Odyssey Questions, Musings, and Trip Reports

[Host Dan]

Thank you Markham for your detailed and enjoyable review! November can't come soon enough!

 

Host Dan

[mariap]

Thank you Markham for your great review. We will be on the Odyssey, Athens to Istanbul, 29 Aug to 19 Sep 09. Were you able to obtain your Turkish visa on board the Odyseey or at the customs terminal prior to disembarking? Thanks for any info you (or others on the maiden voyage) may be able to provide.

Regards

Maria

[Seabourn-nail]

Thank you Markham for your great review. We will be on the Odyssey, Athens to Istanbul, 29 Aug to 19 Sep 09. Were you able to obtain your Turkish visa on board the Odyseey or at the customs terminal prior to disembarking? Thanks for any info you (or others on the maiden voyage) may be able to provide.

 

Regards

Maria

Welcome to Cruise Critic and especially the Seabourn Board Maria!

I hope you will have a wonderful cruise on the Odyssey in September!

Marja

[markham]

Mariap,

 

Seabourn's own Square staff will organize the visa for $99 onboard if you do not have a Turkish visa and they will charge it to your onboard account.

 

I should have organized my own before leaving my home country but I overlooked the need to do so. (It might have been cheaper than the $99 but of course much more hassle.) Anyway, there was some kind of kerfuffle among some other passengers about the expense and supposed lack of pre-advice that the visa would be necessary to disembark in Istanbul but Seabourn handled this with aplomb. The day after we learned about the $99 charge etc we were notified that Seabourn would cover the amount themselves. How good is that?!

 

Regards and Bon Voyage

 

ps- About Athens and its tax drivers... Please be most careful as I encountered a bait and switch attempt there. I had gone from the ship's port of Piraeus to the new (and most impressive) Acropolis museum for euros 20 which I agreed to even though the posted sign in the terminal was euro 9.80. I took another taxi back after agreeing a fare of 20 euros with the new driver. However, he told me en route that he would have to run the meter and also take me only part of the way back and leave me at a tram station due to traffic concerns and some nonsense printout (which was in Greek) about 6 euros per kilometer. When we got to this spot which was near the Olympic basketball arena he demanded 56 euros. I grabbed his printout, told him I would pay nothing and that I would report him by his license plate number to the tourist police at the port. He started remonstrating, I left the cab, and as he sped off he flipped open his car trunk from inside so I could not see the license number. That was that. I was lucky enough to find a bus for the rest of the way to the port with the help of a fellow at the tram station and so this adventure costed almost nothing...I am originally from NY City and if Athens wants to clean up it could learn from there! What a blight on the Greek tourism industry...

[Seabourn-nail]

Thank you Markham for your great review. We will be on the Odyssey, Athens to Istanbul, 29 Aug to 19 Sep 09. Were you able to obtain your Turkish visa on board the Odyseey or at the customs terminal prior to disembarking? Thanks for any info you (or others on the maiden voyage) may be able to provide.

 

Regards

Maria

 

Maria,

I checked you itinerary and saw that you will be in Kusadasi on the 16th of September.

You will be able to buy a visa in the port there. For about € 15 or 20 dollars.

I did this before in Bodrum.

Check this website with useful information.

Marja

http://www.*******************/essentials/quick.htm

[mariap]

Marja - Thanks for your kind words. It's not our first cruise with Seabourn; twice with Spirit 2003/2006 and, of course, first with Odyssey. Looking forward to the new ship. We were actually booked Athens-Venice-Athens (thu Sydney Seabourn Office) but were informed 2 weeks ago we had to go on to Istanbul (or get off in Venice) because of the Greek cabotage law i.e. "Seabourn is unable to carry Guests where the embarkation and disembarkation port for any sailing are both located in Greece". Amex Platinum, obviously Seabourn Sydney office and our Virtuoso agent all hadn't heard of this. Hopefully no-one else has been caught out.

Markham - Thanks for your advice. We have visited Athens on a few occasions and have heard similar stories! I'll ring Sydney Consulate Fri am to see if we have time to process it in Sydney etc etc. If not, the other alternatives are there. Kind gesture for Seabourn to cover the visa costs, not sure whether it would be an ongoing though!

Thanks again to you both for your assistance.

Regards

Maria

[Seabourn-nail]

Marja - Thanks for your kind words. It's not our first cruise with Seabourn; twice with Spirit 2003/2006 and, of course, first with Odyssey. Looking forward to the new ship. We were actually booked Athens-Venice-Athens (thu Sydney Seabourn Office) but were informed 2 weeks ago we had to go on to Istanbul (or get off in Venice) because of the Greek cabotage law i.e. "Seabourn is unable to carry Guests where the embarkation and disembarkation port for any sailing are both located in Greece". Amex Platinum, obviously Seabourn Sydney office and our Virtuoso agent all hadn't heard of this. Hopefully no-one else has been caught out.

 

Markham - Thanks for your advice. We have visited Athens on a few occasions and have heard similar stories! I'll ring Sydney Consulate Fri am to see if we have time to process it in Sydney etc etc. If not, the other alternatives are there. Kind gesture for Seabourn to cover the visa costs, not sure whether it would be an ongoing though!

 

Thanks again to you both for your assistance.

 

Regards

Maria

Hi Maria!

I was aware of this policy not being able to embark and disembark in a Greek Port! Very strange, but true!

I did copy the visa rules for Turky for you from that website from Kusadasi:

Up to three months Nationals of Austria, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Canada, United Kingdom, Holland, Ireland, Moldova , Spain, Italy, Israel, Portugal Yugoslavia, can obtain a sticker visa at the border.

Up to one month Nationals of the Commonwealth of Independent States (except, Kazakhistan, Kyrgyzistan and Turkmenistan), Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia can obtain a sticker visa at border gates.

For the United States of America a visa is required. It could be obtained from Turkish Consulate General Offices at the port of entry into Turkey for some amount of money.

Nationals of Guatemala can obtain a visa for up to 15 days at the border.

Nationals of Jordan, can obtain a visa at most for 30 days.

Nationals of Indonesia can enter the country for two months by obtaining a visa at no charge at the border.

Nationals of all other countries require a visa, which can be obtained from the nearest Turkish Embassy or Consulate.

 

Marja

[Seabourn-nail]

http://www.hoteltravel.com/turkey/kusadasi/guides/travel_tips.htm

 

Let's try this one!

Marja

Citizens of most Western countries such as the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand do not need to secure a visa before arriving in Turkey. Visa kiosks are located next to the immigration desk. As long as your passport is valid for six months from your date of entry you can pay a small fee (in US dollars, UK pounds or euros only) and receive a 90-day visa. Visitors from other countries should check with their local Turkish consulate concerning visa requirements before arriving.

[duct tape]

mariap, look forward to meeting up with you and lord of the seas, michigan david and jcjbloca on the Odyssey! The ship sounds terrific.

[CruisinMatt]

Mariap,

 

Seabourn's own Square staff will ...

 

Are they really called "Square Staff"?? :eek::rolleyes::D

[markham]

No, they are not called Square Staff given that Anamika and Doris are not at all square by my reckoning. However, they do staff the Seabourn Square. There are usually 3-4 concierges (my term) on duty although only one at night (Eric) and one or 2 baristas at the cafe and pastry counter depending on how busy they get. The Cruise Sales Office was manned several hours per day by Jennifer.

 

The concierges and sales staff have screens sunken into their desks where they manage everything I needed. The concierges can check on tour availability and make bookings (or you can do this all on your suite's entertainment system) and deal with account queries online in seconds (which you can also see on the entertainment system). Jennifer of Sales can see all your future bookings and make adjustments online too. It all works splendidly and quickly; there was never more than one fellow passenger waiting to be seen. Apart from this the only thing I asked be done was handled by the concierges by phone to someone else- dinner reservations for Colonade, Restaurant 2 and the Patio Grill.

 

The Square is an easy place to spend one's time and so is an interesting new feature.

 

Regards

[newfie351]

"Citizens of most Western countries such as the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand do not need to secure a visa before arriving in Turkey. Visa kiosks are located next to the immigration desk. As long as your passport is valid for six months from your date of entry you can pay a small fee (in US dollars, UK pounds or euros only) and receive a 90-day visa."

 

Interesting enough when I got the Visa requirements for Istanbul from Seabourn I called the company they recommend to process the visa (I am Canadian so I called their Canadian office) who provided me with the same advise - why get the Visa before hand with the additional cost and trouble when it is so easy to do it yourself on arrival to Istanbul. I hope he is right. I think that I might try and get the visa in Kusadasi when the ship stops there, just to be safe.

[JaneBP]

Am curious to hear about Trivia, time? how handled? teams?

I have no idea if there were any sea days, however. Did they also have Liar's Club?

[Seabourn-nail]

"Citizens of most Western countries such as the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand do not need to secure a visa before arriving in Turkey. Visa kiosks are located next to the immigration desk. As long as your passport is valid for six months from your date of entry you can pay a small fee (in US dollars, UK pounds or euros only) and receive a 90-day visa."

 

Interesting enough when I got the Visa requirements for Istanbul from Seabourn I called the company they recommend to process the visa (I am Canadian so I called their Canadian office) who provided me with the same advise - why get the Visa before hand with the additional cost and trouble when it is so easy to do it yourself on arrival to Istanbul. I hope he is right. I think that I might try and get the visa in Kusadasi when the ship stops there, just to be safe.

You would need the visa in Kusadasi already of course, not just in Istanbul, though I don't remember anyone ever asked when we were there! But you know now you can buy it in Kusadasi (and lots of jewelry...!), like we have done it in Bodrum. You actually get a real "Stamp"(a paper one I mean).

Marja

[markham]

Sorry, but I did not attend Trivia and so don't know how many teams there were. Barry Hopkins, cruise director, was very careful though to host the world cruiser party at 11 am so as to avoid the big final Trivia session so it must have been an exciting one!

 

About visas, we did not need a visa to visit Kusadasi as our penultimate port. We did need one to disembark in Istanbul and for that I would suggest you get it at home or let Seabourn handle it for the $99.

 

If I had flown into Istanbul airport I could have bought it before the immigration desk for $30 if memory serves me from 4 years ago. Americans would pay more; there were 3 queues and prices depending on your own nationality. Anyway, that type of facililty is not available when you disembark a ship.

[claudiaYVR]

Markham, I have throroughly enjoyed your postings and I'm glad you had such a wonderful experience. Any chance you may post some pictures? I for one have been scouring the web for any new/more pics of Odyssey but there are not too many, particularly none of life on board.

[J.A.]

This is my second try, wrote out a long review this AM, but, somehow it never posted. My husband and I just returned from Istanbul late yesterday. I have not read the other postings as I did not want to influence our experience. While flying into Venice the day ahead, we could see the Odyssey clearly from the plane. We spent the day and the night at the Bauer in a lovely room on the small canal. Next day we had breakfast with a view, later we took a water taxi to the port. We were processed in large waiting areas, served drinks, snacks, newspapers, waited bout an hour and our number was called to board, all went very smoothly. She looks very large from the land, but, once onboard we found many familiar features. First you notice the vast amount of granite and marble used and it is beautiful. Tan/dark brown marble, grey/black granite everywhere. Beautiful tan woods, leathers...fabrics/carpeting again camel/tan/brown/greys. All the natural fabrics, woods, stone create a cool, orderly, minimilist feeling. No brass on this ship. Our suite was elegant, reminiscent of the triplets, but larger, high, comfortable bed, full sofa, balcony which is much larger than any other I have seen. The bath has a double vanity made of chocolate marble. Floors and walls and the shower are grey granite. More storage than before, I only used half of it. The observation lounge is very much like the triplets, the club not so similar. Seabourn Square is a big hit. The "coffee bar" is so much more than a coffee bar. The square is an enormous room, cleverly separaed into areas for business, reading, computers, outdoor tables, chairs, sofas. You are always running into people you know there. Restaurant choices are a massive improvement over the old ships. The Restaurant is sooo lovely, with white sheer drapes dividing it into smaller areas. It can seat everyone onboard, but, does not look or feel too large. The Colonnade is great for all meals with a very large outdoor seating area, most passengers were outdoors at every meal. Evenings there were superb. Restaurant 2 is small and intimate. Patio grill is great, we dined there 5 times. Steaks, chops, nigerian shrimp and a true Pizza oven with terrific pizza. And an ice cream bar. Again there are draped areas softly moving with the wind. Patio Grill is located around the really beautiful pool area. The spa is enormous (11,000 sq. ft. I believe). Cool,clean, gleaming tan marble. For JANE BP: the spa villas opened about a week into the cruise, we had a tour. It is two large rooms connected by a pool. Each room (size of a small apt.) had treatment area, dining area, lounging area, flowing white drapery, balcony with pool. Would be great for girls night out. Reminded me of the South Seas. Each area very private and they do customized plans according to your needs. It is accessed by a spiral staircare located in the reception area of the spa. I do not know if there is an elevator. The food on this cruise was better than ever and it is always very good. I cannot say enough about the staff/crew. They went to any length to be sure you were having the best experience possible. They were woring so hard, but, they still said they were very happy to be on the Odyssey. I cannot imagine that there is another ship afloat as beautiful as she is. The christentin ceremony: After early dinner we went up to the pool deckfor the Commedia dell'arte. We stepped outside to a white smokey pool area with italian actors dressed in renaissance costumes with masks entertaing and interacting with the guests. It was magical, fantastic. After some time we all fell silent to listen to speeches from Pamela Conover, M. Bisagno (Pres. of Mariotti Shipbuilders), Captin Buer, Barry Hopkins Cr. Dir, then a lovely benediction by a priest who blessed the ship, then P.Conover again " I name this yacht, SEABOURN ODYSSEY. May God bless her and all who sail in her". We all repeated this, the Champagne bottle came flying across the deck (on a wire) and crashed against her and she was named. It was a night I will never forget.

[J.A.]

This is my second try, wrote out a long review this AM, but, somehow it never posted. My husband and I just returned from Istanbul late yesterday. I have not read the other postings as I did not want to influence our experience. While flying into Venice the day ahead, we could see the Odyssey clearly from the plane. We spent the day and the night at the Bauer in a lovely room on the small canal. Next day we had breakfast with a view, later we took a water taxi to the port. We were processed in large waiting areas, served drinks, snacks, newspapers, waited bout an hour and our number was called to board, all went very smoothly. She looks very large from the land, but, once onboard we found many familiar features. First you notice the vast amount of granite and marble used and it is beautiful. Tan/dark brown marble, grey/black granite everywhere. Beautiful tan woods, leathers...fabrics/carpeting again camel/tan/brown/greys. All the natural fabrics, woods, stone create a cool, orderly, minimilist feeling. No brass on this ship. Our suite was elegant, reminiscent of the triplets, but larger, high, comfortable bed, full sofa, balcony which is much larger than any other I have seen. The bath has a double vanity made of chocolate marble. Floors and walls and the shower are grey granite. More storage than before, I only used half of it. The observation lounge is very much like the triplets, the club not so similar. Seabourn Square is a big hit. The "coffee bar" is so much more than a coffee bar. The square is an enormous room, cleverly separaed into areas for business, reading, computers, outdoor tables, chairs, sofas. You are always running into people you know there. Restaurant choices are a massive improvement over the old ships. The Restaurant is sooo lovely, with white sheer drapes dividing it into smaller areas. It can seat everyone onboard, but, does not look or feel too large. The Colonnade is great for all meals with a very large outdoor seating area, most passengers were outdoors at every meal. Evenings there were superb. Restaurant 2 is small and intimate. Patio grill is great, we dined there 5 times. Steaks, chops, nigerian shrimp and a true Pizza oven with terrific pizza. And an ice cream bar. Again there are draped areas softly moving with the wind. Patio Grill is located around the really beautiful pool area. The spa is enormous (11,000 sq. ft. I believe). Cool,clean, gleaming tan marble. For JANE BP: the spa villas opened about a week into the cruise, we had a tour. It is two large rooms connected by a pool. Each room (size of a small apt.) had treatment area, dining area, lounging area, flowing white drapery, balcony with pool. Would be great for girls night out. Reminded me of the South Seas. Each area very private and they do customized plans according to your needs. It is accessed by a spiral staircare located in the reception area of the spa. I do not know if there is an elevator. The food on this cruise was better than ever and it is always very good. I cannot say enough about the staff/crew. They went to any length to be sure you were having the best experience possible. They were woring so hard, but, they still said they were very happy to be on the Odyssey. I cannot imagine that there is another ship afloat as beautiful as she is. The christentin ceremony: After early dinner we went up to the pool deckfor the Commedia dell'arte. We stepped outside to a white smokey pool area with italian actors dressed in renaissance costumes with masks entertaing and interacting with the guests. It was magical, fantastic. After some time we all fell silent to listen to speeches from Pamela Conover, M. Bisagno (Pres. of Mariotti Shipbuilders), Captin Buer, Barry Hopkins Cr. Dir, then a lovely benediction by a priest who blessed the ship, then P.Conover again " I name this yacht, SEABOURN ODYSSEY. May God bless her and all who sail in her". We all repeated this, the Champagne bottle came flying across the deck (on a wire) and crashed against her and she was named. It was a night I will never forget.

[JaneBP]

OOOH! Thanks so much for the post. I don't think I can afford the Spa Villa, but was very interested to hear about the concept. See you in December, right?

BTW, I ordered the nice weather for your return!

[shefinch]

We, too, got back from Istanbul yesterday afternoon after the maiden cruise. The Odyssey is a wonderful ship and we were both won over. The only downside that we could see is that a certain amount of intimacy is lost and we didn't know all the passengers by the end of the voyage. However the advantages of the ship more than compensate for this. We particularly liked Seabourn Square. It is a great concept and means one can get good coffee and pastries all day and evening and as well as it being a wonderful meeting place. It also serves as the library. Can't remember if anyone mentioned this. The Colonnade is a marvellous eating place and seemed to be more popular than the restaurant but this might have been because we had such good weather and such smooth seas. There was no motion the whole of the 14 days!! I woke up the first morning convinced we were still in Venice! The food was the best ever particularly in the Colonnade at lunchtime when the choice was outstanding when compared to the choice at the Verandah on the smaller ships.

We participated in the 3 days of Trivia Jane as you were asking about that. (Our team - the Cruise Critics - won the first day and the last!) It was held in the Observation Lounge (another good area for pre-dinner drinks) and there was plenty of room. There were only 5 teams but there should still be lots of room for the Crossing when I imagine there will be many more teams.

We will be on the Spirit next month so it will be interesting to see how we feel being back on a small ship again.

The crew were fantastic and the service (apart from the first two nights in the Dining Room) was as good as ever. Everybody including Pamela Conover went out of their way to make this a memorable experience and we feel very lucky to have been part of it.

There is a lot more I could say but I will only be repeating things that people have already said. I'm sure there will be others postings when others eventually get home.

[shefinch]

Thanks again Markham!

Will you safe one chair (my husband does not go to party's) with my name on it (LA-HK), maybe next to Shelagh this afternoon? I'm sorry I can't be there!

Marja

I look forward to that Marja - you will love the ship!

Shelagh

[JaneBP]

Another question. How did the daily paper seem? Is there a way to view the menus on the interactive TV? I remember years ago, we got the lunch menu in the Dining Room as well as the dinner one. And were the spa prices still unavailable unless asked for? How about the LIfe Boat Drill? In a large room or on deck as usual? Guess this was the only time there were not observers at the Sky Bar!

Sounds like the choices are all terrific. I must admit getting more excited for our December cruise!

[hikndog]

Sure looks like a lot of people. Hope my trip November 14-28 isn't a mistake.

[cruisr]

Sure looks like a lot of people. Hope my trip November 14-28 isn't a mistake.

 

Why do you say that. Even if your cruise is full 450 people are NOT a lot of people. The maiden voyage was full and everybody seemed to love it

 

I can't wait till August 1 when I board

[markham]

JaneBP

 

The menus for the entire day are supplied the night before in a folder which also contains the port description and daily program. I do not remember seeing the menus elsewhere. The sheets (eg US, UK, Australian) were supplied by the stewardess each early morning. You can read all of the at Seabourn Square.

 

The lifeboat drill is conducted in the main dining room where you are organized into 4 sections depending on the number of your vest so there is no longer the on deck gathering with Sky Bar patrons from the previous cruise looking down on the crowd.

 

I don't know about the spa prices as I did not spend time there. But maybe on a less than ideal weather cruise I might do so.

 

I have lots of photos from which I will select several and then submit later today.

 

Regards