texanaust

Giving the crew a break is not an excuse for not opening the Restaurant for both breakfast and lunch. Seabourn did just fine for many years with the Restaurant open for three meals a day. Then they dropped to two and now just one. We were on SB for five weeks this summer and the Restaurant was not open for breakfast or lunch a single day. Contrast this to Silversea who have their Atlantide restaurant open three meals a day seven days a week. A 6-star cruise experience should have a table service venue with full menus for three meals a day. Seabourn does not and their hamburger, hot dog and fish of the day doesn't cut it. Closing the Restaurant was financial decision. The crew are not sleeping below decks or off shopping on their 'break.' Seabourn just hires less crew, but works them just as hard-if you don't believe me just ask them.

We booked and used our week this past summer. Use it or lose it!

You will be rare soon...

I think he figured that out...about 5 weeks ago.

Quite unbelievable, but our chef on Encore has similarly chosen lower quality items as the Chef's specials. All I can suggest is to special order whatever you want. Maine lobster with drawn butter is only 24 hours notice away.

Also just boarded. Haven’t seen Mr. Luxury-assuming he/she/they/them is luxuriating like us. As of today crew no longer need to wear masks outside. Ross is an animal as always.

What is Silver Moon doing from the 15th-19th of July? Is it just berthed in Copenhagen?

We’ve been denied this on the last two cruises. The best they will allow is the one person using the two massages non-consecutively.

Love TK! It’s great that not everyone does, otherwise it would be even busier. No testing between cruises-it was not even mentioned.

Day 14- Portovenere, Italy If you had to pick a nice final port for this cruise, then Portovenere isn't too bad! Not quite as small and posh as Portofino, but nevertheless a charming medieval village situated on the Italian Riviera. We headed over via tender around 9am and pretty much had the place to ourselves for the first hour. There is a great church on the point, very much like the one used in the Mamma Mia movie and they were actually setting up for a wedding today! The views from this point are quite amazing and if we had remembered to bring our bathers, then we could have had a dip where the poet Byron used to swim. Oh well, next time! Afterwards we took a stroll through the village and had we been hungry, sampled some of the lovely Italian delicacies on offer. Last night was the Chef’s meal. It was excellent and I’ve attached photos. Afterwards we did attend the show ‘Rock Tonight.’ It was no ‘Rock of Ages,’ but was a good attempt at trying to introduce something a little newer. I think the energy of a ‘rock' show needs to be maintained throughout but this production didn’t quite achieve that. Maybe Belinda can reinvent this show in the future, because it definitely has potential. This afternoon we did get a sort of marina day. Of course it was too rough to do anything exciting, but SB did get the zodiacs out and gave people a short ride nearby. The failure to plan for this event was its downfall. If anyone had looked at the forecast for this time of year, they would know that the wind in the Med almost always picks up in the afternoon and with that so do the waves. Had the marina been done this morning, all would have been fine. Unfortunately when you combine this will mass Saturday afternoonboating traffic, it just was not safe. Well that is it for this cruise. I’m not going to post the final morning as we all know what departure day is like. Apart from the initial issues, we’ve had a great time and I can honestly say that Seabourn, at least on Sojourn, has not diminished from what it was pre-covid. If anyone has any questions, I’d be happy to answer them, but otherwise see you cruising!

Day 13-Bastia, Corsica, France We sailed into Bastia slightly late today due to the ferries having priority at the port. The ship was cleared around 9:30amand I spent the morning wandering around the city. The city is very diverse in the sense that it has leafy promenades with lots of Parisian style cafes, but at the same time there are areas close by that are very dilapidated-some of the buildings don’t look like they have seen renovation works in several hundred years. The port itself is covered with colourful ferries that carry french holiday makers in their camper-vans to and from the mainland. Back onboard, the Restaurant was very quiet last night so service was excellent. We skipped the show in favour of having a nightcap and listening to the pianist up in the Observation lounge. This morning we had another fantastic breakfast with Chef Julius from the Patio. The Lobster Benedict that he makes for us is amazing. Its not really a proper Benedict, nor is it on the menu, so ask for a Julius if you want to try one. Tonight is a new (to us) show called ‘Rock Tonight.’ It features old (I mean really old😉) modern music from the 70’s to the 90’s. Oh, oh, no…I was just reading the write up and it mentions Elton John. We can only hope that Crocodile Rock is not one of the tunes taking us on a ‘fabulous musical journey'. This song may have to join the banned Memories and Don’t Cry for Me Argentina list!

Kristoff is not onboard right now. He had to leave temporarily. Alberto from TK seems to be acting in his place.

Ok, I admit Van Halen is no longer seriously modern, but I’ve been trying to get SB to play this stuff for 21 years. It was at least somewhat modern back in 2001!😉 In regards to the Trio…On the Sojourn, they cannot play anything modern. If it is modern (like a U2 song the other night), then they tone it down so much it becomes elevator music.

Day 12- Saint Tropez, France If you are looking for the lifestyles of the rich and famous, then look no further. Sojourn arrived at 8am and joined flotilla of gleaming mega-yachts unable to get a berth in the small harbour. I went ashore early to avoid the crowds and was pleasantly surprised to stroll through a pastel coloured village just waking up for the day. The crystal clear waters of the Med beckoned me and I took a refreshing swim, not far from all the expensive boutiques and sidewalk cafes. The narrow streets were very photogenic and my holiday snap (above) almost felt like it came out of a french fashion magazine. After a lovely morning, I decided to return to the ship avoiding the worst of the crowds and heat. Last night we had another of the Let’s Dance party on deck. I wish that I had brought my camera as Monte Carlo at night made for an amazing backdrop to the dancing and music. For the first time ever, Seabourn played some seriously modern music! Van Halen, Lady Gaga, and Keisha were among the songs sung!!!! They even did Despacito for the Spanish/LatAm crowd! Wow, they are finally moving the music into the 21st century! According to CD-Matt, they had planned to modernize the music for this event and even Josh was part of the process in selecting the songs. Matt said it was the future and I concur! Everyone out on deck seemed to enjoy the music, so well done to Seabourn for stepping it up a notch! We did not have a marina day today and I can see why. There are boats all over the place going in every direction imaginable-no way would the safety officer approve! But, according to the HD, on the last day in Portovenere, they will be doing water sports weather permitting. Tonight is another caviar sail away followed by a violin virtuoso at 9:45pm.

Yes, if CC didn’t force me to use an iPhone (and I wasn’t using a dodgy Italian SIM card), we wouldn’t have the extra 4-5 photos. Oh well, and yes we are definitely vegan.😂

Day 11-Monte Carlo, Monaco Well, what a day and hot too! After walking over 13km, we managed to see all the main attractions from the Roseraie Princess Grace gardens across to the Japanese Gardens. However, after all that, we couldn’t find the entrance to the casino! Oh well, we’re not big gamblers. Now I think I mentioned in a previous post the yachts I saw in Majorca…well they pale in comparison to what is on offer here in Monte Carlo. If you own a 100 footer in Monaco, then you’re poor. Some of the bigger ones rival Sojourn in size and there are many here today of that caliber. Sojourn in fact had to reverse into the harbor this morning and only just squeezed in. It was quite a tricky maneuver that needed all the bow and stern thrusters that the ship has to avoid the huge mega yacht parked right next to us. Unsurprisingly, almost everyone including a lot of the crew managed some time ashore at this port. I am happy to report that we did go to the Restaurant again last night and the food and service were much improved. I hope everyone else onboard had the same experience. It was all hands on deck and everyone was working including the Hotel Director, FB Director, Bar Manager-literally everyone except the CEO. We also went to the new Tim Rice show-Circle of my Life. It was good, but honestly I think I’m over all these songs. Seabourn had singers doing ‘Don’t Cry for me Argentina’ on our first cruise back in late 2001, not to mention other lines doing this song incessantly ever since. Tonight will be another Let’s Dance party on the outdoor decks which should be enjoyable for everyone considering our departure is not until 11pm. (Last photo was taken in the dining room. Several dolphins joined us for dinner.)

The relaunch crew are still here. The difference is that the ship’s passenger complement doubled overnight (embarked in Barcelona). According to management there are a few crew (not many) missing due to visa delays, no (or very little) Covid onboard, but some crew are not up to speed yet. The FB director said that was not an excuse and that the passengers deserved better for the price we have all paid. So the management are definitely aware that they have a problem, and have implemented a plan to deal with it.

Day 10-La Ciotat, France Apparently our port was changed at the last minute. The Captain mentioned the reason on the tannoy, but it was unintelligible from where we were standing. La Ciotat seems like a nice place, but we’re staying onboard today, trying to zig when everybody else zags. The cruise has changed dramatically from the first week. Last night we had a terrible dinner at the Restaurant. The staff literally could not cope and it took an hour to receive our first course of caviar (and this was with us arriving when the restaurant opened). No bread was ever offered and we had to flag the sommelier down to get some wine. We did not attend the Restaurant the night before, but according to the Asst. Maitre’d it was ‘Armageddon’ at 8:30pm and our waiter confirmed that it was similar to the Spartan movie ‘300.’ I do not know what the problem is, but it appears Covid is partly responsible along with a very green crew that cannot handle a full ship. Maybe Josh and his entourage are taking up staff too, who knows. It certainly was not 6-star service and hopefully this is not the new normal when the ship is full. Tonight is the Premiere of the new Tim Rice show which we hope to attend assuming we can get seats. We plan to give the Restaurant a miss as it is formal night (normally our favorite night). If they cannot cope currently, I can only imagine how bad it will be tonight. We will try to squeeze into TK again or go somewhere else.

Day 9-Mahon, Menorca, Spain We awoke early to exercise and enjoy the sail in to Mahon at 7am. Mahon, Menorca is the largest natural harbour in the Med and as such is quite picturesque. It took us about 30 minutes to sail up the harbour to our berth in the city center. Mahon is very pretty with its Georgian houses, but requires a steep ascent to get to the main town. There does appear to be an elevator, but we did not use it. Once in the center, there was plenty of shopping, tapas bars and even a supermarket if there was anything you had forgot from home. The supermarket is actually located in part of the cathedral along with some other small goods stores, a few butchers and some souvenir shops. Today we had massages before going off to explore the town. The onboard massages are very good, but way overpriced. $179 for 50mins plus gratuity. There was plenty of availability, so I suspect they are not flat out at those prices. The jewelry boutique appears to be another white elephant. Does anyone purchase enough jewels to make that store a going concern? This afternoon in the 4th of July sail away celebration at 4:45pm. The pool deck has been adorned with the red, white and blue. More on that tomorrow. Tonight we are back at the Restaurant with a few special orders as the menu is the same as last week. Tonight is also a repeat of the comedian, so who knows if we’ll make it or not…(didn’t attend the first time). One item that I don’t think I've mentioned so far is how the Seabourn team attempts to learn everyone’s name. It has been stellar on this cruise. Everyone knows our name (well okay, maybe not the laundry team) and has pretty much since day 2.

Day 8-Barcelona, Spain Just a short entry today as we are having a ‘sea day’ to catch up on some work back at home. Sojourn arrived at 7am and the majority of passengers disembarked leaving almost the entire ship empty by 10am. The rumors of Josh and Belinda arriving are correct, but no Sir Tim Rice on this voyage. I have a feeling that SB will be doing something special for July 4th as one of the singers is supposed to sing the national anthem. Also St. Tropez has no shore excursions scheduled leading me to believe (hopefully) that a marina day will be scheduled for this stop. The weather today is a nice 25C with low humidity, so wonderful for relaxing outside. I had a refreshing dip in the pool for the first time after exercising-WOW was that cold! It was very pleasant to have the deck to myself before the full complement of passengers arrive later today. Yesterday’s Epicurean event was enjoyable as we sailed away from Mallorca along with the crew 'thank you' assembly. The Restaurant was lightly attended, but the food was excellent, especially the escargot. Last night we skipped the comedian and relaxed in the Observation Bar for a few drinks after dinner, so a fairly early night for us. Tonight appears to be mostly a repeat of last Sunday. We are going to TK again, the Restaurant menu is the same and the entertainment in the theatre is the same as last week. Mrs Texanaust ran into the guitar duo yesterday and said ‘Oh, you must be the new entertainers.’ To which they replied, ‘Well actually we’ve been on all week and done two shows, where have you been!’ So on that note, we decided we’d better attend tonight.

As word has it Josh and his family will be joining tomorrow for week 2 along with Belinda King for the launch of the new Tim Rice show.

Day 7-Palma de Mallorca, Spain In hindsight, I should have taken the shuttle to the city center. But instead, I decided to explore the area close to the ship which consists of a massive marina and rows of tacky souvenir shops. It was hot and there was little shade so after 5kms I was done. I did shop around for a luxury super yacht, but unfortunately none were within my allocated budget. There was a Ferrari parked out front of one that definitely could give the Sojourn a run for its money though. Anyway it was fun to do a bit of window shopping, but I’ll have to be content with my Chaparral 240 at home… I’ve been wanting to try Earth & Ocean, but the menu that I like has not appeared yet, so it was back to the Restaurant last night. Once again a very nice menu with an unusual appetizer gnocchi dish that looks very similar to the TB goats cheese soufflé. Afterwards we attended the show which was good, but the ‘latest award winning Musical Theatre productions’ actually meant ones that were made in the 90’s. Not exactly recent by my standards. I think the latest number was from Mamma Mia which has been on stage for quite some time. The Club musicians have been good but verrrrry mellow at least in the early evening. When U2 (I still haven’t found what I’m looking for) is turned into elevator music, it brings a tear to my eye. But seriously, I’ll be checking myself into the old age facility before classic rock is allowed to be played by Seabourn other than as Muzak. Yesterday was also quite eventful with a massive fire on the hillside behind Palamos. It appeared to start around lunch time while we were eating in the Colonnade. By 4pm, multiple water-bombing seaplanes were scooping up seawater right in front of Sojourn. Several times they flew low over the ship, their turbine engines at max power as they climbed out. When we departed, the Captain announced that the seaplanes would be avoiding the area for a while. I guess the pilots didn’t get the message, because the Canadair CL-415’s continued scooping right in front of the pilot boat and the Sojourn! Tonight we have the Epicurean deck event with the officers being held at 6pm and a comedian at 9:45pm. Suite Update: Seabourn did reach out to us again and we received a nice gesture in regards to the aforementioned issues. All in all an excellent end to the first week.

Day 6-Palamos, Spain From a distance, Palamos and its seafront looks very much like a line of 70’s era apartment blocks. And while that may be true, this small city on the Costa Blanca is actually quite beautiful. Palamos has some lovely tree lined streets, a very nice waterfront promenade and they even have park benches. Most of the busier areas in Europe have done away with benches or any type of non-paid seating, so it was refreshing to sit down after my walk and do some people watching. The Sojourn docked very close to town and although there was a shuttle bus, if you want some exercise it was only 10 minutes to the center. Also off to the right side of the pier/breakwater is a nice little path to a lighthouse. It only takes five minutes and has some good views. Last night was back to TK and it did not disappoint. Mrs. Texanaust said if pork was on the menu to get it. It was and I did. Actually we shared the awesome pork chop you see in the photos with a gluten-free lobster thermidor. Both were fantastic. According to Waldo our server, this particular pork can be served as sashimi (not at TK). I don’t know if I believe him or what the FDA/Food Standards Aus would have to say, but if I were to eat a piece of raw pork, this would probably be the one. We also attended the Club party and the Dance party. About half the ship are returning guests with several in the 600+ day category. Our next door neighbor Dr. B was the winner. Out of curiosity, does anyone know if you are the top person (# of days) and you embark for an extended period, do you keep getting gifts every week???? Dr B might need to get an extra bag if that is the case! The dancing and music started at 9:45pm. It was not heavily attended, but there was still a good group of passengers having fun. Many of the families with teens came to this event. It was quite cool last night, so plenty of people were wrapped up in blankets. Food Review to date: I really cannot fault the food quality onboard. The bakery items are so much better than pre-covid. The salads are better, the fresh produce is better and there appears to be more variety. Photos for Nolatravelgirl from Colonnade lunch attached. Tomas the FB director is everywhere making sure things are perfect. A Seabourn shining star for sure. Tonight is a show called Stage & Screen featuring ‘well known songs from the latest award winning Musical Theatre productions and hit movies.’ I’ve included a few extra photos today including last night’s party. Enjoy.

Day 5-Sete, France I strolled off the ship after the meeting with the hotel director and had a good 4km walk around town. Without researching, I can say that seafood is one of the main industries here. Tons of fishing trawlers all over this city. I visited a nice market with lots of cheese, small goods and of course lots of fresh fish, moules, oysters and more. Sete is a nice port stop and nicer still that Seabourn docks right in the city with only a short walk to all the action. Last night we had our Pomme Moscovich and Weiner Schnitzel. Both excellent and the veal so good that I had about three bites before I thought to take a photo, so you will just have to trust me. We also went to the 9:45 show which featured the singers and dancers. The singing was good, the two dancers excellent but the music was kind of blah for my liking. The show really did not have a theme, so maybe that was the issue… Tonight we have a few events. There is the Club reception, another dinner at TK and then at 9:45 is the dance party by the pool. I suspect this will be popular, especially if the weather holds up. However it is currently sprinkling with rain, so we will see. Room/Covid update: Well I met with the Hotel Director and GSM this morning. They were pleasant and apologised for ‘dropping the ball’ when it came to the cleanliness of our suite. In regards to Covid, they admitted the family were quarantined the first part of their cruise and that once they were negative, the staff disinfected the suite while they were still in the room. Apparently Seabourn follows the CDC guidelines which is to air out the suite for four hours before the next person. There was no offer of compensation beyond the apology. I think there have been plenty of comments of how this could have been handled better and what would have been appropriate, so I won’t comment further. It was not Seabourn’s finest hour and the response by management was half-hearted. Finally, for those of you thinking the ‘Covid’ suite needs to be torched, left alone for two weeks and then reconstructed using engineers in hazmat suits…well that is simply not happening. The reality is that SB is trying to make money and that means turning over the suites as quickly as possible and sailing at maximum capacity. The whole incident is rather unfortunate, but we plan to continue enjoying our time onboard.

Bingo. Will report back tomorrow.