Have things improved aboard the Encore?

I've been following the comments regarding the conditions aboard the Encore because we have signed up for a cruise on the Ovation next June.

I believe the Encore went into service in January and we had friends who were aboard in March. They expressed disappointment in several areas, primarily with overcrowding in the dining venues and spotty service. On the boards, I note similar observations about long wait times, overcrowding, poor service from undertrained staff, etc.

I know that there is great subjectivity involved with such comments, but there are enough to raise a red flag or two.

When I made my reservation for the Ovation, I was thinking only about the lure of a brand new ship. I love the Odyssey but she does have a few infirmities. I never considered the difficulty with staffing a new ship and learning how to deal with 50% more passengers.

The Ovation is scheduled to enter the fleet in May so my cruise would be a month later. I now question whether Seabourn would do a better job getting the Ovation up and running than it did with the Encore.

I have two questions: are the issues aboard the Encore are being resolved and, to the extent it can be answered, does anyone think that management is listening and will spend the resources to make sure the Ovation has a smoother start? I don't plan to leave Seabourn altogether but there are options when one is interested in certain itinerary at a certain time. And this is one of those times.

Our experience 6 weeks ago on Encore was that there had been insufficient time for staff training and that Seabourn have overreached themselves. In general the service was perfectly fine by ordinary standards but not the Seabourn norm - for instance my husband (a speedy eater) had his plate whipped away while I was still in the middle of my main course - and then my empty wine glass went too, although I was still eating! It was empty only because we had been unable to get a refill. So its that kind of thing but nothing too terrible.

We found the ship too big and too crowded for us but you will still have a nice time I'm sure. Some people just prefer larger ships and others like us, like the smaller ones.