Our first Seabourn cruise - as well!

[T&C Fulham]

I had already prepared my outline notes for a message I was going to call ‘Our first Seabourn Cruise’. Able Seaman H beat me to it by a whisker. His is a far better piece of writing than I could manage. It also echoes so many of our first impressions that much of what I intended to write now becomes a boring duplication and has now been deleted.

 

I felt it more useful for present and future Seabourn cruisers to (a) elaborate on some of his opinions and (b) end up with our minimal criticisms that seasoned Seabourn folk can challenge or endorse.

 

We were on the Spirit out of Barbados on the 14th December doing the cruise they call Exotic Caribbean in Depth and I’ll post a summary of the places we visited on a separate thread as a guidance for people doing the same route.

 

By way of introduction I’d add that this was the first ever cruise that my wife and I had ever taken. We are into our seventies and have travelled probably more extensively than many people – but never on a cruise. We both have hotel/catering trade backgrounds.

 

Wearing our catering trade hats, whereas I agree with ASH that no one thing sets Seabourn ahead of the pack, we do feel that it is the quality of the staff training that gives them the edge. In all the hotels I have visited I have never seen such a high percentage of polite, caring and friendly staff. There was not one surly or unenthusiastic person visible. How Seabourn achieve it, when so many top land based establishments fail, is a management strategy to be marvelled at.

 

Briefly on one of many matters of detail. A month before sailing we are sent labels for our cases to ensure they are in our cabins by the time we embark. In all my travelling I have never seen cases put on beds covered with protective sheets. I have never seen beds designed to hide the empty cases. I have never known the cases to be put where it is easy to re-pack them prior to departure. All simple actions to make life trouble free – but which hotel chain offers the same service?

 

Our first surprise was how large our cabin was. We were in an A1 which, on the Spirit is one grade better than the cheapest. Our non-cruising friends use ‘being cooped up’ as one excuse not to venture on a boat. Nobody could suggest an A1 cabin is claustrophobic.

 

Yes, we found it impossible to get the cabin warm enough initially. However, a phone call produced an engineer in under five minutes and the problem was solved. Most hotels would expect you to wait until the next day!

 

ASH says he found no problems with the food. Neither did we. If there was a problem it was being tempted to over-eat because it was so good. We had dinner for about half the time in the MDR, ringing the changes with Restaurant 2 and outside the Sky bar when it was warm enough to have it open.

 

We did not pal up with any other couples for dinner. Sometimes we dined in the MDR on our own. When we got an invitation to a hosted table we accepted it. The great plus of the hosted tables is that you get a chance to meet other people – but without the worry of being committed to dine with them again. You could if you wanted, of course.

 

On the topic of meeting and chatting to people I have the theory that the ‘free drinks’ formula is a great catalyst. Yes, you could abuse it. On the first week of our cruise there was one loud American lady who seemed determined to get her money’s worth. By the end of the week she was becoming irritating – but she was the only one out of two hundred passengers.

 

I think that the advantage of the free drink policy is that it breaks the tradition of ‘buying a round’. Once someone has ‘bought you a round’ it is quite difficult to move on to chat to other people until you have ‘bought one back’. Then someone new joins the group so you have to buy them a drink and they want to reciprocate before you leave. None of this happens on the Seabourn boats and consequently people circulate much more freely from one group to another.

 

Like ASH we found the entertainment simple and professional. We met one man who felt he had been short changed as there wasn’t a magician on the boat! Much as I love magic it did not spoil my holiday. We had a good four piece band who could turn their hands to anything. There was a singing duo, a singer with pianist, a guitar player, another male singer and the lady cruise director also sang.

 

As a newby cruiser I have no idea how many cruise directors also double up as entertainers. It worked well on the Seabourn Spirit and I can’t think anyone does the CD job much better than Suzanne Gayle. On the last night of the cruise Suzanne does a brief musical farewell presentation featuring most of the crew – and it was so emotional it brought tears to our eyes (memories of farewells to loved ones on railway stations - Brief Encounter style). I’d be interested to hear from seasoned Seabourners how they feel the CD’s compare.

 

Worth a mention is the efficiency of the tender service. The two tenders ran a non-stop shuttle service all day and we never had to wait more than ten minutes on any occasion. They also had to cope with some challenging seas – and one most dramatic storm – but their professionalism gave us all reassurance that we were in good hands.

 

ASH mentioned a swop of WiFi for liquor not consumed by his daughter. Fair point, but as others have said, for most people there are facilities that they never use. What I’d say about the WiFi is that, having read on this forum people grumbling about the cost, I felt that 20USD for a couple of hours was a reasonable price to enable me to stay on top of my emails. I also found that my cellphone worked in most ports. I can see there being a problem if someone wants to spend hours ‘surfing the web’ but surely that is a reality of life when you are at sea.

 

Final highlight. The two ‘Caviar in the Surf’ days. The logistics of those are fantastic. On the first of our two it did not stop raining until around noon and still our BBQ lunch was served to perfection.

 

As you can see I am extremely positive about the Seabourn experience. We paid our onboard deposit to get a discount on our next trip and high on our ‘to do’ list is deciding when and where it will be.

 

Can I end with two minor grumbles and see what the regular Seabourn cruisers say in agreement or disagreement?

 

Firstly, and I say this as someone who used to play in dance bands for dinner dances, there was a tendency to play music too loud at times. The music in the Club after dinner was deafening. Conversation was almost impossible. We like to chat to people but you couldn’t. We also like to dance – and we like our dancing to include a few foxtrots, quicksteps, waltzes and latin numbers. It was odd how quickly the floor filled when they played that sort of music and how quickly it emptied when they reverted to tune after tune of disco music.

 

Our first ‘sail away’ was abandoned due to the weather. The one on our middle Saturday took place on deck. Again the band blasted away with their disco numbers and you could hardly hear yourself think.

 

For the first three days the Sky bar played a single CD of a screeching female. It was horrid and we told the Hotel Manager. From then on we had a glorious mix of Caribbean and Christmas. He told us he also hated loud music.

 

Is loud music a Seabourn blank spot?

 

Our other concern was this obsession with over-cooling rooms. I have already explained how we needed to get the aircom adjusted in our cabin. The Observation Lounge was really cold. We only used a couple of times – but always had to put on another layer for the adventure. Likewise the Show Lounge was always unnecessarily cold.

 

Maybe this was something that only happens on Caribbean cruises – and on those you can always escape outdoors. However, we are planning to take our next Seabourn cruise as the one from Montreal to Boston. On that we’ll be passing through some pretty cool weather. Seabourn regulars, please reassure us that they do heat those rooms for those sorts of cruises.

 

That’s it then. A couple of questions at the end and a whole bundle of comments at the start. I hope this will stimulate some more conversation because I am keen to learn more about this window of opportunity that we have sadly discovered far too late in life.

 

Tony

[DUHCAR]

 

We were on the Spirit out of Barbados on the 14th December doing the cruise they call Exotic Caribbean in Depth and I’ll post a summary of the places we visited on a separate thread as a guidance for people doing the same route.

 

Tony

 

Yes, please. I just booked this cruise last night for this coming November, round trip out of St. Maarten. Looking forward to your port insights.

 

John

[Nigella]

Thank you for your review Tony. Interesting slant on it with your backgrounds in hotel/catering.

 

I absolutely agree with you about the loud music. I've found the music in the Club to be far too loud for my tastes.

 

I disagree about overcooling. I'm usually far too warm in most venues onboard, which is odd because I easily feel a chill. That said, before our first cruise I read countless posts here at CC saying that the public venues onboard ships, across all cruise lines, tend to be too cool so you do seem to be in the majority.

[Able Seaman H]

Sorry my post doubled up on what you had already written and thank you for the kind words.

 

Can I just call you to task on one point. Let it be know that I stood my ground when buying drinks on board. I told everyone I met to grab themselves a drink and stick it on my tab. Hopefully they will reciprocate should we meet up again on dry land :)

 

I suspect being larger and newer Sojourn is slightly better placed in terms of facilities. The point you raised about volume wasn't one we suffered often. The club on deck 5 features a wall of glass which deflects the worst of the noise away from people standing at the bar. For a smaller room I thought the scope for conversation was better than an equivalent lounge on Royal Caribbean. Seabourn have to make the most of the smaller spaces.

 

Similarly our air conditioning system was set in the middle and seemed to work well. There was scope to increase or decrease temperature. Possibly try one of the larger ships next time.

 

You are spot on with your observations about the staff, room design and engineering staff. We had to call on their services twice, once when we got back to the room and the toilet had stopped working (nothing we'd done!) and once when the girls tripped some of the cabin power with their hair dryers. On both occasions there was someone on site within minutes and the problem resolved quickly.

 

Henry :)

[Mr Luxury]

The Club on both the smaller and the larger ships is designed with a glass partition around the bar lounge area so that guests are able to sit and talk without too much noise from the band.

If you are not able to do that then have a word with the cruise director and it is usually rectified.

I am afraid that it is pot luck on how good the band are on any ship.A good band should be able to accommodate requests and be able to gauge what type of music the crowd want.

I have found that generally the bands on the smaller Seabourn ships are far better than the bands on the larger ships.

The bands on the larger ships are employed to be able to read the music that guest entertainers bring with them but the Filipino bands on the smaller ships are not such good readers of music but are much better performers and know how to keep a crowd on the dance floor.

 

Room temperatures on most ships are on the cooler side but the dining room on the Sojourn this Christmas was on the warmer side especially for breakfast service.

My wife did not have to cover up with a wrap as she usually does.

If you have had a lot of sun during the day this can make you feel colder during the evening.

Staff of course do not notice how cool it is because they are rushing around working hard.

The observation lounge on the Sojourn was like a fridge whenever I went in but this was the only space that seemed too cold on the ship.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Mr Luxury

[Emperor Norton]

Thank you for taking the time to post. If I may I'd suggest in the future not to worry about what someone else has already posted. Chances are down the road their post won't be pulled up with yours, so IMO its better posts stand on their own rather than relying on "see XXXX's...".

 

 

I agree that the music in the club could be overly loud. Thankfully I've never experienced piped in loud audio in the sky bar.

 

I can't wait to see your pictures.:D

[wripro]

It's very heartening to read two such terrific endorsements from first time SB cruisers. Sometimes those of us who have been around longer begin to take things for granted and grumble if something minor has been changed or eliminated, The SB experience imo is still theist at sea.

[chefchick]

Nice review. Although I have yet to experience a "caviar in the surf" moment, I am anticipating a beach BBQ on our upcoming Spirit cruise at Prickly Pear Is. Just hearing others speak about them or seeing videos, as a industry professional, I am in awe of the hard work and logistics that must take place on an almost weekly basis to pull these events off!

 

The fact that you started your cruise experience with Seabourn, I'm afraid you have no idea how much better trained these crews are compared to the mass market lines - nothing like starting at the top :)

 

Also the point you made about included cocktails is a good one. Not only does it add to the overall ease of meeting others, it allows the bartending staff to take care of your needs and doesn't put them in the position of trying to upsell you the "drink of the day" or jockey for tips.

 

Can't wait to read your review of the ports. Welcome to Seabourn.

[Corony]

Nice review and some good points. We were in the Spirit for 28 days getting off in St Maarten on Dec 7. That was our 4th cruise on our third Seabourn ship (Legend and Quest were the others) and we found the crew on the Spirit to be the best we had seen and the same can be said for Suzanne the CD. I think quite often too much is made of a few very small shortcomings during a cruise while not looking at the overall experience. After a couple of cruises on the Quest we were curious to see if returning to the small ship would feel like a compromise but it was quite the opposite. We considered that to be our best cruise yet and although we are booked on the Odyssey we wouldn't hesitate to sail with the Spirit again. We especially would like to sail with Suzanne again and also Theresa the Hotel Manager.

[Jim Avery]

T&C,

Thanks for posting your balanced review. I also agree about the loud music. As one who grew up going to rock concerts, I love loud music---in rock concerts. In bars and lounges, music should be background. Complimentary to the conversations that are so much a part of shipboard life. One of your other observations has also long been one of mine. Most (if not all) passenger ships can turn over every single room in a matter of hours but hotels, even high end hotels, have the service carts in the hallways even to the night hours. And you can bet they did not turn over every room. It has always indicated a management problem to me. We love the Spirit and hate to see her go but are looking forward to sailing on the "Big Sisters".:D