I am fanatical about that details…as you know. I look at every little thing and will comment on each and every success and fault. But I also plead with you to enjoy your cruise; to not let the little things such as those that I may comment on interfere with your long awaited vacation. That is because my job is to make sure I offer you the best cruise for your desires.
And, to be sure, I also try to explain that there is a truly dedicated crew and staff making your cruise happen, so you should not focus on the small slip-up here or error there…or credit one person who has five people behind her making her look good. (Or feel you need to chase a particular waiter in order to dine well.)
Now my motivation for this article:
Two clients of mine just returned from a 63 day cruise on the Seabourn Quest and wrote a Thank You note to the crew. It is, in a way, a fantastic essay on why a Seabourn cruise is such a personal experience and how may people it really takes to make your desires become a reality.
To Captain Magnus, Staff Captain Stoyan, Murat, Andrea, Karl, Gunter, Paul, Doctor, Chief Engineer, and all of you men and women in white who sailed the Seabourn Quest safely and cheerfully checked us off and back on to the ship at each port, and made it seem to the guests as though you were always having as good a time as we were – THANK YOU!
To Handre, Heidicha, Tammy and Sara – you four were a huge part of our lives during this vacation. Your innate abilities and talents in your jobs were gifts to all of us. Getting to know and enjoy you personally definitely enhanced our trip – we will never forget you. Our dearest wish is to sail with you again! – THANK YOU!
To Claudio, Weyden, and any others who helped us on our tours – THANK YOU!
To the deft sailors who managed all of the tenderingat ports, and to those men below decks who paint and scrub the Quest to keep it shining – and who were last seen climbing all over the funnels on our last day, scrubbing and painting – you are wonderful – THANK YOU!
To Chef Neils and Chef Jess, and the enthusiastic chef on the Grill Deck, all sous chefs and kitchen staff, our food this last 63 days has been an epicurean delight! It is truly a miracle that after this length of time, we actually had clothing that fit for our trip home! Chef Neils, we especially enjoyed the two early morning market trips we took with you – very special. THANK YOU!
To Marco, and all of your restaurant staff throughout the ship – those special young men and women who wait for us at the entrance of the dining room to escort us to our tables, who wait on us, bus our tables, who often insist on carrying our plates to table, and do all of the chores that made our dining experiences those we’ll never forget them or you, Marco– your sense of humor was a special gift! – THANK YOU!
To Karl, able Hotel Manager, who always moved like lightning throughout the ship with a ready quip, a cheerful word and an eagle eye! – THANK YOU! . . . and to Gunter, our first Hotel Manager – we loved renewing our friendship with you prior to your leaving the ship – THANK YOU!
To the able bartenders throughout the ship, and you are so many, and to Angelo, our notable sommelier, and all of your pourers and servers – we have a question – how does everyone in the dining room manage to fill our glasses of wine when we’re not looking! You have such talent and ways of keeping us from knowing just how much wine we are consuming!!! – THANK YOU!
To the able housekeeping staff, and particularly to our Natalie – stewardess par excellence – don’t know how you work so hard making everything clean and neat, but you were never without a smile and cheery word – THANK YOU!
To the “King of the Staircase” (that is what we named him) who was always vacuuming the rug and giving the cheeriest smile and greeting – THANK YOU!
To the Baristas in Seabourn Square, who served us all day long, from gourmet coffees to gelato – you were such an important part of how we began each and every day – THANK YOU!
To Muratand to Andrea and to the lovely young women in the guest services section of Seabourn Square – your constant vigilance and handling of all our questions and dilemmas of travel, always helping us with extreme courtesy, competence and humor – THANK YOU! Special thanks to Murat who not only taught me the Turkish word for “yarn”, but encouraged me on my expedition into the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, where I found a treasure of yarns – should have purchased lots more!! THANK YOU!
To the Seabourn Singers and Dancers, Musicians, Rachel, Lisa, Matt, you are all AWESOME – for the many hours of entertainment and sharing of your multi-talents in addition to your friendliness even when not on stage, we THANK YOU!!
To the Casino Staff (Cristian, Adriana and Radi) – even when we weren’t so lucky, we still had fun – THANK YOU!
To the Salon Staff and particularly to Tijana and Katherine – you are both adorable and good at your jobs! THANK YOU!
I feel that I must mention some people by name, and will probably forget someone (for that I apologize!), but those mentioned here, in addition to those above, gave us special gifts of their time and attention, good humor, caring and expertise in the performance of their jobs aboard the Quest. They are: EUGENE, LAJOS, KRIS, CHRISTOPHER, VITOR, RUI, PETER, FILIPE, MARIANNE, MARICKE, LEIGH, JAN, GREG, VALERIA, MAYRA, LINDI, KATARINA, RADKA, CATHERINE, TIJANA, ADAM, TIL . . . I know I’m forgetting someone . . . darn!!
Sailing with Seabourn has always been enjoyable for us, but because of the people above and a collective crew and staff that wanted the best experience for everyone on board, this trip was the highlight of our many Seabourn sailings.
Thank you, everyone, from our hearts. As the days go by, know that you are thought of fondly and often spoken of. We hope to sail with you again – SOON!
With gratitude and great affection,
Makes you want to take a cruise, doesn’t it?
Makes you understand why I recommend Seabourn cruises so often, doesn’t it?
Ready to take a cruise? Give me a call or drop me an email.