Odyssey: A lesson in contradiction

[Mauzac]

22 minutes ago, phillipahain said:

So do we and it makes very very worrying reading indeed 

Would like to talk to you Mauzac 

Are you very concerned, should I be?

[whogo]

I found the Katie Glass review of her Odyssey 14 day Caribbean cruise which Fletcher mentioned: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/articles/wrong-reason-old-people-travel-way/

 

I assume the review is behind a paywall. I took out a free trial subscription.

[Host Dan]

18 minutes ago, whogo said:

I found the Katie Glass review of her Odyssey 14 day Caribbean cruise which Fletcher mentioned: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/articles/wrong-reason-old-people-travel-way/

 

I assume the review is behind a paywall. I took out a free trial subscription.

I enjoyed reading about Katie's first go round with SB.  There is nothing like having no expectations, and being pleasantly surprised with the outcome.  Oh, to be  SB newbie again....  That said, I'm not a newbie, with 290 days sailed on SB.  She barely reported on the food and dinner venues.  Why not?  The foodie experience is a huge part of the SB experience!  All in all, I'm glad she and her friend had a great time!  I'm sure the officers would have had a fit to see her friend posing for a photo while sitting on the hand rail!  Who does that?

 

BTW, the article is accessible by signing up for a trial subscription.  The way to get around this is to go through the motion of signing up, then when asked for CC info, simply hit the back button, and the article will be unlocked.

[JohnandEllie]

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/wrong-theres-reason-old-people-102001382.html

 

Free on Yahoo, read the comments.

[Host Dan]

33 minutes ago, JohnandEllie said:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/wrong-theres-reason-old-people-102001382.html

 

Free on Yahoo, read the comments.

Thank you for posting a better way to read the review!

[galeforce9]

4 hours ago, Host Dan said:

I enjoyed reading about Katie's first go round with SB.  There is nothing like having no expectations, and being pleasantly surprised with the outcome.  Oh, to be  SB newbie again....  That said, I'm not a newbie, with 290 days sailed on SB.  She barely reported on the food and dinner venues.  Why not?  The foodie experience is a huge part of the SB experience!  All in all, I'm glad she and her friend had a great time!  I'm sure the officers would have had a fit to see her friend posing for a photo while sitting on the hand rail!  Who does that?

 

BTW, the article is accessible by signing up for a trial subscription.  The way to get around this is to go through the motion of signing up, then when asked for CC info, simply hit the back button, and the article will be unlocked.

I thought that too Dan when I read it. 

[galeforce9]

One cruise.  Two articles…

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/two-weeks-luxury-realised-stresses-glitches-regular-life-make/

[Host Dan]

19 minutes ago, galeforce9 said:

One cruise.  Two articles…

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/two-weeks-luxury-realised-stresses-glitches-regular-life-make/

More of a pedestrian blog IMHO.

[LMB01]

7 hours ago, Host Dan said:

I enjoyed reading about Katie's first go round with SB.  There is nothing like having no expectations, and being pleasantly surprised with the outcome.  Oh, to be  SB newbie again....  That said, I'm not a newbie, with 290 days sailed on SB.  She barely reported on the food and dinner venues.  Why not?  The foodie experience is a huge part of the SB experience!  All in all, I'm glad she and her friend had a great time!  I'm sure the officers would have had a fit to see her friend posing for a photo while sitting on the hand rail!  Who does that?

 

BTW, the article is accessible by signing up for a trial subscription.  The way to get around this is to go through the motion of signing up, then when asked for CC info, simply hit the back button, and the article will be unlocked.

 

thought you might enjoy this from our holiday cruise this past December 

security asked her 3 times to get down

 

this is going through the Panama Canal 

[Host Dan]

1 hour ago, LMB01 said:

 

thought you might enjoy this from our holiday cruise this past December 

security asked her 3 times to get down

 

this is going through the Panama Canal 

My word.  You can dress them up........ 😅

[whogo]

4 hours ago, Host Dan said:

More of a pedestrian blog IMHO.

I liked this paragraph:

"Martin and I are horrified when one morning we go out to the deck and find our favourite sunbeds have gone. Where are we supposed to sit? Having been shocked by the excess of placing a daily caviar order, we raise our eyebrows when once it comes 15 minutes late. We laugh at ourselves for being so spoilt yet it’s true that, somehow, amid total luxury we still find things to be dissatisfied with."

[lincslady]

I can't believe that this was not a freebie, surely.  

[FlyerTalker]

Some people....

 

And yes, when someone else is paying, you don't care how you behave.

[notjaded]

Just off the Odyssey, YVR-YVR 14 days. Our first pandemic-era cruise. If one looks at the Odyssey review thread in a day or two, my review will be there.

 

Briefly, the staffing issues were troubling. Why one assigns a brand-new stewardess to a Penthouse Suite is beyond me. Why should I be paying to beta-test her? In addition to our stewardess, wait staff failed to remember our preferences. I suspect that they were all still trying to remember the basics and could not be bothered to recall the exceptional, which is a hallmark of a luxury experience.

 

Seabourn failed to follow its COVID published policies. When I completed the Guest Services Manager's early cruise survey (which promised a response), no one in management responded. That screamed "Hey, don't trust us!"

 

There were cutbacks on things like prizes given at putting contests. The quality of the prizes and number of places awarded were reduced. While in isolation, these things are minor. But, they are telling.

 

We did have a good time and will sail again. But, loyalty is a two-way street, and Seabourn failed.

 

 

[johng75370]

9 hours ago, notjaded said:

Just off the Odyssey, YVR-YVR 14 days. Our first pandemic-era cruise. If one looks at the Odyssey review thread in a day or two, my review will be there.

Thanks for posting on your experience - hoping that Seabourn is listening/reading!

[skybluewaters]

12 hours ago, notjaded said:

Just off the Odyssey, YVR-YVR 14 days. Our first pandemic-era cruise. If one looks at the Odyssey review thread in a day or two, my review will be there.

 

I just read your review, and thank you for it. 

 

To me, it seems the predominant theme in your review centered around the lack of experience of the crew.  By definition, this is something that should be resolved with time, assuming Seabourn has been hiring the right personel and the training staff are doing their jobs properly.  This doesn't excuse Seabourn from delivering anything other than excellent service, but perhaps is an explanation.

 

I understand the frustration of having a novice servicing your penthouse suite, and you are correct that when spending that much money you should receive stellar service.  But every passenger on Seabourn probable expects stellar service regardless of how much they paid. 

 

There was a report on one of the major television business channels just this morning detailing the difficulty cruise ships are having with hiring staff.  They mentioned that some cruise lines are limiting passenger capacity because of the staffing shortage (not because of Covid, as they previously did).  And one of the major cruise lines is shutting down two restaurants on each of its ships for this same reason.  So this is an industry-wide issue and the solution is time.

 

A question for you:  You gave the dining experience 3/5 stars.  I would be interested in your reasons for this. 

 

Thanks again for your review!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[notjaded]

1 hour ago, skybluewaters said:

 

I just read your review, and thank you for it. 

 

To me, it seems the predominant theme in your review centered around the lack of experience of the crew.  By definition, this is something that should be resolved with time, assuming Seabourn has been hiring the right personel and the training staff are doing their jobs properly.  This doesn't excuse Seabourn from delivering anything other than excellent service, but perhaps is an explanation.

 

I understand the frustration of having a novice servicing your penthouse suite, and you are correct that when spending that much money you should receive stellar service.  But every passenger on Seabourn probable expects stellar service regardless of how much they paid. 

 

There was a report on one of the major television business channels just this morning detailing the difficulty cruise ships are having with hiring staff.  They mentioned that some cruise lines are limiting passenger capacity because of the staffing shortage (not because of Covid, as they previously did).  And one of the major cruise lines is shutting down two restaurants on each of its ships for this same reason.  So this is an industry-wide issue and the solution is time.

 

A question for you:  You gave the dining experience 3/5 stars.  I would be interested in your reasons for this. 

 

Thanks again for your review!

 

 

I gave the dining 3 stars because it was unexceptional. At the TK Grill, my sole was badly overcooked. At the Colonnade, the TK ribs were overcooked and dry (I think they were all cooked in advance and reheated). I had a fish dish at the Earth & Ocean that was inedible as the brine it had been soaked in left it way to salty. Finally, the service was spotty in the locations where we dined. Preferences not remembered, delays.

-

In summary, the F&B was not great and not terrible, so my rating was meant to reflect that.

 

1 hour ago, skybluewaters said:

 

 

 

 

[flyerstef]

TY for posting the link to the article on Yahoo!! I was on the last half of the cruise with them (including on the ebike excursion in Curacao), and my husband & I had thought that they were part of the (large) travel agent contingent aboard.

 

Very interesting that they weren't, and they did seem to be having a good time! Fun read.

[Dusko]

We came off the Odyssey, YVR-YVR Alaska cruise on June 21.  I didn’t post before now because we both tested positive for COVID the day we left the ship and have been recovering.

 

We had a really great cruise, our first for the last couple of years for obvious reasons.  Was everything perfect? Answer would be “No”. There were obvious pressures on staffing and therefore performance.  The quality of service was not as it was before COVID.  We heard others complaining about minor things and it actually made us rather annoyed. The people complaining seemed to have no understanding as to what staff had been through in the last months and years. Some crew had been stranded for months, unable to get home. Others had no income for months but still had families to support.  
 

Carnival/Seaborn is struggling to staff their ships when some countries still don’t allow their citizens to travel.  The world is enduring the biggest market correction in decades.  Carnival stock price is 10% of pre-pandemic. Europe is enduring the biggest war since WW2. Millions have died of COVID and continue to die. Fuel costs are through the roof.  Red tape imposed by countries visited add layers of cost and effort.  Despite all these factors we experienced a delightful crew, anxious to do their best and deliver a real Seabourn experience.  I really didn’t know or care whether the prizes for putting were less available or of lower quality.  I also didn’t care whether someone wore jeans in the bar after 6:00 pm as we cruised through fabulous scenery. I didn’t measure the temperature of the white wine at lunch (a complaint I heard) and didn’t care about that either. I just had a really great cruise, met some wonderful people (crew and people we met ashore mainly) and was really grateful that I was still alive and able to enjoy it. 
 

We have our next Seabourn cruise booked in 3 months.

Edited July 3, 2022 by Dusko

[rkacruiser]

14 hours ago, Dusko said:

I just had a really great cruise, met some wonderful people (crew and people we met ashore mainly) and was really grateful that I was still alive and able to enjoy it.

 

It is a pleasure to read a post such as yours.  Thank you for writing it. 

[Psychbabs]

I was on the Seabourn Odyssey May 2022. Yes I do remember a lot of painting going on Deck 5- even ruined a new & expensive blouse, but over all I have good memories of that trip. It was our first post COVID trip. The staff bent over backwards to make passengers happy, but we did have COVID cases on board. Many crew came down with COVID and they probably got it from us: the passengers .They did their very best to try and make it a seamless cruise and I give them an A for effort. You’ll never find a better cruise director than Jan Stearman. She is so engaging - a real gem! I will stick with Seabourn, as I believe they have the best small luxury cruise boat experience. Our next cruise is with Regent, but Seabourn  we will be back . We love the clientele. The passengers are quite friendly and not snobbish. 

[JSR]

Has anyone been on the Odyssey recently and will you share your experience? Has the food, cleanliness, and over all experience improved?

[Laylam]

We have been on Odyssey twice in the last six months.  September 2022 in Alaska and most recently in January, Sydney to Auckland.  The ship was in great shape and the crew was as hard working as ever, delivering the experience we have come to expect....and then some!!

[Mauzac]

8 hours ago, JSR said:

Has anyone been on the Odyssey recently and will you share your experience? Has the food, cleanliness, and over all experience improved?

 

Yes, 65 days disembarking just before Christmas.  I could not fault our experience.  Wonderful staff, ship top notch and I thought it was even better in the Restaurant than previous cruises.  The Executive Chef is very well liked by his staff and it shows.  

[phillipahain]

Sadly Host Dan all far too true from our experience on the so called Grand Pacific Cruise mere 65 dsys 

 

The food quality in MDR was sadly not the best 

 

Breakfast and Lunch in Colonade was definitely better

And i agree much of the food was same as cheaper mass market lines 

They ran out of Brandy / Cognac for 2 weeks thru French Polynesaia !!!! 

As for Tours far far too many were cancelled at short notice with nothing available to replace them 

Yet passengers were required to give 48 hrs notice 

Do not hold your breath hoping for a response from Seabourn ...it wont come 

For a so called Luxury Cruise Line sorry the news that you cant access CC when onboard does not surprise me one iota ...i simply wish i had never sailed on Seabourn because Regdnt wins Hand over Fist  

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by phillipahain
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