Spirit review - just returned.

[clarky]

http://freenet-antennas.com/v-web/gallery/Cruise2007

 

We arrived home yesterday from our 23 day cruise Hong kong - Singapore.

 

We flew from Perth Australia to KL and then onto Hong Kong. This is the first time we have arrived in a port the day the ship sailed. The travel gods must have been working in our favour that day as we arrived in Hong Kong at 12.30 and caught the airport train into the city and then the shuttle bus to the Marco Polo hotel which we knew was in the cruise ship terminal. We got off the bus and walked about 20 steps and we were at the Seabourn baggage check - in. It all went so smoothly is was scary.

 

The familiar faces of Tony Markey the cruise director and Nicola from the tour department were there to meet us before we boarded the ship to a much welcomed glass of champagne followed by the usual guest registration. As we were waiting in the lounge we saw amongst the guest the familiar faces of Leon and Marlene from our previous cruise (Dubai - Istanbul). One of the things I love about Seabourn is that you get to met fellow passengers again.

 

Our cabin was waiting and our stewardess Melissa from South Africa was there to greet us. She was wonderful, always happy and laughing and nothing was too much trouble for her. 10/10.

 

We introduced ourselves to Karl the maitre'd and sent greeting from Martha. He also was a favourite of ours and his smiling face was everywhere to be seen on the ship. We had some great chats with him about his favourite places to cruise. I do know from some fellow passengers who had an issue with something that happened in the dinning room that he takes his role very seriously and is available to address any passengers concerns. I won't go into the issue that he handled as it is a sensitive subject. We found the staff to be the best we have ever experienced on a Seabourn cruise and I can not fault them in any way. The wine was much more to our taste on this cruise and we were very happy with the wine they offered. I found the champagne was better than the brand we had last time, some my not agree with me but it was more to my taste, more on the dry side. The food was as usual wonderful and the beef in particular was outstanding. I don't usually eat lobster on board as we live in a city where this is plentiful and I'm usually disappointed but after our tour with the chef to the markets in Saigon, and watching him select the large prawns and squid and lobster I changed my mind. I'm glad I did as I was not disappointed.

 

Dinner at '2'

 

We loved the tasting menu and had a difficult time deciding where to eat. I loved the fact that the menu was so unusual and that each course was small so that you could really appreciate every morsel that you ate. They gave you a copy of the menu as you left and I have kept a few of these so if anyone is really interested I can list what was on the menu. 10/10

 

We had a wonderful harpist onboard as the special guest and she was fantastic. Have you ever heard Mama Mia played on a harp? I hadn't either but it was outstanding. She was from South America and was truly a bonus to have her onboard.

 

Our guest speaking was Sir Richard Tallboys and he had us all enthralled with his tales of living in Asia as Trade commissioner for the United Kingdom and Australia. We did not miss one of his talks.

 

The highlights for us were sailing into Saigon. I have never heard the Seabourn horn blown so often and for so long. Captain T just missed colliding with a container ship. ( We captured this on our camera and I will give you the link to this and all of pictures from the cruise at the end of this review). The beach BBQ in Ko Khood, Champagne and caviar in the water was a real experience. The passenger who have become great friends. Winning Trivia. I will cherish the seabourn book marks, sun visor and the umbrellas for ever. Kayaking in Halong bay.

 

If you are interested here is the link to our photo gallery

 

http://freenet-antennas.com/v-web/gallery/Cruise2007

 

We also met Bill and Darlene fellow cruise critic members and had a wonderful dinner with them in a great place recommended by the chef in Saigon. I know Bill will be posting an in depth review of this cruise and also the ports of call. He and Darlene will not get off until Rome so he will have lots to say.

 

We are planning our next Seabourn adventure. Also for Martha, we had the pleasure of dinning with Captain T and we passed on your hello to him. He recounted his many sailing with you and also rememberd your mother and what a wonderful person she was.

[GrannyLorr]

Thanks for the review Clarky but I would never be game to fly in the day the cruise left....even just going to Cairns we flew in the day before....EARLY the day before! Lucky Bill and Darlene.....staying on all the way to Rome! We also dined with them on our Spirit cruise last year!

You mentioned Richard Tallboys....did you meet his wife? She has to be one of the funniest ladies I have ever met....such dry humour. If you ask her if she is an Australian she says "NO, I'm a Tasmanian!!" I think she had even more stories to tell than Richard did!

 

Off to look at the pics now. (We are in Esperance...had quite a wet Easter!)

[clarky]

Granny Lorr,

 

We did indeed meet Margaret. She as you said is full of great stories and one of the most charming people to share tea with. During our chat it turned out that her Granson had just started a job in the ACT and was the same age as our daughter who had also just started a job in the ACT. She was very canny in her match making skills.

 

Bill and Darlene mentioned you to us and Bill made a comment about our missed tea on the balcony. Hoping you are enjoying your trip around OZ.

 

Karen.

[dmb707]

Clarky

 

Thank you for sharing your wonderful photo's with us, i really enjoyed looking at them.

 

It was good to read your review also.

 

Thanks again

 

deb

[Martita B.]

Clarky,

Heartfelt "thank you's" for your review and pictures! You brought tears to my eyes! I'm so happy you had a fabulous sailing with our Spirit family! Karl is such a hoot and a super-duper Maitre'D! A real Seabourn star! Captain "Longhorn" Toenis T. and I have been good buddies for many years. When he was Staff Captain under Master Leif Rodahl, Mother and I sailed many voyages with him~~~

Toenis was so shy and reserved ~~of course, being Staff Captain, he was always "in the wings." Now that he's titled: Sir Captain Dr., Hon. Assn. Secretary of the U.S. Navy ( a real title presented to him by Frank Swofford, retired Assn. Sec. of the U.S. Navy) he's truly a LIVE wire~~~so funny, personable, so visable thru'out the ship~~~along with having excellent Mastering skills! A true Norwegian Viking Sailor Captain~~have you read his profile? Started as a young man working on off shore Norway oil rigs! Kudos to Captain T.T. Soerensen!

Again, many thanks for your Spirit voyage review and photos!:p

And thank you for delivering my messages to my good friends!

Martita B.

[JaneBP]

How wonderful to read your descriptions. I agree that Sir Richard Tallboys is one of my favorite lecturers and yes, his wife is absolutely delightful. I wish Seabourn would publish their scheduled lecturers. It would help me make a difficult decision..where to go next.

 

Did you write a report on your Duba-Istanbul trip? I am doing the reverse in October and would love to hear about it. I know Granny also did a very detailed report.

 

Thank you again.

[juliedawg]

So what is the new champagne? THanks

[clarky]

Jane, I did post a report on our Dubai - Istanbul cruise and my tip for that cruise would be to arrange a private car and driver for Petra as there is so much to see and about 2 hours of the ships tour is dedicated to a hotel lunch which I would have forgone to be able to explore more of Petra. The ships tour was great but for us (in our mid to late 40's) we felt we could have seen more and are fit enough to climb and explore more than some of the other passengers in our group were able to. If you could get another couple to share a private car and guide this would be the best way to do it. We explored Alexandria on our own and this was a mistake, they didn't offer many tours as this was a disembark - embarkartion port but we should have done the tour they offered. Other than that you will really love this cruise.

 

Now to the champagne brand. Well it was French and I think it was Laurent something but I could be wrong but I loved it. We didn't open the bottle in our suite but if we had done I may have looked at the label. Sorry no help there other than I prefered it to the P.H. The Italian wines they had onboard this trip were wonderful, better than than the Californian or the Australian, although my husband did like the Penfolds Merlot from Australia. The Penfolds Shiraz from the optional (pay for) list was EXCELLENT. Passengers had a feeling that the caviar in the club lounge was different from the caviar they served on the beach BBQ in Ko Khood but I'm not a caviar expert and it all tasted fine to me.

 

One of the hits for me was 2 dinning in the evening. Try it on a tastings menu night, we loved it.

 

Karen.

[blackbird71]

Thanks for the review and pictures. :)

[Millymilo]

I would just like to say how much I enjoy reading the message boards on Seabourn and members pictures - Thank you. My husband and I went on our first Seabourn Cruise - Jan2007 14 night Asia. Wow :D loved it. The food and service wonderful :D - Ko Kood amazing-the work that was involved to make sure everyone had anything they wanted. Just caught the end of the Cavier & Champagne in the surf while having the Thai massage over looking the bay (wow again:D ) Great night in Cai Lan with buffet on deck. Any way just thought I would let you know, now I know why you all rave so much.:) :D . We are based in Australia any suggestions on where next

[clarky]

Hi Millymilo,

 

We are also based in Australia and the cruise we did before the Asian cruise was Dubai - Istanbul. Again it was on the Spirit and this was a truly wonderful cruise. To be honest I prefered the ports of call on the Dubai - Istanbul cruise. So if you can, please consider doing this cruise. It was very easy for us because we had a direct flight from Perth - Dubai, stayed a couple of days pre-cruise and then stayed a week in Turkey post cruise. Both fantastic places to explore further.

 

We are thinking of doing South America next but I really have to get prepared for that because getting to South America from Perth is no easy journey. We have experienced other cruise lines but after our first Seabourn cruise we really have found the cruise line that suits us perfectly so I'm planning our third Seabourn cruise now.