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Thursday 9th Feb 2012
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The Ultimate Cruise Style: More Is Less
the ultimate cruise style: more is less |
2 of 4 people found this review informative
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Reviewed By: Weber, Heidelberg on 11th Aug 2009
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| Cruise Line: Seabourn |
Times cruised before: 6-10 |
| Cruise Ship: Seabourn Spirit |
Sailed:
August,
2009 |
| Destination:
Mediterranean
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Age: 46-55 |
| Cabin: Outside |
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We choose the Seabourn Spirit for sailing around Italy after having had a magnificent experience on a small French ship cruising around the Aegean islands in 2008, which had offered unique archaeological sites and Byzantine monasteries to discover. But sadly, this time we were quite disappointed in our aims to explore destinations off the beaten path – and that is one of the very reasons why we cruise.
Seabourn boasts an outstanding all inclusive service, and this is true for the most part, but not, when it comes to excursions or embarkation and disembarkation. Unless you book pre- and after-cruise packages, literally no assistance is provided of how to reach and leave from the ship, not even a map or any further directions for transportation or your luggage etc.. This you have to ask by phone or mail, and answers are provided with reluctance. The same goes for the luggage. In Venice, we were early and intended to see the city again before boarding. Therefore I asked Seabourn in advance about a luggage office at S. Basilio. We were assured of this facility existing, but upon our arrival, there was no luggage room, just a simple open carrier guarded by an Italian, who couldn’t tell anything, and of course, there were no Seabourn personnel around. Thus, at embarkation we started our cruise with an inquiry about our luggage which was happily found and brought to the cabin. The spacious cabin itself was luxuriously furnished with a sitting area near the window, a separable bedroom, a marble bath and a separate wardrobe with safe. It was kept immaculate by a lovely Finnish stewardess and offered a perfect retreat. Only on the last day the safe broke down und couldn’t be repaired before we left.
This Seabourn Spirit cruise came with a considerable discount and we would have accepted cuts in service or food. This wasn’t the case and the service of the young and dedicated crew was truly remarkable. They were all hard working and one felt the tremendous pressure put on them in order to assure the company’s reputation. At times in the dining room the service tended to bustle when one part of the waiters had to escort arriving guests to their tables whereas others came in balancing huge trays loaded with dishes. Therefore we preferred to eat in the Veranda Café/ Restaurant 2 which was less formal and moreover offered the possibility to dine outside with a magnificent view. But this was a small and coveted site and it was not always possible to get a seat there. The food was very elaborate offering all the ingredients of an international luxury cuisine and the preparation was clearly intended to show that you eat a lot of money. It was fairly up to the latest trends as preached by international food magazines, except slow food. The elaborate cuisine was only impeded by the fact, that fresh ingredients were limited, since the ship got stocked only once at Civitavecchia. Yet the roasted meat and the soups were excellent and showed the cooks’ capacity. As a plus come the free drinks, and there were people enjoying this throughout the day and thus the outdoor bar was a truly busy place. In addition, it was the only place which offered some outside tables in the shadow, since the rest of the decks were just in the open sun. The ship simply lacks the possibility to relax on a couch in the shadow with a book at hand and seeing the coastline passing by, something which I have enjoyed very much on previous cruises.
Most sadly the cost cuts apparently were done by a triple change of the itinerary within the last two weeks before sailing, which rendered our private tour planning quite difficult. In addition, the ship almost never docked and the tender service required a lot of time for leaving and coming back to the ship which further reduced the time available for excursions. Admittedly, I have been naive in expecting other passengers with similar interests on this ship, which boasts a well travelled clientele, but the museum tours had to be cancelled due to lack of interest, and no one of the excursion desk was bothered by opening or closing hours of any museum during the cruise and often we stood in front of closed monuments – but admittedly we were few and often the only ones.. This general disinterest in any destination off the beaten path was all the more sad since some of the sites, which we finally managed to explore by our own, are just splendid. Thus we took a taxi from Monopoli to Trani after waiting for one and a half hour to disembark. The town of Trani, an important free port during the Crusades offers a good example of the effects of medieval globalisation and harbours not only one of the most beautiful cathedrals of Apulia, but a still intact medieval quarter where we were shown the unique Jewish monuments during an excellent guided tour which we had prearranged ourselves. Sadly we also had to give up our idea to visit Crotone, the town of the eminent philosopher Pythagoras and the archaeological park of the Heraion of Capo Colonna, since half the day was reserved for swimming and touring on banana boats etc, while the ship anchored some 100 yards away from the shore. On the other hand, the island of Lipari was making up some of our disappointment by offering not only a beautiful landscape and cute little harbour, but also an impressive fortress with a cathedral and a truly spectacular national archaeological museum. It houses a unique collection of ancient miniature theatre masks of terracotta, which are outstanding works of art because they depict human characters so vividly, and they are nowhere else to be seen in the world. But this, again, we had to find out by our own and we were happy to share our information with the excursion desk. In the evening, we passed a very active Stromboli and this was quite an awesome experience about the grandeur of nature, which can hardly described by words. The last day, we decided to go to Salerno from Sorrento in order to avoid the tourist crowds. We did this by boat in order to avoid the heavy traffic around the Amalfitana, but I had to insist in disembarking in time in order to reach the local boat. Salerno is quiet, restraint and has one of the most beautiful shore esplanades of the Mediterranean with a lot of greenery. Moreover there is a most noble and refined medieval cathedral with splendid mosaics to see.
In the end, we had a nice cruise, but this came as the result of extra efforts on our part. Since it was an upmarket cruise I had expected less trouble and less efforts, but I was wrong. This time I literally paid more to see less. In my eyes, Seabourn cruises are aimed at a very definite clientele with limited cultural interests bordering to indifference, who expects a daily ballet du service on board, an elaborate international cuisine as advertised by stylish food magazines and the possibility of getting tanned while enjoying a staple of drinks. If you really want to recreate by exploring culture on your own and look for new experiences ashore you better avoid this ship despite the many amenities and the dedicated crew it offers.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Food was very elaborate and well presented, international cuisine without local ingredients | | Entertainment |  |
| Seabourn Spirit is a small ship and entertainment is limited, the lecturer was excellent, the rest not really to our taste | | Shore Excursions |  |
| We were interested in museums tours which were cancelled, and subsequently arranged our tours by ourselves. We missed the port informations and port maps available at other cruises. In most cases the excursion desk was polite but not truly helpful. I mostly turned to the purser's office for assistance. | | Staff |  |
| The service crew of the restaurant was hard working and offered a good service, but they were apparently forced to emphasise also the fuss of it | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| If you're interested in Trivia, this is the ship for you. | | Cabins | |
| Very nice, spacious and well kept state rooms but no balconies | | Overall Rating | |
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