Sojourn WC since HKG

All opinions are mine and subject to change....

Boarding was smooth and quick, punctuated by greetings from Antonio.

Sojourn appears to be well maintained and very clean.

Crew began addressing us by name from boarding onward. However do they this! They seem happy, energetic, proficient and very interested in your being pleased.

In contrast, the CDs has not made any effort to make contact nor learn our names. One asst is markedly uninvolved. The other, the vivacious Sophie, is very personable as well as an accomplished chanteuse.

The cast & guest performers have been good. We find the pianist/observation to be similar to Muzak. We do not enjoy The Club music. Tennessee waltz & Chatanooga are successful in keeping most off of the dance floor. The singer, while a pleasant person, has a threads voice . This may keep us from returning to Seabourn.

There have been two guest lecturers, an active bridge program, well attended team trivia and a few other day programs.

Worry not, the 'bag' and chocolates..and everything else, seems to be present

More to follow.

I'm posting via iPad which sometimes has a mind of its own..please excuse.

The officers have been somewhat visible and those concerned w. F&B, very engaging.

Our room stewardess is excellent as well as a very nice person.

We have not heard people gripping..but we are not taking polls.

Now on to the forever controversial cuisine. Tastes and expectations vary. The product quality seems as good as usual. There is variety...at the same time there is a lot of redundancy & prose that doesn't fit the dish. Much is rather bland and some how unexciting. It is amazing, and not in a good way, that while we sailed from Hong Kong to Thailand, the Colonnade themes included German, Spanish, Mediterranian but no Asian. The pastas are like glue, cooked hours earlier/no steaming...and no garlic. There are few,if any, Italian style entrees on the menu.

There are 4 mains each evening, but sometime 1 or 2 of these has been pulled from the classiques..eg fillet mignon. 2 desserts of the evening. They need a cheese trolley and a greater variety of cheeses. Wines are simple. Restaurant service is excellent. Recently we have had a surfeit of lobster and foie gras.

Paula, we agree with you about the entertainment. We have found the Assistant CD Sophie to be very friendly and very much enjoyed her performance a couple of evenings ago.

We also agree about the Observation pianist. I have spent very little time in the Club because of the entertainment there. This has meant that our options are very limited in the evening after dinner.

I've gone into more detail about the food on my own thread so won't repeat it here, but again we do seem to agree on this, on the menu selections.

Glad to read the total agreement re entertainment. If you want to see how weak the female vocalist with the band is, catch her while performing on same stage as the other singers. The whole band concept is a bad idea. Five people put together for a temp gig on a ship. The lack of chemistry is obvious.

This is one thing Seabourn has gotten wrong on the O ships from the beginning. On the triplets the duos in the Club were always good. On the O ships they have these LOUD bands which inhibit conversation and do not inspire dancing. So what's the point. It certainly is not the talent which would bring you in to listen to them perform!

I agree w Nigella's feeling of limited evening options. Incidentally, this is the same lounge singer as on last year's WC. Yes, no chemistry evident w. The band but a terrific saxophonist.

I'm posting via iPad which sometimes has a mind of its own..please excuse.

The officers have been somewhat visible and those concerned w. F&B, very engaging.

Our room stewardess is excellent as well as a very nice person.

We have not heard people gripping..but we are not taking polls.

Now on to the forever controversial cuisine. Tastes and expectations vary. The product quality seems as good as usual. There is variety...at the same time there is a lot of redundancy & prose that doesn't fit the dish. Much is rather bland and some how unexciting. It is amazing, and not in a good way, that while we sailed from Hong Kong to Thailand, the Colonnade themes included German, Spanish, Mediterranian but no Asian. The pastas are like glue, cooked hours earlier/no steaming...and no garlic. There are few,if any, Italian style entrees on the menu.

There are 4 mains each evening, but sometime 1 or 2 of these has been pulled from the classiques..eg fillet mignon. 2 desserts of the evening. They need a cheese trolley and a greater variety of cheeses. Wines are simple. Restaurant service is excellent. Recently we have had a surfeit of lobster and foie gras.

Paula: We had many of the same cuisine experiences on the 68 days from LA to Hong Kong. One senior staff in the Colonnade explained that the recipes are prepared by management in Seattle and the cooks are required to follow them. That explains some of the inauthentic ethnic cuisine. IMHO, it may be just as well that you have not yet experienced the Asian selections, since we thought them to be a big disappointment, especially with so many cooks on board from those very same countries who apparently were not allowed to show off what they do best. Go for the beef and veal. Veal veal veal.

 

Now on to the forever controversial cuisine. Tastes and expectations vary. The product quality seems as good as usual. There is variety...at the same time there is a lot of redundancy & prose that doesn't fit the dish. Much is rather bland and some how unexciting. It is amazing, and not in a good way, that while we sailed from Hong Kong to Thailand, the Colonnade themes included German, Spanish, Mediterranian but no Asian. The pastas are like glue, cooked hours earlier/no steaming...and no garlic. There are few,if any, Italian style entrees on the menu.

There are 4 mains each evening, but sometime 1 or 2 of these has been pulled from the classiques..eg fillet mignon. 2 desserts of the evening. They need a cheese trolley and a greater variety of cheeses. Wines are simple. Restaurant service is excellent. Recently we have had a surfeit of lobster and foie gras.

We have just returned from the Quest, Manaus to Fort Lauderdale and agree completely with Paula re food. The menu descriptions always sounded yummy -- the actuality was not. In fact we took time to discuss this with the chef, but didn't really get any good answers. Inconsistency reigned -- one time the suckling pig had flabby, mushy skin, another time it was crisp and delicious. Soft boiled eggs ranged from perfect, to overcooked, to runny but cold. Ethnic food had little to no seasoning.

For the first time I came back without having gained weight!

Another reason to miss the triplets where a discussion with the chef or maitre d' usually resulted in a very satisfactory result and there seemed to be more flexibility in the kitchen.

Wripro,

Surely you can have a word with Seabourn's management, those people who sold off the triplets and also manage the current product, to talk about the "good old days". Maybe a consulting gig?

Happy sailing!

Markham,

I don't need to talk to SB management about missing the good old days of the triplets. I have plenty of fellow passengers who feel the same.

Then it's corporate that needs the consultants. There is lots of good product on board. In addition to a certain amount of blandness, some food is served tepid...particularly soups. I'm truly puzzled by the redundancy in some menus..e.g. White asparagus in the salad, as a soup and as the vegetable w. The fish. Breakfast items seem better prepared in the restaurant so it's not only the recipes.

When all is said and done, my clothes continue to shrink!

A most positive comment for all crew service. The deck crew is out doing themselves. W the constant offerings of chilled towels, glass cleAners, water spritzes....iced frapucchinos, melon smoothies begin early, then offerings of different flavor daiquiris,etc. And, of course, constant offerings of ice water.

I hope Seabourn's head office will take the recent food criticism seriously. If they don't, they will lose a significant amount of repeat business to a number of other cruise lines (i.e. Crystal, Regent, etc.).

When I was a kiddie, I was in Boarding School a lot - and while the food was pretty tough to chew, it usually had flavor to it. I was on the Sojourn from LA to Sydney: 34 days: ordinary food too easy to chew and flavour left behind somewhere. I would have swapped most dishes for a serving of 1950's sausages/mash.

Anyway, I got to know you didn’t go to the Sojourn dining room to ‘have your taste-bud’s tickled’: it was just to accompany your beautifully dressed wife to a gathering of other beautifully got-up people (and in the main they really were!) And to get something to help keep you alive for the next day etc. - and to have a good chat, if I could; and to drink a lot of wine to forget about what was in my mouth...

And I sometimes recalled in between bites how in the 1860's my great-grandfather must have fared as a migrant on a creaking, leaning, wet and windy sailing ship for 50 days with no airconditioning and eating whatever: and that made it easier.

And it made it easier to simply stop going to the main Dining Room of an evening, or whenever really.

So, there’s your answer.

Add us to the naysayers. In our 68 days onboard we found her food offerings (except a few in the Patio Grill) without much taste, bland, repetitive choices, leftovers disguised under new names. The food on the SOJOURN was not nearly as good as that as on mass market ships and not a spread as wide as what they offer on other ships for only a few dollars a day. Only one quick for instance...for a little money on a cruise onboard the too big for us WESTERDAM, you get a choice of 11 kinds of eggs benedict at breakfast; aboard the SOJOURN only one; sometimes two. Reversed food priorities, I think. ...,and let us not even mentioned her pasta. EH HIEU (Latin for "OY VEY!"

We are boarding Sojourn in Venice at the end of the WC and have noted all the unsatisfactory food comments. Has food improved? Who will be the cruise director and Captain after the WC ends?

Paula and Nigella: I think the Observation Bar pianist/singer does a grand job of what she should be doing: ie., fostering a convivial atmosphere before Dinner and a relaxed mood for after Dinner. (Mind you, it did take me a while to come to that conclusion.)

Look how many people are in the Bar before Dinner! It's packed.

While she's singing, you can have a chat, and can hear what people are saying to you, and don't have to shout your Order to the waiter (and can even discuss it with him/her,).

And she sings nice, pleasing songs. (Who needs Billy Joel there or even, h'forbid, Elton John pounding away and singing meaningfully and loudly?)

She also dresses well and looks nice when you walk in of an evening, and is pleasant to everyone she talks to - and is very social on the Pool Bar deck of a nice day's Lunch Time.

In short, I'd be delighted if she was there on my next Cruise.

I am glad for you that you enjoyed her performances. Different folks and strokes. My comments refer only to the entertainment, not the person.

I found it difficult to differentiate between her playing and recorded music During our month on board the Observation was busy before dinner although there always were seats available. I think that many folks enjoy the sunsets as well as the soft background music. After dinner, it was close to barren. For example, we had a run of 3 sea days. Decided to go for an after show night cap...under ten folks. Went instead to The Club, where there were fewer than 20. The ship was very, very quiet at night to the point where I may even have enjoyed Billy Joel!

It will be difficult for SB to attract an audience that enjoys any nightlife. Similarly the music in The Club seemed to keep the dance floor rather bare.

Perhaps the paucity of night folks was influenced in part by this being a WC, but the same entertainers await the Med crowd.

Willem,

Your comments made me laugh. Indeed, the thinly disguised [or sometimes not at all] 'leftovers' at the Patio Grill had people commenting 'oh, this must not have sold last night'.

I had several conversations with various levels of staff about the pasta. They finally offered to boil mine from scratch and told me to ask for some extra garlic. Can you believe that they then brought out the sautéed garlic as an extra and put it on top of the dish? I don't think that this is going to change.

Lunch in the MDR was fairly well attended. It's menu is essentially the same as that being offered upstairs, except plated. It would be nice to see other choices in the MDR since if you didn't want German cuisine upstairs............

When I was a kiddie, I was in Boarding School a lot - and while the food was pretty tough to chew, it usually had flavor to it. I was on the Sojourn from LA to Sydney: 34 days: ordinary food too easy to chew and flavour left behind somewhere. I would have swapped most dishes for a serving of 1950's sausages/mash.

 

Anyway, I got to know you didn’t go to the Sojourn dining room to ‘have your taste-bud’s tickled’: it was just to accompany your beautifully dressed wife to a gathering of other beautifully got-up people (and in the main they really were!) And to get something to help keep you alive for the next day etc. - and to have a good chat, if I could; and to drink a lot of wine to forget about what was in my mouth...

 

And I sometimes recalled in between bites how in the 1860's my great-grandfather must have fared as a migrant on a creaking, leaning, wet and windy sailing ship for 50 days with no airconditioning and eating whatever: and that made it easier.

 

And it made it easier to simply stop going to the main Dining Room of an evening, or whenever really.

 

So, there’s your answer.

Alipius: I find your comparison to boarding school to be quite charming. However I can also read it as the most negative comment yet on the Main Dining Room food! I would hope that a luxury cruise line could provide cuisine quality that is better than that of a boarding school.

Are we comparing apples to apples? Even boarding schools don't generally get stuck with multiple sea days in a row.

Emperor Norton,

Boarding schools and sea days. I can't follow this. But if you are referring to my head count in the lounges after the show ended [10:30pm], I chose a run of sea days so that tired from tours or getting ready for tours was not an issue.

Re: leftovers. This is the first time on SB that I recall having the experience of recognizing frank leftovers. Also the first time that I can recall one item [e g asparagus] appearing multiple places on the same menu. It seems that corporate dictates the recipes, but do they also dictate the menu of the day?

Corporate headquarters should read the blogs from other luxury ships /competitors . I love SB and hope to continue traveling with them. I feel that they will have to improve cuisine, lounge chairs and entertainment to stay competitive. Just me. Paula

Emperor Norton,

 

Boarding schools and sea days. I can't follow this. But if you are referring to my head count in the lounges after the show ended [10:30pm], I chose a run of sea days so that tired from tours or getting ready for tours was not an issue.

 

Re: leftovers. This is the first time on SB that I recall having the experience of recognizing frank leftovers. Also the first time that I can recall one item [e g asparagus] appearing multiple places on the same menu. It seems that corporate dictates the recipes, but do they also dictate the menu of the day?

 

Corporate headquarters should read the blogs from other luxury ships /competitors . I love SB and hope to continue traveling with them. I feel that they will have to improve cuisine, lounge chairs and entertainment to stay competitive. Just me. Paula

The sea days comment was for the poster comparing boarding school fare to Seabourn (Alipius iirc). At least the boarding school has the option of buying in fresh every day ;)

I have already expressed my views about some issues w. Sojourn's cuisine. Mostly they are minor or personal [e.g. pastas] Trust me, Sojourn's cuisine should not be referred to in the same breath as boarding school/college fare.

With its pheasant, quail, duck, beef, souffles, etc. it exceeds or is equivalent to many an upscale land based restaurant. ..and the service is great.

I find this thread disturbing. Last year we went on Silverseas and we thought the food was awful, that our meals on Celebrity were far superior for a fraction of the per diem. Now we are planning to go on Seabourn and the food sounds no better than Silverseas. Maybe we would be better off returning to Celebrity and pay extra for their specialty restaurants!