What a difference 12 weeks makes. Last time I saw Yachts of Seabourn's new Seabourn Odyssey, president and chief executive officer Pam Conover did not want any pictures taken inside because it was really just a building site and understandably that was not the image of the new ship that she wanted to portray.
That was April. Now it's June and the first paying guests will be coming on board tomorrow and the ship is looking lovely. Well almost lovely. Workmen are still hard at it in certain areas and some unspecified technical problems mean plans for our two-day cruise keep changing by the minute.
We were supposed to have anchored off the coast of Slovenia today and had a few fun hours playing with the water sports equipment - water-skis, jet-skis and the like - that are carried on the ship. Then because the workmen had to work, they came up with plan B - we spend the day moored up outside St Mark's Square.
I'm not entirely sure which plan we are now on, but as I write this on Tuesday morning we haven't left the port at Venice - because we can't. The ship got here from Genoa but now they can't get it moving again.
I just hope Seabourn manages to sort things out before tomorrow because while this has to be one of the better ports in the world, with Venice just a 15-minute stroll away, a maiden cruise to nowhere is not what the passengers signed up to.
But on to the ship, which, as I say, is looking lovely. I was just raving about the dining room on Celebrity Equinox. At the risk of being repetitive, I have to do the same about the one on Seabourn Odyssey. And eat my words, because here is another dining room with a wow. The white décor is fabulous and I love these "hi-top" tables at either end of the room.
The self-service (below, set up for waiter-service dinner) is equally elegant - so much so it took a while before I realised this was the buffet restaurant. It also has hi-top tables. On Seabourn's three sisters (Seabourn Pride, Legend and Spirit), Restaurant 2, which pairs different tastes (hence the name) has to alternate with the regular speciality restaurant. On Seabourn Odyssey, it has its own room, which has an very Asian feel.
Seabourn Central is a clever idea - an internet café, coffee bar, library and guest relations all rolled into one, and without the traditional guest relations' desks. Instead, there are individual desks in an area inside the room. If you want to see someone, you can have a coffee, read a book, check your emails while waiting and then sit down and have a normal conversation with someone instead of having a tall counter between you and the receptionist. A great touch.
Unlike the sisters, Odyssey has full-size balconies, a pool and a pool-side grill. It's a walk-up service, with semi-cooked food then prepared to order and waiters on hand to carry passengers' plates to the table. All very nice but yesterday it was also all very slow. I suspect they might turn it over to a fully-served option to avoid long queues.
I discovered my first fault while eating my burger. The cushions on the seats at the grill have a soft suede feel but after you've been sitting on one in the sun for a while in a pair of shorts they get a little - how can I put this - damp. And so do you.
The same material has been used on these cosy double sunbeds at the front of the ship, but of course people will be lying on towels. That's the obvious solution when sitting on the chairs as well, but you have to know.
Jane Archer
