Not a newbie sails Odyssey August 11, 2023. Alaska: Glaciers, Fjords & Inside Passage

[MBP&O2/O]

Thanks for that ... I may need some Vitamin K 🤪 ..... or a chat with my little Irish friend Mr Bushmills  🙂

 

SB, In their wisdom, have just cancelled another one of my excursions. Not overly happy but I accept these things happen .... even if they don't give a reason.

I have tried to book another to replace it but am told that I cannot book on-line as we are too near embarkation. 
I am told I can book it by speaking to customer services.

The excursions in question two weeks away but hey ho 🙄

I have rung CS and they say that I am too near to embarkation and they cannot help and that i must wait until I get on board and try then!

 

[jondfk]

Our second dinner at TK grill last night.  When we boarded we had 4 reservations, our SB travel planner booked two when we made the reservation, these (seemingly) disappeared when SB upgraded the reservation system, no problem we booked two more.  But, lo and behold, four showed up in our itinerary once we boarded the ship.  That’s a bit much we thought and cancelled two on embarkation day.

 

Anyway, back to last nights meal, a bit earlier time slot led to much less harried service.  My advice, dine early or dine late, 7:00 or 7:30 probably aren’t the best choices strictly from the perspective of staff loading.  Anyway, we very much enjoyed this second meal and kept it (relatively) light. The very good Caesar salad to start.  Starters as mains.  No sides and two slabs of cake for dessert, the coconut cake is great, but the 7 layer chocolate is on another level.

 

Disembarkation letter came with turndown today, a reminder that our time clear runs short.

 

[markandjie]

6 hours ago, jondfk said:

Disembarkation letter came with turndown today

 

My least favorite event in any cruise. Always seems to come too early. 

[jondfk]

Well, it’s that day again, the one that mixes the happy with the sad.  Packing day.  We used to plan hours for packing, after all it takes days at home right?  Packing up to leave though goes so much faster, most of the clothes are ‘dirty’ really just worn since, let’s be honest, nobody’s been digging ditches here.  The only hard part is keeping all of the liquids out of our one catty on.  Otherwise, just stuff it all in wherever it fits.  We usually start at 4:00 and still have time for cocktails before dinner.

 

it’s like they say the second best day aside from starting a trip, is the day you get home.  We have a relatively straightforward travel day with a short flight, the only tough part will be arriving at peak rush hour traffic quite a rude reintroduction to reality as our drive home will be at least as long as the flight from Vancouver.

 

Overall, we’ve enjoyed our sailing, we had primarily rain and cold the first week, considerably better weather the second.  As always a handful of staff make all of the difference.  On the whole I rate Seabourn staff quite highly but it’s those few who actually seek you out and anticipate your wants that leave the strongest impression.  I’ll write a comprehensive summary from home in the days to come.

[Isklaar]

49 minutes ago, jondfk said:

Well, it’s that day again, the one that mixes the happy with the sad.  Packing day.  We used to plan hours for packing, after all it takes days at home right?  Packing up to leave though goes so much faster, most of the clothes are ‘dirty’ really just worn since, let’s be honest, nobody’s been digging ditches here.  The only hard part is keeping all of the liquids out of our one catty on.  Otherwise, just stuff it all in wherever it fits.  We usually start at 4:00 and still have time for cocktails before dinner.

 

it’s like they say the second best day aside from starting a trip, is the day you get home.  We have a relatively straightforward travel day with a short flight, the only tough part will be arriving at peak rush hour traffic quite a rude reintroduction to reality as our drive home will be at least as long as the flight from Vancouver.

 

Overall, we’ve enjoyed our sailing, we had primarily rain and cold the first week, considerably better weather the second.  As always a handful of staff make all of the difference.  On the whole I rate Seabourn staff quite highly but it’s those few who actually seek you out and anticipate your wants that leave the strongest impression.  I’ll write a comprehensive summary from home in the days to come.

 

Thank you for taking us with you, it has been an enjoyable read. I look forward to reading your summary when you have settled back at home.

[SLSD]

2 hours ago, jondfk said:

Well, it’s that day again, the one that mixes the happy with the sad.  Packing day.  We used to plan hours for packing, after all it takes days at home right?  Packing up to leave though goes so much faster, most of the clothes are ‘dirty’ really just worn since, let’s be honest, nobody’s been digging ditches here.  The only hard part is keeping all of the liquids out of our one catty on.  Otherwise, just stuff it all in wherever it fits.  We usually start at 4:00 and still have time for cocktails before dinner.

 

it’s like they say the second best day aside from starting a trip, is the day you get home.  We have a relatively straightforward travel day with a short flight, the only tough part will be arriving at peak rush hour traffic quite a rude reintroduction to reality as our drive home will be at least as long as the flight from Vancouver.

 

Overall, we’ve enjoyed our sailing, we had primarily rain and cold the first week, considerably better weather the second.  As always a handful of staff make all of the difference.  On the whole I rate Seabourn staff quite highly but it’s those few who actually seek you out and anticipate your wants that leave the strongest impression.  I’ll write a comprehensive summary from home in the days to come.

Thank you Jon for all of your reports.  And yes, we too could pack at four and still have time for drinks before dinner.  Have a safe trip home.  

[jondfk]

Just off the ship, it’s a 3 ship day in Vancouver (I pity those boarding today with an extra 2500 on Crown Princess).  Remember my advice, nice lunch ashore, head for the ship at 1:00 pm.

 

Seabourn really have the getting off the ship part down pat.  Walked off at our appointed time, luggage was released just a few minutes late.  Then we left Seabourn land and we’re sprinkled in with masses of folks departing Crown Princess.  For reasons I can’t fathom our lines crossed with Seabourn guests exiting baggage claim from the left but Seabourn guides place on the right (and vice versa for Princess guests).  We found our bus and were soon on our way, arrived at YVR to find our 2 hour flight delayed by 4 hours.  The Air Canada rep said, why are you here?  For our scheduled flight in 3 hours says I, but it’s delayed 4 hours says she.  So here we wait.  Travel is fun right?

 

Anyway, we find ourselves with time so I’ll work on the recap in the posts that follow.

 

[jondfk]

I want to start with an overall view of this sailing on Odyssey.  To be absolutely clear, we enjoyed our sailing.  A number of staff were extremely helpful and genuinely went out if their way to assist, some went well beyond our definition of helpful.  
 

We were quite unlucky even by Alaska standards with the weather, the first 5 days saw cold drizzle and rain.  Seabourn of course is not to blame for the weather but it was a damper on the fun and did force folks inside contributing to a general feeling of crowding we never felt on Ovation.  The second 7 days was drier if not warmer, still the sun shown in Misty Fjords, a rarity and an opportunity to enjoy the forward hot tub.

 

if you’ve been following along you might note we wrote nothing about shore excursions the why is that the three we booked didn’t operate as planned.  The Zipliner was rescheduled from 2pm to 6pm with a looong tender to Icy Straight (the two piers were used by NCL and Princess).  We didn’t fancy a late dinner in Colonnade so, cancelled, likewise our Juneau excursion was rescheduled to 7:30 and we were assured the plan was to tender into Juneau, we passed but the ship ended up finding a berth which I’m certain was welcome news for the 280 departing.  The long and the short was the shore excursions were a bust from the standpoint of rescheduling.  We understand that the operators make changes but would have appreciated knowing before boarding to have a better shot at choosing alternatives.  Ultimately we mostly wandered about independently enjoying sites and tours of our own making.  We found Wrangell an especially charming small town (this view was not shared by a vocal minority) it reminded us very much of Honningsvåg on the North Cape of Norway.

 

[jondfk]

Fair warning here I’m going to rant a bit about the Restaurant, if you think you know my feeling or just don’t want to read anything negative by all means skip this post.

 

Odyssey sailed full both legs.  About 420 on the first, about 435 on the second.  This being the case, and the weather limiting outdoor options we fully expected F&B to operate similar to Ovation meaning all meals offered in the Restaurant.  Instead it opened only 6 mornings for breakfast and 7 noontimes for lunch.  To say Colonnade was stressed is a severe understatement.  We were told room service was delivering 100 plus trays for breakfast daily, nearly half the ship, delays were inevitable and apologies common.  We enjoy an in room breakfast occasionally but prefer be served.  We complained, calmly and professionally, the only apology though was a weak one stating that this is how Odyssey operates.  Period.

 

We obviously made it on some sort of “hard to please” list because by third day staff we’d never interacted with started addressing us by name and offering to carry anything larger than a swizzle stick.  We were told we could ask for Colonnade offerings to be served plated, but this proved difficult in practice always requiring the help of a manager.  We resorted to the tossed to order salads which were quite good but a bit tedious after several consecutive days.

 

We were assigned a fixed waiter in the Restaurant who took good care of us and eliminated any repeat of the table without staff problem we had on night one.  Bryan and his assistant Juliana proved extremely competent and pleasant we had not reason to complain a bit about their extraordinary service.  The meals themselves were good, though there was considerable repetition from segment one to two, I again note we booked a 14 day cruise, not two back to back 7 day sailings.

 

Elsewhere I’ve commented about our good experiences with our special request and at TK.  Likewise excellent beverage service everywhere on board but most notably in Observation.

[jondfk]

As I noted in an early post we were treated to an upgrade to a PH room, this was a sincerely nice gesture though not implemented especially well.  No one informed us our room had changed, we learned only when we started to unpack and I picked up the card key seeing an unfamiliar name.  I glanced down at the paper barcode slip and noted a different cabin number.  It’s worth noting that our bar setup was correct in our original room.

 

Later, as sail away time approached we started to worry for our bags.  AirTags suggested they were on or near the ship, but where, vertically who knows.  A trip to the original room took me to the new occupants who had likewise been upgraded, but were missing their bags, they were happy though to be rid of our luggage.

 

So yes, a nice gesture, but not especially well implemented.

 

About the room, we appreciated the extra dining space, especially with so many meals taken in, but in all other respects we found the differences insignificant or a poor value given the typically 50% greater cost (in my informal perusal).  Would we rather pay for this or take an extra trip every second or third time.  Duh, more cruising please.

 

our cabin service team was excellent indeed as good as any we’ve had.  Like the best they quickly recognized our movement pattern and mostly serviced the room as if by magic while we were out.  They paid close attention to our mini bar requests keeping our favorites in stock at all times.  Only once did we return with the room unfinished, they were hard at work though and had it complete within 5 minutes.

 

Linens were superior to those we had on Ovation though as I noted earlier would meet no one’s definition of luxury.  Bathrobes though we’re of good quality and were exchanged mid cruise which seemed a nice touch.

 

As mentioned prior a very high quality tote bag appeared at turn down early along, by far the nicest we’ve received anywhere.

 

[Earthtones]

1 hour ago, jondfk said:

Walked off at our appointed time, luggage was released just a few minutes late.  Then we left Seabourn land and we’re sprinkled in with masses of folks departing Crown Princess.

 

What's this "appointed time"? Two weeks from today, we will be disembarking in Vancouver, but we're staying there overnight, so thought we might linger onboard until 9:30-ish and maybe avoid the crowds getting off of the Radiance of the Sea (also in port that day). 

 

Where did you go through Canadian immigration? Prince Rupert?

 

Thank you for all your reporting! It has been a great help for me. Leaving Sunday morning for a pre-cruise trip to Denali, then we board the Odyssey 9/1. 

 

Elise

[jondfk]

Sundry.

 

We booked directly with Seabourn forgoing the exceptional deal your favorite travel agent would have secured for us.  A terrible mistake we know, but we like to see how the company operates end to end and we were highly impressed with our agent.

 

Im an early riser and often found myself in Observation watching sail ins by 0515.  Yes I’m and oddball, but by no means alone about a dozen of us gathered here daily.  We asked for coffee but we’re told wait for 0615.  A Nespresso machine was placed a bit earlier and a few of us used it, when the water ran out we refilled with the still water decanter - WRONG we were told, that’s not what it’s for.  The following day, no still water decanter, someone refilled the Nespresso using the sink in the bar WRONG we were told, wait for 0615.  The following day, no Nespresso machine at all.  I took to calling room service from the bar phone asking for a pot of coffee which was delivered, and savored, by the early bird team.  This continued for many days until we started to find the entry door to Observation locked until, 0615.  The various games and tactics implemented to avoid making coffee available were almost comical, but honestly, wouldn’t it have been easier to just place a couple pots an hour or so earlier?  
 

Spa.  We each had a couple of treatments finding them quite satisfactory, we appreciated that there was no hard sell of products though they were of course on display everywhere and yes it was suggested that additional services, including their very special potions would only do good.  On the whole though good services and a decent value.  We did have to show flexibility to find days and times that suited.  We got a chuckle when booking as the first offered appoint was always “today at 9pm”.  I wonder how often they fill those time slots?

 

Casino.  No comment, I enjoy a bit of gambling but have never seen this as a cruise ship activity.

 

Speakers.  We found the lecturers well prepared and articulate, focused mainly on Alaska culture and wildlife which is great but we always appreciate world history or travel topics beyond the immediate experience.

 

Guest services.  We had little reason to interact aside from cancelling the rescheduled shore excursions, pleasant enough though.

 

Anything I missed?  Ask please.

[jondfk]

10 minutes ago, Earthtones said:

 

What's this "appointed time"? Two weeks from today, we will be disembarking in Vancouver, but we're staying there overnight, so thought we might linger onboard until 9:30-ish and maybe avoid the crowds getting off of the Radiance of the Sea (also in port that day). 

 

Where did you go through Canadian immigration? Prince Rupert?

 

Thank you for all your reporting! It has been a great help for me. Leaving Sunday morning for a pre-cruise trip to Denali, then we board the Odyssey 9/1. 

 

Elise

Our appointed time was 8:30 driven by our original scheduled flight time.  They asked everyone to vacate their rooms by 8:00 and to disembark by 9:30 so your plan sounds fine.  We pushed the depart the room time to about 8:30 on Ovation at that point the cabin staff started to repeat their very pleasant goodbyes.

 

Canadian customs forms were turned in for Prince Rupert as you suspect.  The vast majority were not required to submit for a face to face.  Not sure if the ones who were asked were singled out for particular questions, or just random.

 

One point about US immigration in YVR.  Global Entry is available but you will be asked to show your Global Entry card to the line checkers something I’ve never experienced before.  We were asked to show 3x before reaching CBP, who of course couldn’t have cared less, just use the kiosk they said.

 

[CalmSea]

First, @jondfk, thanks for your reporting. I learned many things from your posts, including never bother to pay for any upgrade to a PH room. 

 

Regarding early morning coffee at the Observation Bar, I am surprised that you were asked to wait until 6:15. I am an early riser myself and habitually go to the OB before 6 and the morning coffee and snacks were almost always set up by 6. When we were on the Odyssey in June, I was at the OB by 5 a.m., and had my first coffee and croissant around 5:45. I spoke to the server, and mentioned that I just arrived from the east coast and was still jet-lagged. The next day, he started setting things up at 5:30 and for thre rest of the cruise! I though that was just a typical "beyond-what-is-required" Seabourn service. I am sorry to hear you had quite a different experience. Regaring the Nespresso machine, I was shown how to use it, but never got the hang of it. 

[robertmartha]

Thank you Jondfk for all your posts and bringing us all along on your sailing!

Brought back fond memories of our May sailing!

Our rule of thumb is a standing room service order for a pot of coffee - 2 cups - no milk/sugar at 6am every day. Everyone always says - but your on vacation! - but to us having coffee in our robes on the balcony is the best way to start every day of vacation!

 

Where are you off to next?

 

Bob

[jondfk]

3 minutes ago, robertmartha said:

Thank you Jondfk for all your posts and bringing us all along on your sailing!

Brought back fond memories of our May sailing!

Our rule of thumb is a standing room service order for a pot of coffee - 2 cups - no milk/sugar at 6am every day. Everyone always says - but your on vacation! - but to us having coffee in our robes on the balcony is the best way to start every day of vacation!

 

Where are you off to next?

 

Bob

 

Notice I said I’m an early bird.  DW definitely isn’t, or else I would have just made do with the machine in our suite.

 

Our next will be another first.  First time with Viking Oceans in February.  Sailing Viking Star RT Los Angeles to Hawaii.  Watch on the Viking forum for my report.  I’m expecting a bit of a letdown compared to Seabourn but then again Viking fans are passionate and it will be good to see whether we find pleasure with them.

 

Then, next august, we do essentially this same voyage with Oceania.

 

 

[Mr Luxury]

9 hours ago, jondfk said:

 

Notice I said I’m an early bird.  DW definitely isn’t, or else I would have just made do with the machine in our suite.

 

Our next will be another first.  First time with Viking Oceans in February.  Sailing Viking Star RT Los Angeles to Hawaii.  Watch on the Viking forum for my report.  I’m expecting a bit of a letdown compared to Seabourn but then again Viking fans are passionate and it will be good to see whether we find pleasure with them.

 

Then, next august, we do essentially this same voyage with Oceania.

 

 

Be careful how you deal with crew early in the morning when asking for coffee before the published start time.

On Viking you could find that a large guy in a hat with horns on might not be too pleased.

[robertmartha]

Jondfk - your sailing next August on Oceania - Alaska RT again? If so that should be an interesting comparison to Seabourn.

[MBP&O2/O]

On 8/25/2023 at 1:03 PM, jondfk said:

Im an early riser and often found myself in Observation watching sail ins by 0515.  Yes I’m and oddball, but by no means alone about a dozen of us gathered here daily.  We asked for coffee but we’re told wait for 0615.  A Nespresso machine was placed a bit earlier and a few of us used it, when the water ran out we refilled with the still water decanter - WRONG we were told, that’s not what it’s for.  The following day, no still water decanter, someone refilled the Nespresso using the sink in the bar WRONG we were told, wait for 0615.  The following day, no Nespresso machine at all.  I took to calling room service from the bar phone asking for a pot of coffee which was delivered, and savored, by the early bird team.  This continued for many days until we started to find the entry door to Observation locked until, 0615.  The various games and tactics implemented to avoid making coffee available were almost comical, but honestly, wouldn’t it have been easier to just place a couple pots an hour or so earlier?  

Interesting .... today, mid afternoon,  in the Observation lounge, I was told if I wanted a glass of wine in the obs lounge the  I should go to the patio bar and fetch it myself as they were closed! 

[SLSD]

6 hours ago, MBP&O2/O said:

Interesting .... today, mid afternoon,  in the Observation lounge, I was told if I wanted a glass of wine in the obs lounge the  I should go to the patio bar and fetch it myself as they were closed! 

I think the Observation Bar opens at 5pm.  

[MBP&O2/O]

Yes it does ... that is why I asked for advice. I found the answer given somewhat dismissive and in practical terms unhelpful. I would have expected a more helpful attitude and possibly an offer to assist.

[skybluewaters]

20 hours ago, MBP&O2/O said:

Interesting .... today, mid afternoon,  in the Observation lounge, I was told if I wanted a glass of wine in the obs lounge the  I should go to the patio bar and fetch it myself as they were closed! 

 

Sounds like they gave you excellent advice. 

If they were rude to you, that's another issue.

Would anyone walk into the Restaurant at 11PM and expect to be served a dinner?

[SLSD]

10 hours ago, MBP&O2/O said:

Yes it does ... that is why I asked for advice. I found the answer given somewhat dismissive and in practical terms unhelpful. I would have expected a more helpful attitude and possibly an offer to assist.

I have been served a glass of wine or a mixed drink at the Obs Bar when they were not open.  It just depends on who is serving there, if they have the time or the inclination to serve you when they are closed.  It probably differs by ship and who is there.  I probably asked way back when I didn't realize they were closed.  Tea is served from four to five--and I have seen passengers drinking something with alcohol in the Obs Bar instead of tea--so you could probably ask at that time.  

[FeliciaLee]

On 8/12/2023 at 2:40 PM, jondfk said:

Thinks skidded down hill when we moved to the restaurant.  We were seated and a very attentive assistant waiter provided water bread and wine, he asked us to wait for his partner for guidance on the menu, the only problem was, the waiter never arrived, meanwhile more tables were seated, and the poor assistant was very quickly overwhelmed.  Eventually he made it back around to take our order which was challenging since he had to compare the menu to the tablet to enter orders.  The challenge intensified when food started to be ready and he had to leave to carry plates.  Eventually a bar server was dispatched to assist and by the time dessert rolled around an assitant from the adjacent section started to fill in taking orders etc.  Not a great experience.

 

Breakfast offered a second chance and a second major fail.  We arrived at 8:30 to find a substantial line waiting to be seated.  No tables available we were told, the limited staff was trying to reset tables, a mad scramble for coffee cups, butter and side plates.  Couples were seated slooowly as tables could be reset.  Finally they gave up setting tables and just sat us at a bare table.  The pastry tray arrived with 4 very tired looking donuts and nothing else.  Water arrived, but oops, no water glasses.  Coffee arrived but oops, no coffee cups.   The comedy goes on and on.  The waiter was visibly angry we had been seated “I have nothing for them” he remarked to the manager.  

Sorry for being a late poster on this awesome review. It just now caught my attention.

 

This mirrors our dining room experiences on Sojourn. There were a few good services over 11 days, but most were misses.

 

OTOH, the buffet was an awesome experience. Day or night, no matter what server or host, we found it the best buffet atmosphere we'd ever had on any cruise line.

[LMB01]

Thank you @jondfkfor these reports.  We board on the 29th of this month for the final 14 days of the season.  As @SLSDsays, we do not all want the same thing from Seabourn.  
 

We never go to the Restaurant as we prefer to eat early and quickly - we try to get into the TK Grill as often as we can at 6pm - we average 45 minutes to dine.  (As a side note, on our April Ovation Caribbean cruise, they ran into the same service issues when trying to open the Restaurant one or two days for breakfast.  The solution was to shut it down for breakfast and lunch for the remainder of the cruise.  It did not impact us but many passengers were unhappy).

 

Suites are also a personal preference.  We only sail in an Owner’ Suite 2 or above - the size and amenities of the suite are very important to us.  We tried a PH suite once because we wanted to do a portion of a Grand Cruise - well, if you are not booked for the full Grand Cruise or World Cruise, you can not book the premium suites.  We had some future cruise credits from Covid so we decided to book a short Caribbean cruise in a PH suite to see if we could do it.  Seabourn kept offering upgrades but we needed to try this experiment.  Within an hour of being in the suite, my husband asked me if I thought the other suites were still available!  We hated that layout of the closet to the bathroom!  We cancelled our portion of the Grand Cruise the next morning and rebooked something else!

 

A tip that might be helpful for some, we have a typed list for the suite attendants regarding our alcohol preferences and time of suite cleaning preferences and any other oddities.  This seems to work very well.

 

Thank you to whoever provided the list of officers.  We believe we are only familiar with the HD assuming she is still there.

Edited September 16, 2023 by LMB01