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Odyssey Questions, Musings, and Trip Reports


JaneBP

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We are in Rhodes now and I am taking a bit of a walk and so can readily use an internet cafe to see what everyone on the thread is asking about.

 

We did tender in Dubrovnik and Milos but not in Kotor or Aghios Nicholaos. I don't know if this helps explain how the ship would be managed in other ports. I read that the ship is 5 feet deeper but 200 feet longer than the sisters.

 

The internet connections- both wireless and at the Seabourn Cafe- have always worked fine. About embarkation, we were escorted to our suite and I have see single passengers receive invitations to dinner although I cannot comment on how many have been arranged. Oh, and yes, there usual breadsticks and the familiar tasting menus of Restaurant 2 have been rotating since the restaurant opened 2 days after we left Venice.

 

The Colonade remains my favorite place for ALL meals. There is table service from a menu placed there as well as a much larger and varied buffet relative to the 3 sisters at breakfast and lunch. The outdoor tables can hold about 70 and the inside is at least that number although the themed dinners are limited to roughly 80. Last night's dinner was the Indian and tonight will be the French. The ambiance is very sophisticated and smooth largely due to the forethought invested by the ship's management and designers. Service levels, discrete locations for serving/clearing up and the ease of entering/exiting the outdoor area through one large automated door make this possible.

 

Today we received in our cabin a wall clock and yesterday there were new non-flame candles on the Colonade's exterior tables at dinner. The ship's public area clocks are not synchronized. Other than that, I can't think of anything else that's missing or needs attention.

 

The ship is extraordinary and the vibe is overwhelmingly enthusiastic. That said, Pamela Conover continues to work hard and is everywhere meeting passengers, consulting with crew about certain details and leading.

 

Regards!

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Hi Markham, I guess it's like the others said - everyone is having too much fun to post. Thanks for your observations. I think many of us are checking daily for any word on how people are enjoying this cruise.

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We are in Rhodes now and I am taking a bit of a walk and so can readily use an internet cafe to see what everyone on the thread is asking about.

 

We did tender in Dubrovnik and Milos but not in Kotor or Aghios Nicholaos. I don't know if this helps explain how the ship would be managed in other ports. I read that the ship is 5 feet deeper but 200 feet longer than the sisters.

 

The internet connections- both wireless and at the Seabourn Cafe- have always worked fine. About embarkation, we were escorted to our suite and I have see single passengers receive invitations to dinner although I cannot comment on how many have been arranged. Oh, and yes, there usual breadsticks and the familiar tasting menus of Restaurant 2 have been rotating since the restaurant opened 2 days after we left Venice.

 

The Colonade remains my favorite place for ALL meals. There is table service from a menu placed there as well as a much larger and varied buffet relative to the 3 sisters at breakfast and lunch. The outdoor tables can hold about 70 and the inside is at least that number although the themed dinners are limited to roughly 80. Last night's dinner was the Indian and tonight will be the French. The ambiance is very sophisticated and smooth largely due to the forethought invested by the ship's management and designers. Service levels, discrete locations for serving/clearing up and the ease of entering/exiting the outdoor area through one large automated door make this possible.

 

Today we received in our cabin a wall clock and yesterday there were new non-flame candles on the Colonade's exterior tables at dinner. The ship's public area clocks are not synchronized. Other than that, I can't think of anything else that's missing or needs attention.

 

The ship is extraordinary and the vibe is overwhelmingly enthusiastic. That said, Pamela Conover continues to work hard and is everywhere meeting passengers, consulting with crew about certain details and leading.

 

Regards!

 

Thank you for docking/tendering information. The Sisters tendered in Milos and Dubrovnik as well. Sorry to harp on about this but does tendering take longer with a larger ship or are more tenders available.

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At the ports where we tendered there were 2 Odyssey tenders in operation. They are bigger boats and may take a bit more time to load. That said, the boats and queues to board have been manageable and so I don't really see any difference in times.

 

Today we are in Santorini using the local tenders as required by custom. The day is magnificent and could not be better!

 

Yesterday evening was a caviar sail away party from Rhodes. Great music from a Filipino 6 piece band with singer between the 2 jacuzzis in front of the pool. Lots of space there and on the 2 levels above for people watching and celebrating. Again, I opted for dinner at the Colonade but there were lots of people who took up the large patio grill choice. Tonight's the main restaurant with new friends- so elegant and refined!

 

Regards to all!

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Sue Bryant's review of the Odyssey is now on CC:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=485

 

I'm not sure if you posted this somewhere else, or if its even allowed but this is a great review of the Odyssey I'm not good at this so it may not click through. May need to cut and paste

 

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31667985/ns/travel-cruising/

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We are docked in Mykonos now having enjoyed a fine and classic evening event last night in Athens hosted by Pam Conover. It was a short drama of Ulysses returning to Ithaca to be reunited with Penelope complete with cyclops, sirens and Calypso followed by Greek dancing in the round. It was authentic and splendid with an educational slant relating to our own ship Odyssey. Most passengers joined Pam, the onboard dance couple and 4 singer/dancers at the fun with opas and percalos for the organizers.

 

About entertainment I wanted to mention the state of the art in-suite entertainment system with its i-pod docking bay. You can choose a movie and start and stop it and so see it when you have time. You can create your own music list and play it on demand. I don't know what other lines offer such a service.

 

I would guess that about 40-50% of the passengers will be back for the world cruise. Cruise director and occasional singer Barry Hopkins will arrange a party for us on our final sea day to bring us together. This is a great idea since it gives us one more chance to make preparatory plans. About 15 couples are on the next cruise to the Black Sea. So far I haven't figured out how to stow away...

 

Please revert with any questions you may have. Today is Sunday and we are ending the inaugural voyage on Wednesday in Istanbul.

 

Regards!

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its been great to hear of you sailing.......

 

Have you had the opportunity to meet or see Martha / Marita Henderson from Texas onboard.......if so please tell her Rottie sends her a big NY?Texas hello & hug......

 

 

Full moon, smooth seas to you!!!

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You're so right Claudia!

Markham has been our "muse" from the Odyssey right from the start,

like Homeros started the story about "the Odyssey", A story I had to read in Greek (a while ago) and translate into Dutch. The story starts like this:

Ὀδύσσεια α

 

ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ

πλάγχθη, ἐπεὶ Τροίης ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον ἔπερσεν·

πολλῶν δ᾽ ἀνθρώπων ἴδεν ἄστεα καὶ νόον ἔγνω,

πολλὰ δ᾽ ὅ γ᾽ ἐν πόντῳ πάθεν ἄλγεα ὃν κατὰ θυμόν,

ἀρνύμενος ἥν τε ψυχὴν καὶ νόστον ἑταίρων.

"Please muse, tell me about the man, the clever guy, who, after he had destroyed Troy, sailed around the world.... etc."

Thanks Markham!

Marja

 

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Martha is not on the Maiden Voyage although she had originally planned to be. She will, instead, be on the Odyssey Crossing after a cruise on one of the triplets. ( hope I have this second part right.) I do know she's boarding in Rome at the end of October, then picking up the Odyssey.

I do know she's been busy traveling, and we all miss her posts.

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Marja,

 

>"ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ

πλάγχθη, ἐπεὶ Τροίης ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον ἔπερσεν"

 

As the saying goes, 'It's all Greek to me!'. How clever you are!

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I will email Martha today.....

 

 

Martha is not on the Maiden Voyage although she had originally planned to be. She will, instead, be on the Odyssey Crossing after a cruise on one of the triplets. ( hope I have this second part right.) I do know she's boarding in Rome at the end of October, then picking up the Odyssey.

I do know she's been busy traveling, and we all miss her posts.

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This is probably my last on-board post as we arrive at Istanbul tomorrow.

I will get the packing done at the last minute and it will be easy. There is no need to fold anything as it will all go to the cleaners or the wash at home. Doesn't it surprise when you push the luggage out the door on your last night and it appears and even feels lighter than when you arrived?

 

Later this morning Barry Hopkins is hosting a party for the world cruise passengers- a great idea since we have time to connect and plan reunion details. Many are doing to whole thing but as others will do segments (LA to HK is very popular) we can manage our expectation about the when and where.

 

Our sailaway from Kusadasi was loud and fun. The bandstand between the 2 jacuzzis forward of the pool was rocking with the Filipino band and most talented and brassy singer. There were banana flambe and crepes suzette stations, ice cream and of course the patio bar and sky bar above it were busy. The maiden voyage passengers had only returned from the Ephesus amphitheater classical concert when we most quickly regrouped for this event. What a way to depart from this most interesting port.

 

I hope to see you on board sometime. My bookings are for the transatlantic and the world cruise LA to HK segment.

 

Regards!

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Marja,

 

I will certainly be on the look out for an excuse to celebrate the Odyssey's success with you when we meet!

 

I am home now and have a couple of final final thoughts... The ship was very quiet running as I never heard or felt any mechanical or motion of the ocean noise or vibration. It is so well designed for passenger flow that it is very similar to the 3 sisters in some ways since its layout is similar but grander. There are may improvements too especially Seabourn Square and the Observation Lounge which are huge improvements and extremely popular but never overwhelming. (The only over the top spot would be the Sky Bar and that's just what we wanted!)

 

Disembarkation today at Istanbul was a dream. I did not hear any luggage movements from the corridor to the elevators over night and the luggage was offloaded well before 9 am when I collected mine. Since there were other baggage numbers called to leave at 8 am I have to think that most everyone's was out by then... We picked up our passports this morning from Square staff at 3 separate stations on different decks (depending on your own cabin's deck) so that there would be no crowding. This is a small detail but one of so many that make this ship and its organization so great.

 

Another item: I did not go to the galley market lunch in the dining room yesterday but I heard that the layout was terrific as it extended into the dining room (so there could be no crowding in the galley) and the presentations were amazing. One friend said he had the best sushi of his life! Apparently this event has set a new standard for Seabourn.

 

Regards

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Hi Markham, welcome home..... though you may be not be so glad to be home after such a wonderful time!

Thanks for posting and especially your nice respond just yet!

It would be wonderful to meet you at Sail Away in LA! I'm sure we will be introduced by someone.

I think there will be more posts later about this Maiden Voyage; everybody is very anxious to know everything of course.

Sleep well in your own bed tonight!

Marja

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Thanks so much for your investigative work and reporting. I do have a question, and that is if registration takes place in one of the lounges as on the Sisters or on the pier as it has occasionally, albeit not recently, been done.

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JaneBP,

 

Registration for the maiden voyage took place at the Venice pier and we then boarded by group number when called to do so. Then we walked down the pier to be greeted by the captain and other senior officers. On boarding on 3 deck our cards were scanned, I was accompanied by a member of the restaurant staff, and escorted in one of the 4 elevators to my deck and then to my cabin.

 

I don't know how embarkation was handled in Istanbul today but the one in Venice was special as befits an inaugural cruise.

 

Regards

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