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

[Catlover54]

 

More from St. John’s church, and Sunbury:

 

 

A passenger who was an accountant was particularly interested in this exhibit:

 

 

 

Darth Vader watched over us from the great room:

 

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

This was supposed to be a manicure pedicure equipmemt set.  With tools like that, I’d rather forego the fuss and look like Struwelpeter.

 

 

 

The bits seemed to be hung up in a pattern reading HA HA.

 

Back in downtown:

 

[Camillus112]

This time last year we were boarding the Odyssey in Barbados, and the chaos was unbelievable.  It was raining hard and port personnel commanded that passengers line up outside the terminal (in the rain!) to wait for the shuttle bus to take us to the ship.  The was no SB representative to take control of the situation...especially since the bus stopped at another point, and not where we were asked to queue.  A rush towards the bus ensued, and many elderly persons, soaked as they were, were not helped in the chaos.  We, and some others, tried to help as we could, but the presence of SB representatives was sorely needed.  We, and I'm sure others, made a complaint, but it seems things have not improved much.

[Baz-t]

We boarded Odyssey on December 1st in Barbados and it went like clockwork. No delays in getting porterage for suitcases and shuttle to the ship was swift. Seabourn personnel (or their agents) very visible. The only delay was the very slow taxi line getting through security at the port gate.

Disembarkation in Barbados on the 15th was even more impressive. Plenty of porters to move luggage and local personnel to put us in a taxi. No wait for taxis.

Again Seabourn personnel visible in the luggage area.

 

[Catlover54]

 

On the east side of Barbados DH also got a quick shot through the bus window of the rear end of a disappearing green monkey:

 

 

Day 9 — unscheduled sea day near Mayreau

 

We were supposed to have a tender stop in Mayreau with caviar in the surf and a beach BBQ, as we did at Carambola, but due to swells, we could not tender, so the day got changed into a sea day.  Caviar in the pool was offered instead followed by a wonderful, expanisive galley lunch in the MDR.  I ate mine out of the pool.

 

It was a bit crowded in the pool area, but most pax were in a good mood, ( including me) with vodka, champagne, and rum punch flowing freely, at noon!  

Weather was perfect, nice breeze, high 70’s, not too humid, no rain.  It suited my usually aching muscles, joints, and bones. 

The round balls are coconuts.

The photo of the array of desserts is worth looking at enlarged, if you have a sweet tooth.

 

 

 

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Crew did a fantastic job on food and service.  It felt nice to eat lunch in the MDR, the only time we could this cruise. We were seated next to a small, quiet Russian family, members of which wore American tourist T shirts and caps with logos on them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by Catlover54
ypo

[Catlover54]

Speaking of food, the night before we ate at TK Grill, had the chicken for two.  I loved the food  it (I like juicy and fattier meat) DH thought it was just ok ( he likes leaner meat). Neither of us cared for the music which was louder than our first night.

We both liked the service by the cheerful and efficient  eastern European staff.

I think once a week for TK is about enough for us. We would think otherwise if the MDR service were not usually decent and the menu repetitive.

 

Everyone who tries SB should try the TK Grill at least once and decide for themselves.  You can make organized advance on line reservations for one visit per cruise, and sometimes people get in more often if they are not booked up, but we did not try,  as I liked exploring new MDR dishes.  Portions  are relatively large for us and we were both raised not to like to waste food, especially animal protein. This was the first time we tried the chicken, it is a whole chicken.

The mashed potatoes were also buttery, very nice, as were  the carrots, and the little fresh bread load is wonderful.

Hearty comfort food, nicely prepared.

[Catlover54]

 

A couple more  lectures were offered, (e.g., the geologist, who snorkels, was scheduled to talk about Caribbean fish) , along with the usual activites like trivia which we , and it turned out most others,  did not do.  

 

DH got his second massage, (ok, a bit rougher than ideal, YMMV)  and we watched a ‘cheerful’ movie in the suite, “The Death of Stalin” ( not well done at all, IMO, given the importance of the subject). A few dozen on demand movies were available, some very old, for children, with boring topics, or we had already seen them, so you may want to download your own in advance if you need big movie choices or have seen a lot. I usually find plenty of movies I am interested in to choose from on cruises, this was not typical, am not sure if SB cut back its movie budget.

 

The  TV was, per usual, small in our basic veranda suite,and was positioned to the right of the bed and to the left of the ( rockhard) sofa, so there was no truly comfortable position from which one, much less two, people could  watch TV.  But we hardly ever watch TV while one a cruise, maybe a movie or two at most, so it was a minor issue. More annoying than this was that the remote control remained poorly responsive even after a switchout, there was  not much or clear information about ports, route, or enrichment, and at times conflicted in part with SB Source or prior info and with what SB Square told us. 

 

The TV camera showing the bridge view was blurry, if it showed it at all. The navigation and ship location map was poor, and we had to go to maps on the Internet to figure out how the islands on our route lie relative to each other. We landed up mostly ignoring it to avoid frustration  over something minor.

[Catlover54]

 

Laundry we had given away evening of December 27 to the stewardess for washing still had not returned by noon December 30, ( by the advertised SB notice, we should have gotten it back evening of December 29).  So I asked about it not because I needed it, but because I have experienced episodes of disappearing laundry on ships if I did not track it in a timely manner each time I gave it out.The stewardess insisted it was not late, ‘because 48 hours and pickup before 10 AM are needed for routine service, so it takes three days unless you do an express order.’  There was no convincing her that it was indeed officially late, or that three days is not 48 hours. I would have preferred a simple “ they were very busy in the laundry, sorry” rather than an exercise in new math, but otherwise the stewardess was terrific.

 

Very important to us was that the Do Not Disturb sign was always, faithfully observed, I could count on it ( unlike last year on the Quest when there were multiple intrusions, the topper of which was a laundress busting in while I was in the tub, to discuss laundry issues with me).

 

SB is slower on routine laundry turnover than I remember on SS a couple years ago, and slower than Hapag Lloyd, though good enough  ( SB on this cruise said officially 48 hours,  without a same day 50% extra charge), so consider packing extra clothing or Woolite. You can also give items just for ironing, marginally cheaper. Most of the time laundry given early morning appeared the next afternoon or evening, nicely done.  It was neither  cheap like on HL, nor ridiculous like at a luxury hotel.  

 

There is a launderette which I looked at but did not use, a windowless small room, not sure how busy it gets.  I rinsed a few delicate light  things in the sink on a few days, which dried within a few hours hidden in corners on the balcony, in the warm local heat. I am Gold so I got a  $50 all-you-can-stuff sack free each week of the cruise, and DH is silver so he got one sack for the trip. I also paid for a few other items as I like totally fresh clothing daily on warm cruises, worth the cost. Haven’t figured out how many more SB days I need to get unlimited  “free” laundry.

These may seem like minor costs, but on a longer cruise, they could add up to significant charges for some people.

 

[Catlover54]

 

 

 

Service for a late dinner in the MDR the night of the sea day, caviar in the surf, and galley lunch  was atypically abyssmal.  We sat 20 minutes before being offered water, much less wine or a menu.  Crew looked harried and understaffed, but tried to  be pleasant when they finally came, often duplicating each other’s efforts, and it was unclear who was in charge of doing what.  The main host in front, Sergio, really hustled to find us a late table ( I had not told him to, but it was clear he was trying to avoid seating us next to a family of 9). I suspect they were short crew as some unexpectedly had to work extra during the busy day.

 

We then went to the “That’s life” show, with  Rat Pack style entertainment, not my thing, but I always enjoyed watching the dancers.

 

DH messing around on a sea day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calvados vs.  Armagnac:

 

[Catlover54]

 

Day 10, Rousseau, Dominica , December 31

 

This island sustained a lot of damage from hurricanes, in addition to being lower income  to begin with.  There was not much to see, other than traffic, in port.  Contrast with when we excursioned up twisty roads to a rainforest walk and the Emerald Pool, where some of the much younger pax tossed their backwards baseball caps and T shirts with writing and jumped in.

 

But first, we stopped at a view spot for a quick photop overlooking the ship and a cemetery:

 

 

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

To prepare for arrival in the aforementioned cemetery, there was this:

 

 

But first, more life:

 

[Catlover54]

We also stopped at a government run park with an unusual tree, remnants of a bus that had been squashed in a prior hurricane ( fortunately with no one in it),  and a very flat dog :

 

Though many things in the Caribbean are flattened due to prior hurricanes, the condition of the dog had nothing to do with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

 

Later, the comedian Brad Upton did an old style, unPC show.  We thought he had some good lines, covering everything from “honey-do” lists and kitchen dish towels to cat’s upchucking of hair balls at night  ( with which we have some experience — it is nice to be away from it on a cruise!).  He did not use much foul language other than a benign sprinkling of PG words, but based on their unsmiling faces, many pax did not care for him.  DH and I and the couple behind us were in stitches.

 

 

[Catlover54]

 

 

Later, it was New Years Eve, formal night.  We joined a shared table and had a reasonably good time ( DH definitely got the better half of the seating draw). 

 I still cannot understand why so many waiters who “help” push my chair in when I sit down, push it in so far and so aggressively that they bang the backs of my legs.

 

Some people engaged in the usual hat-wearing and noise-making, and later in the Salon the band with the singer Nia played mostly Motown and soul style music into  the night, she is very talented. 

 

People clearly had a good time. I was sorry that my health status precluded risking dancing anymore, but fortunately, as I was not driving,  it did not preclude champagne or blessing counting.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2019 by Catlover54
typo

[Catlover54]

You can see from the picture  above that attire varied.  Some people were very dressed up, a Scot wore his kilt, some were more casual, and some items of clothing landed up being removed as time wore on ( still referring to on 🙂 the dance floor, of course ).BTW the grand piano was quite tasty.

 

 

 

 

 

[CarrieAP]

Lovely review (as always) and absolutely gorgeous pictures! Some are truly spellbinding. Thank you for sharing your adventures and perspective!

[Catlover54]

 

Thank you, CarrieAP.  Any “spellbinding” pictures were likely done by DH, usually with his big camera, rather than by me with my iphone 8 plus.  I have just a few of mine mixed in with mostly his.

 

I loved his catching having a rainbow come out on the last day of the year to show me, hopefully signaling that the coming year will be happy for us. I was taking a leisurely bubblebath at the time, so missed it.

 

Speaking of bubblebaths, newbies to SB may wish to know that the base suites on Odyssey have both a tub and a separate shower.  The latter is smaller than ideal, but adequate for one person unless he is ready for bariatric surgery or a linebacker.  

The tub does not have a rinse hose, so if this matters to you as it did to me, you either have to transfer to the shower at the end or use some kind of container for rinsing ( like a big empty water bottle from the ship, or bring a lightweight big synthetic juice mixing jug — I had one, stuffed with clothing on the way over to use the space).  There is a drying line, retractable, above the tub.  

 

Dual sinks. Water pressure was excellent, hot water available even at peak times.  Tub drain, as usual, leaked a bit, as it typically does in most luxury hotels too, but I was ready with a flat rubber drain stopper I always bring when I travel.

 

 

 

Morton Brown toiletries, replenished at will.  Soap choice styles.

I asked to always have six bath towels there, but not to replace them if I hung them back up, and the stewardess never failed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

 

Day 11, Basse-Terre

 

Twenty-nine pax got crammed into a smaller bus that took us to another beautiful rain forest hike to two waterfalls, up and down steep slopes though the hike was rated only three out of four stars on strenuousness.  This level of up and down was close to my limit, but invigorating.

 

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

It started raining, so poorly prepared pax improvised:

 

 

[Catlover54]

 

There were many loud younger people traveling in groups.  The three women next to me loudly covered migraines, low  back pain, herniated discs, chiropractic choices, and plantar fasciitis issues  all during the first half hour of the bus ride there, before they moved on to other mundane personal issues, vocally shared with others.  🙄 Bring sturdy earplugs and headphones, avoid holiday times, or go privately if this sort of thing annoys you.

 

I enjoyed the waterfall and gardens a lot,  but the bus crowding and atmosphere was like on a mainstream cruise.  

 

[Catlover54]

 

We visited some beautiful private gardens, 5 luscious hectars, hosted by a lovely old couple keen to preserve and show off their island’s botanical offerings. He spoke decent English, she did not, so once again I was happy I had learned to understand a little French and more Latin way back before they became unimportant in my life ( my old Latin study helps me with the word roots for French and other Romance languages, and for official plant and animal names) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

[Catlover54]

[Catlover54]

[Catlover54]

Small children on the tour were getting restless, tired and hungry, as were some not so small adults on the packed excursion who described themselves as “hangry.” It was just too much for the kids spend so much time looking at these garden treasures they take for granted and whose significance they do not yet understand, especially without fortification ( if you do this tour, either eat a large breakfast, or bring snacks in hour pack).

 

 

When we got back to the ship, after late lunch  I sat down on the usually deserted sofas outside SB Square to a view of the ship flag and port, to count my blessings, and to enjoy an Irish coffee SB Square staff had meticulously prepared for me: