Copenhagen to Copenhagen June 11-25 Sailing The Coast of Norway

[SLSD]

2 minutes ago, LMB01 said:

Gray!?!

wow, I can’t wait!

Yes, it is a medium dark gray.  

[Roland4]

1 hour ago, SLSD said:

  It is disappointing to hear that the premium suites get premium towels, while other get inadequate towels.  We have never felt a need for a larger than standard suite as it is plenty large enough for the two of us.  I understand that some people just need more room for various reasons--because they like it--or spend more time in their suite than others, etc.  

FWIW, we were in a standard suite the cruise before yours and always had the larger bath towels, without asking. Actually did not know there was a difference until I read your posts.

 

Quite enjoying your posts and your pictures.

[jondfk]

1 hour ago, SLSD said:

We have a fluffy gray bath mat!  

We too.  In fact after finding us moving it from the shower to the sink our suite attendant delivered a second.  Hmmm, maybe THAT was our surprise and amaze moment.

[Isklaar]

1 hour ago, LMB01 said:

Please don’t flame me for this, it is just my observation and how we chose to sail.  We stay in the premium suites - Owners Suite or Signature Suite and have recently been doing the Wintergarden Suite as it is mid ship.  Those suites always have the nice, big fluffy towels (and different bathrobes).  I did not realize they were segregating towels by suite size!

 

No flames here! It was following our stays in the Wintergarden we realised the difference in size and fluffiness. The next time we were in a V category I was a little wary asking for the larger towels but our suite attendant didn't bat an eyelid when I did ask, so then we just asked every time when we were making our introductions. 

[Isklaar]

Oh, so bath mats are back? I'm not sure that I understood why they were removed. But glad they're back.

[LMB01]

12 minutes ago, Isklaar said:

Oh, so bath mats are back? I'm not sure that I understood why they were removed. But glad they're back.

No kidding

when we had Motel 6 bathmats, I was very disappointed 

[jjs217]

2 hours ago, SLSD said:

Yes, it is a medium dark gray.  

And that is it's original color????

[LMB01]

3 minutes ago, jjs217 said:

And that is it's original color????

You are hilarious!

[SLSD]

12 minutes ago, jjs217 said:

And that is it's original color????

Are you going to make me take a photo?

[LMB01]

25 minutes ago, SLSD said:

Are you going to make me take a photo?

You are pretty funny too!

[lincslady]

Well, I think we were assuming that they had originally been white, but suffered with the passing of time and inefficient laundering.

[SLSD]

5 minutes ago, lincslady said:

Well, I think we were assuming that they had originally been white, but suffered with the passing of time and inefficient laundering.

The fluffy bath mat is obviously meant to be a medium to dark gray.  No inefficient laundering involved--thank goodness.  

[Isklaar]

50 minutes ago, SLSD said:

The fluffy bath mat is obviously meant to be a medium to dark gray.  No inefficient laundering involved--thank goodness.  

 

Do we need to organise Search and Rescue for the white ones with their fetching green backing? Where did they go? Keelhauled or forced to walk the plank...

[2SailingNomads]

Yes towels quality has gone down as have other things.  Staffing levels, at least on our 2 last cruises subpar, too many inexperienced crew, luke warm food, etc.  We are hoping 3 weeks from now to find it is the Seabourn we have 400+ days on, not the most recent experiences. 

 

[Mr Luxury]

19 hours ago, jondfk said:

We too.  In fact after finding us moving it from the shower to the sink our suite attendant delivered a second.  Hmmm, maybe THAT was our surprise and amaze moment.

I always ask for two bath mats on embarkation day and three if in a bigger suite.

[PAZE]

On 6/11/2023 at 12:58 PM, LMB01 said:

Thank you for doing this @SLSD

It feels like 2019 when I followed your thread prior to our first Seabourn cruise! 
can’t wait for your updates

If you have a chance, can you take pictures of the daily Herald?

We don’t plan to get off much but plan to enjoy the scenery from our large balcony at the front of the ship!  Would love to know what the daily routine is - not expecting much as it seems everyone will be getting off on tours
 

We sail the same itinerary - 2 weeks starting July 9th

we are staying at the Copenhagen Marriott for 3 days prior

 

thanks again

LMBO1 - we will also be at the Marriott two days before Ovation. 

[cruiseej]

Reading this thread reminded me that there was no bath mat, just a towel, on our recent Sojourn cruise. I'm happy to say it did not negatively affect our opinion of the cruise, nor make us think Seabourn is in a state of decline! But I think our towels were in good condition. 😂 We had a great cruise.

[Mr Luxury]

35 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

Reading this thread reminded me that there was no bath mat, just a towel, on our recent Sojourn cruise. I'm happy to say it did not negatively affect our opinion of the cruise, nor make us think Seabourn is in a state of decline! But I think our towels were in good condition. 😂 We had a great cruise.

How many towels did you take home.

 

[cruiseej]

26 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

How many towels did you take home.

 

I was too busy trying to fit the large bottles of Molton Brown bath products into our luggage! 🤣

[SLSD]

On 6/20/2023 at 5:03 AM, 2SailingNomads said:

Yes towels quality has gone down as have other things.  Staffing levels, at least on our 2 last cruises subpar, too many inexperienced crew, luke warm food, etc.  We are hoping 3 weeks from now to find it is the Seabourn we have 400+ days on, not the most recent experiences. 

 

The crew has been quite good on our current Ovation voyage. Staffing levels seem very good as well.  All service has been even better than on our last SB cruise which was pre-Covid.   I requested better towels--and two of the four last night were large and fluffy.  Unfortunately, the internet has been intermittent and down whenever I checked over the last couple of days--so I am just now catching up here.  

[SLSD]

I am behind on my reports about the current Ovation cruise up and down the coast of Norway.  It has been a very full two days.  I need to go through my photos and give a report.  I'm already a bit sad that this cruise will be coming to an end on the 25th.  

 

I'm currently sitting in the OBs Lounge at tea time  during a sailaway from Skjolden, Norway.  We are still sailing the fjords and they are beautiful.  

[SLSD]

Yesterday was a really packed day.  The captain has told us that the pilot would either join the ship or start guiding the ship I I can't remember which) at 11pm.  He also said that we should start watching the beautiful scenery beginning at about 3am.  I mentally replied to him that this was not going to happen as there was no way I was going to get up at 3am.  Unfortunately, just the mention of an important time, set my internal alarm clock and up at 3am I was!  It was worth it as magical scenery passed by our balcony.  Beautiful mountains, small hillside farm and villages, snow capped peaks, and calm weather.  I finally showered and got dressed at about 5am and went to the Obs Lounge where about six or seven other people were watching.  I walked out on the deck and quickly came back inside as it was windy AND cold.  I had a cup of tea and a tiny pastry and then retreated back to our protected balcony where it was pleasant and warm enough to go out barefooted.   There were waterfalls--many of them!  Everywhere I looked there was beauty.  

 

We anchored in the Nordfjord right in front of the village of Olden  There was one other ship close by.  In fact, we had followed them much of the way up the fjord.  At some point, the huge MSC ship (with 5,000 passengers) diverted to anchor in the Loen area.  

 

We had elected to take an excursion called Geirangerfjord and the Roof of Norway.   When we gathered for the excursion an announcement was made that the ferry which would have been taking on an excursion through the fjord at developed engine difficulties and that part of the excursion would not happen.  A number of people were very disappointed and opted for a full refund while most elected to stay with the excursion to see the rest of an inland mountainous area of Norway as planned.  (In the end, the rest of us were told that our refund would be for 40% of the original excursion price.  We thought this was more than generous.). While the excursion was long, we enjoyed it.  I'll include some photos in my next post here.  

[SLSD]

One note about the port of Olden.  If you want to do the skylift in Olden, it is right at the place you disembark from the tenders.  Many people did the skylift and/or explored the small village.  This is an easy option for those who wish do that.  I heard reports that the views from above were splendid.  We did not have time to do the skylift as our excursion returned too late.  We were not disappointed as we had many great views to enjoy during the day.  

[SLSD]

Here are a couple of photos from the middle of the night as we were sailing down the Nordfjord toward the tiny village of Olden.  I especially loved seeing the small hillside farms.  And there there were the beautiful mountains in the background.  Finally, we got off the ship and looked back to see Ovation and one of the tenders.  

[SLSD]

Once we set out on our excursion, there was more beauty to enjoy.  There were mountains reflecting on water, sod roofed farmer's huts, cows who wanted to investigate tourists,  snowy mountains, churches and idyllic mountain homes.  Here are just a few photos to share.