Boarded Odyssey today. First Seabourn cruise

[bitob]

Impressed with many staff. Very solicitous and helpful. Passengers very friendly. Lunch in Colonnade delightful. Plenty of storage in suite.

 

Love Seabourn square. Greeted by former oceania crew member with whom we had sailed many times Lattes superb

 

Not impressed with my stateroom attendant. I asked her to follow up on several precruise requests that were not honored and I haven't seen her for 3 hours.

These were not small things. Have to do with safety and health. This is not what I expected. I do not want to complain so I am being patient. A butler makes things happen immediately. Lol

 

Only glitch so far

 

Staying optimistic

 

 

 

 

 

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[bitob]

Called guest services to follow up on the missing items.

 

Our sofa smells like urine. Unmistakable. They are sending someone

 

We are generally low maintenance and easy to please. This is pretty shocking

 

 

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[Missabby]

What time did you board the ship today? Trying to get an idea of what time they allow boarding.

 

Looking at PTZtv's webcams, it also appears the Odyssey is a tad late departing Fort Lauderdale tonight. It also looks quite dark from the Ft. Lauderdale webcam, like there is no electricity on the ship - no lights on the bridge, either.

 

I sympathize, our stateroom attendants have always been the weak link on our Seabourn cruises.

 

Hoping all goes well for the rest of the cruise!

 

Thank you.

Edited December 20, 2016 by Missabby

[Missabby]

You're off! Bon voyage!

[bitob]

Resolved problems with head of housekeeping who was horrified at the lapse in service. No big deal

 

We boarded around 1. We were supposed to board around 2 because of inspections but we were able to get on earlier

 

Dinner in the restaurant was superb. Delicious sliced ribeye. Bread too good. Have to avoid. Followed with latte in Seabourn square and a divine macaron

 

Very nice first day

 

Yes. We left quite late but we have 3 sea days to make up time. We do have electricity lol

 

Tomorrow bridge and trivia

 

 

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Edited December 20, 2016 by bitob

[RustyRollock]

Prepping the ship in a short timeframe on changeover day for a new intake of expectant passengers is always a frantic rush and there are inevitable oversights and slip ups. It applies to all ships on all cruise lines I'm afraid. We have discovered our suite hasn't been set up the way we requested pre-cruise a couple of times, but was quickly rectified once we brought it to their attention.

 

You could argue that one shouldn't have to bring it to their attention but so long as it's fixed quickly and with minimum fuss then no harm done.

 

Bon voyage!

[lincslady]

Reading this thread and also Roy's about disembarkation, I get the impression that Miami is not an easy turnaround day. I imagine there could be problems with immigration, customs, maybe health and hygiene people, plus lots of ships in port at the same time?

 

We have often had our suite not correctly arranged re the bed, but the stewardess always puts it right while in the room when we are at dinner; often the drinks in the fridge are not quite right, but again this is quickly remedied. We find it easy to forgive, as they have a huge amount of work to do on turnround day. The horrible sofa is quite another thing, of course. Just a shame it gives a bad impression to those who have not cruised Seabourn before, as pretty well everything else is usually spot on.

[rafinmd]

lincslady, Miami and Fort Lauderdale are actually 2 separate ports, and Odyssey was in FTL. I think the US bureaucracy was the real issue here with massive inspections when a ship returns from a long time overseas.

 

Yesterday was actually quite a slow day for FTL with just 3 ships and 5,000 passengers. The day before there were 8 and probably at least 5 times many people, but the inspections are a very prime suspect. There's a face to face meeting with all crew (that appeared to be moving slowly), a public health inspection, and a stringent Coast Guard inspection, including the Coast Guard watching a crew drill. As we entered the harbor yesterday the training life rafts were out of their cages ready for deployment.

 

Roy

[lincslady]

Apologies for confusing the ports, Roy. However, it does sound as if it is the bureaucracy which causes the problems whichever port - could be it is even worse in Miami.

[sfvoyage]

US ports are always a big hassle for the crew, especially if the ship is entering US waters for the first time (after a transatlantic or South America journey, for instance), with the strict health inspections on top of customs formalities.

 

Recently one of the crew members got back to the ship 15 minutes past the crew deadline (he was riding on a shuttle bus provided by the ship to passengers and crew that got delayed due to traffic; no fault of his own), and US customs decided to ban him from going ashore at all US ports for the next year. Another crew member was also not allowed by US customs to go ashore at any US ports for the whole season, even though he used to live and work in the US.

Edited December 20, 2016 by sfvoyage

[Suite Travels]

Apologies for confusing the ports, Roy. However, it does sound as if it is the bureaucracy which causes the problems whichever port - could be it is even worse in Miami.

 

The port of Miami is awful. Port Everglades much easier and nicer people.

[bitob]

I will try to be more specific later but I am very disappointed with Seabourn. Expectations may have been too high. Initial issues still unresolved. Service poor and others we are sharing tables with have noted the same.

 

Food is good.

 

Many areas of ship have an awful smell. Again others have commented

 

Trivia fun. David e very good cd

 

Bridge instructor awful. Where did they find her?

 

We expected more

 

 

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[bitob]

Room service breakfast just arrived. Nice and hot. Order perfect. Server excellent

 

We do know there are a lot of new crew members on this sailing. That may account for some of the service issues

 

There is a lack of follow up in general.

 

Another thing I have noticed when we start chatting with fellow passengers is how some of the ,not all, try to impress by hinting at how wealthy they are. Déclassé in the extreme. Shocking. We just listen and ooh and aah since that is apparently what they want

 

Ship has been rocking badly since departure. Not sure if ship size has anything to do with it

 

 

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[maggie.1008]

bitob, sorry to heat about your Seabourn cruise. We have been on most of the luxury lines and are planning our first Seabourn cruise in 2017.

I have been very happy with my 2 Oceania Riviera cruises this year. I know your are on the O site as well. How would you compare the two? Cheers, Heather

[juicyjuju]

Sorry about the service issues! Takes the shine off a cruise. How did they resolve the couch issue?

[bitob]

I will do a comparison once I have more time on board. Too early to say. We have been on Oceania 12 times with 4 more booked and we love it but we like to mix it up and experience new things

 

The coffee in Seabourn square is the best I have had on any ship and we r coffee addicts. The two baristas Olga and viktoria are the best Today I discovered the decadent chocolate sticks. Omg

 

 

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[bitob]

Couch issue : no one ever got back to me. Therein lies the problem with service

 

 

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[cruising kirby]

I am pleased that most aspects of your cruise seem to be going well, but that issue with the couch is completely unacceptable. You shouldn't have to ask more than once to have something like that rectified. Go to Seabourn Square and let them know the matter is still outstanding and you want to meet the hotel manager in your suite to have it rectified without further delay.

[bitob]

There is another matter that cannot be resolved. They promised to provide a specific health drink that I need to have daily. We were willing to bring on ourselves. The line assured our ta they would provide it. Not on ship

 

 

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[oregon50]

Yikes!

Edited December 22, 2016 by oregon50

[jocar3]

Is this health drink a matter of life and death?

[bitob]

I nearly died 15 months ago. It is a matter of maintaining my health and regaining strength.

 

I'm not talking about v8

 

What bothers me is that we offered to bring on ourselves. No big deal. But Seabourn insisted they would provide it My ta checked twice at my request because it was important to us and we knew we could get in fll and take on ship ourselves

 

 

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Edited December 23, 2016 by bitob

[bitob]

A few more observations

 

Room service has been excellent. Food hot

 

Caviar wonderful

 

We don't care for two issues in the design of the cabin

 

First the cabinet doors that you almost have to "punch" to open and close

 

Second issue is placement of the tv. Not great positioning for watching from bed and cannot be seen at dining table

 

But storage great. Bathroom and closet terrific

 

We knew about outlet issue before we boarded and are glad we brought multi plug USB gadget

 

 

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[Isklaar]

A few more observations

 

Room service has been excellent. Food hot

 

Caviar wonderful

 

We don't care for two issues in the design of the cabin

 

First the cabinet doors that you almost have to "punch" to open and close

 

Second issue is placement of the tv. Not great positioning for watching from bed and cannot be seen at dining table

 

But storage great. Bathroom and closet terrific

 

We knew about outlet issue before we boarded and are glad we brought multi plug USB gadget

 

 

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Just to let you know, you shouldn't have to "punch" the cabinet doors, you should press them fairly gently in the centre where the doors meet.

If you're having to apply pressure anywhere close to a "punch" in order to open them then something is wrong. Is it the same issue with all of the cabinet doors?

[bitob]

Punch was too strong a word. We find them awkward to open. Just our opinion. Not a huge issue

 

 

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