margbem

I am really glad that you enjoyed your Ovation cruise, dundeefruitcake. Who knows, we might even have met during the one week that we crossed over on board! I think the bottom line for us was that we had a couple of issues which weren't resolved to our satisfaction and, coupled with that, because we have been cruising with Seabourn for fourteen years, we know what it used to be like. All the little things added up to cause our dissatisfaction. Fingers crossed for our Encore cruise in September!

Unfortunately, due to the poor food in TK, it didn’t encourage us to dine there. My husband had the T bone veal and it was tasteless and our neighbouring table advised us not to choose the lamb saddle as it was tough and full of gristle. Another guest said her steak was awful and my special starter clam dish had too much saffron and clams that were so overcooked they were inedible. On previous cruises we have generally gone to the Restaurant around 8pm and always got a table.

Thanks, Mr L. We generally went about 8pm.

We have used Thai Tour Guide twice when in Bangkok for two day tours. Can't recommend them highly enough!

Just a bit of background: this was our eleventh cruise with Seabourn. Our first was in 2009 on the Legend, our favourite ship! A few more on her, then one on the Spirit, then obviously the little ships were sold so we moved to the Odyssey and the Quest. Our Ovation cruise was the first on the larger ship. I have always been a huge cheerleader for Seabourn so to have list the disappointments we experienced is difficult and some people might think I am nit picking but I will tell it how it was. It’s going to be long so if you haven’t the will power to plough through it, stop now!! First the good stuff. The crew were extremely hard working and very friendly and accommodating even though they were up against it being short on numbers. It was obvious right from the start that the shortage of staff was going to have a huge impact on this cruise and it would not be the Seabourn that we know and love. We had many great servers and built up a friendship with them, as we always do. They really appreciated us asking them about themselves but didn’t have time to chat. We met some really lovely fellow passengers and have exchanged emails to keep in touch. We have many old friends who we have met over the years on Seabourn and are still in contact with them. We loved the dark wood everywhere and the fabulous art work and ceramics. It really felt luxurious and very different to the O class ships in its décor. The TK Grill restaurant space is so much nicer on the bigger ship, as is the bar there. We spent a few evenings pre and post dinner listening to Neal, the pianist who was amazing. He also involved some of his audience who sang with him. If David from the UK is reading this – you made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck when you sang! A huge shout out for Kimberley the CD. She was new to the job, having been Asst CD to Ross. She was so lovely, friendly, organised, talented with a great voice and she ran Trivia with a rod of iron. Her Asst James was also a great guy. Great fun at trivia every day – no, it’s not just a game!!!! And Baggo and putting were interesting, played in the Club, as they have regrettably “pinched” the outdoor space for the Retreat. The Maitre D’s in the Restaurant and the Colonnade were very efficient and very friendly but didn’t refer to us by name which has always been the case before. We had some excellent meals in the Restaurant with only a couple of not quite good enough dishes. The Indian market night in the Colonnade was amazing, especially the Dosas. There was a queue for those, they were so good. We had a good selection of guest entertainers – Mandy Muden, magician and comedienne who we have seen before. We thought she was hilarious but it seemed that her humour didn’t reach across the Pond as our American trivia friends didn’t like her at all. Pianist/vocalist Martin was great and a little wacky and the young lady singer from the Philippines, Christine Allado, was wonderful. We went in the Club quite a few times pre dinner and listened to the band. They were really good – thank you Cyrus Sr and Cyrus Jr! An order of caviar to accompany a special bottle of champagne on Valentine’s night was enjoyed very much and when we returned the following evening to finish the bottle the bartender, Bianca had ordered us more caviar – a very thoughtful gesture. Bianca was excellent, but the Club was always very quiet pre dinner – maybe at most ten people yet the drinks took an age to come. One evening we waited 15 minutes for two drinks and there were never the promised “savoury delights”, in fact we had to ask for peanuts. I presume that cocktails/drinks for room service/restaurant must come from the Club and that’s what took her time. We had two Carambola beach barbecues and caviar in the surf. We are in awe of all the hard work that the crew puts into this – they must be exhausted. A huge thank you for making it so special. And a special thank you to Elena, assistant Sommelier who was fantastic. She certainly knows her stuff and was very helpful. Seabourn Square is brilliant – a great space, nicely furnished and very comfortable, enhanced by Cristian and Festus, the baristas, who made mean coffee and tea, always with a smile even if it was nearly 10pm when we called for coffee and chocolates! We called each morning for tea for breakfast and took it with us to avoid the slow service in the Colonnade. And now for the disappointments. We truly have never heard so many people complaining, moaning and discussing what was wrong. The bottom line, as described to us by one of the officers, is that they have not enough staff, many of them are new and in training and it is taking a long time to get back to where Seabourn was. The situation, we were told, was even worse in January and they are working very hard to get back to where they want to be. We acknowledge that and accept that it is happening elsewhere in the industry too and that we should make allowances. We did, but as a fellow passenger said, that’s all well and good but whilst we have a diminished product the cost of said product has not reduced. We found, as many people have already commented, that the public spaces are not big enough for the extra number of passengers. We couldn’t get an outside table at the Colonnade on a few occasions and there is the wonderful space at the rear of the TK Grill unused. It had a few tables set as overspill for the Colonnade but it was hard enough to get drinks, top ups, hot drinks at breakfast as it was. If you sat downstairs nobody would come to you at all! We were turned away from the Restaurant twice in the evening as it was full and had to wait for 10-15 minutes. Yet there were still the huge tables in there, empty as not many tables were hosted. The service wherever we ate was very patchy. We had long waits to even have our order taken and then one evening we ordered cheese at 9.15pm, only to have to ask for it at 9.40pm when the restaurant was nearly empty in order to go to the 10pm show. Some evenings the water served was warm. Yet some servers brought it with ice already in. We asked our server and he said that they were told not to put ice in but so many of his diners complained about it being warm that he took the decision to ice it although it could get him into trouble. Our worst meals were in the TK Grill with terrible meat served, tasteless and tough. Other dishes, especially the daily specials were much better. On our first morning (Anguilla) we went to the Square to get the maps and port info. None to be found, so we asked. “We are not doing them any more as all the info you need is on Seabourn Source”. This ignores the general demographic of the Seabourn market who I am sure would prefer paper and also the extremely limited speed and coverage of the Caribbean cellular service. We made these points and were met with a shrug of shoulders. However, next day and each day thereafter there were printed maps etc. The Guest Services manager told us she had had so many complaints that she had decided to get them printed. Top marks for such a swift response. We bought the most expensive wine package with our onboard credit, were helped by Elena to choose some bottles but weren’t made to choose them all at the beginning (as we had to last year on the Quest) because passengers had complained that it was a silly system (it was!) as they didn’t know what they were going to be eating. Seabourn had changed this so we could have some put to one side if they hadn’t many bottles and then choose others as we went along with Elena keeping track of what we were spending. Pity the message hadn’t got through to other Sommeliers in the Restaurant. One evening we chose a bottle of Cloudy Bay. It was brought to us but the Sommelier wouldn’t put it down on the table. He held tight to it whilst telling us that we had reached the end of our package and asking us whether we were we going to pay for this one. The discussion went on for a few minutes with other passengers listening intently. It was only when we realised that he thought all our chosen bottles had been put away for us that the matter was resolved. A bit embarrassing! We booked a Seabourn excursion in Antigua – catamaran sail and lobster lunch. It was brilliant but I had to ask at Seabourn Square whether they could contact the company to ask whether there was an option to lobster as I have a severe allergy to it. It wasn’t a problem if there wasn’t as I could just have the accompaniments. They didn’t know if they could contact them or not. Another shrug of the shoulders. So I found the company on the internet, sent off an email, got an instant response and my chicken was delicious! A friend on board who is Coeliac had flagged this up for the same trip with SS. She asked when on board the catamaran if they had been informed. No. Really not good enough. No lobster at the beach barbecues! A signature event. The first week the F&B manager came round and explained that their contact on St Kitts had rung every fisherman on the island and there were none to be had. The second week, still no lobster and no explanation. I hope it’s not a cost cutting exercise!. OK for me but people were disappointed. And finally (phew) we have “The mystery of the Missing Pyjamas”. At the beginning of our second week my pyjamas, up till now beautifully folded each morning and evening and placed on my pillows, were no longer there. We searched everywhere for them in case they were under the bed etc but couldn’t find them. Our excellent stewardess immediately went to the laundry in case (as we suspect) they had been gathered up with the linen. As the days went on she kept trying to trace them and was very worried as she blamed herself (as did the Guest Services manager). I asked in the Square to see if they were in lost property. The lady there then tried to chase it up and informed head of housekeeping. I was to be kept informed about this search for my PJ’s. But I wasn’t. I asked again, went back to suite for something and when I opened the door to go back out there were three stewardesses waiting to come in to “search” our suite for my pyjamas. Surprisingly they couldn’t find them! So, my PJ’s are still missing and I have put in a claim for their value. And there we have it. We have an Encore cruise booked in September. Would we cancel if we hadn’t already got flights, hotels etc booked? I am not sure. Hopefully things will have improved by then - we really hope so. We don’t want to leave Seabourn and I strongly suspect that some of the issues we experienced will be happening on other lines too. I am sorry this is so long but having sailed in May on a much less than full Quest we thought that everything in the post-covid cruising world was lovely, alas this is clearly not the case hence our level of disappointment with our Ovation cruise.

Yes - it tends to be the wine of hen parties! But there are some excellent ones around as well.

We really liked the Crossbarn Chardonnay too. And the Nine Hats Pinot Grigio is actually very nice. It's a "proper" Pinot Grigio!

I keep noting things down as I remember them so will try and put it all together in the next few days. Of course, as always on Seabourn, we met some wonderful people and made new friends with whom we will keep in touch.

Breaking news, Seabourn has a new President… Carnival Corporation-owned luxury cruise line Seabourn has announced Natalya Leahy is to take over from Josh Leibowitz as president. Leahy has spent seven years with Holland America Group, most recently as chief operating officer including operational oversight of Seabourn, sister lines Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and P&O Australia, and land operations. Leibowitz is to leave “to pursue new opportunities” the company confirmed in a statement, adding that Leahy would report to Holland America Line president Gus Antorcha “as part of a structure to build on the benefit of shared services”. Antorcha said: “Seabourn has earned a top position in the luxury and expedition cruising space, and Natalya’s expertise, background and proven track record in delivering results is ideal to build on that success. “With her leadership and the introduction later this year of our second purpose-built expedition ship, Seabourn Pursuit, I am confident in the future growth of Seabourn.” He added: “Josh’s leadership in navigating the [pandemic] pause and return to service proved valuable for Seabourn’s future. “We appreciate his contributions and wish him well. This business has a bright future with the best in all-inclusive, luxury cruising and now expedition voyages. I look forward to seeing Natalya bring her passion and talent to Seabourn’s success.” Leahy said: “It’s an honour to join the extraordinary Seabourn team and partners who take personal pride in curating transformative, enriching, one-of-a-kind Seabourn moments. “We have built unmatched luxury experiences at sea that provide life expanding moments for our guests. I am excited to support and work with our trade partners as we continue to surprise and delight our guests in ways they would never imagine.” Prior to joining the cruise industry, Leahy held leadership roles with Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola. Just disembarked the Ovation on Saturday after two weeks on board. Never heard as many people complaining. It got quite depressing. I keep meaning to write about our cruise but it might end up just being a list of disappointments.

This is from last week on the Ovation. There were a couple of additional wines, one being a Valpolicello Ripasso.

We got off the Ovation today and my husband only drinks herbal teas. He has asked in the past for Rooibos and they didn’t have it so this time he just took an assortment of his own. The hot drinks service in the Colonnade at breakfast was woefully slow and sometimes the water isn’t boiling so the tea won’t brew properly so we called each morning at Seabourn Square and got take away tea and took it with us.

“Please excuse me for going off topic. My heart goes out to those people in Turkey who have been devastated by the earthquake. The day we left Cyprus we were in the airport when a number of children and their teachers were waiting for their flight to Turkey, smiling young faces all ready for their trip. Today we learned that 34 out of the 39 children have lost their lives, may they rest in peace.” Fudge - So, so sorry to hear this awful news. A terrible disaster for Turkey and its people and for the families of these children.

Thank you! Air France got us a day room at the Hilton so we had lunch, a sleep and a bath, at least! If you had seen us getting there, though! The shuttle bus had finished so we walked fromT2. Quite a long way. We had all our luggage with us on a trolley, but then we had to cross the dual carriageway with no dropped kerbs….. we are too old for all this!

A topic fairly frequently discussed is whether to risk flying in on the day of embarkation. We never do this, just to be safe, and we had this reinforced last Friday as we travelled from Manchester (UK) to Paris and on to Sint Maarten. (We are staying on the French side for a week so this issue did not affect us, apart from the exhaustion levels it left us with!) Flight no 1, Manchester to Paris at 6am. Got up at 3.30am after a poor night’s sleep, checked in, all OK. Flight delayed as they tried to fix a fault, kept us on the air bridge for a while before sending us back to the gate. Eventually airborne at 7am. Already in a slight panic as we only had 2 hours in CDG anyway, now 1 hour. 7.18am, back on ground at Manchester after an emergency landing with 7 attendant fire engines due to fumes and heat in cabin. Eventually left for Paris at 7.25pm, given an hotel a fair distance from CDG, got into bed at 11.30pm. Back up at 6.30 am, flight to Sint Maarten and arrived here exactly 24 hours late. If we had been boarding same day as the original flight, or even on the second day, it would have been a nightmare. And we didn’t do Seabourn Air because the cost through them was double what we paid booking direct. Air France looked after us magnificently. It certainly has made us even more determined to leave plenty of time if things go wrong! Looking forward to embarking the Ovation on Saturday.

Looking forward to meeting you, Mr and Mrs Fudge, as we share your humour! Mrs Fudge - please go out and spend your lump sum - don’t save it for Sint Maarten as there’s nothing much except diamonds 😉😉! I don’t know if you have anything planned for Saturday. We are staying on St Martin at the moment and went to Phillispburg on Monday. We were amazed at how small it is. The promised “boardwalk” isn’t up to much and the main street is just tat shops interspersed with perfume and jewellery stores. Allegedly tax free but we checked out perfume prices and found that we pay less in the Canaries than here. We went to Marigot yesterday and that has more to it, if you fancied getting a cab there and back. Please keep up your reports and we will certainly be joining you at any putting, baggo and trivia competitions so get training!!

Really enjoying your posts, Fudge. Please keep them going!

Glad you arrived safely, Mr and Mrs Fudge. Sorry to hear about your fall. We are in St Martin and join you next Saturday. We will say hello - it will probably be easy to spot Mr Fudge with his arm in plaster! It is quite windy here and the sea looks interesting! Is it slightly choppy? Margaret

We board the Ovation the week after Fudge in Sint Maarten. We have been given (only this morning) a boarding time of 4pm. We have to be out of our rental house at 11am so will probably board at noon. We were given a late boarding time last May in Ravenna for the Quest but were transferred by coach from Venice so arrived with lots of other people in the early afternoon and boarded then. Also, in the days leading up to boarding we were sent numerous emails stating our boarding time had changed. In some of them the time had changed, in others I couldn't even find a reference to it! A bit muddled on Seabourn's part.

Have you been watching us Yorkies trying to get to the bottom of our deep pockets with our short arms? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

You are welcome! I hope you fall in love with Seabourn like we did!

Hope you have an amazing journey! Looking forward to reading your reports.

Chris - email me at mjberry56@hotmail.com and let's have a go! Always worth a try and I find Seabourn UK very helpful when I ring them. As we are both UK cruisers it seems a bit simpler than when I have referred US cruisers!

The hairdryer is in a drawer but isn’t very powerful and I have short hair! And no, no kettle or anything else unless you are in a top suite. We take a travel kettle but put it away as you are not supposed to have them! We never leave it unattended.

Fudge - we join on the 11th and it seems that our itinerary was changed so much that we have no excursions showing for much of our cruise too. Presumably they will be offered to us once we board. Never had this before.

I have sent you an email!