on board.

 

If people were prevented from smoking, the dining room was open for lunch & dinner and no minors were allowed on the ship would you pay an extra $2,000 per person ?

 

 

Absolutely campaign for change but choose your wars carefully. If we get to the point where the MDR is closed on normal non Med intensive short cruises I'm with you. But we aren't there yet.

 

Henry :)

 

Henry,

 

I understand your point. However, "young" Emily is not really young, is she? How old? In her early teens? Not quite the same thing as a two or three year old running amok. And if complaining about that labels me as a habitual complainer so be it. I welcome the label.

 

As for SB's supposed reasons for closing the MDR I would like to know why most other cruise lines seem to manage being open three meals a day and a luxury line cannot.

 

I happen to be a great SB supporter and my Diamond status proves it but that doesn't mean they do everything right. Pointing out what they do wrong imo should not label anyone a habitual complainer simply because it conflicts with someone else's opinion.

[PaulaJK]

Wow, Henry...$2000 pp??? The MDR always was open without that happening, the smoking areas have been increasingly contained without that happening and due to school schedules & parents who prefer more activities for their particular children, there are relatively few minors on SB.

 

I may not support those who make snarky comments re: children on board but it seems an equally intractable bias to declare anyone who uses the 'C' word to be a ' habitual complainer'.

[Able Seaman H]

My point was that even the 14 year old at the time über well behaved Emily experienced complaints from some guests. She wasn't a screaming 3 year old but there are some who would complain anyway.

 

Re: the $2,000 suggestion I was removing any party containing a guest under 18 and any party containing a smoker. I was then going to provide full restaurant cover regardless of numbers utilising it.

 

Henry :)

[findacruise]

We were just on our first Seabourn cruise RT Singapore 2/14-2/28 and I recalled the MDR was open every day for breakfast and lunch, albeit for just an hour. i just went back through all my Heralds (missing a couple for some reason) and confirmed that for the days I have them, the MDR was indeed open. Breakfast was 8-9 and lunch 12:30 - 1:30.