Welcome
back on board Mr. Huff” was the cordial greeting upon
embarkation in San Juan...from that moment on I knew I
was in for another fantastic Seabourn experience....
And I was right.
After being escorted
to my SUITE by the very courteous dining room staff,
my stewardess appeared in moments with a glass of
champagne and a basket with specialty soaps from which
for me to choose for the week. From the selection of
peach, honey, lotion, lavender and oak...I chose the
manly scent of oak.
A few moments later, a call from
the reception desk once again welcomed me on board and
wanted to know if my suite was acceptable or if there
was anything I required. I was just perfect.
I took a short tour of the ship
to reacquaint myself with the public areas and began
to seek out my guests for the week. I stopped by the
reception desk and gave the purser invitations to be
distributed to my guests and by the time I got back to
my suite, my invitation and all of the others were
delivered to the suites of my guests on board. Being
back in my Suite for only a few minutes, I began to
receive phone calls from my guests accepting the
invitation to meet after the life boat drill for a
cocktail before we set sail from San Juan. (after all
I did offer to pick up the tab!!).
After a short but complete
lifeboat drill, I met my guests in the Club Room for
introductions and to tell them of the rigorous plans I
had in store for them for the next seven
days.....RELAX...RELAX...RELAX.
Several of the group decided to
have dinner together and we made our way to the Dining
Room about 1930hrs. A table for 8 quickly appeared
and we had a very casual and entertaining dinner
trying to count the diamonds, Cartiers and Rolexes of
our fellow passengers...Giving up on counting we
adjourned to The Club for the staff and entertainment
introductions. I decided since they all already knew
my name; I was determined to memorize theirs. I took
special note of the lighting and audiovisual
technicians name and sought him out later to find out
about the ship’s ability to broadcast the Super Bowl
the next evening. All he needed was the time of the
broadcast and the network and he said he would work
with the engineer and radio officer to see what could
be done to get the game on the satellite.
Early to bed.... A little rough
coming out of San Juan but seemed to calm down as we
got inside the island chain.
Next day at sea...Up early.....to
the Midnight Sun Lounge for the early riser’s
breakfast and to see what the day would bring...Quick
smoked salmon on freshly toasted bagel...a walk around
the deck and to the boutique for a baseball cap to
shade the sun as I was settling in with my new John
Grisham novel. It was a beautiful Caribbean day and I
relaxed on deck and in my suite with my novel a nap
and some great in house videos......what a day.....I
visited with all of my guests throughout the day and
they were definitely taking my
advise...RELAX...RELAX..RELAX.
Day 3, we docked alongside in the
commercial port of Castries, St. Lucia as the normal
Seabourn pier at Point Seraphine was under
reconstruction from Hurricane damage..... Still a
short walk to the City Center and Seabourn did provide
a free shuttle to the shops at Point Seraphine...nice
touch...
Having been in St. Lucia many
times, I elected to take a taxi to Marigot Bay and
Doolittle’s Restaurant and took some of my guests and
another couple with me....beautiful bay with protected
anchorages for “yachtees”....beach, bars shops and
another day to relax.
Some of my guest elected to take
the tour to the village of Souffriere to see the
Pitons and return to the ship via Catamaran. Most
comments were positive on this tour, however some
thought it to be too long. I stayed at Marigot Bay,
had a nice lunch at Doolittles and returned to my new
home away from home about 1600. The passengers who
came to Marigot Bay with me decided to negotiate with
a local for a “ beach excursion” and a return to the
ship via small boat.
Dinner with Captain Drablos who
was an absolute delight..he entertained a very tired
table of 10 and kept us all awake and interested in
sea stories and tales of past voyages....To the
SHOW....great new couple on board who came from the UK
and did a great Broadway and West End Show....
Day 4, St. Johns, Antigua, docked
alongside the commercial pier...I elected to stay on
board...finish my Grisham tale and RELAX.....another
tough day in paradise....The staff took good care of
me and had discovered I liked my vodka and tonic at
intervals with an icy cold Evian....
By now friendships were cementing
and the Sky Bar was the sundown location to look for
the ever-elusive “ green flash”. Michael at the Sky
Bar not only had stuffed olives for a passengers
special martinis, but insisted we order some caviar to
“go with”....not much arm twisting with this
group....the caviar was there before the green
flash....
Dinner with Cruise Director, met
MORE interesting passengers at this hosted table. I
was beginning to feel comfortable being a passenger
traveling without my better half on this romantic
voyage. The crew was making sure I did not dine
alone....
Show tonight a
ventriloquist...ugh!!! I was obligated to go since
the Cruise Director was my host for the evening....so
I went. He was FABULOUS.....Never have I seen such a
versatile performer...3” dummies” all taking with each
other PLUS the Ventriloquist...I sat there with my
mouth open and my side splitting from laughing so
hard...So much for non quality entertainment on small
ships...Seabourn had this down pat. Two nights for me
at a SHOW was a record.
Day 5....My favorite Island St.
Barts....The sea swells were very rough today, so we
had to move anchorage twice for safe tendering ashore,
but the Captain finally convinced the Port Authorities
to let us move inside the reefs for safe spot to
anchor. Later I found out it was the Captain and the
Captain alone who could accomplish this feat due to
his influence with the local authorities.
Once ashore, shopping, St. Jean’s
Beach, a beer at “ The Corner” and just another
perfect day....We stayed in port overnight due to the
rough weather....another decision made by the Captain
for the comfort of the passengers.
Dinner “IN SUITE” this evening to
make sure the “course by course” dinner service was as
advertised.....It was...there must have been a spy
outside my SUITE door relaying messages to my SUITE
waiter as each course was perfectly timed....they even
left me a bottle of very nice white wine to enjoy with
each course.
After this, up to the Sky Bar for
an evening of “Entertainment Under the Stars” The
weather cooperated and the entertainment staff did a
mix of songs from different musical
periods....Captain.... Hotel Manger...Chief
Officer.....Cruise Staff and even the Doctor were all
on deck to make sure every unattended passenger had a
dance partner....Great evening.
Day 6, Marigot, St. Martin.
Winds had picked up again overnight so could not
safely anchor in the harbor at Marigot, so the Captain
decided to anchor in the more protected bay in front
of Philipsburg on the Dutch side....I had now finished
Grisham...was well into Clancy...and decided once
again to spend the day on board and read and RELAX...
Evening at Hotel Manger’s table
with some more delightful Seabourn guests......Had to
go to the SHOW as Cruise Director was doing her
patented Carpenter’s Salute....Not only an excellent
Cruise Director but a very good performer as
well....Early to bed AGAIN....Big day tomorrow on
Virgin Gorda!
Day 7 Virgin Gorda....Stopped
briefly off Spanishtown to let off those passengers
who had elected to do a tour of “ The Baths” before
joining the other passengers for a Beach Party at
Prickly Pear Cay. Moved the ship into North Gorda
Sound off Prickly Pear and Leverick Bay. Tenders went
to Leverick Bay General Store, the Bitter End Yacht
Club and to the Beach Party on Prickly Pear Cay.
Having been to the Bitter End and
Leverick Bay...I went directly to the Beach Party
where I was greeted by barefoot waiters with trays of
Rum Punch, towels and directions to a shady spot on
the beach.....This is what Seabourn is all
about....Champagne and Caviar at a Beach Party..local
Caribbean Steel Band....Fresh Grilled Tuna, Shark, BBQ
Chicken PLUS the hamburgers and all beef hot
dogs....so many salads and condiments you couldn’t
count them.....all done with the usual and incredible
SEABOURN service.
Water skiing...Banana Boats,
Windsurfers, Hobie Cats all right from the beach....I
spoke with several of my guest and other passengers
with whom I had become friends and the comments were
overwhelmingly about this day in Virgin Gorda....the
perfect climax to a great cruise, a great cruise ship
and especially a great crew who could not do enough
for any passenger...Even the more Senior Club Members
remarked about feeling young again and playing on the
beach like a kid.
Back to WORK.....this was our
Meeting Day...Invitations sent to all of my guests to
meet with Captain, Hotel Manager and on Board Cruise
Consultant for a wrap up session and to discuss any
questions, shortcoming, unmet expectations and general
comments.
Great Meeting.....Captain and
Hotel Manager very knowledgeable on Charter requests
and group activities on board. All of our guests
extremely complimentary on the food, the service, the
attitude of all the staff and the vessel.....They will
come again and now have the incentive to book Seabourn
for a future charter or incentive group event.
My reflections for the Week!!!
The real difference in Seabourn and other small deluxe
ships is the service....many of our cruise line
partners have good hardware, good food good service
and a caring staff. The Seabourn hardware is not a
new, does not have many verandahs and has a small deck
area...BUT the staff, the food and the service far
overcome the physical deficiencies of the
hardware....In my opinion...there is no finer cruise
experience in the world and our customers should be
waiting in line to book one of these ships. I will
do everything within my ability to try to get programs
upgraded to be able to afford and experience the
Seabourn product. It should not be overlooked in ANY
incentive program....The experience is more of a
reward than 10 other programs put together and should
be positioned as a MUST DO for any client considering
an incentive program.
Date of sailing: January
30-February 6, 1999
Itinerary:
-
San Juan
-
At Sea
-
Castries, St. Lucia
-
St. Johns, Antigua
-
Gustavia, St. Barts
-
Marigot, St. Martin
-
Virgin Gorda
-
San Juan
|
