Just returned from 10 day Sojourn cruise

Jan Stearman has the best personality of a true, gracious lady that I've ever met!! Sweet, thoughtful, extremely talented (fabulous voice) and very professional ~~Seabourn is most fortunate Jan is with "their team."

Martita

Totally agree, Martita. What you said earlier, that she must have been overtired/not well or something similar has to be the case. This is a shame for both her, her reputation, and the passengers who were disappointed on their cruise.

Jan was very nice and professional on our cruise. She got to know us at trivia and made a point of chatting with us whenever she saw us and she was always out and about. I did not care fore the quote of the day, but to each his own. We had great weather and I imagine that a cold rainy cruise would effect anyone's view. However, perhaps Seabourn should have some contingent indoor activities in the hopper for those occasions, but I don't think that is solely the cruise director's responsibility.

Maybe Jan (whom I don't know) and all cruise directors run out of steam sooner or later and then do/take longer/don't get up the head of steam as some people expect. I don't see myself pulling off that job for more than a week. Now that I think about it I am amazed they perform as well as they do for as long as they do!

Cruise directors are like children - better seen than heard.

We found Jan a lovely lady, she was very visible around the ship and her nature seemed genuine with her passengers. I do remember her singing during a Rock the Boat party and I thought she was a great singer who really knew how to put over a number. Being fair to the OP I fully understand when you say that you found a CD just not for you, I remember a CD called Bobby Broughton who I am sure is a pleasant enough chap if you get to know him, but to us just had a style and demeanour that we personally did not engage with on any level.........

It is a very difficult job and trying to be all things to everyone is impossible.

There is a cruise director on Seabourn ships who I think looks just like "Howdy Doody" and I have thought......useless! I know, I could do a better job. :confused: (even better, just not have a CD )

As we say, "each to his own."

Happy week and great sailings,

Martita

We've been on 30+ cruises on all different lines, including many on SB. There is only one set of CD's that I can still remember by name because they were so positively stellar: it was Jan S as CD with assistants David E and Marla. My goodness, they were all just the best! Luckily I've run into Jan and her husband a few times since that initial experience about 10-12 years, one of the reasons I keep coming back to SB. I did venture astray and tried Sea Dream this past summer to the Baltics - and what a mistake. No match for SB... not even close!

stines

I agree with you 110% ~Jan, David E and Marla were an outstanding team! Sooo much fun, "Name that Tune," & especially "Liars Club." ~Captain "Leif" is a grrreat Liar (he & Anvor, his adorable wife, are doing well and happy in Norway) As I never joined in noon "Trivia" I know they were all excellent directors. We all miss J, D, & M., Seabourns entertainer "triplets." *sidenote...my daughter and her husband have triplet sons, 25yrs old now....and Will, 23 ~we had 4 baby boys in diapers at the same time ~:D Of course, "Honey," as they call me, was one of 4 nursemaids.

Happy sailings

Martita

I was on the cruise in between Paula and CLOU on the Sojourn in August and I completely agree with everything they've said.

Normally we book a 21-28 day trip each year but this was a last minute 10 day cruise. Thankfully.

Never thought I'd say I was happy disembarking a Seabourn ship but I was on this trip. Not going into detail but it was possibly the worst SB cruise I've ever been on. Same as Paula we cancelled a future cruise too.

"Never thought I'd say I was happy disembarking a Seabourn ship but I was on this trip. Not going into detail but it was possibly the worst SB cruise I've ever been on. Same as Paula we cancelled a future cruise too."

Wow. That is pretty damning.

Which line are you going to use now, Poppy?

I read that first post. Not brilliant but if I had taken six good cruises with SB that one experience would not write them off for me.

Tony

Over the last 12 months or so there seem to have been more adverse comments made about the Sojourn than the other members of the fleet - that's not to say there have been good reports as well but compared to other fleet members Sojourn seems to stand out - can anyone explain why this should be?

I feel it might be helpful (to Seabourn, who I am sure read these comments) for those who thought these Sojourn cruises were so poor - maybe not needing to mention specific names etc. if it was the staff personnel, but to me and I think others it is a bit baffling that quite a few people felt there were real problems - not just the occasional person who automatically hates everything, which we do come across now and then. We have done quite a few trips on Sojourn, although not this year, and always had a really good time.

I feel it might be helpful (to Seabourn, who I am sure read these comments) for those who thought these Sojourn cruises were so poor - maybe not needing to mention specific names etc. if it was the staff personnel, but to me and I think others it is a bit baffling that quite a few people felt there were real problems - not just the occasional person who automatically hates everything, which we do come across now and then. We have done quite a few trips on Sojourn, although not this year, and always had a really good time.

I have never had a problem on Sojourn apart from a small food issue which was quickly resolved.

We read occasionally on these boards about a problem which a couple of people post but of course we do not here from the other 446 that might have had a wonderful trip.

I would guess that there would be someone on every ship that does have a problem whilst the majority have a great time.

It's life and there is no guarantee that trying another line will give better results.

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I feel it might be helpful (to Seabourn, who I am sure read these comments) for those who thought these Sojourn cruises were so poor - maybe not needing to mention specific names etc. if it was the staff personnel, but to me and I think others it is a bit baffling that quite a few people felt there were real problems - not just the occasional person who automatically hates everything, which we do come across now and then. We have done quite a few trips on Sojourn, although not this year, and always had a really good time.

I doubt that anyone at SB spends time reading the cruise critic boards. Without specifics (who,what,when,where) SB management can not take action.

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I want to point out again, as I mentioned when I started this thread, that my comments sounded more negative than intended. That's because most of the things I like about Seabourn, the facilities, the service, etc. for the most part were at the level I expected. and so I did not point anything out that was just good SOP for Seabourn. And, we did put down a deposit for our next cruise.

linslady,

I did not find fault with the crew but with the dining room closure for lunch and with the very weak entertainment, especially in The Club...as well as an excess of nanny announcements. Perhaps the latter is a CD issue but SB allegedly has a no announcement policy. The other 2 issues are SB/ company issues. I can't fully explain how or why it left such a downer impression.

Poppy, without asking for personnel details, could you help by identifying arenas where you fell things fell short for you. Paula

I have experienced two Seabourn cruises in which had they been my first, they would have been my last. My most recent cruise was on the Sojourn and did not fall into this "first, last" category but I have had better cruises.

I think that when we cruise often on Seabourn, we begin to compare Seabourn to itself rather than to other cruise lines. I've seen the ambience change on back to back cruises sometimes due to the staff (as they are continously moving around) and also due to the passengers from the first cruise to the second. The weather also plays a huge role.

There can also be a negative factor in the beginning of the cruise that can cause us to nit-pick a little bit more than usual. First impressions are SO important even for those who have been sailing with Seabourn over the years.

I don't believe there is a problem on the Sojourn in particular (other than the fact that they closed the MDR at lunch - yes I am a broken record). I just think that little situations can influence our cruise experience for the better or worse and that is true for all of the Seabourn ships as well as other cruise lines.

We disembarked yesterday from the Quest. We thought it was a god cruise and loved the ship. The food was excellent but we found the service to be slow and occasionally poor in that they would forget to bring food, coffee, etc. We did mention this to staff and they definitely made an effort to improve things.