Just off Ovation...

[Kate-AHF]

Some thoughts - 

Cabin has to have the best soundproofing at sea.  Bar none.  We heard nothing.  Not next door, not in the hall, not seaplanes coming and going just off port.   I do have to mention, in cabin 715, the anchor chain felt like it was right under our feet.  We don't sleep in, and it's over quickly, so that noise has never bothered us in any cabin.  Our cabin finishes were exceptional, and very durable.  Pillow selection great.  Bed made my back ache every morning.  I guess not firm enough for me.  The new glass table, while oh-so-stylish, was a fail for me.  The glass shows every fingermark, elbow, etc.  If you sat and used the table for anything, it was a smeary mess when you got up.  That really bothered me becasue it was an example of form over function.  Because the couch is now long enough to stretch out on, there are no end tables, and no where to put a glass.  Here's a good hack: We solved that mid-cruise by taking the wine bucket off the stand, and using the stand as a nice little end table.  Problem solved.

 

I love the bar set up on the old triplets, and I thank Seabourn for not ditching that cabinet on all the new builds.  It is just a nice space to easily mix a drink, or make a glass of icewater.  Good use of space, no wandering around the cabin to do it.

 

Drawer space in the closet much improved, but hanging space is awkward.  Heartfelt thanks for all the hooks in the closet though, very handy for outerwear/hats.

 

Bathroom.  Sigh.  Yes, two sinks are nice, but for us not a dealbreake, but the fittings were well-planned.  The shower drove me nuts as a short female.  I know in the grand scheme of things most people will think I'm crazy for coming down so hard on this.  Can't help it.  I was a huge peeve of mine, and seemed like such a stupid design decision. The bath soap dishes were located above and behind me, directly next to the spray head.  So changing from shampoo to conditioner to shower gel, I got an unwanted face-full of water every time I turned to grope for the correct bottle . And, of course, no easy way to shave your legs .I swear the bathroom designers need to have a small woman use a bathroom mock-up and then actually listen to the feedback before they build 250 cabins exactly alike.  I glared at the completely unused bathtub and the space it occupied for 15 days, and no longer can I use the tub as a shower which would have solved all my issues.  While shower pressure was always excellent, water temp varied quite a bit during busy times.  More than any other Seabourn ship we've been on.

 

Seabourn Square remains the beating heart of the ship.  Love that they have now extended hours to include an evening interval for coffee after dinner.  Customer service in Seabourn..... best service at sea.  Period.  On any line we've sailed on.  These people WANT to help you.  They don't look at you approach with that assessing eye that is silently saying 'How are you planning to make my life hell?"

 

Food - SIlversea Muse wins the buffet breakfast wars by a large margin - particularly in the fresh fruit bar, yogurt, musueli bar and cold cuts.  Also, Seabourn loses the Eggs Benedict wars by an equally large measure.  Tried three times, two difference venues, all fails... from the muffin which was untoasted in the middle to burned on the edges to the utterly tasteless Hollandaise.  Shame.  Used to be the best at sea.

 

TK grill:  Well. the restaurant is not our thing - but the bar setting and pianist was.  Awful lot of real estate devoted to what is essentially a steakhouse.  I didn't find the food particularly interesting or innovative, and the portions were, for us, too large.

 

Restaurant:  seriously good service (and good food) throughout the trip.  None of that "chaotic first couple of nights" and then all settles down that we've experienced on nearly all Seabourn sailings.  

 

Sushi:  They have one night on each cruise that is an 8 course Japanese dinner instead of their regular small plates and sushi.  It was just wonderful, and being Japanese, they did not overstuff you.  Highly recommend you try it, if you are at all curious about the cuisine.

 

Colonade:  Lunch - nice salad selection, huge hot food selection.  My complaint, and this is by no menus specific to Seabourn....  Sometimes (okay, often) I'd just like a nice sandwich and a cup of soup.  Dinner:  Loved the themed dinners, great service, interesting food.  Kudos.

 

Now.... Earth and Ocean at The Patio in the evenings..... We were on an Arctic Circle cruise, so we only found it comfortable to eat here twice.  And it was just fantastic.  The food is the most interesting and innovative on the ship.  I could have eaten there every night based on the posted menus.  This food should not be held hostage to the whims of nature,  It needs an indoor venue.  I don't buy the line I was given "It was designed to be eaten outdoors, and related to the ocean setting".  If it were up to me, the ill-conceived, and ill-received "Retreat" should be ditched and the space given over to this restaurant.  It's such a shame to hide it's light under an unheated overhang.

 

[SLSD]

Kate-AHF, Oh, if they had only built a kitchen where the Retreat is, Earth and Sky would have been perfect there.  What a great idea you had.  Such a shame that the designers didn't think of it. 

 

I enjoyed your review.  I agree that the shower was problematic---and I am a somewhat tall person.  The shower was much too small to even think of shaving your legs in there.  

 

There are little sandwiches offered in Seabourn Square, but no soup---I like your idea of having both available in the Colonnade for lunch.  I do enjoy ordering the Salmon off of the Special menu in the Colonnade at lunch.  

 

I also was given an English muffin that was not toasted through (but this was on Sojourn).  I think it probably is due to the attention required to get an English muffin just right.  

 

Thank you for your review.  

[wripro]

I'm glad the OP started her post with the words "some thoughts." These are obviously her thoughts and should be viewed as such. Like every other post on CC they are all opinions and do not reflect everyone else's opinions. Though I may agree with much of what she has to say my agreement is just my opinion too. I write this not in a reaction to the OP's very valid assessment but as a general alert to newcomers or first timers who come here, read an assessment and mistakenly take it for fact. 

[florisdekort]

I think repurposing the space that’s now The Retreat to create an indoor version of Earth & Ocean is a brilliant idea.  It also allows for the Patio to go back to what it was... a casual venue for pizza, good burgers, etc. - because sometimes that’s all we need for dinner. 

[SLSD]

wripro, you are so right.  That is why I put a disclaimer on my recent review of our cruise to say that it was subjective and just my opinion.  I almost always take the posts on this site as being subjective.  I would bet that Kate had a great cruise--and, as she said, these are just thoughts.  

 

I would love to hear your views on your last SB cruise, wripro.  Perhaps there is one that I missed.  

 

 

[Kate-AHF]

We did have a great cruise SLSD.  Nothing prepared us for the outright majesty that is Norway and it was nice to be back on Seabourn after several years absence, and on a new class of ship.

 

We also manage our expectations from cruise line to cruise line. I feel that I am in a rather unique position in our cruising life at the moment, having spent 61 days at sea with three difference cruise lines within a 12 month period. It's provided a lot of clarity.

 

I speak, and I write, declaratively.  I am aware of that tendency.  Perhaps I should have prefaced everything I wrote with.... "In my opinion".  Then again, if someone is unable to tell which statement is objective ("I heard the anchor chain very clearly) as opposed to subjective (Earth and Ocean has the most innovative and exciting food on the ship) no matter how declaratively I speak/write, they may have bigger problems than a post on Cruise Critic.

[Post it]

Kate-OHF:

You should be a comedic writer (if you don't already write professionally)!  I almost spit out my mouthful of wine with the line about customer service and the assessing eye. 

[rols]

11 hours ago, Kate-AHF said:

Restaurant:  seriously good service (and good food) throughout the trip.  None of that "chaotic first couple of nights" and then all settles down that we've experienced on nearly all Seabourn sailings.  

 

Pleased to hear that. Our previous Encore cruise had chaotic first couple of nights and then never quite recovered, then more people got on a week later and it all went wrong again. I think Seabourn must finally be nailing down how to run the slightly larger ships and keep the service levels up in the MDR (and other places) and that's good news. 

Edited June 24, 2019 by rols

[brittany12]

Turnover, turnover, turnover - all the ships in the Seabourn fleet go through this. That's the issue.

Any review is only as good as that particular time frame.   I am always dubious when I hear or experience "they have it back together" on a particular ship.  Rhythm always changing. Training is the key. There is always going to be periodic chaos at worst and mild disturbance at best in the fleet. It might be more than one ship, or all, and no ship is ever the same a year or even six months later with all the constant personnel changes. More than 10 cruises on SB can attest to that. Some crew leave because their contract has ended and they are not coming back, or taking jobs on Viking,  SS or someone else. Some are transferred between ships in the SB fleet, and new inexperienced crew joining,  after some training. SB  has had a training officer on board each ship for a few years.  Competition for good crew is fierce in the ever increasing world of the ocean and river cruise business.   Management team changes too in front of and behind the walls, with some leaving for new posts on other SB ships and some just leaving SB, and some new ones coming on board. And the quality of the replacing crew and management is  oftentimes the issue. Training can go only so far.

[SLSD]

Here's another factor.  The bartender at the pool bar on Sojourn said that he thinks some ships just run better than others.  He particularly likes working on Sojourn for this reason.  He told us that he has not worked on Ovation or Encore yet.  Now, the question is---WHY do some ships run better than others?  I can think of all kinds of reasons.  I asked the bartender this question and he said he thinks it has to do with organization---organization of supplies and organization of tasks to be done.  

[Kate-AHF]

SLSD, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that organization and clearly-stated expectations of staff has a lot to do with how tolerable a crew member finds a certain ship.

 

I found the Captain on the Ovation very evident this cruise.  And not in a "hail fellow, well met" social way.  More of an "I'm on deck, head's up" way.  One day he was standing in a corner of Seabourn square.  Just watching.  Another day he was standing the entire time on the tender launch platform.  His eyes always seemed to be darting from one area to another no matter where he was.  There were also some times he was clearly in social mode, and his wife was on the ship.

 

Then again, I think some ships just have a "happy" culture embedded.  I think Legend was like that, and HAL's Prinsendam, and the old Celebrity Century.  But, as Dennis Miller says... That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.  😉