Odyssey comments, photos, 12/22/18-1/5/19, eastern Caribbean

[Catlover54]

 

 

DH and I  completed two 7-day back to back cruises on the Seabourn (SB) Odyssey, 12/22/18-12/29/18 and 12/29/18-1/5/19,  Caribbean in depth’. The food, beverages and service offered were very good overall ( I gained 7 lb),  though service was definitely not perfect.  Overall we enjoyed our trip, especially the food, the entertainment, and the great AC.

 

I give it four out of five stars, with the deduction for periodic service and communication issues, mediocre enrichment lectures,  mediocre to bad  (for this day and age) internet and interactive TV services, and the closed MDR at breakfast and lunch, which necessitated standing in buffet lines at lunch if on board ( though lines were short) and scurrying around to find seating unassisted. 

 

The Saturday Philipsburg/ St Martin disembarkation experience was also suboptimal,  and our ten-hour SXM airport experience on a Saturday was uncomfortably  loud and generally horrible (aggravated by constant, very loud 93 decibel announcements). I cannot blame SB for SXM  airport problems but I would be hesitant to book another cruise on SB or any other line requiring disembarkation in SXM.

 

Ports visited the first half included Philipsburg (embarkation on St. Martin island), Saint Kitts and Nevis with Carambola Beache caviar in the surf, Road Bay, Anguilla; St. Johns, Antigua and Barbuda; Terre-de-Haut, Iles des Saintes; Port Elizabeth, Bequoia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Castries, St /Lucia, and finally Bridgetown, Barbados.

The second half  was to include Saline Baby, Mayreau but sea swells prevented tendering).  We also stopped at  Roseau, Dominica; Basse-Terre, Guadaloupe; Gustavia, Saint Barthelemy; and Great Harbour, Jost van Dyke, and ended back in Philipsburg.

 

Captain:  Othello Ghoshroy (a man of few words)

Cruise Director:  Robert Brendan (lively, friendly,  he also sings)

Executive Chef:  Marco Matteucci (excellent!)

Hotel Director:  Peppi Schuppler ( who tried to be helpful, even personally served me a pina colada New Years Eve when bartenders were busy)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2019 by Catlover54
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[Catlover54]

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Catlover54
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[Catlover54]

[Catlover54]

I plan to gradually post comments and pictures as I get time while I settle in back home, but feel free to jump in anytime you like to ask questions, especially if you are new to SB and have an upcoming cruise in this area.

 

We flew in early for two nights pre-cruise at the Divi Bay hotel outside Philipsburg, from SFO via Atlanta where we had a sleepy four hour layover starting at 6 AM.  We were glad we were going to the Caribbean to wear sandals, and not to wherever these young guys were headed in their combat boots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Catlover54
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[Catlover54]

 

The Divi Bay hotel complex was in a very nice location on the water, but food and especially service were indifferent to mediocre. Hotel was ok but not “luxury”, perhaps this is as good as it gets post-hurricane. When we first checked in and went to our ocean view  assigned room after a very long ride in traffic from the Philipsburg airport, we found other people’s stuff still in the room late afternoon ( fortunately not the people). Our reassigned view room was ok, AC thank goodness worked, and there was a fridge but no mini-bar but there was a store for misc. food and drinks on the premises ( beware, no ATM).

 

Dining at the hotel the first night was forgettable, other than for a few mosquitoes who feasted on me.  Our second night we went to nearby Anthony’s by cab (though you  also can walk twenty minutes) which was oddly mostly empty on a Friday night, and I had a wonderful duck dish with a luscious sauce , and French style escargots. We had been advised against going to the French side of the island into the main towns at night.

 

During daytime we walked on the lovely beach and then up to the nearby fort ruins for some views:

 

Note I am posting pictures this thread mostly taken by DH with his proper camera, but there are some by me from my iphone ( it is pretty easy to guess which is which).

 

 

[Catlover54]

 

Tech afficionado DH had to check out the junked machinery and electronics in the fort, which had had workers there during WW2:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Catlover54
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[Catlover54]

 

 

Day 1, Embarkation in Philipsburg, St. Martin

 

This went very smoothly, and we were on board at 12 with champagne, and lunching in the Colonnade with good service within 15 minutes, decent  Mexican food.

 

Our suite mid deck 6 ( ready around 2) was clean and overall nicely attended to, with only a few problems.  For the first time since I started cruising SB in 2015, all my odd pre-cruise preferences were correct and set to go. All relevant ship info was in the suite. The interactive TV menus were not good, however, poorly responsive, even with a change in remote, and not up to date on short notice changes as the cruise continued.

We used the “ Seabourn Source” free app instead, which was a bit better, though it needs work, e.g., it was missing key info, or had inaccurate info at times which personnel at SB Square did not know or care about. We got the $399 unlimited internet plan, essential for when service is very slow.

 

Muster, as usual, was just a 15 minute talk in the MDR at our stations, without us having to bring or put on our life vests.

 

Our embarkation day dinner went surprisingly well.  We arrived at 8:15 and experienced no seating problems in the MDR.  Food and service were good. The one glitch was that I asked the waiter for a list of complementary wines after he showed up with the usual white and red of the day. He sternly shook his head and (mis)informed me that it is “not possible” to get a list of complimentary wines, only the premium wines.  I replied that he was mistaken, that we can and did previously receive lists of complementary wines.  After he consulted a couple superiors, one of them came over and told me he would get me a list but I would have to wait two days, because the crew was going to be very busy the next day.  I told him that was fine, and indeed the list appeared in our suite, the next day.

 

There was no major entertainment event the first evening, just open dancing, presumably to allow crew to go out on the town (and I believe per some regulations). Sail-away was not until  11PM.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Catlover54
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[Catlover54]

 

It felt good to be back at sea, as it had been four months since my last cruise ( on Hapag-Lloyd then) and I was going into withdrawal. We were excited to explore this part of the world where neither of us had been.  I am thankful to CC members who had helped with their pre-trip advice .  As we are not into water sports or sunbathing, we kept putting off the Caribbean until we had done other bucket list trips. Our first evening was calming.

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

WINE and beverage service:

The included wine list arrived in our suite the second day, after our insistence we could indeed get one,They may be out of some by now, and/or have some new ones, but it was definitely possible to find a drinkable red or rose to go with selected foods.  Typically they come around and push a white or red of the day, ( often an SB or PG) but you can ask for something else.

They will not give you a list or suggest you can pick something else, as it is more work for waiters, so you need to ask.  It would also help lower their workload if you would study the menus you get in your rooms in advance to have some idea what to eat as your entree and what kind of wines you might want to try.

 

Getting a decent red was more challenging for those of us who live near  so many nice wineries back home, but when we were not ordering premium reds, we enjoyed exploring the included choices. Sometimes the same type wine tasted ok one day and awful the next, so I suspect they were sometimes not properly sealing leftovers and then reserving them the next day.  Premium wines are best choice, but usually  with a big markup.

 

I carried a copy of the list in my purse to dinners and usually tried what was bring poured but typically got something else.

 

Sommeliers were few and far between, compared with the old service.  Multiple different people seemed responsible for water and wine, so there was not uncommonly confusion or duplication of ( friendly) efforts.  

We like sparkling water, which was typically brought warm and half-flat, so we started asking for Perrier by name with ice on the side so it would not be overly diluted or forgotten. 

Watch out for waiter refills of water and wine, or the rushed waiters may pour plain into sparkling, or generic wine into premium. I liked that they left premium bottles on the table, to avoid having to chase them down for refills like we had to last year. They were  not really staffed in MDR to reliably keep wine off the table and timely refill, as luxury technically requires,  than in Thomas Keller, which had the best service overall.

 

Cocktails were variable, sometimes timely, sometimes slow, sometimes wrong, depending on time and venue.  

 

Colonnade at a TK chicken dinner served wine in stemless glasses.

 

Beverages in the suite were nicely replenished daily based on what we asked the stewardess for.  We did not have to tell her twice.

 

 

[Catlover54]

 

HOLIDAYS:

This was a Christmas and New Years cruise, and there were secular and neutral evergreens with shiny balls set up around the ship. There was also extra illumination in some places, along with gingerbread cookies and Stollen cake outside the Colonnade and elsewhere. A midnight mass and Christmas Day services were offered but most people on board did not participate.

Formal nights were Christmas Day and New Years Eve, when traditional goofy hats and tooters were placed on MDR tables and later the excellent band and singer Nia played mostly soul and Motown oldies in  the Salon to bring in the new year.

 

 

DEMOGRAPHICS and DRESS:

I  noted a difference in the atmosphere of these two short cruises compared with SB cruises when there were no major holidays.

There were many happy apparently well-off extended families on board, mostly from U.S. and Britain, quite a few from Europe, rather than overwhelmingly couples, as in my prior four experiences on SB. Although there were few small children, so many families and large groups and some babies and kids periodically running in the hall or yelling on balconies with their parents cannot help but change the dynamic a bit. There was more loud talking and yelling in hallways ( e.g., why does a man need to hollar down the spiral staircase at 7 AM to his buddy that he needs to charge his iphone?).  But  some staff also yelled in hallways, so they contributed. 

There was also more   boistrous ‘taking charge’ and control of areas big groups were in, e.g., a large European family had bored teens and kids who played their iphones and iPADs without headphones in the MDR during a long meal, and not uncommonly adults ( after a few drinks) talked or  laughed very loudly during interactions, with deep penetrating baritones close to our ears.

Kids were splashing in the pools pretty much any afternoon, there was no kids-free time assigned.

 

 

I am glad the pax had a great time, but would not say the atmosphere on these two cruises was refined, , much less romantic. The best time for peaceful swims or whirlpooling was early morning. The most peaceful area and time was the Observation Lounge on deck 10 early AM, when they opened at 6:15 for coffee, tea, juice and croissants, music played was calm, and there were only rare loud people.

 

Families included  quite a few teens and  young adults, some with confused combinations of messages on clothing, e.g., one young man had on his prestigious prep school shirt one day, and a T shirt honoring Che Guevarra the next. Another happy lad wore a sleeveless shirt that said “Obey”  (?), another said “Combat Stress”  with a matching cap .  I have to wonder how these people packing for their cruise selected  their specific clothing items.

 

Most but not all people who came to the MDR for dinner complied with the “elegant casual” dress code on 12 of 14 days, the other nights were formal nights  and all but a handful of people who came in polos or nice ( not pre-tattered) jeans with families made efforts to  look very festive. Some older folks wore tuxes, others suits or sport jackets, a Scotsman wore his kilt. Older ladies on formal nights often  had on elegant outfits and glittery shoes, young teens and college age girls  typically wore very short form-fitting clothing like you see on the strip in Vegas, as is the modern style ( whether or not they had a shape  to look good in them).  The cutest were the little boys stuffed into their tiny suits.

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

 

 

Day 2, St. Kitts and Nevis — Carambola Beach.

 

SB did a very nice job organizing a “caviar in the surf” day on a pleasant private beach we tendered to with shaded lounge chairs, clean rest room facilities, and a sumptuous BBQ  after pax were able to wade into the water to grab bites of caviar on biscuits and swallow them before the surf did.

 

Entertainment included a fun Berkeley born and raised pianist named Hyperion Knight (he joked both about his origins and his name).  Not only did he play the piano beautifully, he also engaged the audience with descriptions of the history of the pieces and excerpts he played, from Chopin to the Beatles.  He did another performance later the first week which was equally pleasant, and I greatly enjoyed listening to this performer.

 

Here are a couple images from the Carimbola beach event, including a determined little boy who perhaps will become an architect or engineer?

 

 

[Catlover54]

 

The sea near Carambola Beach became even more lovely as the day wore on:

 

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

 

Day 3 — Road Bay, Anguilla, “Katouche Cave” hike excursion

We booked a last minute  excursion that was dubbed “Anguilla Hiking and Katouche Cave”, which we would not do again unless it changed. It has potential, but was not ready for prime time.

 This was mostly a guided walk through flat terrain and bushes on some private land.  All drivers and guides arrived late for their assorted tasks, for various given reasons , so there was some standing around. I learned to take most information given in the Caribbean with a grain of salt, as many people seem to prefer providing misinformation, i.e.,  making stuff up instead of just saying “I don’t know” or “I’m sorry, I was just very busy and running behind”.  One of the shuttle drivers was asked by a woman if a certain hotel had a restaurant, he told her “yes,” and then, grinning,  proudly told pax on board, “I do not really know if there is a restaurant, but I said yes anyway”.   This can create confusion for people trying to navigate and get information and directions.

 

 It  turned out we did not actually go into the Katouche Cave itself, but into a couple poorly lit pre-cave spaces with very irregular ground, and which were full of chirping bats (fortunately no snakes). It was ok, but we had expected a bit more cave, based on the buildup in the excursion booklet in our suite:

 

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

 

 

  We walked a total of a couple miles and 13 floors (per my pedometer) on often very uneven terrain,  saw a few hermits crabs, and a turtle.   Guides tended to mumble and speak unintelligibly.  One was fond of stopping every few feet to show us leaves from various bushes that allegedly were used by Anguillians to cure ailments ranging from bed-wetting and menstrual cramps to toothaches and colds, while the other guide skeptically murmured that he did not believe a thing the guy pushing natural cures said.

A guide demonstrated a plant with an extract that could be used for soap.

 

We ended at a gorgeous picturesque beach with warm water  (though no one had a bathing suit), where juice and a couple fruit snacks were served for a few minutes.  But as there were no rest rooms and we were close to three hours without one by then, starting with gathering in the Grand  Salon to get on the tender, I passed.  Otherwise, it would have been nice to spend more time there.

[Catlover54]

 

 

Back on board, an  enrichment speaker that afternoon talked about forts and ports in Caribbean history, punctuated by her expressions of disdain for all the slaughtering of men by other men. It is easy to lose track of who was killing whom, why, and when in this area. I did not get a good sense of the dynamics of the struggles between England, France, Netherlands, etc. in this area when it was first colonized.  

 

In the evening we dined at the new small plates evening venue, Earth and Ocean, outside near the pool (at lunch it is the Patio Grill with its old usual burger or grilled fish menu) which is very popular as it is nicely done,  tasty food.  It fills up very early as there are only a few tables, so go when it opens at 7, or very late, casual attire. Service was good. As usual, we ate more than needed.

 

 

[Catlover54]

 

 

Day 4, Antigua, Christmas Day

We went on an excursion organized by a large travel consortium, to the Nelson Dockyards and other historic areas with views, and finally to an upscale lunch at a beautifully located restaurant waterside called South Point, which featured an absolutely  delicious three course meal featuring a fish dish.  We sat in a lovely shaded, breezy outdoor dining venue.  A couple on a yacht pulled up dockside and also sat down for lunch. We sat in the shade, with a cool soothing breeze, it was perfectly locates.

 

Dinner was a formal night in the MDR (only one formal night per week in the Caribbean) and I enjoyed looking at all the festive and  beautiful outfits that helped make the ambience special.

We selected the featured caviar appetizer but what arrived was a disappointing 1 cubic centimeter bit of caviar on a tiny piece of starch, served next to a slightly larger amount of what tasted like egg salad.  It got better after that, e.g., delicious cream of white asparagus soup, and even though it was Christmas, I chose the tasty but everyday food Wienerschnitzel for my entree.

I made up for the unfulfilling mini-caviar the next night by ordering a full platter  of SB caviar as my appetizer, which you can do without extra charge on even though it is not on the menu and is not advertised ( this may change, of course). Thanks to CC contributors, I knew I could confidently do this.

[Catlover54]

[Catlover54]

 

The cactus we passed looked like a Santa!

 

In the evening, our suite also received a cute plate with a chocolate Santa, gingerbread cookies, and other sweets to help assure that my slightly loose evening outfit would fit me better the next few days of the cruise.

 

SB also offered other interesting sounding excursions on Antigua, had we not had our consortium event. It was generally easy to book excursions short notice this trip, a few exceptions. Just be sure and closely watch your on-board confusing account balances, as mistakes on billing and securing loyalty discounts can happen.

 

The islands we visited this trip had many colorful houses, as shown in one of the photos below, I loved the upbeat colors.

Edited January 8, 2019 by Catlover54
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[Catlover54]

 

 

Day 5, Iles des Saintes

This was a lovely little French language port, with a large choice of restaurants, from casual to upscale, so it would be a good choice for lunching off the ship.

 

  We hiked up to Fort Napoleon, where there  were gorgeous views of the town and sea below: 

 

[Catlover54]

 

 

There is an interesting museum on top, with assorted naval history pieces ( though I think the depiction of the soldier slaying the leaping serpent, shown below, was a bit hyperbolic) .  

 

The locals who run it have chosen not to translate any of the exhibit titles into the international travel and tourism language English, so you can practice reading French here.  Guided tours are also in French.

 

The fort closes at 12:30 so your ascent should be early if you want to see everything at leisure and still catch your breath.

 

You have to be very careful on the road up to the fort, as you share it with people zooming up and down on scooters, in taxis,  people practicing riding electric bicycles, dogs chasing cars, and the expected ambulances.

 

 

[offtoalaska]

On 1/7/2019 at 6:42 PM, Catlover54 said:

 

 

DH and I  completed two 7-day back to back cruises on the Seabourn (SB) Odyssey, 12/22/18-12/29/18 and 12/29/18-1/5/19,  Caribbean in depth’. The food, beverages and service offered were very good overall ( I gained 7 lb),  though service was definitely not perfect.  Overall we enjoyed our trip, especially the food, the entertainment, and the great AC.

 

I give it four out of five stars, with the deduction for periodic service and communication issues, mediocre enrichment lectures,  mediocre to bad  (for this day and age) internet and interactive TV services, and the closed MDR at breakfast and lunch, which necessitated standing in buffet lines at lunch if on board ( though lines were short) and scurrying around to find seating unassisted. 

 

The Saturday Philipsburg/ St Martin disembarkation experience was also suboptimal,  and our ten-hour SXM airport experience on a Saturday was uncomfortably  loud and generally horrible (aggravated by constant, very loud 93 decibel announcements). I cannot blame SB for SXM  airport problems but I would be hesitant to book another cruise on SB or any other line requiring disembarkation in SXM.

 

 

 

Can you please provide more details on your departure experience at SXM?  Why did it take ten hours?  How long did it take to do luggage check in and then go through security?  Once past security were there places to sit?  Did the A/C operate OK?  Was there free WIFI?  We leave next week for the same two week itinerary.  I hope we have fewer families and children as it is not during the Christmas holiday.   Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

 

 

After our descent we wandered off the main route a bit. We wanted to get a couple items at a local pharmacy including insect repellant, as I kept getting a bite each day on the cruise even though I never saw the beasties doing it .  But unfortunately they closed at 12 and would not open again until 3, small town European style, so best to plan ahead.

 

This gave us an excuse to eat delicious gelato from the Cesibon cafe on the main drag. It was even better than the excellent gelato on the Odyssey.  It is also a good place to get a freshly baked French baguette if you want to picnic in this very nice port.

 

Dinner at the Thomas Keller venue was very good, I had a new duck dish, DH the steak. 

Service was efficient and friendly, and the music was at a tolerable volume.

 

The SB entertainers did an “Evening with Tim Rice” collection of songs and dances, which were nicely done in typical  enthusiastic cruise ship style, so even though Rice style music is not my favorite, when done live, I found it delightful.

 

It was an excellent day.

[Catlover54]

Offtoalaska, you asked:

”

 

Can you please provide more details on your departure experience at SXM?  Why did it take ten hours?  How long did it take to do luggage check in and then go through security?  Once past security were there places to sit?  Did the A/C operate OK?  Was there free WIFI?  We leave next week for the same two week itinerary.  I hope we have fewer families and children as it is not during the Christmas holiday.   Thank you.“

 

 

A few details of our last day, out of sequence,  offtoalaska: 

Ship disembarkation was suboptimal but not horrible.

We had color and number coded disembarkation instructions to follow announcements, but as ship clearance  was delayed, there was just a call and rush to disembark when the shop was cleared by pax to meet waiting buses and cars, with no announcements by color.

 

We had a 2:30 flight, and had read before from someone on CC recently that it had taken them three hours to get through Saturday checkin and security at the airport, so we had signed up for the 9am SB bus to the airport , a half hour ride, $18 per person, figuring it would be better to try early checkin and go through security, have lunch, and be relaxed,  then read on devices, and not dare miss our flight ( DH unfortunately  needed to be back the next night).

SB written instructions   told us to allow 20 minutes to clear immigration but as we could not get off until well past  8:30 and 

lines for immigration were huge, with multiple cruise ship pax waiting, we were unclear if our bus would wait.SB personnel were hard to find to direct us to answer questions,  but finally we left, only a half hour  late. In hindsight, there was no rush.

 

At SXM airport, not SB’s fault,  our airline Jet Blue did not have anyone at the checkin desk until three hours before scheduled departure, so another 1.5 hours after we arrived. We had thus come early but could not go through security until we got rid of our bags, so we were stuck with big  luggage for an hour and just barely got a seat. A half hour later ( around 10:30) all the limited pre-security seats were taken.

 

We kept getting alert texts from Jet Blue delaying our flight a little at a time so we could not just leave and enjoy the day in the area even if there were somewhere ro check luggage or cabs to hold it. It finally became clear after another text alert delay we would not make our connection to SFO in JFK ( though we had allowed 2.5 hours layover ) .  So I got on the phone and worked through options for alternatives.  By then there was a huge checkin line for Jet Blue, people arriving at 11:30 to 12. Checkin lines for Delta and American were even bigger, all morning.

 

We got through slow but friendly checkin, then had long security, an hour.

Seating was very limited after security, with pax jockeying for position, some sitting on end tables, a few on floors, no lounge.

Our boarding passes had said “TSA precheck”  but there was no separate line.

Our flight continued to get delayed  a little at a time, with no other flight options in any class for any price on any commercial airline to get off the island, so we were stuck.

 

After security, it was another 7 hours before the flight left, one half hour postponement after another, so five hours late, plus we had come early to avoid missing it, so roughly ten hours at SXM. Sun had set.

We sat at SXM in uncomfortable circumstances, hard chairs ( separately a while, far from each other, making it hard to keep an eye on luggage when one of us left to the bathroom), running out of charge on our devices as there were no charging stations.  My Verizon  cell service was dog slow, wifi did not work.DH’s ATT cellular worked better, but he was running out of charge.  We had an extra charge reserve unit to connect to, thank goodness, I recommend bringing one. 

 

 The worst was we were  stuck listening to endless very loud and shrill overhead announcements about everything every minute or two, for hours, on hard chairs, with dirty floors, loud people, facetimers, some drinking too much rum, borderline toilets, vile fast food, and it was impossible to block out 93 DB with  ear plugs or our Bose,   ( DH has an app that measures DB, that’s how we know).

 AC worked, thank goodness. I also had an inflatable cushion, bring one if you have a sore back, muscles, or behind.

 

Maybe it is only bad at SXM on holidays and Saturdays.

 

Ultimately we landed up with a reroute that included an overnight at JFK for six hours in a hotel, were on the go 30 hours from getting up off the ship until we got home.  The rain and windy storm and 42 degrees greeting us reminded us of why many people go to the Caribbean in winter.

 

I wish you luck.  BTW  took us an hour to get our luggage on arrival, too,  but we had seats there, no schedule, no loud announcements.

 

[bahrain_not_dubai!]

Thank you Catlover54, from a fellow lover of cats. I always find your reviews to be excellent, considering your high standards and taste in cruising/hospitality. I very much look forward to reading the rest of your review. 

 

The Seabourn Odyssey is one of my favourite ships, and I am mulling doing the same itinerary you are on in 2020. Interestingly, after reading much of what you have said about Europa 2, we have decided to try her this November. 

[Isklaar]

Thank you for your very interesting comments about your Odyssey cruise, Catlover.

I was on Ovation during the exact same time period, on the other side of the world, but drew many parallels as I read your posts. The demographic on my cruise was rather different to the usual Holiday crowd and similar to the one that you found.