Live from Quest, Barcelona to Montreal, July 22 to August 29

[sunshineocean13]

21 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Is everyone onboard complaining and moaning bout the food?   That would make for a very unpleasant cruise.

No, there seem to be many people enjoying the food, including us! Much more positive than negative, and my glass is definitely more than half full. I’m  loving our 36 days on Quest, and excited that we’re boarding the Quest again in January for 79 days.

[travel4b]

Just now, sunshineocean13 said:

No, there seem to be many people enjoying the food, including us! Much more positive than negative, and my glass is definitely more than half full. I’m  loving our 36 days on Quest, and excited that we’re boarding the Quest again in January for 79 days.

I’m genuinely curious - how much time have you spent on Seabourn?  Because for me, and quite a few others onboard, this cruise is very much an anomaly from our usual Seabourn experiences. 

[Mahogany]

11 hours ago, kjbacon said:

Sending a dish back is not a good option for us because it takes too long to get the first time

You'd be surprised how quickly the second entree comes after they take away the first. Of course, they're not waiting for other entrees for the table. You should try when you're unhappy. Give them a chance to correct their mistakes!

[SLSD]

35 minutes ago, Mahogany said:

You'd be surprised how quickly the second entree comes after they take away the first. Of course, they're not waiting for other entrees for the table. You should try when you're unhappy. Give them a chance to correct their mistakes!

I remember we sent back some very stringy inedible white asparagus which never should have left the kitchen in the first place.  As it was a side dish--sending it back was not an issue.  I've never sent back an entree--but did not eat the Beef Wellington I was served.  It was lackluster.  But, after having soup and /or salad which is more than I usually have at home for dinner, I was fine.  I would not hesitate to send back items that were truly bad.  

 

Looking at recent posts, I am not at all surprised that some people are find this cruise to be an sub par for Seabourn and others are seeing it as mostly great.  I think that is fairly common.  

[kjbacon]

We had a nice, relaxing day yesterday. We went to two lectures in the afternoon and I must repeat that Sir Alan Collins is fabulous. We enjoyed each one of his talks.

 

We had a dinner last night that I will always remember at a table hosted by the fantastic Destination Services Manager, Dusan. The group together was such a good blend and we had the best time.

 

My spinach and beet salad was the best part of the meal. Finally, duck l’orange was on the menu and it was good.

 

 

It is possible that we all indulged in the wine with great enthusiasm and that we decided to have a shot of ice cold vodka together to say good night. An olive garnish was quite the nice touch.

 

Today, the weather is improved. We will be cruising the Saint Lawrence en route to Saguenay, looking for whales. Our dinner reservation tonight is in the Collonade for the TK clambake but now it says it’s going to be another fried chicken night. We hope to find out what’s what with that.

[travel4b]

Dusan has been one of the true gems on this cruise. 

Edited August 25, 2022 by travel4b
Typo

[sunshineocean13]

21 hours ago, travel4b said:

I’m genuinely curious - how much time have you spent on Seabourn?  Because for me, and quite a few others onboard, this cruise is very much an anomaly from our usual Seabourn experiences. 

This is our 7th Seabourn cruise, and the second since the restart. Our first Seabourn cruise was in 2012, and we’re now up to 200+ days.

[JodiandFrank]

On 8/23/2022 at 9:07 PM, labonnevie said:

I read elsewhere on these boards that Seabourn had just transferred some staff from the Encore. Any evidence of that?

We board Monday in Montreal. Please do your best to get all of the problems fixed by then. 😊

Thank you!

How is the entertainment?  How is the Trivia?

Are you all having FUN?!?!  We board on Monday and we can’t wait to laugh with some good folks…… 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes, St. John's is a wonderful small city.  We in fact visited it on our sole Seabourn cruise.  Note the spelling.

[labonnevie]

Did passengers on the Quest have to get tested before arriving in Canada?

We need a test before boarding in Montreal. 

[JodiandFrank]

9 hours ago, labonnevie said:

Did passengers on the Quest have to get tested before arriving in Canada?

We need a test before boarding in Montreal. 

We are at the Montreal Ritz Carlton and via the Concierge have scheduled a nurse to come to our room on Sunday morning to do an Antigen Test for my husband and I.  This is the company information…….

Équipe coordination

Coordination | Groupe EM

	514-331-8144 option 1
	coordo@groupeem.com
	groupeem.com
	3557 Rue Ashby, Mtl, Qc, H4R

[DaveA]

13 hours ago, labonnevie said:

Did passengers on the Quest have to get tested before arriving in Canada?

We need a test before boarding in Montreal. 

We will be in the same position.  I found a company covidtestexpress dot ca that seems to let us bring our own antigen test kits and they'll supervise us taking the tests and email a certificate. $59 for two.

[kjbacon]

For those of you with Covid testing questions, this is in todays Herald. 

 

Saguenay was a lovely little city starting with a beautiful sunrise.

 

We were welcomed by very friendly street performers.

 

Unfortunately, the problems on this cruise continue. It’s more fun to do a live report from a cruise that’s running well and you can bet that it’s more fun to be on a cruise that’s running well. With just a couple days left, it’s seriously disappointing to be in this position. 

Yesterday was another bad day for food and at this point, I can say without question that we have not had a 6* luxury cruise experience. My pride would not allow me to serve this or to call it a shrimp cocktail.

Instead of wasting all this lettuce, tomato, lemon, and the labor cost to assemble and clean all this up, just provide some decent shrimp on a platter.

 

This cruise is still understaffed. Many crew members are new and undertrained. The ship has not been properly provisioned. We were told that the TK clambake (that we made reservations for weeks ago) was cancelled because they didn’t have enough ingredients. We have been asking for more decaf coffee pods in our suite for a week and now we have learned that they have run out of them. There’s more examples but to what end?
 

A couple days ago at breakfast, a man at the table behind us stood up and loudly said “will someone please take my order!” It is frustrating, day after day, to wait far too long to order breakfast, to then wait too long to get that breakfast, and without exaggeration, most of the time it is done incorrectly. I was actually served this overripe bruised avocado at breakfast.

Covid cannot be used as an acceptable excuse. This is our third post pandemic cruise and both Regent and Oceania were fantastic. Besides, we were charged the regular rate and not the Covid excuse rate.

Today is Québec city, our first time, and we are really looking forward to it.

Edited August 27, 2022 by kjbacon

[Champagne Socialist]

26 minutes ago, kjbacon said:

My pride would not allow me to serve this or to call it a shrimp cocktail

That’s a British prawn cocktail – it doesn’t look like a very good one but it is a very different beast from an American shrimp cocktail.

[travelwell]

Boy, I am so sorry to hear of your experience. I can see why for you guys Seabourn is a one and done. Certainly not what we expect to experience. I hope to hear more positive posts from people on the next cruise.

[DaveA]

Hard to understand how that avocado was allowed to leave the kitchen. I hope these issue are addressed promptly and decisively. Is it possible there are staff quarantined with COVID and that is affecting the service?

Edited August 27, 2022 by DaveA

[SLSD]

The avocado should not have been served.  And I agree,  the shrimp cocktail looks sub par.  it does sound like two things are going on---poor provisioning and staff issues.  I can see why. you are disappointed.  

[JPH814]

As this cruise is approaching Quebec City, I would be interested if anyone attends the Gastronomic Experience at La Taniere 3. (if it is even offered on your cruise)  This "excursion" is offered in Quebec City on our Quest cruise in October.  It sounds interesting but is rather pricey.  ($629 for two people).  

[saminina]

3 hours ago, kjbacon said:

 ately, the problems on this cruise continue. It’s more fun to do a live report from a cruise that’s running well and you can bet that it’s more fun to be on a cruise that’s running well. With just a couple days left, it’s seriously disappointing to be in this position. 

Yesterday was another bad day for food and at this point, I can say without question that we have not had a 6* luxury cruise experience. My pride would not allow me to serve this or to call it a shrimp cocktail.

 

Much like what 99 cents would buy you at certain Las Vegas casinos forty years ago.

 

You would have never seen stuff like this when Seabourn was managing the kitchen. 

 

 

[ejincali]

1 hour ago, JPH814 said:

As this cruise is approaching Quebec City, I would be interested if anyone attends the Gastronomic Experience at La Taniere 3. (if it is even offered on your cruise)  This "excursion" is offered in Quebec City on our Quest cruise in October.  It sounds interesting but is rather pricey.  ($629 for two people).  

Or just make your own reservation there.  Set menu for about 200Canadian pp

[Mr Luxury]

5 hours ago, kjbacon said:

For those of you with Covid testing questions, this is in todays Herald. 

 

Saguenay was a lovely little city starting with a beautiful sunrise.

 

We were welcomed by very friendly street performers.

 

Unfortunately, the problems on this cruise continue. It’s more fun to do a live report from a cruise that’s running well and you can bet that it’s more fun to be on a cruise that’s running well. With just a couple days left, it’s seriously disappointing to be in this position. 

Yesterday was another bad day for food and at this point, I can say without question that we have not had a 6* luxury cruise experience. My pride would not allow me to serve this or to call it a shrimp cocktail.

Instead of wasting all this lettuce, tomato, lemon, and the labor cost to assemble and clean all this up, just provide some decent shrimp on a platter.

 

This cruise is still understaffed. Many crew members are new and undertrained. The ship has not been properly provisioned. We were told that the TK clambake (that we made reservations for weeks ago) was cancelled because they didn’t have enough ingredients. We have been asking for more decaf coffee pods in our suite for a week and now we have learned that they have run out of them. There’s more examples but to what end?
 

A couple days ago at breakfast, a man at the table behind us stood up and loudly said “will someone please take my order!” It is frustrating, day after day, to wait far too long to order breakfast, to then wait too long to get that breakfast, and without exaggeration, most of the time it is done incorrectly. I was actually served this overripe bruised avocado at breakfast.

Covid cannot be used as an acceptable excuse. This is our third post pandemic cruise and both Regent and Oceania were fantastic. Besides, we were charged the regular rate and not the Covid excuse rate.

Today is Québec city, our first time, and we are really looking forward to it.

Rather than posting your bad experience here have you actually had a meeting with the hotel director and discussed your cruise and its failings for you?

 

[JPH814]

17 minutes ago, ejincali said:

Or just make your own reservation there.  Set menu for about 200Canadian pp

Yes but the ship’s excursion includes the wine pairing which is about an additional 150 plus transportation to and from.   Price wise it is a push. 

[ejincali]

4 minutes ago, JPH814 said:

Yes but the ship’s excursion includes the wine pairing which is about an additional 150 plus transportation to and from.   Price wise it is a push. 

Good point.  Great place, definitely a favorite dining experience.

[SLSD]

14 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

Rather than posting your bad experience here have you actually had a meeting with the hotel director and discussed your cruise and its failings for you?

 

I have wondered if kjbacon has done that.  I would want to know what the real issues are---too few staff, some quarantined, not fully trained yet---etc.  And he could also explain what is going on with provisions.  I would want to know if somehow the provisions did not come through as expected.  

[DaveA]

1 hour ago, Mr Luxury said:

Rather than posting your bad experience here have you actually had a meeting with the hotel director and discussed your cruise and its failings for you?

 

If you read through this topic you will see that kjbacon and at least one other poster have had meetings with management on board Quest to discuss the issues. The posts seem to me to have been very balanced (and remained impressively positive during their Covid quarantine period on board).