Le Levant - Comments

We just returned from a 2 week trip on Le Levant, a 90 passenger French ship
usually chartered to groups for voyages to off-the-beaten-path destinations.
Le Levant should probably be compared to other small ships. If, on a 1-10
scale, the SeaDream and Seabourn are in the 9-10 range; the Windstar and
Windsurf in the 7-8 range and the Clipper Odyssey and Clipper Adventurer in
the 5-6 range (many think higher), then we would, unfortunately, rate Le
Levant as only a 3-4 for many reasons:

Cabins: Adequate sized with adequate storage but really shoddily furnished.
Uncomfortable beds. Some drawers & doors didn't close. Multiple vibrations
when underway. Air conditioning uneven. Intership TV/music frequently not
functioning.

Food: on a P-F-G-VG-E scale, rates a "good" with deserts as "VG". Fancy
French but heavy rather than elegant. Oversalted.

DR Service: Staff tried hard but any slight deviation from the menu was a
crisis. Glassware was filthy for the first week until guest complaints
caused them to fix the dish washing machine.

Public Areas: Nice main lounge. Pathetic "gym". Crowded breakfast/lunch
dining area. Only 2 outside dining tables.

Alcohol: Low quality table wine included with meals. Drinks expensive (5-6
Euros).

General noise: A noisy ship especially in the dining room while underway and
the rear of the lounge.

Overall attitude: Ship run for the benefit of the staff, not the passengers.
Afternoon tea was set out at 4:00 pm even if the group wasn't expected back
until 5:00 pm. Pool deck chairs never unstacked. Service people frequently
unhelpful or lacked knowledge. Overall staff training appeared weak. Didn't
seem to be a happy ship.

Zinger: After we booked and paid for the trip, we were apologetically told
by our tour manager that the ship had decided to add a $10/day/person "fuel
surcharge", billed to our onboard account.

Conclusion: We would not sail on Le Levant again unless it were the only way
to see a particular destination. Even then, we might pass.

"its_my_dime" (hold the .spam) wrote in
:

We just returned from a 2 week trip on Le Levant, a 90 passenger
French ship usually chartered to groups for voyages to
off-the-beaten-path destinations. Le Levant should probably be
compared to other small ships. If, on a 1-10 scale, the SeaDream and
Seabourn are in the 9-10 range; the Windstar and Windsurf in the 7-8
range and the Clipper Odyssey and Clipper Adventurer in the 5-6 range
(many think higher), then we would, unfortunately, rate Le Levant as
only a 3-4 for many reasons:

Cabins: Adequate sized with adequate storage but really shoddily
furnished. Uncomfortable beds. Some drawers & doors didn't close.
Multiple vibrations when underway. Air conditioning uneven. Intership
TV/music frequently not functioning.

Food: on a P-F-G-VG-E scale, rates a "good" with deserts as "VG".
Fancy French but heavy rather than elegant. Oversalted.

DR Service: Staff tried hard but any slight deviation from the menu
was a crisis. Glassware was filthy for the first week until guest
complaints caused them to fix the dish washing machine.

Public Areas: Nice main lounge. Pathetic "gym". Crowded
breakfast/lunch dining area. Only 2 outside dining tables.

Alcohol: Low quality table wine included with meals. Drinks expensive
(5-6 Euros).

General noise: A noisy ship especially in the dining room while
underway and the rear of the lounge.

Overall attitude: Ship run for the benefit of the staff, not the
passengers. Afternoon tea was set out at 4:00 pm even if the group
wasn't expected back until 5:00 pm. Pool deck chairs never unstacked.
Service people frequently unhelpful or lacked knowledge. Overall staff
training appeared weak. Didn't seem to be a happy ship.

Zinger: After we booked and paid for the trip, we were apologetically
told by our tour manager that the ship had decided to add a
$10/day/person "fuel surcharge", billed to our onboard account.

Conclusion: We would not sail on Le Levant again unless it were the
only way to see a particular destination. Even then, we might pass.




I am so sorry to hear this, I remember seeing LeLevant in Fort
lauderdale for her US Coast Guard trials and thinking, life just
couldn't get better. See has lines that just don't quit, but sadly it
seems hat the lines are the extendt and there is no there there.

Thank you for sharing this sad, but important news.


--
Joseph Coulter
Cruises and Vacations
http://www.josephcoulter.com/

"jcoulter" wrote in message
.. .
"its_my_dime" (hold the .spam) wrote in
:


I am so sorry to hear this, I remember seeing LeLevant in Fort
lauderdale for her US Coast Guard trials and thinking, life just
couldn't get better. See has lines that just don't quit, but sadly it
seems hat the lines are the extendt and there is no there there.

Thank you for sharing this sad, but important news.


--
Joseph Coulter
Cruises and Vacations
http://www.josephcoulter.com/


If you walk to the front of the bridge deck, you will find a superstructure
of several long 6" diameter hollow metal pipes that create those lines.
They seem to have no function except aesthetics. I have no problem with
this, but I thought you would like to know.

its_my_dime wrote:
We just returned from a 2 week trip on Le Levant, a 90 passenger French ship
usually chartered to groups for voyages to off-the-beaten-path destinations.
Le Levant should probably be compared to other small ships. If, on a 1-10
scale, the SeaDream and Seabourn are in the 9-10 range; the Windstar and
Windsurf in the 7-8 range and the Clipper Odyssey and Clipper Adventurer in
the 5-6 range (many think higher), then we would, unfortunately, rate Le
Levant as only a 3-4 for many reasons:

I've received mail from National Geographic, Smithsonian, etc. for
various excursions, some of then on Le Levant or Le Ponant. Was your
trip one of these charter trips? Would like to hear about the trip,
ports, etc. if you'd care to share.

Thanks,
How B

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 01:40:42 GMT, its_my_dime wrote:

Zinger: After we booked and paid for the trip, we were apologetically told
by our tour manager that the ship had decided to add a $10/day/person "fuel
surcharge", billed to our onboard account.

Conclusion: We would not sail on Le Levant again unless it were the only way
to see a particular destination. Even then, we might pass.

Put this ship in the **** Ship List.
--
http://www.no2id.net/content/flash02.html

"How B" wrote in message
...

I've received mail from National Geographic, Smithsonian, etc. for various
excursions, some of then on Le Levant or Le Ponant. Was your trip one of
these charter trips? Would like to hear about the trip, ports, etc. if
you'd care to share.

Thanks,
How B

I believe that virtually all trips on Le Levant or Le Ponant are charter
trips as was mine.

But understand the ship's role in the process.

The tour manager (like the ones you mentioned) sets up the trip, create the
itinerary, pick the ports and then contracts with and pays for the ship for
a certain number of days. The ship's obligation is to house and feed the
group and get them from place to place (just like any other cruise ship).
The tour manager is responsible for marketing the trip, and selecting and
paying for the trip leader (s), lecturer (s), local guide, excursion buses
and everything else that goes with running a successful trip. There is also
unallocated overhead such as home office and staff expenses.

The financial risk is entirely with the tour manager who must set up the
charter probably 2 years or more in advance. I suspect that the cost of
chartering a ship is pretty well independent of the number of passengers so,
assuming he has a sharp pencil, if the trip sells out past the break even
point, the tour manager makes money. Otherwise, he doesn't. But the ship,
I assume, gets its money up front.

Note that some tour managers (like Intrav) also own their own ships.
Sometimes, the voyages are run by Intrav; sometimes the entire ship is
chartered out.

So, to answer your question, I didn't discuss ports or the exact nature of
the trip because Le Levant was not responsible for selecting them, only for
getting us there which it did.

Chrissy Cruiser wrote:

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 01:40:42 GMT, its_my_dime wrote:


Zinger: After we booked and paid for the trip, we were apologetically told
by our tour manager that the ship had decided to add a $10/day/person "fuel
surcharge", billed to our onboard account.

Conclusion: We would not sail on Le Levant again unless it were the only way
to see a particular destination. Even then, we might pass.


Put this ship in the **** Ship List.


Not yet. Not enough reviews to guage the overall quality.

I'm pleased to see a review of the ship.

Ben S.

Put this ship in the **** Ship List.

Not yet. Not enough reviews to guage the overall quality.

I'm pleased to see a review of the ship.

Ben S.

I agree with you, Ben, that more reviews are needed.

But I think it is also a mater of expectations. The adventure travel
people sell (and price) their trips, in part, based on the quality and
features of the ship being used (just read any of their brochures). I feel
that they set expectations too high for Le Levant.

..

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 16:48:54 GMT, its_my_dime wrote:

Put this ship in the **** Ship List.

Not yet. Not enough reviews to guage the overall quality.

I'm pleased to see a review of the ship.

Ben S.

I agree with you, Ben, that more reviews are needed.

But I think it is also a mater of expectations. The adventure travel
people sell (and price) their trips, in part, based on the quality and
features of the ship being used (just read any of their brochures). I feel
that they set expectations too high for Le Levant.

.

Ok, put the cruise line on it then. No way am I going to have a walkup
charge.
--
http://www.no2id.net/content/flash02.html