Your heartwarming & uplifting Seabourn story

[Martita B.]

As we'll all experienced genuine and delightful moments on one of the Seabourn yachts I thought it might be fun to post our unique (sometimes unexpected) stories of being an honored Guest on the

exclusive Seabourn Sister's!

Yes, we all have stories ~~~:p Please tell yours.

Martita B.

[Host Dan]

A few years back we did 3 back to back cruises in the Med. On the first day that we arrived, I mentioned to Luca (maitre 'd on the Legend) that I would love sashimi / sushi for lunch the next day. For the next 20 days, I had a special order of sushi / sashimi daily, different in style and presentation. Some of the absolute best seafood I've ever had! This was also from the chef that created a special Indian dinner for us one evening. A very special dinner that will forever be etched into my minds eye... Thanks Seabourn! :)

 

Host Dan

 

PS If I could only remember the chefs name...

[Martita B.]

One of many sweet and heartwarming stories of Seabourn.

My Mother and I started sailing Seabourn when she was 89 years old. She needed a walker (called it her "horse" named Old Silver) and she had little eyesight. After only one cruise the sweet dining room waiters "picked up" on the fact that she could not see/read the menu. When the waiter's would offer the menu's they by-passed Mother......instead they would lean down and whisper, "Miss Jewel, the Chef has prepared you a special dinner....I believe he cooked you turkey and dressing for this evening ~~" (at this time in her life she really didn't care for seafood or beef) She would look up and say, "well, how sweet is that Chef? That is exactly what I wanted!" Of course, they would bring her her favorite soup, "pumpkin" for her starter. After our entree's the waiter would again lean down and again say, "the desert Chef saved you one Creme Brulee, because he knew that is your favorite desert.".......her reply, "I just don't know how in the world those Chef's remember what everyone's favorite dishes are.....please go back in the kitchen and tell them how much I appreciate their thoughtfulness...!"

We cruised several times a year until she was 95 ~~~every meal in the dining room, it was of no surprise when the kind, sweet waiter would lean down and present his "whispered" secret to my Mother.

One time at Captain Leif Rodhal's table he leaned over and said, "well, Miss Jewel, they never prepare me anything special ~~"they" sure must like YOU!" She just chuckled.

 

I don't think this kindness would happen on too many cruise lines ~~

But aboard our Sister's, it's simply the Seabourn way .......

Martita B.

[Seabourn-nail]

Well, I'm not sure which would be the best experience that would classify for heartwarming and uplifting, to write in this thread; there simply are so many! But OK, I will pick one.

I think it was two years ago more or less, when our children, son and daughter did a one week cruise on the Legend with their partners from Barcelona to Nice. One night our son proposed to his girlfriend. He and his sister had the whole thing prepared back home. Our daughter would pretend she had a headache during dinner. Then she and her husband would leave the table and our son would take his girlfriend for a walk on the deck. He took her to the front of the ship, where the jacuzzi is situated. When they walked down the stairs and got there, they were welcomed by a waiter leading them to a table where a bottle of champagne was waiting. Then a trumpet player arrived and played "Have I told you lately" by Van Morrison for them. One of their favorite songs. But that wasn't all. As there was quite a wind blowing, the captain (Karlo Buer) had turned the ship around for the occasion and kept that off wind course for the "ceremony"! What a service and thoughtfulness.

Later in the club our daughter and her husband joined them again for a party that started with a celebration for them by both the band and the guests.

By the way, they're still together, but not married yet!

Maybe they need another cruise...

Marja

[JaneBP]

I have told this story before, but hope that the newer members will enjoy it. I was on the Legend in the Adriatic, and one evening after touring I could not face going to the dining room. OK, fine, I called Room Service, and ordered roast beef and the trimmings, with breadsticks of course. I had been really thirsty and requested two ice teas. When my meal arrived, it took 2 waiters to carry it all in. I was rather surprised at that. However, when my order was taken and I asked for 2 ice teas, they thought I wanted two of everything because I was entertaining a guest!

 

That was thoughtful and adorable and I did my best, but know the double portions went to a good cause!

[Seabourn-nail]

Then a trumpet player arrived and played "Have I told you lately" by Van Morrison for them.

 

Sorry, it was a saxophone player!

 

Marja

[Silver Pearl]

Thanks for starting this thread, Martita. It's great! Reading the responses so far have been the best "argument" I've yet read for taking a cruise on the yachts of Seabourn.

 

--Rich

 

As we'll all experienced genuine and delightful moments on one of the Seabourn yachts I thought it might be fun to post our unique (sometimes unexpected) stories of being an honored Guest on the

exclusive Seabourn Sister's!

Yes, we all have stories ~~~:p Please tell yours.

Martita B.

[Host Dan]

Sorry, it was a saxophone player!

 

Marja

I'm glad you cleared that up! I thought "trumpet?- A bit loud?"! :D

 

Host Dan

 

PS Keep these Seabourn memories going! Great thread!!

[howndder]

We had a delightful moment when we played trivia on our Legend Trans-Atlantic in April 07. By combining all (there were 9 of us) of our initials we came up with the name:"The Hotdogs". A couple of days before the end of the cruise and all of the trivia players had something like 2 million points, our entire team decided to meet up in the Restaurant for dinner and one of our team (Jane?), made plans with the pastry chef for a suprise dessert. Well, at the end of the meal, a waiter approached our table and on a giant silver platter, a very large hotdog, made completely out of cake and marzipan appeared. It was an exact replica of a hotdog with all of the trimmings. Including ; lettuce and tomato, relish, onions. mustard and ketchup. All entirely edible. Wow, those Seabouurn chefs are the best. Needless to say, this was one of the biggest hits of our cruise. That and the wonderful people we met on board. Our hats off to Seabourn.

Howard

[keltic]

Just returned from the Pride I could say.

 

-Valentina, knowing excatly how I liked my capuccino.

-Captain calling by my name without telling him first.

-The blanket tale. Just a shiver makes someone to put one on my shoulder on deck

-Lucca. Great guy. Always trying to find someone to sit me with, who spoke Spanish or had been in my country before.

-I can remember the name of the swedish receptionist, but the sweetest ever found on board.

-I got a tranfer to Oslo Torp. They confused and with limited time, I was trasfered to other airport more than 100 km away. No time. They just got a kind of fast car, and run, run run to the other airport. WE DID IT. WOWWW

-A chilean waiter on Sky Cafe, my kind of sort of Spanish speaking angel on board. Always taking care.....

-A big austrian boy at the Sky Bar. I just left pieces of tomatoes from my hamburger. On the following day, I had the hamburger without tomatoe, without asking.

 

It´s an endless list. So smart. I didn´t see the luxury, I perceived it. Bit by bit. What´s the problem?. I will cruise on Roya Caribbean, next month. Being the Splendour one of my favourite, my enthuziasm is just now bellow cero.

 

Seabourn it´s highly additive. :-(

[Martita B.]

A really funny true story. Last year aboard the Pride my good friend Miss A. and a few of us were dining together on formal night.

Miss A. as most of you know stays aboard every year from Jan. to

Nov. This particular evening we all ordered ~~when our main course came the waiters hovered a'round and removed the silver dome's from our plates. All saying, "WALLA!" 'Lo and behold on Missy A's plate, all alone, was an old, dried up piece of cornbread ~~ nothing else but a note from Executive Chef Markus reading, "Dear Mrs. A, just what you wanted! Markus!" Needless to say, she was quite surprised.......we all nearly fell out of our chairs, laughing! Even some of the other diners around us were laughing ~~~

As you can imagine, Miss A. gets tired of Mr. Palmer's menu's and is always asking for simple foods such as cornbread, green beans, pimento cheese, chopped beef on toast etc.........wellll, that night she received what she wanted! Later, of course, Chef came by to check on his good buddy, Miss A.......we all sure had a good laugh!

Shortly, Miss A.'s dinner arrived as previously ordered ~~:p

 

Yes, on Seabourn it's "amigos para siempre!"

Martita B.

[johnnycruise]

On our second Seabourn cruise we met a very special frequent passenger at embarkation. We introduced ourselves and she told us to stop by her suite the next day and she would tell us the story of the rogue wave. The next afternoon, we stopped by and there were half a dozen dresses and gowns laid out on her bed. I thought to myself, "It sure does take her a long time to unpack!"

 

Wrong!

 

I found out later that she had all her formal wear laid out because she heard one of the other passenger's suitcases didn't arrive and that passenger had nothing to wear for the first formal night. Well, she made sure that passenger got the first choice of her formal wear.

 

Nice people cruise on Seabourn.

[Martita B.]

Johnny

I remember so well when we met ~~I thought "what handsome refined smart young men" ~~~

I've been fortunate in never losing my luggage.:eek: (knock on wood) I've noticed many times how kind and concerned Seabourn Guests are when hearing of fellow shipmates whose luggage didn't make the sailing. They all "rally a'round" the passengers who have nothing to wear. Sometimes they are the best dressed at the Captain's Welcome reception ~~thanks to their caring, thoughtful Seabourn family members.

Again......"it's the Seabourn way!":p

[O2BatSea]

At dinner one evening, we asked if cinnamon ice cream was available, and we were told that chef had never heard of it before. The next night, cinnamon ice cream was delivered as our dessert. Chef had researched, found five different recipes and tried them all, using the galley staff as guinea pigs.

 

Several guests near us were curious about this 'special dessert' we received, and asked to try it as well. It was a big hit in the dining room and is still on the menu.

 

If Seabourn doesn't have what you want, they do everything thing they can to create it for you. THAT is what I love about the Seabourn Style.... The way everyone onboard tries to deliver so much more than what you might expect. And the little things that are remembered from one cruise to the next or unexpected things being done that makes such a difference.

[GrannyLorr]

While on The Pride this year, there was another couple who had sailed something like 3.5 years on Seabourn. The Captain told the story about how one day this couple got stuck in the elevator, and when they were finally set free, as the elevator doors opened, there were waiters there who said "Voila" and presented them with glasses of champagne and caviar!! :D

[akafurby]

What lovely, magical stories! Thank you so much for sharing. I am anxiously awaiting my first cruise.

 

More please!

[Martita B.]

I know there are many stories of guests forgetting certain formal wear items ~~ I heard one story of a Pride Hotel Manager visiting the laundry and selecting a Tux jacket for a guest who was "Tux-less." Yes, it was on the Maitre'D's rack! (they keep extra's and different sizes) Yet again, "above and beyond!"

 

A favortie story of mine ~~I was in the Club one evening when "out of the blue" a heel just came off of my black satin dancing slippers.

I was upset as these were my favorite evening shoes.:confused: Someone suggested I take the shoes to the Pursers. I did ~~"that's not a problem, Miss Martha.....I'll send your slippers to the cobbler!" The cobbler ??? I hadn't heard that word in eons ~~~sure 'nuff the next morning the shoes were delivered, good as new, by the Pride ship's carpenter!:p

"The best islands in the world are those they float and move......their names are the Pride, the Spirit and the Legend!"

Martita B.

[Keith1010]

On our first Seabourn Cruise we mainly enjoyed breakfsat in the Verandah dining area, but on occasion we enjoyed our breakfast in our room. One morning room service arrived to our room, we opened the door, and who do you think had our breakfast order, but the wonderful head Maitre D'. Now, who would expect that the Matire D' would be delivering room service. This was a first for us and really was a fine example of the Maitre D's willingess to perform a wide range of duties to help his staff and to provide wonderful service to the passengers.

 

One of our most memorable moments was on our last cruise with Seabourn. We signed up for an event when the Chef goes into town to purchase food at the local market. We were in Dublin. Well, this event turned out to be much more than we ever expected. There were two other couples who also signed up. We arrived at the schedule time and the six of us were taken in a large luxury SUV along with the Head Chef, a driver and a local tour person. We were first given a one hour driving tour of Dublin, taken to a fish market, a produce market and then a very fine food store. As we went to these different places the Head Chef asked us questions such as do you like this particular fish, do you like this or that. When we arrived back to the ship we received another surprise when we learned that the Head Chef would be making a dinner for us one evening and that the menu would include all of those items he had asked us about. This was a special day and a few days later a very special dinner.

 

Keith

[GrannyLorr]

I have never been on a Chefs shopping tour as they always seem to go to the fish markets, guess I have to get over my phobia about dead fish as everyone always seems to have such a good time on these trips.....

One morning for breakfast John ordered waffles.....now Aussies dont eat waffles like Yanks do......no bacon, sausage or eggs with our waffles....ours are a "sweet" dish. So he asked if he could have strawberries and icecream....maybe 2 icecreams? The wait staff seemed quite amused by this order, and he got 3 icreams......on our very last day, halfway through breakfast a big dish of icecream was brought to our table! The people on the next table had ordered small serves of caviar, think they got about triple what they orderd......the girls were trying to make sure everyones "strange preferences" were all presented on the last day. :D

Then again what would you make of a waiter who insisted he carry our bags off the ship for us saying "I just want to make sure you leave"....?? ( think he was only joking :confused: )

[JaneBP]

That sounds pretty good. Just before reading your post, we had a bit on a local TV show about a restaurant on the Boardwalk at the New Jersey shore in Ocean City. They sell ice cream and the toppings are all sorts of cereals. Makes sense to me. I do know on many college campuses there are shops selling all sorts of cereal, not sure about ice cream.

 

What never made sense to me is the combo of waffles and fried chicken. I like them both, but not together.

 

Seabourn does out-do themselves in the food service department which has a long memory. On my first cruise with my Mother ('02) she asked the chef, who was from Hamburg, if he would make her some weiner schnitzel and spaetzle. Naturally, and we had a lovely lunch. However, there appeared for me on several subsequent cruises, dishes of spaetzle alongside my menu order at dinner.

 

KIndness above all.

[Host Dan]

Great stories all!! Nice to see the boards back to business as usual!!

 

Host Dan

[keltic]

I had forgotten one thing, which it´s absolutely amazing. MEN....we are the same with spots. I got a canape directly on my shirt, on wearing the tuxedo in the captain cocktail. Well, nobody seemed to realize. So I just started to clean it with a napkin.

 

Five minutes later, one of the waiters came, telling me in low voice, that my stewardess was waiting for me at the suite with a cleaner, if I wished.

 

Wowwwww, that´s service.

[Martita B.]

keltic,

Your story is an example of Seabourn's 6* service! Thank you for sharing it with us ~~~

One year in the Caribbean a couple was aboard the Pride. The gentleman was rather large and his white terry robe was too small.

Without a word from the couple the Executive Housekeeper spoke to David, the Laundry Master ~~David and a seamstress quickly took two terry robes, cut, sewed and fashioned the gentleman a new robe that fit him perfectly! Needless to say the sweet gentleman was speechless ~~~but delighted that the Pride "team" reconized his need of a bathrobe!:p (I bet the couple booked another sailing while aboard)

Have a nice, safe weekend!

Martita B.

[marazul]

Last July, the Spirit's departure from Athens was delayed by several hours. We were on deck around 11 pm when a taxi pulled up to the side of the ship and a harried young coupled got out with some hand luggage. The crew were waiting for them on the dock and they all hurried into the ship. Their plane had been delayed getting to Paris and they missed the connecting flight to ATH along with their luggage. SB not only held the departure, but they provided them each with an outfit from the shop and free laundry until their luggage caught up with them four days later!

 

And, no, they had not booked their flights through SB!

Now, that's service!

[cands]

These recollections are great! Keep them coming.

 

Only 4 months and 4 days until our first Seabourn experience aboard Spirit!

 

Steve.