Sojourn - January 2018

It appears that Seabourn is sort of going back to doing a world cruise - just without any benefits. In January 2018, you can embark on a 152 day cruise on the Sojourn entitled "Great Oceans Explorations."

This is indeed an amazing itinerary. Love the ease of a start in Miami and an end in Vancouver. Lots of unusual ports. One gets to see a lot of the world! But no info about extra amenities, parties, freebies, special stuff for the world cruisers. Maybe there are none, that day is gone?

Extra benefits- as in the first Odyssey world cruise with free premium airfare,

free luggage forwarding, free special events on shore and a big onboard credit?

Nope. Nothing like that for a loooong time. Seabourn has moved on and up. So no need to go there. This Sojourn cruise will be very popular anyway. And Seabourn is launching Ovation a month into this Sojourn cruise. I doubt that they will be concerned about filling that maiden voyage even though many of their "regulars" will be on Sojourn.

Happy and healthy sailing!

No world cruises it's just a grand voyage split into segments,take as much or as little as you want.

Extra benefits- as in the first Odyssey world cruise with free premium airfare, free luggage forwarding, free special events on shore and a big onboard credit?

 

Nope. Nothing like that for a loooong time. Seabourn has moved on and up. So no need to go there. This Sojourn cruise will be very popular anyway. And Seabourn is launching Ovation a month into this Sojourn cruise. I doubt that they will be concerned about filling that maiden voyage even though many of their "regulars" will be on Sojourn.

 

Happy and healthy sailing![/quote

 

Markham - it has not been a looong time for the benefits - the 2014 Sojourn WC included (1) pre cruise hotel stay in the Wilshire, (2) first class airfare to LAX, (3) pre cruise gala dinner (we dined with Rick Meadows), (4) limo transport from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to the port, (5) four world cruise events (6) four complimentary shore excursions (7) one event included cocktails on the USS Missouri in Honolulu, (8) business class airfare from Venice to the US with limo service to the airport, (9) free laundry, (10) free internet, (11) free limo from US airport to home, (12) luggage shipping to/from the ship via FEDEX (13) $5,000 in shipboard credits.

 

As Sgt Friday said - facts, just the facts.

Thanks for your observations on what happened in 2014.

The fact is that that there were no such benefits in 2015 or 2016 and that I did benefit from them when I took the Odyssey's first world cruise. That's a loooong time - if you are waiting for similar benefits in 2017 or 2018. That's what tv24 was asking about- as in will Seabourn offer them.

I hope that explains why I commented in the first place.

Happy and healthy sailing!

Thanks, Markham. Well, yes, I was posing a question, not a super-serious one since I don't think we are really ready to commit to such a long journey. But I love to dream and think of all the possibilities. We were on 2 segments of the 2014 WC on the Sojourn and were impressed with all of the amenities the World Cruisers received. At the same time, the WC bunch were quite upset that Seabourn had announced that the WC concept was being changed, and lovely amenities for long, long multi-segment cruises would be very limited in the future. This was a very active subject of conversation and consternation among the very loyal Seabourn WC customers. Interesting to me as an observer and a Seabourn newbie. So it does indeed appear that the old time era of the Seabourn WC with amenities is over. Still the January 2018 itinerary for the Sojourn looks lovely and I will continue to dream.

I agree. The Sojourn itinerary starting in MIA in Jan., 2018 looks very good!

So we are going to break the bank having already booked the Dec., 2017 Antarctica cruise on Quest. We will end the cruise in Buenos Aires, one of our favourite cities, and join Sojourn 10 days later in Jan., 2018 for the 55 days to Singapore. And since it's a stark contrast in weather we will ship a suitcase home with those thermals etc before leaving Quest.

By all means continue to dream, as you say. And if you don't choose to go on this Sojourn cruise maybe we will see you on another one in the not too distant future?!

Happy and healthy sailing!

Well, Markham, you have some splendid travel plans indeed! You will have a terrific time, and since, I can tell, your happy place is on Seabourn, this will be a great time for you.

We are still at at time in our lives when land-based travel works best for us. But we like to combine it with crossings to avoid lots of air travel, so we will have 4 transatlantic crossings in 2016, one on the Azamara Journey, and 3 on the Queen Mary 2. That works for us. We had a month in Prague and a month in Berlin this past spring, and this fall we are headed to Paris (where my heart lives), plus Malta and Sicily.

We are so open to doing a crossing on Seabourn sometime and monitor the itineraries.

And I dream of a very long cruise, or world cruise, someday, simply because the sea experience is so extraordinary. Tonight over dinner we asked ourselves which cruise line we would prefer to take such a long cruise on: Cunard, Crystal, Oceania, Holland America...and we chose Seabourn. Love the stateroom & television entertainment, love Seabourn Square, love the little private niches found around the ship, love the open seating in the restaurants, love all of the beverage services, love the conviviality with the fellow passengers. So someday, when we are ready, we will hopefully break the bank and take a long journey on a Seabourn ship.

Meanwhile, maybe we will find a crossing that works, and find you, Markham, on board. And that would be lovely.

As you say, Happy Sailing!

Tv24,

Yes, Seabourn is our line of choice- as it is for many discerning cruisers. We have a QM2 crossing soon and cannot avoid comparing the 2 types of service even though we know the products are entirely different. For example, while the Grill Class has generally larger staterooms, the fixed dining and surcharges for so many things e.g. bottled water, are distracting. But then a crossing is a crossing and QM2 with its traditions and facilities is the only way to do the North Atlantic. It's got to be Seabourn for a southerly crossing with the informal and generous hospitality that so appeals!

Yes, I hope we continue to "see each other" on this board and one day meet up on a Seabourn or perhaps another ship. And thank you for your support with the smoking policy business. We - and that includes all of us - succeeded in bringing the changes we sought for so long.

Happy and healthy sailing!

Markham,

Thanks for your message. Yes, I agree that the QM2 and other Cunard ships are a very different product than Seabourn. I like the 2 different lines for different reasons. You know there are ways to get around the set dining times on Cunard, although you are still stuck with a set dining table. Service on Seabourn is terrific, while there are always a few things off in Cunard's service. And our experience in embarkations on Cunard has been very bad, usually ruining the first day of the cruise. Cunard has to get its act together in that area. Still, north Atlantic crossings work for us as we are often headed to Europe or back to the US, and thus we'll continue to sail the QM2. Someday a crossing on Seabourn!

Happy and healthy sailing to you!