What is the current situation in the MDR regarding wine service?

[tv24]

11 minutes ago, jenidallas said:

 

We chatted with her quite a bit on Sojourn last year.  As I understood it, she was on for one contract and then headed back to finish out her last two years at UCF.  I hope we see her in the future... she was studying hospitality management with a specific goal of working in cruise ship management.  Really lovely young lady!

We met Ashley from Florida on the Quest this past month.  She was our favorite server, always a ray of sunshine and willing to fetch us some little extras to go with our drinks.

[jenidallas]

43 minutes ago, tv24 said:

We met Ashley from Florida on the Quest this past month.  She was our favorite server, always a ray of sunshine and willing to fetch us some little extras to go with our drinks.

 

I guess she didn’t make it back to school... but a great win for passengers.  I wish they could clone her!

[Hlitner]

This thread is causing me to second guess our decision to cruise on the Sojourn...next summer.  When booking Seabourn and paying the relatively "big bucks" we would expect service to be on a higher level then what has been described.  My goodness, we just returned from 21 days on MSC's Divina where we had a regular cabin (they call it a suite) in their Yacht Club.  Service in both the Yacht Club lounge and its dedicated restaurant was near flawless (never had to ask for sparkling water more then once).   The cost of MSC's Yacht Club is significantly less then the cost of Seabourn.  A simple thing like water or wine service should not be an issue on a so-called luxury line.  We hope that somebody at Seabourn is following this thread and will suggest that they clean up their service act.

 

Hank

[tv24]

4 hours ago, jenidallas said:

 

I guess she didn’t make it back to school... but a great win for passengers.  I wish they could clone her!

 

Me too!

[oceanviewer21]

21 hours ago, Isklaar said:

 

Hi Teamflames, I can't make an assessment of drinks service at the pool, because when we last looked the area was packed out, same for deck 5. There is space at the outside of Seabourn Square, so I'm sitting there. 

 So far I've seen nothing that I like better on Ovation compared to the Odyssey class ships, except perhaps the dimmable lighting in the suite! 

Strange how opinions differ we had our worst cruise ever on the Odyssey ever last Christmas and our best since The Legend on the Ovation this December. Yes there were problems with the wine but it was all dealt with in good humour one possible future solution could be order your wine and leave the bottles with you!!!

Complained about no water in forward whirlpool which was fixed immediately.

Cocktails not good anywhere. No problem being served drinks anywhere else. Worst evening in in MDR formal night. As there is no event ie Captains cocktail party to get dressed for everyone arrives at once and it was awful mislaid tables, dreadful service. Only really bad day. Again management problem.

Regarding the shows we finished our meals in leasure caught the end of the first show and only had a 15 minute wait till the start of the second one. 

[Isklaar]

I was originally planning to post a "Live from..." thread but at this point it would contain too much negative comment from me, so will either keep my comments here or perhaps one of my fellow cruisers will begin a live thread. If not I will  go "Live from" if/when things improve 😀

 

MDR last night was ok, we had a table for two, food good. Service was not very sharp but wine and water glasses were at least refilled correctly, albeit slowly. 

That said, Formal night is tonight and we are planning to go to MDR, likely we will be a table for six. One of our friends was told that some guests have previously been turned away from the MDR on formal night as it was full. Fingers crossed for a positive experience there this evening. 

Chef is Jes who is always a winner. Not sure if he is due to disembark soon.

[teamflames]

9 hours ago, Hlitner said:

This thread is causing me to second guess our decision to cruise on the Sojourn...next summer.  When booking Seabourn and paying the relatively "big bucks" we would expect service to be on a higher level then what has been described.  My goodness, we just returned from 21 days on MSC's Divina where we had a regular cabin (they call it a suite) in their Yacht Club.  Service in both the Yacht Club lounge and its dedicated restaurant was near flawless (never had to ask for sparkling water more then once).   The cost of MSC's Yacht Club is significantly less then the cost of Seabourn.  A simple thing like water or wine service should not be an issue on a so-called luxury line.  We hope that somebody at Seabourn is following this thread and will suggest that they clean up their service act.

 

Hank

Hey Hank, have shared a few threads with you in the past. We just disembarked the Ovation and were on the Divina for 11 nights immediately preceding that. We were not in the yacht club just a regular balcony. I cannot comment on the yacht club but the food in the general restaurants was easily the worst we have eaten at sea. We also thought the entertainment and music options were very average for a large ship. I loved the design of the ship and the huge public spaces and the great coffee but could not sail on them again based on the food and fixed seating requirements.

To be clear we did not have a bad cruise on Seabourn, in fact we had a very good time. It was simply that we were surprised at some minor service problems in certain areas of the ship. No cruise is perfect of course and the major difference we find with the smaller more exclusive lines is how quickly and seriously management respond to issues, on the Divina they were reasonably good at responding but it is difficult to change things with the numbers involved.

[teamflames]

3 hours ago, oceanviewer21 said:

Strange how opinions differ we had our worst cruise ever on the Odyssey ever last Christmas and our best since The Legend on the Ovation this December. Yes there were problems with the wine but it was all dealt with in good humour one possible future solution could be order your wine and leave the bottles with you!!!

Complained about no water in forward whirlpool which was fixed immediately.

Cocktails not good anywhere. No problem being served drinks anywhere else. Worst evening in in MDR formal night. As there is no event ie Captains cocktail party to get dressed for everyone arrives at once and it was awful mislaid tables, dreadful service. Only really bad day. Again management problem.

Regarding the shows we finished our meals in leasure caught the end of the first show and only had a 15 minute wait till the start of the second one. 

Please don’t misinterpret my comments as this thread is about drinks service. We loved our cruise and I will be posting a review soon. There were so many positives, I was simply trying to help the op in being able to navigate the areas where there are some minor issues. As I said our problems in the Colonnade were immediately rectified. 

We did ask for water bottles to be left on tables but were refused. 

Sounds like we agree that cocktails were generally poor (better in the Ovation lounge and club), formal nights a little underwhelming.

Just to balance the scales a little, loved the design of the ship and art, Handré best CD ever, loved Seabourn Square, loved our suite. Caviar in surf, Indian buffet night, dance party under the stars, country fair,  lobster bbq etc were great events. Guest relations always helpful. Caviar anytime. Great captain and executive chef. Art and jewellery classes. Lectures. Loads of activities, trivia loads of fun. Food quality. And so much more 

[Isklaar]

And to add to my own comments, my opinion on the cruise so far is being swayed further into the negative because of the size of Ovation.

This is the largest ship that I've cruised on and I'm not keen on it at this stage. Just feels too big, too crowded, too impersonal and not like Seabourn at all.  

Will say again that despite my comments so far, that I'm keeping an open mind and am hoping to see service improve. 

[Isklaar]

Happy to report that we enjoyed excellent service in Colonnade at lunch!

 

Yesterday we had lunch in the MDR. Service was fine. Ship was on a level 1 safety alert due to smoke detectors going off in the spa area. The Colonnade had to be evacuated mid lunch service and later most MDR staff were sent up to the Colonnade when it reopened. 

[Fletcher]

4 hours ago, Isklaar said:

I was originally planning to post a "Live from..." thread but at this point it would contain too much negative comment from me, so will either keep my comments here or perhaps one of my fellow cruisers will begin a live thread. If not I will  go "Live from" if/when things improve 😀

 

 

 

What's wrong with posting negative things?  I did a live blog from the Ovation last summer and not everything I said would have pleased Seabourn's executives. People need to know what you think.  Otherwise it's just a bit of puffery if everything is absolutely wonderful.  Anyway, I'm speaking as a retired professional journalist who was paid to have an opinion about everything.  

Edited December 24, 2018 by Fletcher

[rols]

4 hours ago, Isklaar said:]

Chef is Jes who is always a winner. Not sure if he is due to disembark soon.

Jes is our favourite chef on Seabourn the past few years, the food and presentation should at least be good on your cruise. I suggest if he looks like he's getting off somewhere, get a few fellow passengers to hold him down and take him back to the galley. He's also a really lovely guy and great fun to chat to. 

It's really helpful to fellow cruisers to know the good and the bad so please post your thoughts as you cruise, unless doing so will ruin your cruise in which case, please don't, having a good time is the most important. I posted daily from Encore this summer and the comments were a mixed bag. We found things improved as the cruise went by, hopefully we didn't just 'get used to it' but we'd agree Seabourn hasn't quite worked out how to scale the service level to their largest ships yet. We're looking for our next cruise but it's definitely going to be Odyssey class. 

[lincslady]

Isklaar - pleased to hear things are settling down and improving for you.  We have not been on either of the new ships, but on another line we travel on we so much prefer the 450 passenger one to the one which holds 700; to me it seems to make a huge difference.  I know many are happy with the larger numbers and bigger ship, but although we loved the little original ships, we now feel the Odyssey class is just the right size to get to know staff and fellow passengers, and yet have plenty of places to go and space to relax in.

 

Our other line has now initiated the food waiters serving the included wines, and it does not work brilliantly.  The 'old' wine staff, now working in the bars and doing the for sale wine, are having to help out a lot.

[CLOU]

We just returned from the Odyssey and while we enjoyed our cruise and we are booked on our next in June, I want to echo what has been said about water and wine service. Sparkling waters were often mixed as if there were no difference. Wine glasses someimes remained unfilled and the wine choices were poorer than in the past. When we bought off the premium wine list, our glasses were never refiiled, we had to pour our own. Plus to add insult to injury, we had to hunt down a wine steward to pay for the wine when our meal was over.

 

In general, we were disappointed with the dining experience.  We were seated in the back row every night until we finally complained and were moved, but then it was back in theback row again the next night.  One should not have to complain to be treated well.  Also, we felt the staff was not familiar with what they were serving, food or wine-wise.  While it is subjective, we were also disappointed in the quality of the food.  While nothing was bad enough to make us not enjoy the cruise or stop cruising Seabourn, I am hoping this was an anomaly. While I admit I am a bit of a foodie, I don't expect fine restaurant level dining on any cruise ship, but this past experience was definitely lower than past Seabourn experiences.  

[Isklaar]

Another reason to dislke this ship.

 

Several people, including us, were turned away from the MDR last night. We arrived at around 8.15pm, similar time to every other formal night on every other Seabourn ship. But the MDR on the new ships is not designed to hold as many diners so it was full. We were happy to accept a table in permutations of six, so 2 or 4 etc. Our friends went to Earth and Ocean, we tried again for table of 2. Nothing. Around eight other guests who had also been in tge queue were turned away too. 

Sent to Colonnade. Tuxedo, special shoes and other formal wear carted half way around the world needlessly! 

Edited December 25, 2018 by Isklaar

[jdk-atlga]

Hi all and especially to CLOU - enjoyed meeting you on board. For my wife and I, we had almost exclusively positive experiences in dining on the Odyssey. I wonder if different arrival times for dining don’t play a difference. Being early birds, We were typically among the first in the Restaurant and/or the Colonnade. The service attention that we had was spot on and we had our choice of seating locations. Being celiac and gluten free meant that I was given extra attention, however.

 

The one area that I was disappointed in was the quality of tea (Tetley, with inconsistent offer on Mighty Leaf) throughout. We went to the 4-5pm tea service and it was definitely a low point. The tea selection as limited and the servers could not get the portions of loose tea to water close to right. I spoke with Peppi, the hotel director, and he indicated that Seabourn plans on major changes next year. Typically, we plan our cruise day around tea time (sad, I know), but not on this trip. I really hope that they can elevate it to the level of Crystal in this area. 

[tv24]

37 minutes ago, Isklaar said:

Another reason to dislke this ship.

 

Several people, including us, were turned away from the MDR last night. We arrived at around 8.15pm, similar time to every other formal night on every other Seabourn ship. But the MDR on the new ships is not designed to hold as many diners so it was full. We were happy to accept a table in permutations of six, so 2 or 4 etc. Our friends went to Earth and Ocean, we tried again for table of 2. Nothing. Around eight other guests who had also been in tge queue were turned away too. 

Sent to Colonnade. Tuxedo, special shoes and other formal wear carted half way around the world needlessly! 

 

`Ouch!  This does not happen on the smaller ships.

[Isklaar]

13 hours ago, tv24 said:

 

`Ouch!  This does not happen on the smaller ships.

 

Exactly!  It certainly doesn't feel like luxury cruising when 1) there is no space at either the pool deck or outside on deck 5 during a sea day and 2)guests have to queue to get into a dining venue on formal night and then are turned away.

We talked to some first time Seabourn guests at breakfast and they are terribly disappointed so far. We told them that Seabourn does much better on the smaller ships. 

 

We are in Laem Chabang for Bangkok today so the ship is fairly quiet. Enjoying the pool deck with our friends!

 

Merry Christmas to all CC Seabourners 

[oceanviewer21]

2 hours ago, Isklaar said:

Another reason to dislke this ship.

 

Several people, including us, were turned away from the MDR last night. We arrived at around 8.15pm, similar time to every other formal night on every other Seabourn ship. But the MDR on the new ships is not designed to hold as many diners so it was full. We were happy to accept a table in permutations of six, so 2 or 4 etc. Our friends went to Earth and Ocean, we tried again for table of 2. Nothing. Around eight other guests who had also been in tge queue were turned away too. 

Sent to Colonnade. Tuxedo, special shoes and other formal wear carted half way around the world needlessly! 

On formal nights they need to reinstate the Captains cocktail party make all the restaurants formal except on deck and be cleverer about the show times

[teamflames]

Merry Xmas - has the ship done a good job of celebrating Xmas?

How disappointing to miss formal night, could you have waited longer? Not ideal but we did it one night at the earth and ocean (waited for over an hour) and they made up for it by putting on a great dinner.

Like the other responder we tried afternoon tea once and it was a waste of time, serve yourself basic snacks and servers who stood around laughing at first timers who didn’t know what to do.

Based on your views we will definitely try a small ship next time. Do you think the fact management is blended with HAL has affected how things operate?

I have written my review so once published I will add a link.

[wripro]

16 hours ago, Isklaar said:

Another reason to dislke this ship.

 

Several people, including us, were turned away from the MDR last night. We arrived at around 8.15pm, similar time to every other formal night on every other Seabourn ship. But the MDR on the new ships is not designed to hold as many diners so it was full. We were happy to accept a table in permutations of six, so 2 or 4 etc. Our friends went to Earth and Ocean, we tried again for table of 2. Nothing. Around eight other guests who had also been in tge queue were turned away too. 

Sent to Colonnade. Tuxedo, special shoes and other formal wear carted half way around the world needlessly! 

Have you had a word with the hotel manager regarding all these issues? I certainly would and your chances of getting improved service are far greater than just writing about it on CC.

[tv24]

5 hours ago, wripro said:

Have you had a word with the hotel manager regarding all these issues? I certainly would and your chances of getting improved service are far greater than just writing about it on CC.

 

Good advice.  It is indeed unlikely that Seabourn’s management closely monitors this forum 

[Isklaar]

Yes, of course we have complained about issues. But our complaining doesn't solve the problem that the MDR on these new ships is not big enough to seat everyone who wants to dine there. 

 Through talking to other guests we have learned that the  situation with the MDR being full on formal nights  has been ongoing since Encore was launched.

SB don't appear to care about resolving this problem.

(It is also being discussed currently on another social media platform as guests on Encore were turned away on their formal evening on  Christmas Day night.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Thecat123]

We were on the Encore over the 2017 Xmas and New Year and just recently a week ago on another cruise on the Encore we never had trouble finding a seating on all the formal nights even straight after the 6pm shows in the Main Theatre for previous Seabourn cruisers where everybody would have headed to the MDR at the same time. We did go to the MDR a lot earlier than 8pm though

Maybe if we wished to find a table for just two on both cruises  it could have been a different story?

Also I am not sure if the ship was full on both cruises

Edited December 26, 2018 by Thecat123

[wripro]

13 hours ago, Isklaar said:

Yes, of course we have complained about issues. But our complaining doesn't solve the problem that the MDR on these new ships is not big enough to seat everyone who wants to dine there. 

 Through talking to other guests we have learned that the  situation with the MDR being full on formal nights  has been ongoing since Encore was launched.

SB don't appear to care about resolving this problem.

(It is also being discussed currently on another social media platform as guests on Encore were turned away on their formal evening on  Christmas Day night.)

 

Was your complaint to the hotel manager?