Complimentary wines

[Tony UK]

Just returned from Ovation. The included wines were poor, some undrinkable. Supermarket bottom end wines. Some of the premium wines were scandalously overpriced. On the plus side, there was no corkage fee, so we brought on our own at each port stop.

We dis notice that different included wines were offered to SOME passengers! for example, we were told there was no chardonnay in the included wines. we were chatting with another passenger who said she had been drinking a nice chardonnay throughout the cruise!! there was NO premium rose in the retreat. They kept trying to offer us a bottle of Moet, which we kept saying no to, and then they came up with Bollinger, more to our taste. We found the party cocktails very bizarre to say the least! Other mixed drinks on deck we thought were pretty weak...english pub measures, or from pre mixed cocktail mixes. The only exception was the Solis bar where all drinks were excellent!

Overall we would have preferred to have paid for our own choice of drinks. We didnt find the drinks offering a luxury offering more of an embarrassment!

 

[SLSD]

8 hours ago, Tony UK said:

Just returned from Ovation. The included wines were poor, some undrinkable. Supermarket bottom end wines. Some of the premium wines were scandalously overpriced. On the plus side, there was no corkage fee, so we brought on our own at each port stop.

We dis notice that different included wines were offered to SOME passengers! for example, we were told there was no chardonnay in the included wines. we were chatting with another passenger who said she had been drinking a nice chardonnay throughout the cruise!! there was NO premium rose in the retreat. They kept trying to offer us a bottle of Moet, which we kept saying no to, and then they came up with Bollinger, more to our taste. We found the party cocktails very bizarre to say the least! Other mixed drinks on deck we thought were pretty weak...english pub measures, or from pre mixed cocktail mixes. The only exception was the Solis bar where all drinks were excellent!

Overall we would have preferred to have paid for our own choice of drinks. We didnt find the drinks offering a luxury offering more of an embarrassment!

 

Hmm...so I am not the only one who thinks that the party cocktails are bizarre.  I haven't wasted my alcohol allotment or calories on them in several cruises now.  I also found most of the mixed drinks to be less than great.  A few of them were ok.  

 

Fortunately, we don't cruise for the ship experience! We cruise to go places.  Of course it would be great to have everything on the ship to our liking.  I'm not counting on it!!  We do agree that the drinks we tried from the Solis menu were well done and enjoyable.  It's a shame that quality is not held up by the other bars onboard.  

Edited 19 hours ago by SLSD

[galeforce9]

27 minutes ago, SLSD said:

Hmm...so I am not the only one who thinks that the party cocktails are bizarre.  I haven't wasted my alcohol allotment or calories on them in several cruises now.  I also found most of the mixed drinks to be less than great.  A few of them were ok.  

 

Fortunately, we don't cruise for the ship experience! We cruise to go places.  Of course it would be great to have everything on the ship to our liking.  I'm not counting on it!!  We do agree that the drinks we tried from the Solis menu were well done and enjoyable.  It's a shame that quality is not held up by the other bars onboard.  

The solis bar is far more of a highlight than the restaurant imho

[SLSD]

15 minutes ago, galeforce9 said:

The solis bar is far more of a highlight than the restaurant imho

We had two really great meals at Solis and one that we both agreed was not very good--except for the cocktail, the dessert and the after dinner Moroccan tea is a very pretty ornate glass cup.  I think it saved the meal.  It may be a matter of what you order there.  I really loved the panazanella salad and the Gambas.  

[galeforce9]

10 minutes ago, SLSD said:

We had two really great meals at Solis and one that we both agreed was not very good--except for the cocktail, the dessert and the after dinner Moroccan tea is a very pretty ornate glass cup.  I think it saved the meal.  It may be a matter of what you order there.  I really loved the panazanella salad and the Gambas.  

We had an Italian dinner in the colonnade (out on the terrace). In all my previous cruises on Seabourn I had never dined in the colonnade at night.   It was simple and well cooked.  It was a real surprise and far surpassed our solis experience but I appreciate I don’t have a lot of solis experience to compare to and i am very sure it can vary, as you have quite rightly said.  Our affogato (sp) was superb though.  

 

Edited 18 hours ago by galeforce9

[branndie]

On 9/17/2024 at 3:47 PM, Sunprince said:

Perhaps Seabourn should try a new option of “shopping with the Sommelier”. At least then you could tell the Sommelier what to buy!

This would be fun!  

[SLSD]

9 minutes ago, galeforce9 said:

We had an Italian dinner in the colonnade (out on the terrace). In all my previous cruises on Seabourn I had never dined in the colonnade at night.   It was simple and well cooked.  It was a real surprise and far surpassed our solis experience but I appreciate I don’t have a lot of solis experience to compare to and i am very sure it can vary, as you have quite rightly said.  Our affogato (sp) was superb though.  

 

We have never dined on the terrace of the Colonnade at night!  We want to do that.  We have dined at Earth and Ocean many many times including on our last Sojourn cruise.  Out of all the meals we had there, only one was a disappointment.   Most of our cruises in recent years have been cold weather at night--which is probably why we haven't tried the Terrace of the Colonnade.  We absolutely do not want to dine indoors there.  We did brave a few colder evenings at Earth and Ocean.  

[galeforce9]

13 minutes ago, SLSD said:

We have never dined on the terrace of the Colonnade at night!  We want to do that.  We have dined at Earth and Ocean many many times including on our last Sojourn cruise.  Out of all the meals we had there, only one was a disappointment.   Most of our cruises in recent years have been cold weather at night--which is probably why we haven't tried the Terrace of the Colonnade.  We absolutely do not want to dine indoors there.  We did brave a few colder evenings at Earth and Ocean.  

Which was the same for us. Like you, we always wanted to dine in the restaurant for both lunch and dinner.  On longer voyages, in the north, or Antarctic, or even the Red Sea, where it is excessively hot, it makes sense. But as I get older, I think, why not try it once?!  But inside in the colonnade, no thanks! 

Edited 17 hours ago by galeforce9

[Vineyard View]

What is the best strategy to be successful in having a table outside the Colonnade?  I would think that in nice weather, it would be the first choice for many. We are not always ready to dine as soon as a venue opens, but maybe that is the key?

Like others, we have no desire to eat inside the colonnade. 

[Vineyard View]

10 hours ago, Tony UK said:

Just returned from Ovation. The included wines were poor, some undrinkable. Supermarket bottom end wines. Some of the premium wines were scandalously overpriced. On the plus side, there was no corkage fee, so we brought on our own at each port stop.

We dis notice that different included wines were offered to SOME passengers! for example, we were told there was no chardonnay in the included wines. we were chatting with another passenger who said she had been drinking a nice chardonnay throughout the cruise!! there was NO premium rose in the retreat. They kept trying to offer us a bottle of Moet, which we kept saying no to, and then they came up with Bollinger, more to our taste. We found the party cocktails very bizarre to say the least! Other mixed drinks on deck we thought were pretty weak...english pub measures, or from pre mixed cocktail mixes. The only exception was the Solis bar where all drinks were excellent!

Overall we would have preferred to have paid for our own choice of drinks. We didnt find the drinks offering a luxury offering more of an embarrassment!

 

So disappointing to hear. 
Apparently Natalya is not listening, or is not receiving the messages…..or there aren’t enough voices to get attention. We shouldn’t have to bring bottles on board from port to have decent wines. 

[SLSD]

1 hour ago, galeforce9 said:

Which was the same for us. Like you, we always wanted to dine in the restaurant for both lunch and dinner.  On longer voyages, in the north, or Antarctic, or even the Red Sea, where it is excessively hot, it makes sense. But as I get older, I think, why not try it once?!  But inside in the colonnade, no thanks! 

I've always been concerned that we would show up at the Colonnade in the evening and they would tell us that no outdoor tables were available.  Then, we would have to go to another restaurant.  

[SLSD]

2 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

What is the best strategy to be successful in having a table outside the Colonnade?  I would think that in nice weather, it would be the first choice for many. We are not always ready to dine as soon as a venue opens, but maybe that is the key?

Like others, we have no desire to eat inside the colonnade. 

I know that for LUNCH it pays to show up when the Colonnade opens for lunch (in nice weather) to make sure you will have an outside table for dining.  Like you, we have always thought the outside tables would already be taken at dinner by the time we were ready to dine.  

[CalmSea]

2 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

What is the best strategy to be successful in having a table outside the Colonnade?  I would think that in nice weather, it would be the first choice for many. We are not always ready to dine as soon as a venue opens, but maybe that is the key?

Like others, we have no desire to eat inside the colonnade. 

I think the best strategy is indeed to dine as soon as the Colonnade is open. Also, I think the Colonnade would be less busy on the first evening of a cruise. Most new arrivals would want to go to the restaurant on that night.

[Vineyard View]

Thank you for those responses. We enjoyed several breakfast mornings on the Colonnade outdoor area. We are always in port for lunch, but we never attempted dinner outside. I think  giving it a try for dinner will be worth it, and if that doesn’t work, go to MDR. I do think in nice weather it would be a very enjoyable experience. 

[galeforce9]

7 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

What is the best strategy to be successful in having a table outside the Colonnade?  I would think that in nice weather, it would be the first choice for many. We are not always ready to dine as soon as a venue opens, but maybe that is the key?

Like others, we have no desire to eat inside the colonnade. 

That’s what we did. Earlier than we would usually dine but we had a (purchased!) bottle of wine and took our time with an aperitif! 

[Tony UK]

14 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

So disappointing to hear. 
Apparently Natalya is not listening, or is not receiving the messages…..or there aren’t enough voices to get attention. We shouldn’t have to bring bottles on board from port to have decent wines. 

There are those in the fan club who believe seabourn do no wrong and will label those who say otherwise as trolls, need to travel on mainstream lines (I translate as not of the right class for seabourn) etc etc. 

The fact that some have very long cruises I think has an impact on atmosphere and service standards on board. Certainly we noticed, different wines available to some, multiple Solis bookings available to some, ability to order dishes for 2 for 1 person (solis sea bass and steak fiorantina) when others had been refused. When its visible, its not a great feeling. There is a class system on board for seabourn regulars. However if you pay more to be in a more expensive suite there are NO EXTRAS as on other lines. A couple couldnt get a solis reservation or a window table in the restaurant on a 12 dday cruise in one of the top suites....just didnt seem right!!

[Basfla]

15 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

Apparently Natalya is not listening, or is not receiving the messages…..or there aren’t enough voices to get attention.

She will listen if and when the cost cutting in this area begins to negatively affect revenue through decreased bookings. 

[brittany12]

Fellow travellers: The fact is that Seabourn has had a cheap complimentary "fine wines" practice for many years, long before Covid, coupled with a generally overpriced premium wine selection. It's nothing new, except the number and quality of undrinkables, from what's been reported here,  now seem to have sunk to a new low. Other than maybe removing the really bad stuff from the free wines list since it, perhaps, caused an uproar, and if Seattle continues to get too many complaints, I think it's naive to believe Natalya will change very much in the wine area.  First of all, the wine supply line for the fleet for a long period ahead has been set. Plus, she and Seabourn need to keep the free "fine wines" mostly in cheap/unsatisfactory/bad category because the cruiseline has a business model, some are convinced, that is intended to drive many of us to buy the premium stuff for one simple reason— they need the extra revenue from any source available, and now more than ever. And I don't believe a lot of people are voting with their feet.

[Vineyard View]

9 hours ago, galeforce9 said:

That’s what we did. Earlier than we would usually dine but we had a (purchased!) bottle of wine and took our time with an aperitif! 

I could make this work!  Start off with bubbles, then (if necessary) wine from off ship. 

[SLSD]

2 hours ago, Tony UK said:

There are those in the fan club who believe seabourn do no wrong and will label those who say otherwise as trolls, need to travel on mainstream lines (I translate as not of the right class for seabourn) etc etc. 

The fact that some have very long cruises I think has an impact on atmosphere and service standards on board. Certainly we noticed, different wines available to some, multiple Solis bookings available to some, ability to order dishes for 2 for 1 person (solis sea bass and steak fiorantina) when others had been refused. When its visible, its not a great feeling. There is a class system on board for seabourn regulars. However if you pay more to be in a more expensive suite there are NO EXTRAS as on other lines. A couple couldnt get a solis reservation or a window table in the restaurant on a 12 dday cruise in one of the top suites....just didnt seem right!!

Tony, you bring up a very interesting and somewhat touchy point.  I am convinced that the waiters and others who carry around an ipad have notes on us as guests.  I noted this on the first day of one of our cruises when our waiter on the terrace of the Colonnade brought my most often ordered "included" wine without me asking.  In fact, I had not even asked for a glass of wine with my lunch.  I asked him how he knew that I drink that particular wine--and he just smiled.  So--yes, there are notes.  

 

I assume that the notes also reveal how many days we have sailed on Seabourn and/or what "status" we have--I don't even know all the status ranking names.  There are probably other notes about us as well--whether we are polite and pleasant and easy to get along with or if we have ever caused any "problems" onboard or have been rude to crew members.  

 

I  make it a practice if something is really great to go and tell someone on the staff.  For example, when we come back from a particularly excellent excursion, I go to the excursion desk and tell the staff member there that this particular excursion was very good.  They make an electronic note of it.  Likewise,  I go to the excursion desk after a terrible excursion and make my views known then as well--in a very polite way of course. 

 

I have also been known to make requests in person (rather than by telephone to guest services).  This has worked well for reservations to TK Grill--now Solis.  Sometimes the maitre d' is not at the restaurant station to ask and it works to go and ask in person at Seabourn Square. 

 

All this being said, status as a Seabourn cruiser DOES appear to matter as does the type of suite you reserve.  I've seen this over most all of our cruises.  And, you have to also realize that the very frequent cruisers have cultivated (naturally or by design) relationships with the officers and crew.  That matters too.  While the crew is wonderful to everyone, it is only natural for them to want to please those guests that they know well, especially if those guests have always been pleasant and easy to deal with.  

 

We are not frequent Seabourn cruisers as we only cruise once a year.  We do try to cruise for at least three weeks at a time and have been treated very nicely (always), but have observed what you describe.  

Edited 5 minutes ago by SLSD