Odyssey: A lesson in contradiction

[Host Dan]

49 minutes ago, CJANDH said:

I think we need to give all the cruise lines a bit of slack. They are struggling to get back to their pre-pandemic quality with staff shortages, undertrained crew and ships that have had limited maintenance for two years. It will take some time, but I am convinced they will get there. I have cruised with Regent and Silversea in the past 6 months and there were shortcomings on both. If you are expecting quality like it was before covid, do not cruise right now. If you are willing to excuse some slippage, book now and help the recovery

I appreciate your optimism!  However, I will say that I was on Silversea Spirit this past December, and the food and hardware was at the luxury level.  4 Months later, SB is still not up to snuff?  I think the pandemic excuses need to be in the rearview mirror.

[2SailingNomads]

We were on the Ovation TA recently and found many aspects to be what Seabourn was in the past (and we are Diamond members) but at the same time definitely some misses.  The food we found this time to be quite good - did not have to send back lukewarm dishes, service for the most part was typical excellent Seabourn, but not always.  We have a favorite waiter we know from a prior cruise who we always sat with in the MDR except for one night so knew service would be fine there.  TK Grill had some issues with the hostess.  Service at TK bar was good or bad depending on who took care of you, sitting at the bar and the bartender ignored you, at a table and RuWa took great care.   

 

Service for lunch at the Colonnade was a crap shoot so after a couple of days it was either the Patio Grill - where there was confusion on more than one day about what the specials actually were (not what was written on the board) or the MDR.   Sushi was great every time we went there, and while we enjoy E&O the limited menu and repetitiveness of it limits its appeal.  (I think Markham also mentioned that).   

 

The biggest noticeable difference was the lack of interaction with people such as HD, Bar Manager, Guest Services manager, etc. - none of whom we even met.  Since, as others have reported, there were more than a few cases of C19 - both crew and pax - maybe they were trying to avoid any unnecessary interaction but it was a different feel to the cruise.  No interaction with the CD or ACD, CD was one of the C19 people.

[Mahogany]

22 hours ago, saminina said:

You know these ships originally had no design for a self serve laundry.   Installed after consumer feedback with cheap equipment.     People use it for different reasons and competing companies have more, much better equipped facilities.   Other companies do not charge for same day service versus standard two day on SB.    A $50 bag is no deal for a person that has free laundry.   

 

22 hours ago, saminina said:

You know these ships originally had no design for a self serve laundry.   Installed after consumer feedback with cheap equipment.     People use it for different reasons and competing companies have more, much better equipped facilities.   Other companies do not charge for same day service versus standard two day on SB.    A $50 bag is no deal for a person that has free laundry.   

Not everyone, especially first-timers, has free laundry. My comment was directed to them.

[Hobar]

25 minutes ago, Mahogany said:

 

Not everyone, especially first-timers, has free laundry. My comment was directed to them.

I have had free laundry for quite a number of years/cruises, but have have had more than a few items ruined.  I prefer to self-launder many of our items.  So the free laundry to me is not a great perk.  

Edited May 30, 2022 by Hobar
Punctuation.

[MBP&O2/O]

On 5/28/2022 at 11:22 PM, rkacruiser said:

Horror stories on request"?  I will make such a request.  Not surprised, however, that where the work is done might make a difference.  Where the ship was built will also make a difference in my experience as a guest.

Samples:

Prior to my joining one ship as Second Officer, she had suffered a few traumatic months immediatly folowing a dry dock, but little did anyone guess just how much worse  it was going to get! 

The first indications of what was to be, started with a dry-docking in Greece. All seemed to go well. The following surveys were made: 

(a) 3rd Special Survey of the hull with thickness determination. 

(b) Docking Survey. 

(c) Annual Survey. 

(d) Safety Equipment Survey. 

(e) Safety Construction Survey. 

(f) Load Line Survey. 

(g) Completion of Continuous Machinery Survey. 

(h) Tailshaft Survey. 

(i) Main Boiler and Steam Generator Surveys.

Within days of sailing there was a major engine failure that required another drydock.

Nine months later a seawater cooling pipe disintegrated! It was put down to metal fatigue but without physical evidence who knows!

The former should have been seen with planned maintenance, and examination of the seawater pipe should have formed part of the surveys as above. As a consequence of the latter the engine room flooded .... within an hour ... and the ship slowly sank, hence the no physical evidence comment. 

Getting on towards squeaky bum time😁

At another drydock, in the UK, the workmen there stripped all four lifeboats of anything movable. Rations, Safety equipment etc.

 

Luck of the draw🤔

[cruiseej]

17 hours ago, saminina said:

 I do believe recent experiences are the new normal.

 

@samanina I'm not questioning your recent experience at all, but I think it's important (especially for others booked on Seabourn cruises in the future who are concerned reading your report) to know that this has not been the universal experience for people traveling on Seabourn recently. We were on the Odyssey in late-February/early-March, and out experience was very different — in a positive way — than yours; we had a wonderful trip, and none of the issues you mentioned. (And the same when we sailed Odyssey back in October.)

 

How can things change so much on a ship in a short period of time?  I suspect Seabourn staffing up to resume cruising on the Sojourn and Quest, as well as launching the Venture, is a major culprit. If they haven't been able to hire and train all the staff they need in a short period of time, and they pulled a lot of experienced staff to ramp up the new and returning-to-service ships, it could account for a lot of staff problems. So my hope would be that your experience was more of a short-term aberration, and not in fact the new normal. Only time will tell. 

[saminina]

I cannot help others not noticing the difference in food quality/offerings since HAL took over the kitchen several years ago.

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by saminina

[rkacruiser]

9 hours ago, cruiseej said:

How can things change so much on a ship in a short period of time?  

 

So many factors.  Are the ships properly staffed?  Were the provisions fully provided and of the desired quality?  Has there been a Senior Management change?  The latter  can have an important impact in my experience.  

[SLSD]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

So many factors.  Are the ships properly staffed?  Were the provisions fully provided and of the desired quality?  Has there been a Senior Management change?  The latter  can have an important impact in my experience.  

I had wondered about the food provisions in light of supply chain issues.  I think it is quite possible that the quality of the food provisions has been compromised for reasons beyond the control of SB.  

[CwazeAndCwaze]

3 hours ago, SLSD said:

I had wondered about the food provisions in light of supply chain issues.  I think it is quite possible that the quality of the food provisions has been compromised for reasons beyond the control of SB.  

We sailed from MIAMI ... one of the CITRUS CAPITOLS of the WORLD... we were told on the FIRST morning... whoops.. sorry no Grapefruit ... and it was ON THE MENU!!!

[SLSD]

3 hours ago, CwazeAndCwaze said:

We sailed from MIAMI ... one of the CITRUS CAPITOLS of the WORLD... we were told on the FIRST morning... whoops.. sorry no Grapefruit ... and it was ON THE MENU!!!

Wow!  That is incredible.  I know that sometime the staff resorts to shopping in local grocery stores for specific items.  Perhaps grapefruit is not one of them.  I find the logistics of provisioning a ship to be fascinating.  One of the staff members explained to me that most everything comes to the ship from specific companies who contract to provision the ship.  I'm sure these have been difficult times for provisions and perhaps a cash shortage is part of that too.  Not a good sign.  

[Host Dan]

15 minutes ago, SLSD said:

Wow!  That is incredible.  I know that sometime the staff resorts to shopping in local grocery stores for specific items.  Perhaps grapefruit is not one of them.  I find the logistics of provisioning a ship to be fascinating.  One of the staff members explained to me that most everything comes to the ship from specific companies who contract to provision the ship.  I'm sure these have been difficult times for provisions and perhaps a cash shortage is part of that too.  Not a good sign.  

Speaking of provisioning, the diamond concierge, Lesly, contacted me prior to the cruise, and asked if I'd like something special for the trip.  I asked if they could have my favorite Kombucha onboard.  To my amazement, there were 24 bottles available in the fridge!  Definitely the best Kombucha I've ever had.  I understand NCL has this on their ships, on tap, for specialty cocktails, or just for a refreshing non-alcoholic beverage.  Here is a link to their website: 

Https://www.motherkombucha.com

[cruiseej]

12 hours ago, CwazeAndCwaze said:

We sailed from MIAMI ... one of the CITRUS CAPITOLS of the WORLD... we were told on the FIRST morning... whoops.. sorry no Grapefruit ... and it was ON THE MENU!!!

 

Just because Florida is a huge citrus state, that doesn't translate to citrus being in a container loaded onto a ship during the day it's in port for turnaround. There are typically multiple levels of suppliers involved — e.g. Seabourn/HAL/Carnival contracts with a big conglomerate for certain provisions; the conglomerate contracts with a large citrus cooperative; the citrus cooperative contracts with a local wholesale supplier. Even though the "global supply chain" in this case may not need to reach around the world, all the companies need to execute, have the ordered provisions in stock, and have drivers to get them to their destination on time. It can be as simple as a driver being out sick, a truck breaking down, or being caught in a traffic accident, to prevent a load of provisions from making it onto a ship in the few-hour window that's available in the port.

 

To me, it's actually remarkable that most provisions make it onboard most ships most of the time! 😉 

 

(And while it's possible for someone on a ship to sometimes go ashore to a market to purchase a needed supply, if they're expecting a supply and it doesn't show up, there's generally not enough time to go shopping once it's discovered something was missing from a delivery.)

 

 

[johng75370]

10 hours ago, Host Dan said:

Definitely the best Kombucha I've ever had.  I understand NCL has this on their ships, on tap, for specialty cocktails, or just for a refreshing non-alcoholic beverage.  Here is a link to their website: 

Https://www.motherkombucha.com

Thanks Dan!  We’ve ordered ahead for Kombucha before, but what they provisioned out of Portugal the last time we sailed wasn’t one that we liked - we’ll check out the Mother and try to get that next time.

15 hours ago, CwazeAndCwaze said:

We sailed from MIAMI ... one of the CITRUS CAPITOLS of the WORLD... we were told on the FIRST morning... whoops.. sorry no Grapefruit ... and it was ON THE MENU!!!

It’s like when we were on Crystal Serenity last year and there was no coffee pods for the machine in our cabin, and no stops had it where they could purchase along the way.  And it was a featured amenity for our cabin - on the menu, so to speak.  Made for a grumpy start to the day all week long, that’s for sure!  Or when we started looking at the “best before” dates on the condiments Crystal was stocking - apparently once in their stores they don’t check for whether it’s still good or not, after finding most were a year past.  Provisioning a ship, regardless of who is operating it, is complicated and no one seems to get it right 100% of the time.  Did not stop us from enjoying a great cruise.   

[toseaornottosea]

Several years ago there was a TV documentary of the behind the scenes on turnaround day of a very large cruise ship. I don't remember the name of the ship but the docu was on either Netflix or Amazon Prime.  Fascinating.  The turnaround day was in Florida, maybe Miami.  Amazing what they do to get the ship ready for the next cruise including provisions.  One thing I remember well was that the person in charge of checking in and approving the fruit and vegetables delivery was not happy with the grapefruit that showed up and he rejected it.  The supplier had to take it back and deliver a new load that just barely made back to the ship before it left port.  So even where they grow the fruit you don't always get what you want.

[DTtravelers]

First, thanks to everyone for posting - good, bad or otherwise...  As of last week, I was starting to wonder if folks were no longer posting.  Glad to see that has changed this week.

 

We are cruising 14 days on Odyssey in August and I was wondering how things were going.  This will be our second SB cruise.  We did Antarctica on the Quest in late 2019 and it was amazing.  So it will be interesting to compare. 

 

 

 

 

 

[MBP&O2/O]

On 5/31/2022 at 11:33 PM, toseaornottosea said:

Several years ago there was a TV documentary of the behind the scenes on turnaround day of a very large cruise ship. I don't remember the name of the ship but the docu was on either Netflix or Amazon Prime.  Fascinating.  The turnaround day was in Florida, maybe Miami.  Amazing what they do to get the ship ready for the next cruise including provisions.  One thing I remember well was that the person in charge of checking in and approving the fruit and vegetables delivery was not happy with the grapefruit that showed up and he rejected it.  The supplier had to take it back and deliver a new load that just barely made back to the ship before it left port.  So even where they grow the fruit you don't always get what you want.

Mighty Cruise Ships I think .... many in the series started the same way showing 'Day 1' issues.

 

[Fletcher]

Full-page review in today's Telegraph of an Odyssey cruise around the Caribbean.  Journalist Katie Glass sailed with a gay male friend and enjoyed every minute of the trip, much to her surprise as she says she always loathed the idea of cruising.  It appears not to be a freebie . . . 

[hoya68]

On 5/29/2022 at 5:45 PM, CJANDH said:

I think we need to give all the cruise lines a bit of slack. They are struggling to get back to their pre-pandemic quality with staff shortages, undertrained crew and ships that have had limited maintenance for two years. It will take some time, but I am convinced they will get there. I have cruised with Regent and Silversea in the past 6 months and there were shortcomings on both. If you are expecting quality like it was before covid, do not cruise right now. If you are willing to excuse some slippage, book now and help the recovery.

 

[hoya68]

Just now, hoya68 said:

However, they are selling a luxury product at a luxury price. If they were giving passengers refunds or generous credits, I would give them some slack. However, they are still charging what they are not giving.

 

Just now, hoya68 said:

 

 

[gwesq]

Speaking of Provisioning - somewhat humorous story.  We were having breakfast on a Turnaround Day, and we were watching the trucks show up with provisions. One large truck pulled up, the driver got out, looked at the lock on the door of the truck, and looked & looked & looked.  Went back into the cab, came out again. On phone, on phone some more. Others showing up with various tools trying to open the lock. No success. More phone calls. Quite some time later, a car speeds up next to the truck & some guy gets out with a large metal cutter & they manage to cut the lock.  Huge truck - one small box!  And someone forgot to bring a key.  

[MBP&O2/O]

On 5/31/2022 at 9:52 PM, johng75370 said:

Provisioning a ship, regardless of who is operating it, is complicated and no one seems to get it right 100% of the time.

Not as bad as you would think ... except when the 'I know best' bean counters get involved 😁

[tjcox9]

2 hours ago, gwesq said:

Speaking of Provisioning - somewhat humorous story.  We were having breakfast on a Turnaround Day, and we were watching the trucks show up with provisions. One large truck pulled up, the driver got out, looked at the lock on the door of the truck, and looked & looked & looked.  Went back into the cab, came out again. On phone, on phone some more. Others showing up with various tools trying to open the lock. No success. More phone calls. Quite some time later, a car speeds up next to the truck & some guy gets out with a large metal cutter & they manage to cut the lock.  Huge truck - one small box!  And someone forgot to bring a key.  

Caviar delivery perhaps??

[whogo]

On 6/4/2022 at 4:51 AM, Fletcher said:

Full-page review in today's Telegraph of an Odyssey cruise around the Caribbean.  Journalist Katie Glass sailed with a gay male friend and enjoyed every minute of the trip, much to her surprise as she says she always loathed the idea of cruising.  It appears not to be a freebie . . . 

You piqued my interest, Fletcher. I can only find "After two weeks of luxury, I've realised it's the stresses and glitches of my regular life that make me happy". https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/two-weeks-luxury-realised-stresses-glitches-regular-life-make/ The article does not mention Seabourn or Odyssey. Do you have a link to a review? I signed up for a free subscription without finding anything else.

 

[phillipahain]

On 5/27/2022 at 6:55 AM, Mauzac said:

Well.... we have a 62 day cruise coming up in the Autumn and I remain positive.  

So do we and it makes very very worrying reading indeed 

Would like to talk to you Mauzac 

Edited June 7, 2022 by phillipahain