Caviar in the Surf

[English Tim]

We are booked on Odyssey in February, from Barbados to Barbados for 14 nights. Last time we did Seabourn in the Caribbean we visited Carambola Beach for Caviar in the Surf. We are due to visit this island again, but there’s no mention of the event.

[Isklaar]

It wasn't mentioned on itinerary details for several of our cruises (not just in the Caribbean, also in Thailand)  but the event still took place.  

It's not specified in our upcoming Sojourn itinerary  but I expect it to take place once again at Carambola, weather permitting. Friends disembarked Sojourn a couple of days ago and had a fabulous time at Carambola. It's one of my favourite locations for Caviar in the Surf. 

[pnsnkr]

8 hours ago, English Tim said:

We are booked on Odyssey in February, from Barbados to Barbados for 14 nights. Last time we did Seabourn in the Caribbean we visited Carambola Beach for Caviar in the Surf. We are due to visit this island again, but there’s no mention of the event.

 

On our recent cruise, the event wasn't publicized but fellow passengers knew of it.  It didn't even make it to the highlighted list of activities on the summary page of the Herald, but was listed in the chronological list of activities for the day.

 

Our guess was that Seabourn still wanted to sell the excursions so they downplayed the event.  

 

On our trip, they ran out of lobsters so if you have the hankering, then our recommendation is to hit the buffet line on the earlier side.

 

One tip: the marina events are conducted on the far right side as you face the shore, so if you want to grab front row beach chairs, avoid the far side as they beach all their craft there.  The beach caviar event was held on the right side so you wanna stay in that side, just avoid the far side.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

[English Tim]

Do they have one event per week or just the one at St Kitts?

[jongbj]

Once a week as the cruises are week-long cruises making the Barbados-Barbados of 14 days technically a B2B.

We have a similar, but St. Maarten - St. Maarten in a couple of weeks. 

Our CitS will be at St. Kitts the second week and Saline bay the first week, yours will be the other way around. 

[Isklaar]

6 hours ago, pnsnkr said:

 

On our recent cruise, the event wasn't publicized but fellow passengers knew of it.  It didn't even make it to the highlighted list of activities on the summary page of the Herald, but was listed in the chronological list of activities for the day.

 

Our guess was that Seabourn still wanted to sell the excursions so they downplayed the event.  

 

On our trip, they ran out of lobsters so if you have the hankering, then our recommendation is to hit the buffet line on the earlier side.

 

 

 

 

 

(Just to clarify my earlier post, where I've said 'it wasn't mentioned in itinerary details' etc I'm referring to pre-cruise, once onboard  it has always been announced, my comments below. )

 

In my experience, the way that the day was handled on board on your cruise  is rather unusual.

 

Who was your Cruise Director? Usually the CD mentions it at some point during the evening before (over the PA and/or at the show in the theatre). At turndown a card is usually left in your suite with all of the information for the next day, detailing what time the tenders begin and so on.  And it's on the front page of the Herald as well as in the chronological list. 

Just wondering, as it's been a year since we were last on SB, is everything now done through the onboard app or do they still leave a paper version of the Herald in the suite each evening? 

 

I hope that your experience of this wasn't too disappointing to spoil the day for you. It's a Seabourn signature event, it requires a lot of work by the crew to set everything up and I know that they want the guests to absolutely enjoy the day as it's often a cruise highlight. 

 

[twodjs]

This was our first Seabourn cruise - but I was only aware of some special event prior to our sailing  by reading Cruisecritic. Yes, the crew made several printed and verbal announcements the evening before, but several people had made pre-cruise private excursion commitments or arrangements to meet friends that conflicted with the last minute beach club announcements. We were also not aware that snorkeling equipment and suntan lotion and bug spray were provided throughout the cruise. That knowledge would have saved space and weight as we had packed our own. Now we know. Really enjoyed our Seabourn experience.

[SailorJack]

Just got back from our first Seabourn cruise. The caviar event was held on Sir Bani Yas Island in the UAE and was one of the highlights of our cruise.  Huge tubs of caviar were placed on surf boards and the crew waded the boards out in the Gulf with enough caviar to feed an army.  Other crew members then waded out with never ending bottles of Champagne. Warm Arabian Gulf water, bright sun, caviar and Champagne - it doesn't get a lot better than that!

[pnsnkr]

On 11/19/2019 at 3:32 AM, Isklaar said:

 

(Just to clarify my earlier post, where I've said 'it wasn't mentioned in itinerary details' etc I'm referring to pre-cruise, once onboard  it has always been announced, my comments below. )

 

Yes, this was the case on our cruise as well.  

 

On 11/19/2019 at 3:32 AM, Isklaar said:

In my experience, the way that the day was handled on board on your cruise  is rather unusual.

 

Who was your Cruise Director? Usually the CD mentions it at some point during the evening before (over the PA and/or at the show in the theatre). At turndown a card is usually left in your suite with all of the information for the next day, detailing what time the tenders begin and so on.  And it's on the front page of the Herald as well as in the chronological list. 

 

It's quite likely that this was announced during the show the night before but we don't do shows.  There was no separate turndown card but it was listed in the Herald, just not on the front page.

 

On 11/19/2019 at 3:32 AM, Isklaar said:

Just wondering, as it's been a year since we were last on SB, is everything now done through the onboard app or do they still leave a paper version of the Herald in the suite each evening? 

 

We received the paper version during turndown service every night.

 

On 11/19/2019 at 3:32 AM, Isklaar said:

 

I hope that your experience of this wasn't too disappointing to spoil the day for you. It's a Seabourn signature event, it requires a lot of work by the crew to set everything up and I know that they want the guests to absolutely enjoy the day as it's often a cruise highlight. 

 

 

We were aware of the event from Cruise Critic reviews and YouTube videos and were really looking forward to it.  Seabourn really excelled and exceeded our hyped-up expectations.  The beach bbq was most definitely the highlight of our cruise.  

[Isklaar]

13 minutes ago, pnsnkr said:

 

Yes, this was the case on our cruise as well.  

 

 

It's quite likely that this was announced during the show the night before but we don't do shows.  There was no separate turndown card but it was listed in the Herald, just not on the front page.

 

 

We received the paper version during turndown service every night.

 

 

We were aware of the event from Cruise Critic reviews and YouTube videos and were really looking forward to it.  Seabourn really excelled and exceeded our hyped-up expectations.  The beach bbq was most definitely the highlight of our cruise.  

 

 

Thanks for the information here. I'm on Sojourn very soon and will be interested to see how/if the event is promoted this time. Perhaps what you experienced is the current way of doing things or perhaps there were some oversights on your cruise. 

I'm so glad to read that you enjoyed the cruise and the beach bbq too!

[cruiseej]

Just came back from the beach, and it was a lovely day. It was mentioned by the cruise director the night before, and in the Herald. The only "secret" to discern was when tenders would begin running, but several people told us it would be aground 9:30 am, which proved correct. We were happy to get to the beach around 10 am to get good "front row" beach chairs. The crew does a fabulous job setting up and running the event. And the lobster tails (yes, plural) were delicious! 

[claudiaYVR]

Just came back from Ovation Dubai to Singapore. Caviar in the Pool only; fun but disappointing as we’ve done Caviar in the Surf before and it just doesn’t compare. It was on a sea day of course and listed on the Herald.

[auldlassie]

I felt the Soujourn’s caviar in the surf event this Xmas was very much underplayed and less impressive than my previous experiences. One surf board of caviar only, others have had 3 and this time nothing made of the actual arrival of the caviar itself, again unlike previous times.  This time it really almost just “snuck up” on Antonio, the F&B manager, at the lone surf board

That aside, the lobster we ate at the beach lunch though was very well cooked  - tender and delicious.

[galeforce9]

We loved ours on Odyssey.  Here at Carambola Beach.