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Name: David L. Dann
Email: ddann@exchange.ml.com
Age: 44
Occupation: Systems administrator
NumberOfCruises: 1
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Dolphin-Seabreeze
SailingDate: 7/30/98
Itinerary: Newport, R.I, Portland, ME, St. John's, Canada
FoodDiningRoom: 93
CruiseDirector: 80
CabinComfort: 83
FoodRoomService: 93
CruiseStaff: 80
CabinAmenities: 80
FoodLidoDeck: 75
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 90
FoodMidnightBuffets: 90
CabinSteward: 93
ShoreExcVariety: 65
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue: 60
GoodForHoneymoon: 65
CasinoStaff: 80
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 80
LoungeService: 80
TenderService: 80
GoodForSeniors: 75
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 83
WheelchairAccess: 65
ExerciseFacilities: 77
EntertShowLounge: 83
OverallPortsofCall: 65
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 70
CruiseActivities: 80
Casino: 80
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 85
EmbarkDisembark: 80
DiscoNightclubs: 70
DeckSpace: 80
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 80
SpaceRatio: 80
OverallCruiseValue: 85
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 13 Sep 1998
Time: 00:02:07
Remote Name: 206.3.74.2
Remote User:
Comments
Comments:
My wife and my son and I were looking for an affordable vacation when we first heard about
Premier's 5-night New England/ Canadian cruise. The
New York City point of departure for this cruise was a big plus since we live in the city
and we wouldn't need to purchase air to Miami. The travel
agency brochure also advertised the trip as 'children go free'. Actually there is a limit
of free berths for children just as the airlines advertise free
seats for children with a little asterisk about the limit availability. We were able to
get reservations for the August 30th departure after the news that
the Seabreeze had lost electrical power for 10 hours, during a July excursion. The
Seabreeze is a 40-year-old ship but appears outwardly at least
to be in excellent shape. There is a bit of apparent wear on the carpets on the stairs
connecting the decks and in our cabin. We did have a serious
problem though with plumbing in our cabin through most of our trip. I'll spare the reader
the excruciating details except to say that our cabin
steward was in our cabin daily with a plunger. Our embarkation was smoother than most
airport flights I've experienced as the worst problem
turned out to be the traffic to the 88th Street pier. Our first encounters with Premier
staff was a steward asking us to make a selection for wine for
the first dinner and a photographer taking our picture as we stepped on board. There was a
great deal of drink promotions and photo
opportunities during the voyage. Our cabin was on the E or Electra deck, which is also the
same deck that the main dining room or Bacchanalia
room is located. The cabin was small but sufficient for two adults and a child with three
large closet cabinets. After the steward brought our entire
luggage on board we proceeded above deck to the embarkation buffet.
FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD Besides the main dining room the alternative dining was located near
the stern on the Planets and Pastorale café, where
the buffet was located. After having read earlier comments at this site about these dining
areas I was quite prepared for what I encountered. The
buffet consisted of hot dogs, hamburgers and the like heated in warming pans. It was
sufficient to keep us satiated until we could go below in the
Bacchanalia restaurant later for dinner at the main seating. The lunch and dinners served
here were always exceptional and imaginatively
prepared. Before this trip I had heard that food in general on ship cruises is highly
emphasized but my expectations as to the quality of the meals
was far exceeded. I'm still trying to comprehend how the staff mastered the logistics of
preparing fresh tasting meals for a load of 800+
passengers at two seatings (my estimate was that the ship was at or close to full capacity
for this trip). Our waiter and bus boy were very efficient
and friendly. They were especially helpful in obtaining hamburgers or spaghetti for my
ever-finicky eating son. Overall I'd say that the dishes were
comparable to what you would find at a good Manhattan restaurant. My only complaint is
that the hours for the morning breakfast main seating
were exceptionally early, starting at 6:30am. This was difficult to make especially if one
had been eating the night prior at the other hallowed cruise
institution, the midnight buffet. Each night had a different international cuisine theme
with a bountiful variety of hot dishes, fresh fruits and delicious
pastries. If you missed breakfast the next morning after all of this late night gluttony
there was a breakfast buffet in the aft café. Unfortunately my
main requirement for breakfast is good coffee and the coffee served here was of
institutional (penal) quality. I was puzzled by the contrast in the
quality of food here and in the main dining room. However I don't consider this a major
negative for the ship as my main intention for vacationing
on a cruise was not to stuff my face.
PORTS OF CALL
The shore excursions that the ship sold for the various ports of call were overpriced. We
made the mistake of paying for the Portland Headlight trip
at 29.00 per person when we would have been better off making arrangements with a local
tour operator. Much of my family is from New England
and Portland, Maine is almost an old haunt. I thought that the trip to this historic
lighthouse would be of interest for my son who hadn't been to
Portland since infancy. We had clear and mild weather on this day, as we did for almost
every day of the trip. (We managed to avoid both
Hurricane Bonnie and Danielle. The sea was relatively calm with a moderate swell and
almost like glass when we reached the Bay of Fundy. Still a
passenger in an adjoining cabin was laid low the entire trip with sea sickness) Actually
the best time to visit the lighthouse is on a foggy day when
they blast the foghorn and the feeling is real Down East. The other shore excursion we
purchased was for a kayak trip in St. John's. This was the
only excursion that can be described as athletic. All of the other excursions were
basically bus or simple walking tours. Since a good percentage of
the passengers were senior citizens and many of them needed assistance in getting about
the ship this was appropriate. We were looking for a
little more of an adventure than that and a kayak canoe trip seemed to fit the bill. We
(total group of about 28)were taken to an inlet off the Saint
John's river and brought to a beach where we were given basic instruction on how to work
the pedals that control the kayak rudders. Earlier this
year I had gone on a canoe trip near Tampa, Florida and was hoping that this might be
somewhat comparable to the fun that I had on that trip.
The vistas on the river were pretty but I was a little disappointed that there wasn't much
wildlife. We did manage to have a little fun and unlike three
others who capsized at least once I even managed to stay somewhat dry in my one-man kayak.
This was a big group of kayakers to be herded
about by our guides and because we only had one and a quarter hours on the river we could
only go a short distance. This excursion was quite
pricey at 69.00 pp, even with a lobster and steak lunch included. The price is actually
exorbitant when you consider that the U.S. dollar could
purchase almost 1.50 Canadian! I don't wish to malign the friendly citizens of this city
who greeted the Seabreeze so enthusiastically when we
came into port (they had a town crier in 18th century garb and a terrific Irish band
playing at harbor side) but St. Johns is no Montreal or Quebec
City or even Halifax when it comes to charm or attractiveness. Our regular dinner
companions had us in stitches as they described the bus tour of
the city they took ('ladies and gentleman you'll note the new apartment complex on the
left'). In retrospect we would have been better off by going
off on our own for all three ports and seeking out our own adventures.
SHIP ACTIVITIES
I'm surprised to re-read some of the reviews posted here and find that some travelers
found too little to do on the ship. Every evening there was a
show held in the Carmen lounge that featured a comedian, juggler or impressionist. They
ranged from so so to hysterically funny. Before the main
act four of the ships younger crewmembers puts on an excellent and enthusiastic Vegas type
revue. The ship had an excellent band, 'Brilliant
Corners' that I enjoyed listening to when they warmed up between shows. Other good live
music could also be heard in the Planets lounge, which
featured a piano bar and there was a very good jazz guitarist playing during the day
outside the Pastorale café. My wife who loves to dance was
disappointed with the disco. It's buried in a small room on the lowest deck. During most
of the evening the DJ played hardcore rap music which isn't
our style. He explained it was for the benefit of the many teenagers on board who could
hang out here until midnight when he would then play the
90's dance music we wanted to hear. This sounded reasonable and actually considerate, as
activities for teens seemed limited during the evening
the problem was that after that hour the place was deserted. The ships demographics of
mostly seniors, and families (few singles or
honeymooners) made it less likely that there would be a great dance scene on board. A more
likely explanation is that the disco was poor
competition to the midnight buffet. The midnight buffet I discovered is the closest thing
on board to a religious service. Everyone attends and
seems to be in awe of the great spread of food. We did try to make our way to the karaoke
bar but this seemed to be owned forever by a number
of 10 year old girls who were forever singing Leslie Gore. There's a pool on board that
everyone to this site cannot mention without using the
prefix 'postage stamp'. By the time we got on board I was quite prepared for a pool of
less than Olympic size dimensions. In spite of its
diminutiveness my son and other kids seemed to be having a ball in it. My big complaint is
that this pool while being tiny is 7 ˝ feet deep and there
is no lifeguard on duty. There are also three hot tubs, which were quite comfortable.
Other activities included daily 'art' auctions, for which I had no
interest and afternoon bingo games that were also promoted ad nauseam. Another traditional
ship cruise activity that I participated in is skeet
shooting with a 20 gauge shotgun at a cost of a dollar a round. Twenty dollars later after
missing every clay disk I gave it a rest and proceeded to
the casino, secure in the knowledge that I'm ill suited for a career as a professional
assassin.
CONCLUSION:
What we were most unhappy about the Seabreeze was that we had to come back to the port of
New York and disembark Friday morning. Just
when we were getting into the spirit of the voyage it was over. Just when I finally
learned to avoid that certain staircase that for some reason went
to every deck but the one our cabin was on, we had to leave. If I cruise again I will
never do anything less than a 7-day voyage. We had a very
good time on board but if we could do this trip over again I would spend less time ashore
in port, unless there is something really compelling to do
or see there, and more time really relaxing like reading a book while reclining on one of
the deck chairs. Or maybe playing some board game with
the other passengers. On two mornings we sighted many Right whales as close as 75 yards
off the stern. I took my binoculars and saw a few
blowing there spume into the air and watched as their tails arose above the water before
they dived down below. I didn't see any leap above the
water and create a dramatic splash as they do in the wildlife documentaries but it was
still a magnificent and thrilling sight to behold. Whale
watching in retrospect was my favorite, if unscheduled ship activity for the voyage.
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