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Sojourn Med Review - Our First Seabourn Cruise


Sunprince
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We recently returned from our first Seabourn cruise and I thought I would share our experience and thoughts with you all.

 

Overall, we had a great first cruise with Seabourn and it will not be our last. We did the 10 day Med itinerary out of Rome. It was a nice itinerary but the weather was very hot. We expected it to be hot and deal well with hot temps but this has been an exceptionally hot summer in Southern Europe which made it difficult at times to stroll around the various ports.

 

Highlights:

Crew - the crew was some of the nicest and best trained that I have ever seen. It was a real delight to see how they looked after the passengers. Our stewardess Olgica was excellent, always taking care of anything we needed before we even asked. The wait staff was also excellent and looked after us very well. Even a new trainee (Kerrie) who served us around the pool was every bit as good (or better) as the more experienced staff. Overall, I found service to be superior to Regent.

 

Dining - we mainly ate in the Collonade on the deck for lunch and dinners, with one dinner in The Restaurant and one lunch on the pool deck and also the Galley lunch in The Restaurant. We were usually able to find a table outside in The Collonade, however if we arrived after 1pm for lunch or 8pm for dinner then it was a bit busy. There was only one lunch where we could not find a table on the deck in The Collonade.

 

Food - overall, very good to excellent with lots of variety. The chef was very visible and after went ashore to purchase local fish/ingredients and he also did several special lunches in the Collonade.

 

Ship - we enjoyed the Sojourn, especially the size and space. We had booked an OB guaranty and about 2 weeks prior to the cruise were assigned a V6 on deck 7. Luckily we were a few suites forward of the pool deck so we did not have any noise issues with the pool deck as we had another suite above and beside us. The suite was very nice and comfortable. We enjoyed the double sinks in the bathroom as well as the separate tub and shower. Overall the ship was well maintained, there are a few areas that need attention such as painting the underside of the deck railings at the Collonade as well as some rust on certain parts of the ceiling. Crew were always working on the ship and overall it was it great shape.

 

Other Comments:

 

Smoking - I am very allergic to smoke and am very sensitive. We did not have any issues with smoking on this cruise. If fact there seemed to be very few smokers which was surprising given the mix of guests. We had no smoke issues on our balcony and maybe only once fairly smelled smoke when sitting out. I do agree with the many comments previously made on this board that Seabourn should adjust their smoking policy. We did go to the Observation lounge for drinks after dinner and if someone was smoking it was noticeable. Also, I would avoid deck 10 penthouse suites since they leave the doors to the lounge open which allows the smell of smoke to fill deck 10 hall and also the smoke does waft down the stairwell to other floors. Despite this, we weren't really bothered much by smoking.

 

Children - booking an early summer Med cruise we had expected there to be children, but there were more kids than we expected. There were also some families with teenagers travelling but they were not a concern. Most of the younger kids were well behaved, however all it takes sometimes is one or two inconsiderate people to cause a problem. We had a Spanish speaking family with 2 young kids 2 or 3 years old. Despite having a nanny and a nurse, the kids were very disruptive in the pool and also in the hallways of the suites. The kids communicated by screaming constantly, I never saw them speak a word other than scream. The mother was oblivious to it and did not care. I complained multiple times and Seabourn sent a letter to their suite. Other guests directly spoke to the mother but she did not care. This was unfortunate. Seabourn really needs to decide what type of guest and environment that they want on their ships.

 

Other Guests - a mix including s lot of Australians, Americans, UK etc; my guess would be it was not the typical Seabourn cruise but there were a lot of regulars with many nights. We met some lovely people. Overall, no complaints about the other guests, other than the insensitive people with the unruly children!

 

Some small things:

Towels - the towels in the suites were regular bath towels. I would have preferred a larger bath sheet and the towels could have been more "fluffy" and softer

 

Soot - there seems to be an issue with soot on the aft of the ship. I saw soot on the railing outside at the Collanade and it also must have been on the chair cushion because I got it on my (white) pants. Soot was also an issue on the deck 5 aft pool deck

 

Outdoor furniture - it's starting to look a bit worn, such as the chairs outside at the Collonade and also outside on the deck 7 aft. Much has been said about the lounge chairs by the pool which I also did not like. The dark brown colour gets very hot in the sun, especially the arms. Seabourn should rethink this.

 

The Restaurant/Hostess - we had 1 issue with seating at the Restaurant. We asked for a table for 2 by the window and were told one was not available but we could share. I declined so they sat us at a table for 4, one table away from a window table which was empty but not cleaned. 10 minutes later the hostess cleaned the window table for 2 (which she could have done for us) and seated a very loud couple next to us that argued ( about nothing) for the entire meal. My partner refused to go back to the Restaurant for the remainder of the cruise so we ate in the Collonade where we had great service.

 

That's it. Apologies for the lengthy review (and any spelling mistakes) but I wanted to share my thoughts on our first Seabourn cruise. Other than a few small issues, we really enjoyed it and will return.

 

Thanks to you all for your help in preparing for this cruise!

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts, especially your compliments about the crew and service.

Glad you enjoyed it.

If you haven't already received your post-cruise questionnaire, please do be sure to let them know about the issues that you experienced.

 

Thanks again. We're back on Sojourn in about 7 weeks, can't wait.

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We are also just off a seabourn odyssey cruise - Athens to Venice .. We had a lot of young families with kids and many 20 something's. Kids had a lot of fun at the deck 8 pool occasionally making it impossible for anyone else to use it ... Which affected us once or twice but more disturbing was seeing them in bars and at shows which seemed inappropriate. You don't expect 6 year olds at a bar. I was told they didn't speak English so wouldn't have gotten the racy humor but still -- should be easy to restrict children from these environments.

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Thank you Sunprince for your review. We were on the same cruise and I agree with most of your points. The crew were by far the best we have had, and the food great. I particularly liked Chef Neil's freshly made salads for lunch.

We also mostly ate outside, the only time we ate in the restaurant, they lost our order!

We thought the entertainment was ordinary, the singers and dancers below average but the band was good.

We didn't get a whiff of cigarette smoke all cruise.

The touchy subject of children. We were well aware of the family you mentioned, but I must say we had a different experience. The kids were in the pool a bit but I didn't find them to be problem. They are kids and you can't expect them to float around doing breaststroke. I did notice the younger one strongly objecting to something, but his mother put an end to that very quickly. We weren't on deck 7 so it may have been a problem in the passage, I don't know. I do think some people can be a little precious forgetting they are kids and their families have paid their money. We thought the kids on board were very well behaved.

The one thing I would love to see the end of - the block party! It is horrible, the crew hate it (not that they would ever say, but you can tell) and on our deck at least, the passengers hate it. We were the only ones who come out - we only did because we didn't want to be the only ones who didn't come out!

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The one thing I would love to see the end of - the block party! It is horrible, the crew hate it (not that they would ever say, but you can tell) and on our deck at least, the passengers hate it. We were the only ones who come out - we only did because we didn't want to be the only ones who didn't come out!

 

Oh, very disappointed to read that the block party is back! It was nowhere to be found on our last two cruises on Sojourn so I assumed it had gone away.

Who was your CD?

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What is a block party please? We sail on Seabourn for the first time in two weeks.

 

Ok, the idea behind a block party is so that you get to meet your suite neighbours.

Everyone is invited to go out into the corridor outside their suite door, the crew come along the corridor with canapés and champagne usually joined by the Captain and some senior officers, and you're supposed to mingle with fellow guests who are on your deck.

 

I find the thought of standing in a corridor to make small talk excruciatingly embarassing, but that's probably my British-ness coming out! :D

 

IMO it's a completely unnecessary concept, the ships are small enough that you get to meet as many of your fellow guests as you wish anyway.

 

There are a few threads about it here on the SB board. Some people enjoy it.

It doesn't happen on every cruise - thank goodness - seems to depend on who the CD is.

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We did have a block party on this cruise. I also am not a big fan of it but we attended, met our neighbours and had fun.

 

I am afraid I have to disagree Joc123 with your assessment that the Spanish kids were well behaved. I do not consider running around the pool deck, jumping in the pool crawling and jumping into the jacuzzi, constantly screaming and often unsupervised to be good behaviour. In the hallways the nanny would "excercize" the kids by letting them run up and down the hallway (constantly screaming). They also parked their stroller outside of the suite in the hallway and often left the kids in the stroller in the hallway (with their suite door open) with the kids screaming, at times up to 30 minutes every morning. This is clearly unacceptable and I felt Seabourn should have proactively dealt with this rather than other passengers needing to bring it to their attention.

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Dear Seabourn:

 

I believe this block party nonsense was an import from Regent. It's silly, superficial and embarrassing - as a sort of a US 1950s Howdy Doody tv show event.

 

Please, Seabourn, ship it back to Regent, postage due, no return address.

 

Thank you.

 

Happy sailing

 

Ps- if anyone wants to learn more about this inanity you can search these threads for a series from early this year.

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We were on the Sojourn cruise before you finishing in Rome. It was fantastic and we loved everything about it (except the block party - it is not our thing so we hid in our room and didn't know when it was safe to come out!!). Chef Neal was amazing, he was everywhere and we loved the market produce he brought on board and the special lunches and dinner in the Colonnade. We also enjoyed the main dining room and the various fun epicurean events on deck. We were lucky too with the sailing - we didn't have one cloud or one ripple on the sea for the whole time - nor did we see any other ships in the lovely ports we visited except in Malta. We had been concerned about the smoking issue prior to cruising but hardly saw anyone smoking for the entire cruise. The few children on board were delightful with no problems. Loved the food, the space on the ship and the fantastic service from the lovely friendly crew. The sun beds are uncomfortable and should have cushions for such a luxury line but that is the only negative in what was a wonderful cruise!

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we loved everything about it (except the block party - it is not our thing so we hid in our room and didn't know when it was safe to come out!!). QUOTE]

 

We used the spy hole in our door for the first time ever to see when the coast was clear!!:):)

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we loved everything about it (except the block party - it is not our thing so we hid in our room and didn't know when it was safe to come out!!). QUOTE]

 

We used the spy hole in our door for the first time ever to see when the coast was clear!!:):)

 

Haha! So did we!

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Oh, very disappointed to read that the block party is back! It was nowhere to be found on our last two cruises on Sojourn so I assumed it had gone away.

Who was your CD?

 

The cruise director is Jan Stearman. I gather she is a fan of the block party and lists it as a Seabourn Signature Event!

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I find this topic amusing, we were on the Sojourn last May, Handre was the CD and we also had a block party (did not have one on our previous two Seabourn cruises). I did not find it in the least distasteful or base, it was a quick and not unpleasant way to meet our next door neighbours. I may do it again, or not, but would certainly not go out of my way to avoid it.

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we loved everything about it (except the block party - it is not our thing so we hid in our room and didn't know when it was safe to come out!!). QUOTE]

 

We used the spy hole in our door for the first time ever to see when the coast was clear!!:):)

 

We did this once on Regent and thought it was beyond silly to stand in a corridor having a glass of sparkling wine and a canapé. Our next and final cruise with them we did the peep hole and put the do not disturb sign out and hunkered down until the tornado passed.

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We are considering a Seabourn cruise. We have been on several Regent cruises, and have been delighted with the block parties. We met several interesting neighbors and meeting them early significantly enhanced our cruise experience.

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I think it's so easy to meet people on board a Seabourn ship, smaller passenger numbers, complimentary beverage outlets, free dining etc, that the block party is not as universally liked as it might be on a larger ship which needs to be broken down into smaller neighbourhoods.

 

Henry :)

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I've found the block parties to be a forced way of meeting others much like the first day of the year in elementary school. I found it far more pleasurable to meet people on tours, in sky bar, or in the club or well pretty much anywhere else.

 

I agree. We went to 2 block parties which were odd and forced. However, we did have the chance to chat with across-the-hall neighbors, sweet people whom we never saw otherwise during the 68-day cruise.

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I've sailed with Jan probably 20 times on the original triplets. I am surprised she has block parties. Geez, just typing those words is difficult as the idea of a block party is, as someone said, like the first day of kindergarten or camp. No thank you. I would never participate in such a juvenile ideas. This is not something Seabourn should do.

 

I have met the most wonderful people and have made friends that I have visited and stay in touch with around the world. I can make these connections on my own, maybe over dinner or a drink at Sky Bar and certainly not in a passageway.

Edited by cruisr
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