jimmyw9

We are on 27 August cruise too.

Just now trying to deal with flights, hotels etc.

Of course BRitish Airways are being their usual cooperative self!.........NOT!!

And yes I agree excellent service from Seabourn and well done on the speedy reaction.

Feel very sad for the events in Istanbul.

J

Hi Markham

The usual suspects ie bad boys are......Duck ala orange, tournedos rossini and the like. The normal things that appear on SB menus which we have seen for years and years which they do very well.

Just for clarity:

R2 is as before for now until it gets it make over into the TK venue.

MDR offers a TK menu every other night in addition to its normal offerings and classic menu.

Colonnade is by reservation when they have the TK sharing platter (which was offered four times on our 15 day stretch across the pond). All other nights in the Colonnade were as before a themed affair, Japanese, Steak etc etc......as I said before all the usual bad boys! (LOL).... That's a joke Markham.

I am not sure if SB would have wanted to have messed too many things up as there were I think from memory 65 diamond members on that cruise out of about 350 club members (and that was out of 440 total guests) so not sure if Guinea pigs is the right choice since there were people with many days and status and thus know what to expect.

Anyway Markham if you want to know more, let's take this off line and email me, you know where to find me.

jimmyw9

Markham

Have you had a personality by-pass, I don't think I have ever received a compliment from you before!

You are slightly wrong. There is a reservation system currently in place for the Colonnade for the TK menu on the nights it is offered. As I said it was for only four nights during our 15 day cruise. Once the R2 conversion to the TK venue is complete then this is the only place you will get that offering. As regards the two sittings this again relates to when the new restaurant comes on line. As I mentioned getting a reservation in the Colonnade was very easy with many timings being offered. They just want to know when you are turning up so that the TK experience can be fully appreciated.....which was the blurb on the card reminding you to show up.

We did not enjoy the sharing platter concept in the Colonnade and actually these are just trials so actually this may not figure in the final TK restaurant anyway. If it did then my source said that there would be a mix of this type of dining plus the usual TK fine dining you can get at his restaurants also.

We ate mostly in the MDR. Our waiter was excellent and even if we did not chose one of the TK dishes he asked if he could just order one so we could try a bite. He was very informed about the food each night. As I said we felt that only the classic menu had been compromised but this is just to accommodate the TK trials.

What everyone here needs to remember these are trials. A chance to sample what will come.........just relax and try not to board with all these hysterical rants in your head. They are trying to smooth things out.

We left the ship saying we thought the food was much better than we had on the Sojourn back in February around Asia and hopefully you will come to the same conclusion Markham since we had the pleasure of your company on that jaunt.

Hopefully we have left the Odyssey in a good enough state to greet you soon.

jimmyw9

The TK dishes will not be inspired dishes.

We are just off of the Odyssey and on one evening one of the TK dishes was pulled as the salmon that was brought onboard was not up to the standard and could not leave the kitchen under the TK banner, so a dish was created on the usual menu to use it.

It will be interesting to see how this develops as the ships move around the world and getting precise ingredients maybe more challenging.

jimmyw9

Oh how Bostonactor is right!!

All these CC hysterical predictions are completely misplaced.

We just left the Odyssey on Wednesday.

The MDR was open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In fact some lunchtimes they were extremely busy, which actually upset my partner and myself as we prefer the calm and serene environment.

On every other night in the MDR, there is a TK menu insert. There was the choice of two starters, two mains and one dessert. Of course there are the normal SB bad boys that show up..........you all know the dishes, the ones you can predict that will be there. We did however note that the classics menu has been trimmed down but this is only to accommodate the TK trials.

As regards to the Colonnade, whoever said that the TK fixed menu was offered every other night was wrong. I think in our time on board it was offered four times in 15 days. The menu delivery is by way of a sharing platter. This is not to our liking, however, we tried it.....why not, your on holiday.....chill out! When we made a reservation we called the day before and had a allocation of times from 19:15 to 20:30........so really could not grumble at that.

What you all have to remember is that R2 is going to become the TK restaurant so once this comes online the MDR and Colonnade won't have the menus in them.

A friend of ours is a vegetarian and she said that the choices that she had were the best she can remember. One starter and one main on the TK insert for the MDR was a vegetarian option.

When the TK Restaurant comes online we were told that it will have two sittings which will be 45 covers I think. This came from a very reliable source as we travelled with an officer (who is usually Seattle based) when we flew back to the UK after leaving the ship.

We had an extremely good chat with them (over two hours in the Admirals Club) and it was very informative about not just the TK introduction but other new stuff on the horizon which they want to get In place on the current fleet before the Encore is introduced.

Now why don't you go back to moaning about smoking and children which is the usual on here!

jimmyw9

Bet you they were in a Wintergarden or Owner's suite.

 

I am concerned that once Thomas Keller has his restaurants onboard they will be overwhelmed with reservation requests. Could they be anticipating that and trying to deal with it by instituting advance reservations?

Regarding my post above we were in one of the Owners Suites on two out of the three occasions and then in a PH the last.........so I do not think that matters.

Totally with you: often we do not decide where to dine until either finished w/ drinks at whatever bar we went to, or what our companions, who we may have only met 20 minutes prior, would like to do. A big appeal of Seabourn is not having to decide until time to go enjoy dinner.

 

One time there was a couple who, somehow but I don't have any idea how, managed to dine in R2 (on an O class) every night and get food served from the Main Dining Room. I KNOW this happened as I overheard them speaking to the R2 manager who told them "not a problem, I will save this table for you" and saw them in there - even if we were not dining in R2 just had to see if it really was possible - multiple nights in a row. And they did get jacketed potatoes and steak served when I was dining in R2 - which were not on the tasting menu that night. Only once out of the 20+ days did I see them in the MDR

On at least our last 3 sailings we have not managed to secure one reservation at R2. This is a hard pill to swallow when you talk to fellow passengers and they inform you that they have eaten there three times as was the case on our last cruise in February. Sure, as Markham points out above you have to be quick off the mark, but surely some kind of "spread the love" needs to be adopted and not kept for the chosen ones. I think our last attempt on that cruise was to try and book with about 3 days notice and still no availability.

I am totally against any kind of booking system when you need to decide where you want to eat months out. We can barely decide what to put on the plate that evening at home without thinking as we do when we book cruises sometimes 18 months in advance (although if they did adopt this then I guess some time frame of within 3 or 4 month before sailing would be adopted)

I do understand SB problem here as they are dealing with a larger restaurant that obviously they want filled, but they need to consider their options carefully and adopt a "luxury" approach.

One thought I have had here is that SB website is obviously been put together from HAL format…….and it is still being developed, so could this just be a point that has been carried over from their policies and will be removed before it comes online properly?……..was just a (hoping) thought anyway

jimmyw9

I agree - this is getting too petty to bother with.

 

 

 

Incidentally, jimmy, we have always been very happy with the way our clothes have been laundered by Seabourn - they do my white trousers much better than I can! Maybe I am not fussy enough, or a bad laundress.;)

Silly.....me [emoji23]

I am just highlighting how Laundry should be a shared benefit.......I think my example in my previous post shows why.

[emoji12]

I feel that if two people occupying a suite with differing club levels the the higher level should be applied to both guests.

Are SB really going to check that I am a L and my partner a M and charge us accordingly........

If it is really going to get that petty, the my laundry will be put in daily and his once the bag is full (once every 7 days)........net result is that we both receive free laundry........

And I was teasing too......do SB really think they will see a charge for laundry on our account.....when it is settled from the same bank account!!!!

This hardline view on benefits I am getting from Seattle seems very strange!

Just highlighting where their rules won't work.......that said we do not trust SB with too much of our laundry anyway and just limit it to our gym gear etc.....

You wouldn't be that cruel to your DH would you?

What's so cruel, I am just sticking to the rules.

As I understand the T&Cs Laundry is a benefit specific to a guest, only Shore Excursions and Premium Wine discounts are applicable to both suite guests.

Yes Julie he is so close, in fact only one point away....but the rules are the rules! We are not sure how this happened with our points. I did take an extra cruise than him with my mother but if you minus that out of the equation we should both still be Diamond......but there is no point going there with SB we have discovered.

Anyway, I shall enjoy totally free laundry ahead of him on this cruise and enjoy watching him stuff as much as he can into his two free bags he gets......

I agree with sfvoyage.

 

We are not Diamond yet but we select premium wine package and get our Sebourn Club discount. When we get a bottle to share including sometimes with new to Seabourn cruisers we don't get staff coming and presenting a bill for their non discount portion.

 

It would assume it will mean for practical reasons you will have to put shore excursions and wine on your account so your discounts will apply.

 

The only thing is you get free wifi and partner will only be able to select some hours if they wish or something else. My DH buys the unlimited package as he needs to stay connected for work as we usually are on long voyages. All it means is for me to access his wifi, he needs to log off and I can then go on the internet using his sign on. We just can't be on at the same time. So for your partner to use your internet benefit I would assume you could do this. I usually take some hours just so sometimes I can jump on the internet with my own sign on.

 

I hope this makes sense and is of help.

 

Julie

Thanks Julie.

Internet should be free to both of us as we are in one of the Signature Suites, but if not he has 4 hours with his Platinum status anyway.

I am just confused by what the Club Concierge said regarding the supposedly shared benefits. I just do not see any point in him selecting one of those as an option since I have them under my preferences.

I guess this issue only comes up when you have two people with differing statuses. Anyway, it will only be an issue for our next cruise as he will qualify for diamond status upon completion of that.

I have received an email from the club saying that for both of us to benefit from the discount on shore excursions and premium wines I should select one and my partner the other, OK, I understand that. But as I am diamond I get both anyway. I emailed them back and I got a reply saying that it is against the T&Cs for members to benefit from another guest status, so one of those should be selected by my partner. This to me seems a waste of one of his benefits.

I wonder what is meant by " these things kicking off". I hope no one is taking pleasure in others misfortunes.

Their words not mine and they were referring to the financial crisis here in Greece. Who on earth would support/refer to terrorism in that way!

We are currently holidaying in Crete (that's Greece by the way.....for the less informed!) not on a cruise but land holiday! We have experienced nothing but fabulous people, food and wine. I just love these things kicking off, because it scares the yanks away!........and that is a quote of an American couple staying at our hotel!

I understand the rules that members cannot benefit from each others status.

However, according to the T&C's it says that the benefits of discount on shore excursions and premium wines and spirits if selected are applicable to both guests in the suite.

Is this not a contradiction?

Our experience in booking R2 has simply been to go talk to the manager when it's open vs trying to book via the phone. We have always found her to be very helpful and had no problem getting in with a little planning on both the Quest and the Odyssey.

Yes, I think I will try this way next time as both occasions before I used the telephone.

I do not believe that Seabourn give priority, surely that would go against their ethos.

However, one thing that is not avoidable is the fact that some guests take extended voyages and therefore are known more to the crew and hence may get some kind of priority via that way.

But as I said......the other dining choices are excellent, so whats to worry about

On our two past cruises (one of 14 days and one of 19 days) we have not been able to secure a reservation in R2. That is somewhat disappointing when we were speaking to other guests that had been 2 or 3 times in their cruise. Obviously R2 is popular, but as Able Seaman H says the other choices are excellent so whats to worry about!

At the risk of starting a dress code "war" I will mention a concern I have.

 

On the Jan/Feb cruise we just did on Sojourn it was interesting to see how far people were pushing the dress codes even further. I can understand how wearing a jacket most nights gets tedious......though my husband doesn't mind, he says it hides a lot of sins :).

 

The dress code does say Elegant Casual but there seemed to be quite a few who are pushing it to the very casual dress code. Some examples.....one man with a sweat shirt in the MDR, another man with very crumpled clothes and sandshoes....he looked like he had been out touring all day and just come straight to dinner. It was a sea day.

 

These are a few examples and there were more like that then I have seen on previous sailings. I hope Seabourn doesn't go the "Country Club Casual" as I feel getting dressed up to go to the MDR is a pleasure and adds to the cruising experience. If I want to do really Casual I eat in suite or go to the Patio Grill.

 

So my point if you choose not to wear a jacket that is fine but please make an effort to be Elegant Casual if that is what is required not Casual.

We were on the Sojourn in February and the same can be said for the women too. Sun dresses and flip flops are not Elegant Casual attire for the MDR. Also, some women feel that putting some see through piece of fabric over their bikini/swimwear is appropriate for lunch in the Colonnade. PLEASE.....COVER UP!!!

We continue to wear a jacket for dinner in the MDR as we are comfortable doing that, it is smart and we feel it is appropriate for the ambience of the MDR.

From their website, I think Tilly is worng.....

HOW SHOULD I PACK?

Attire During the Day:

During the daytime, casual, resort-style attire, including shorts and jeans, is welcome in all lounges and dining venues. Swimsuits, brief shorts, cover-ups and exercise attire should be reserved for poolside, on deck or in the spa and fitness center.

In the evening (after 6pm) there are two different dress codes:

Elegant Casual

Men: Slacks with a collared dress shirt or sweater; Jacket Optional. Ladies: Slacks / skirt, blouse, pant suit or dress. This is the dress standard for all dining venues

Jeans are welcome in all dining venues during the day, but not appropriate in The Restaurant after 6pm.

Formal

In the Restaurant, Men: Tuxedo, suit or slacks and jacket required. Ladies: evening gown or other formal apparel. Dress in other dining venues is Elegant Casual.

Jeans are welcome in all dining venues during the day, but not appropriate in any public venues after 6pm.

The itinerary in the preliminary document booklet will inform you of the number of Formal evenings to expect during your voyage. As a rule of thumb, Formal evenings are scheduled as follows:

Cruises up to 13 days: One Formal evening

Cruises of 14 to 20 days: Two Formal evenings

Cruises of 21 or more days: Three Formal evenings

What's "ambiguous"? The Op scheduled to arrive a day before departure, but due to flight delays ended up arriving on the day of departure, around 9:15 pm for a 11 pm sailing. The Op informed Seabourn the day before departure and again on the day itself, and never was told that the ship would sail 2 hours early. Clearly the decision to sail early and not tell the Op was Seabourn's and the fault is therefore theirs and theirs alone. They owe Op 4 days of cruise fare and out of pocket expenses to make it to the ship. The fact that the Op had to ask for a follow up and no one reached out pro-actively is embarrassing and far from "graciously".

I have every sympathy for the OP.

I feel that no ackowledgement when they boarded was poor, however, I am sure they had to be in contact with Seattle before saying anything and it was Easter and there was unlikely to be the right people around. That said they could have communicated something to them.

What nobody has mentioned here, is that actually the OP missed the check in time which is the time you are supposed to arrive at the ship. Just because the ship sails at a later time does not mean you will be accepted to sail up to that time. I am sure check in time is always much before sail time to allow for certain unforeseen circumstances……i.e. tidal conditions etc.

Seabourn have paid for the OPs flights to Oman and accommodation there before joining the ship and have also offered $1800 in credit which can be cashed in.

On one of our cruises a few years ago we had issues, but chose to draw a line under that so we could enjoy the cruise and then deal with Seattle directly upon our return home.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise OP, we did this last year and had a great time.

jimmyw9

To rl787 - What you describe is exactly what we did. We had a fantastic time in Mumbai before our cruise, so much so we went back for the following Christmas. The Oberoi is the only hotel to stay in!

Might be my choice too if that VW had balconies. So I would go with the Garden Wing and pay for champagne. And drink it on my balcony.

 

And if jimmyw9 is elsewhere, that's ok.

 

Happy sailing!

Oh yes probably safer all round if you are restricted to your balcony.

Anyway, not sure they would let you in......to quote the sign that appears as you enter the VW.

"The Valley Wing, dedicated to the discerning travellers of the world"

Anyway dalliowner, putting mine and Markhams banter aside. The grounds of the hotel are beautiful, an oasis in the middle of Singapore. But I am sure everyone here has their favourite, so the recommedations will flow.