Somewhat LIVE - on Ovation: Lisbon - Amsterdam - Copenhagen (and beyond)

You've kept that quiet. Explorer again?

Yes; this time without the ne plus ultra crew and a few Lilliputians.

Well, you know you are a grizzled traveler when (while getting ready for an early morning excursion) the Captain announces over the loudspeaker that a port is canceled and you and your husband do a happy dance and shout “Yay”!

We were outside the pier of Visby, Sweden and seemed to be taking a while to dock. In the meantime, I had been thinking about how much I needed a sea day. We have had 4 port days in a row and no more sea days were scheduled for the rest of the cruise. But yet, since we hadn’t been to Visby, it would go against my grain to just blow off a new place because I was too lazy to get my sweet self off the ship for a few hours. BUT if it is impossible to get off the ship, then that is a whole different matter. (And sometimes in port intensive cruises, if we have been to a city before, we will declare our own sea day). So, now we have the whole day ahead to relax and enjoy the ship. Nice touch that it is also formal night tonight.

Oh, and for those wondering why the port was canceled, the pier is very new (in the last year; this used to be a tender port) and for some reason, they built it in a rather unprotected place. It was determined that the seas were too rough and winds too high to attempt a docking. So, we let off the harbor pilot and now we are sailing out to sea. Probably to do great big donuts since our next port is pretty close too. Anyway, no sadness in this suite with the news. We can see Visby next time!

We were looking forward to Visby as well , but safety first

The pilot boat was really struggling in that ocean .

Well, here we are in Bornholm, Denmark - ready to leave our last port on this fabulous cruise. Today was a picture-perfect day on our excursion on this island. And Eric and I just finished “day-drinking “ rose wine with 4 wonderful folks who turn out to have been on since Lisbon! We all said - how did we miss you? Alas, we will all be disembarking tomorrow In Copenhagen. Oh well, next cruise....I just got my last coffee-to-go in Seabourn Square and am now sipping and writing as I read and go through pictures of the day.

This has been a great cruise. Just convinced my two sets of new friends to go and do a “Future Cruises” deposit before the deadline this afternoon. We did it as well, and will figure out our next Seabourn cruise once we get home and look at the calendar very closely. There were some goods, greats and a couple of not-so-greats, but overall, it was an excellent cruise. I will probably do a succinct wrap-up once on shore, and once the clothes are washed and jet lag over. But, in a word for Seabourn, KUDOS!

Thank you for taking us with you, NJBelle. It's been a pleasure to read your reports.

A camel was the result of a committe trying to make a horse!

Sunprince,

 

I laughed out loud when I saw your post just now!

 

Ah yes... the Retreat. I can just imagine the committee meeting when all the eager beaver ultra chic hotel designer lovvy wannabees and the grasping new margin-grifter revenue graspers came across this “retreat” idea in a members only travel rag. And then convinced themselves and anyone else who would matter, including (haha) Seabourn Management to underwrite this blatantly stupid idea, on the basis that:

 

1- Seabourn’s creme de la creme mega-premium passengers “need” to retreat from the rest of the ship into an airless, viewless and cozy enclave of like-minded pampered pooches;

 

2- the space can command $350 per sea day, i.e. peanuts, for the privilege, and just a tad less on port days. I mean who among us would choose to venture out to some soiled and most likely tawdry port, when one can have your own cabana and bevvies and TV and lounge chair in the Retreat’s uber exclusive and precious realm; and

 

3- you can thereby deny this large deck area to hoi polloi, aka those “creepy people”, who might trespass up there to take a look at the inner sanctum and wonder at this 2017 (Encore) and 2018 (Ovation) modern day mystery. No way should an all-inclusive ship get away with that! No, what’s mine is mine.

 

So the Retreat is a winner. Who can argue with that logic? Let the marketing gurus loose and sell that Retreat!

 

Anyway.... the Retreat will obviously join a precious but sadly long list of embarrassing corporate mistakes, and deliver more fodder for business school students about the importance of speaking sense when confronted by committee-driven nonsense. And how to develop an exit strategy when failure is inescapable and the brand is damaged. These include the Edsel, New Coke, Sony Betamax and very interesting Cosmopolitan Yogurt from 1999. In that case readers were happy enough with the magazine and they did not need a new yogurt. Another mess. Smart idea it was not.

 

Thanks for the chuckle, Sunprince.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Just taking a moment to say that we are in the middle of the English Channel, heading toward Europe, on June 6. Thinking in awe of D-Day and happy that I am able to be here.

Hi NJ....was perusing the boards for those who sailed this itinerary. We are scheduled on the Ovation next May, Lisbon to Amsterdam. We are looking forward to visiting The Beaches again.....having been there at another time.......especially to pay our respects at the American Cemetery. Next year is 75 Anniversary. Would love your insights on the Lisbon to Amsterdam leg of your cruise. (New Jersey, I assume). Same here for the Summer.

Hi NJ....was perusing the boards for those who sailed this itinerary. We are scheduled on the Ovation next May, Lisbon to Amsterdam. We are looking forward to visiting The Beaches again.....having been there at another time.......especially to pay our respects at the American Cemetery. Next year is 75 Anniversary. Would love your insights on the Lisbon to Amsterdam leg of your cruise. (New Jersey, I assume). Same here for the Summer.

Sorry for the late reply. We did not go to Lisbon or Amsterdam as our cruise was to the Baltic countries. However, re: the Ovation, it was lovely and we had only 584 passengers. Sometimes it was hard to get food because the buffet would be closed and the grill by the pool would be closed at the same time. The only place to get food was little nibble sandwiches at the coffee bar. This proved a popular place because people got hungry between regular dinners. Tim Rice show was the best I’ve ever seen on any cruise. Ship never felt crowed; always someone there to help without any waiting in lines. Recommend if you’re not a foodie; but if you are, snag some buffet food to keep in your frig for when no food venues are open.

Grado, I hope you know room service is available 24/7, including hot meals.

But we always still had some cheese and salami in the fridge in ziplocks we bring on cruises for emergency snacking, for munching without having to wait for room service ( and crackers or bread, also in packaging, but not in fridge, with some of the wine we always have handy). We also never seemed to make our way through finishing the fruit plates brought to the room.

There is no reason to be hungry on SB!

Grado, I wonder if you were on our Baltic cruise last June---Amsterdam to Copenhagen (and then we stayed on through St. Petersburg and back to Stockholm). I never even noticed the Col. and the Patio Grill both being closed as we don't tend to eat between meals. But Catlover is right--there is always room service--and alway caviar.

Cece50, I have just seen your post from September, with a question about how we liked the cruise from Lisbon to Amsterdam. In three words, WE LOVED IT. We have been to Europe many times, and have been to most of the countries (land trips, river and ocean cruises) but thought the itinerary was very interesting. Lots of new ports for us and all very varied. So, no complaints (except maybe too few sea days since we like them so much) and only positive things really. We loved the Ovation (well, except for a few things like no real walking/jogging deck - only around the pool; and the Theater has these very large weight-bearing posts that obscure views) and would happily sail on her again. You will have a wonderful time!

Cece50, I have just seen your post from September, with a question about how we liked the cruise from Lisbon to Amsterdam. In three words, WE LOVED IT. We have been to Europe many times, and have been to most of the countries (land trips, river and ocean cruises) but thought the itinerary was very interesting. Lots of new ports for us and all very varied. So, no complaints (except maybe too few sea days since we like them so much) and only positive things really. We loved the Ovation (well, except for a few things like no real walking/jogging deck - only around the pool; and the Theater has these very large weight-bearing posts that obscure views) and would happily sail on her again. You will have a wonderful time!

Thanks NJ for your insights....Looking forward to this one!

Grado, I hope you know room service is available 24/7, including hot meals.

 

But we always still had some cheese and salami in the fridge in ziplocks we bring on cruises for emergency snacking, for munching without having to wait for room service ( and crackers or bread, also in packaging, but not in fridge, with some of the wine we always have handy). We also never seemed to make our way through finishing the fruit plates brought to the room.

There is no reason to be hungry on SB!

That’s true about room service. We never got any fruit plates in the room. I’m assuming you had to order them. I suppose if we cruise with SB again, we will make better use of the room service. Thanx for your reply and straightening me out! :D

Fruit plates don’t have to be formally ordered. They are provided to any suite that is interested. If you have a switched on suite attendant they will ask if you would like fruit to be provided every day. If for some reason, you are not asked at the very first meeting on embarkation, just ask for it subsequently.

When I started cruising, the fruit plates were always in the room automatically, but I do understand that there was considerable wastage with that approach.

However, you don’t need to make any formal order, just indicate that fresh fruit would be welcomed.