Just back from SOJOURN...

... and willing to answer any questions :)

Firstly, I hope you enjoyed your cruise. I - and I suspect others - would love to know who your Captain, Cruise Director, Chef, Hotel Director and Restaurant Manager were. Also, did you feel that staffing was up to the correct level and as efficient and friendly as it was a year or more ago? Did you try any of Thomas Keller's dinners or dishes, and if so what did you think?

I guess you are only just back - when you have unpacked and got your breath will do!

Thanks

Firstly, I hope you enjoyed your cruise. I - and I suspect others - would love to know who your Captain, Cruise Director, Chef, Hotel Director and Restaurant Manager were. Also, did you feel that staffing was up to the correct level and as efficient and friendly as it was a year or more ago? Did you try any of Thomas Keller's dinners or dishes, and if so what did you think?

 

I guess you are only just back - when you have unpacked and got your breath will do!

 

Thanks

Hi Lincslady,

this was the crew:

Cpt. Hamish Elliott

CD Sophie Tehrani

HD Helmut Huber

Chef Henning Giese

Rest. Man. Mihaela Radu

... and many others, who were hard-working, friendly people from all over the world.

I didn't experience ANY service issues or waiting times during breakfast, lunch or dinner. Everyone in the crew were trying their best to deliver polite, professional and fast service - even though at times they were really given hard times by some grumpy guests. A shame really. So, kudos to the crew!

Thomas Keller :rolleyes:...is not a very well thought-through concept. Even though I appreciate the effort of bringing on some fresh ideas (the repetitive menu in the Restaurant needs help!!) the whole concept seems confusing. Why they don't just include one TK item each night and decided to put another menu right next to the two existing menus (daily and SB classic) is weird. On 2 out of 3 nights we wanted to try the TK menu they had run out at 8.20pm and we were simply not given the TK menu any more.

Also, the food itself was underwhelming, therefore I really don't understand why everyone was so crazy for the food and ordered it. Even the chefs get all crazy about it. At the Adhoc dinner at the Colonnade they took photos of their own dishes before they sent it to the table. Some dishes were ok, but nothing more than that (The salad at the Adhoc dinner for example was completey tasteless, whereas the rib main course was excellent.) And what about that TK Burger and TK Hotdog that is on the Pation lunch menu EVERY DAY?? :rolleyes: Oceania and Azamara have 4 or 5 different burgers and each one of them tasted better than the TK thing... I guess TK works much better in its own space...

To sum it up: Food 7/10, Service 10/10 :)

Will be on the Sojourn later (Sept)12 days to Alaska.

Are they still serving breakfast and lunch in the Main Dinning Room? It has been several years since we were on Seabourn.

We much prefer eating in the MDR. Yes, I know that many people love eating outside etc, not us. In fact, we spent 23 days in the Queens Grill recently and loved having the restaurant open every day. It use to be that way on Seabourn.

Will be on the Sojourn later (Sept)12 days to Alaska.

 

Are they still serving breakfast and lunch in the Main Dinning Room? It has been several years since we were on Seabourn.

 

We much prefer eating in the MDR. Yes, I know that many people love eating outside etc, not us. In fact, we spent 23 days in the Queens Grill recently and loved having the restaurant open every day. It use to be that way on Seabourn.

Hi there,

yes, the Restaurant was open on almost all days for bf, lunch & dinner and everytime I walked through at bf or lunch time it was almost empty.

Enjoy your trip !!

Hi there,

 

yes, the Restaurant was open on almost all days for bf, lunch & dinner and everytime I walked through at bf or lunch time it was almost empty.

 

Enjoy your trip !!

Thanks for the fast reply. So glad they have not cut that out.

I think you will find the opening of the MDR for lunch will vary by itinerary. You may want to check back here and ask after the first Alaska cruise of the season is over.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

cwn,

Just out of curiosity.... If you are in Queens Grill where else would you be able to eat lunch- or any other meal for that matter- apart from the King's Court cafeteria or surcharge restaurants? There are no outside dining options on Cunard ships, are there?

Happy and healthy sailing!

Happy and healthy sailing!

I think that if you are in QG on Cuinard you can dine in any dining room on the ship subject to availability. But why would you want to? Except of course, La Verandah, which carries a supplemental charge to all passengers.

I think that if you are in QG on Cuinard you can dine in any dining room on the ship subject to availability. But why would you want to? Except of course, La Verandah, which carries a supplemental charge to all passengers.

Yes that is so true. We went to La Verandah for our 50th anniversary, but felt the food and the service was really better in the Grill. Our Grill waiter was wonderful. Once he and his assistant found out what we liked, they worked at making the meals special and serving the items we loved, the way we liked them.

For us it was the best cruise since the early ones back in the early 80's....those were on the Vistaford another Cunard ship. Nothing comes close to those sailings now.

We have tried Silver Seas, Regent and Seabourn over the last 10 years or so. Of those three, we like Seabourn the best and have done several cruises on both the Sojourn and before that the little sisters, loved those little girls.

cwn,

 

Just out of curiosity.... If you are in Queens Grill where else would you be able to eat lunch- or any other meal for that matter- apart from the King's Court cafeteria or surcharge restaurants? There are no outside dining options on Cunard ships, are there?

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

I think there is outdoor dining space off King's Court at least on the Queen Elizabeth, not really sure as we do not like to eat cafeteria style or outside. We did enjoy meals from the dining room served in our room by room service though.

Hi there,

 

yes, the Restaurant was open on almost all days for bf, lunch & dinner and everytime I walked through at bf or lunch time it was almost empty.

 

Enjoy your trip !!

Is Restaurant 2 still open on Sojourn or has it changed to Thomas Keller? I am hoping we have one more chance to experience it: R2 is so unique.

R2 for Sojourn, Odyssey.

TK on Quest and Encore.

And I'm all for R2.

R2 for Sojourn, Odyssey.

 

TK on Quest and Encore.

 

And I'm all for R2.

Thank you, I am so happy. We are picking Sojourn up in Kobe next month and then again in October for the South Pacific rt from LA. We never tire of R2 - and we have yet to be impressed by the TK meals they offer S & O. We were on Quest in R2 on their final night before going into dry dock...it was such an emotional night. Thanks for your response.

I really liked R2 on our recent Asia cruise. It's such a nice and quiet atmosphere in there. The service was perfect. But it's also good to see that Seabourn want to come up with new ideas. The current concept of additional Thomas Keller menus in the main restaurant and reserved nights at the Colonnade was a bit confusing, in my oppinion. So I think it's a good idea to give TK a special place... Plus, I don't think it will be TK forever.... So let them try something new from time to time. :)

And to all those Cunard fans: The whole Seabourn experience can't really be compared to what Cunard has to offer - even in Queens Grill. The personalized service on SB, the small number of passengers, the space on open deck, luxury food, drinks, etc etc... it's a very different product. I like both - but in warmer climates would always opt for Seabourn (for the open deck dining options, more relaxed dress code, etc.)... And please don't get me started on the food in that LIDO restaurant (on QE) again :o If you are a buffet fan, AZAMARA, Europa2 and Oceania have the officially best buffet restaurants at sea.:cool:

I really liked R2 on our recent Asia cruise. It's such a nice and quiet atmosphere in there. The service was perfect. But it's also good to see that Seabourn want to come up with new ideas. The current concept of additional Thomas Keller menus in the main restaurant and reserved nights at the Colonnade was a bit confusing, in my oppinion. So I think it's a good idea to give TK a special place... Plus, I don't think it will be TK forever.... So let them try something new from time to time. :)

 

And to all those Cunard fans: The whole Seabourn experience can't really be compared to what Cunard has to offer - even in Queens Grill. The personalized service on SB, the small number of passengers, the space on open deck, luxury food, drinks, etc etc... it's a very different product. I like both - but in warmer climates would always opt for Seabourn (for the open deck dining options, more relaxed dress code, etc.)... And please don't get me started on the food in that LIDO restaurant (on QE) again :o If you are a buffet fan, AZAMARA, Europa2 and Oceania have the officially best buffet restaurants at sea.:cool:

No evening buffet on Seabourn??

Yes, not every evening, but on any cruise you would probably get a couple of special evenings, which IMO are very enjoyable. There are likely to be a French market buffet,and an Asian - probably Indian - buffet evening. Sometimes a Spanish one. To me, much more enjoyable than the Keller 'casual dining' evenings, which are not buffet, but large dishes brought to the table for all the table to share, mostly not very good.

No evening buffet on Seabourn??

The buffet would only be in the Colonnade, not in the MDR.

Yes, should have said that. Obviously there has to be a waiter served dinner somewhere; many people cannot stand buffets, even for breakfast or lunch. And although the Colonnade has buffets at these meals, you can have everything there served to you, if you wish.

R2 for Sojourn, Odyssey.

 

TK on Quest and Encore.

 

And I'm all for R2.

Any idea when odyssey might switch fromR2 to TK

Any idea when odyssey might switch fromR2 to TK

...when it goes into its upcoming dry dock. Last I heard was late April/early May.

We ate in R2 on Odyssey last year. A pleasant experience but a bit chi-chi. I could do without the strangely shaped plates. Normal round plates are what I like. As we sat down the Waiter said 'As today is a special day for us we are offering you an aperitif of champagne to begin the meal' (I can't remember what the special occasion was). 'Oh good' we said, thinking we would get a change from the NF and looking forward to perhaps Bollinger - or even Krug. Nope, it was just plain old NF, which we could order ourselves anywhere on the ship. Now what on earth was the point of that?

I posted this on another thread and see now that it is useful here:

On the subject of dry docks and changes that are done, here is what I just received from Seabourn Guest Services today about the conversions from the 2 remaining Restaurant 2 restaurants:

"The conversion of R2 into The Grill by Thomas Keller will take place on the Odyssey in May of 2017 and on the Sojourn in December of 2017."

Happy and healthy sailing!

We find R2 rather pretentious and over-theatrical. The food is delicious and interesting but all the pomp it's served with can make you cringe. But I know some diners love all that window dressing so enjoy. I confess to being underwhelmed by the TK offerings we experienced on Encore after all the hype - the emperor isn't wearing any clothes? - but I'm happy to wait and see while he fine tunes his menus if necessary.

We find R2 rather pretentious and over-theatrical. The food is delicious and interesting but all the pomp it's served with can make you cringe. But I know some diners love all that window dressing so enjoy. I confess to being underwhelmed by the TK offerings we experienced on Encore after all the hype - the emperor isn't wearing any clothes? - but I'm happy to wait and see while he fine tunes his menus if necessary.

It's just fun. Do not take it seriously. Think if it as a show. It's just entertainment.

I did not find it theatrical at all. It's the regular service standard that you will receive at any 1-star-Michelin restaurant in Europe nowadays, which I am quite used to and which I very much appreciate. The staff in R2 was excellent. What I find much more theatrical is the "flambé"-Show in Queens Grill on Cunard. I brought an extinguishing blanket every night just for safety... ;-)