clarky

I believe he was the Chef we had on our Soujourn cruise in April. Was not a fan at all! In fact if you look at my review of the cruise you will see my comments on the Chef.

Sorry, I'm hopeless with names. David E and Ashley as CD and Assistant CD. Arki was the bar Manager. Capt. Hamish and his wife, we had a lovely dinner with them and Gayle his wife is so friendly. Assist MD in the main dinning room was Thomas. Both Arki and Thomas were exceptional. We had the best trio of singers in the club room. Sophie and her band. They played more Jazz style music and it was wonderful to go for a drink before dinner and listen to them. I hope they are still on board when you get on. The group singers on this cruise were very social and Sarah and Natalie were always busy getting to know the guests. The entertainment staff were all very excited about arriving in Monte Carlo as the ship was being taken over by Ferrari for the Grand Prix and they were going to be getting a break.

We really enjoyed our cruise. We had previously sailed Singapore to Dubai a couple of years ago but with the added port of Colombo in Sri Lanka we thought we would repeat this portion of the Hong Kong - Dubai cruise. We enjoyed the ports in the Philippines but the highlights for us were Mumbai and Muscat. Even though we had visited Mumbai with seabourn before there was still so much to see in this fascinating port. We booked a private tour with Mumbai magic who we used on our last visit and again were not disappointed. Having visited Muscat before and doing a full day tour we decided to do the Seabourn tour: Dolphin and snorkeling. What a fantastic tour. We saw lots of dolphin and the snorkeling was just magic. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Muscat.

Sojourn: As mentioned we really enjoyed our cruise. The staff as always are really fantastic. David E (CD) and his staff did an excellent job. The BBQ on deck event has been replaced by an Epicurean Tasting on the deck. There is no Galley Lunch anymore. Not that I really missed either to be honest.

Thomas Keller: Our experience of TK started with my husband ordering all three courses from the MD Thomas Keller insert menu. He fell in love and could not praise the food highly enough. Unfortunately this was not to continue. It became hit and miss from then on. One night I ordered the lobster which mentioned a red wine reduction. The lobster was fantastic more like crayfish and so moist and sweet. However the reduction was just awful, it tasted more like soy sauce than red wine and the lobster was swimming in it It over-powered the lobster completely . I did not hear one guest who had enjoyed that offering. Often we would go into the dinning room and some of the TK offerings were not available. At this point we were not disappointed to not have his menu on offer. To give him credit his desserts were amazing and I was never disappointed with them. The chef we had on the Sojourn was not exceptional in fact he was one of my least favourite of our over 200 days on Seabourn. Food often arrived at the table barley warm and for the first time my husband sent dishes back. This happened at many tables not just ours. We rarely saw the chef walking around to speak with guests as we have on previous cruises. We had some great meals, especially in the colonnade but the consistency of good food was just not there on this cruise. TK in the colonnade was a huge disappointment for us. More than 70% of the guests on board were not American so his offerings in the colonnade did not evoke any childhood memories for us (which I believe was the theme of this menu). This would not have been a problem had the food been amazing, unfortunately it was not. Having no side plates and having to pass around huge shared serving dishes was awkward. The food was similar to food I would serve my family for a casual get together not what I expect of Seabourrn. Seabourn are committed to TK and I understand they want to offer a more modern fresh menu so I hope they get this right. Did all I have mentioned about the food ruin our cruise? No, it did not. I was just a bit disappointed in the Tk offerings and the inconsistency of the MD food. I had a long conversation with the Food and Beverage Manager on board and he assured me that Seabourn is listening to guests thoughts on TK and admitted there had been some teething problems with the introduction of TK. Some of the TK dishes took hours of preparation for the chefs and not all of them have had the TK training so it was a work in progress. I remain optimistic about the TK venture with Seabourn as I believe Seabourn want to get this right.

The ship it self was in excellent condition. We had some great lecturers and some good guests entertainers. We had an arts and crafts program on offer which I usually attend however I was busy playing mahjong so could not attend. I did see the display of works produced by guests and they were amazing. We really enjoyed the itinerary and would highly recommend it to those people thinking of this itinerary.

Here is the current complimentary wine list available on the Sojourn

Wines.pdf

So far I have tried the Upper East Side (which I enjoyed it was rather sweet but the fresh rosemary gave it an added savory flavour). I also tried the Cider House Rules (this I really enjoyed). The cinnamon sticks in the drink gave it a spicy flavour which I enjoyed. These cocktails are also served in special glassware which also gives a special feeling to the drinks. It is taking some time to get the cocktails as the bartenders become accustomed to the new menu. So far so good. The others in our group tried the gin and homemade tonic which at first glance looks rather orange. Arki (the bar manager) explained that the colour is removed in the tonic from the cans. My husband tried the Thyme and again but did not really care for it. I'm sure we will find our favourites on the menu and order them again and again.

We are currently on the Sojourn and we have just received the new cocktail menu for the Club and Observation Bars so I thought I would share them with you. We are slowly going through the menu. We are on until Dubai so will give you some feedback once we have tried them. At the moment we have tried about two each and I liked them both.

Club01.pdf

Club02.pdf

Observation01.pdf

Observation02.pdf

Premium.pdf

I filled in the guest form online and mentioned that I ate GF. I had no problems. They bought me rice crackers with my cheese plate each evening (I didn't even have to ask). As I have an intolerance and am not celiac it was easy to make selections that worked for me. After eating the little rolls they made in R2 and finding out they were made with Tapioca flour I did some research and have an amazing recipe that I have made numerous times. So easy. I do understand that people who are celiac need to be very vigilant and would suggest you meet with the chef on board. Seabourn really do go out of their way to accommodate guests who have food allergies.

Yes, I was. My husband did the BMW tour and really enjoyed it.

Yes, we did use the butlers for pressing some clothing and also polishing my husbands shoes. They really go out of their way to help in any way they can. Another perk of staying in a suite was the champagne we were offered. On our first day we went to the bar and asked for a glass of champagne and were disappointed to be given sparkling Riesling. On mentioning this to our butler he made sure that both bars knew who we were and to offer us Jacquart champagne or another brand (forget the name of that one as I preferred the Jacquart). If you like a glass of champagne as I do then make sure you ask for French Champagne and not the sparkling wine. We really loved the suite and loved the large floor to ceiling window in the bedroom which gave you great views.

For those of you thinking of taking a Uiworld river cruise here is my review of our Amsterdam - Budapest review.

http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=508525

If you have any questions about the ship I would be happy to answer them

As you have received no replies I thought I would give you my opinion. We visited Lake Inle and it was well worth it. We loved the markets, the cat monestry and the fishermen. You may never go back to Myanmar again and it would be a shame to miss this wonderful place. We did this independently so can not comment on the cost v the experience but in my opinion it was well worth the time and effort to see all this place has to offer. We also experienced the floating vegetable islands and the handcraft industries in that area. Loved our time there.

We also experienced the Hostess on our recent Seabourn cruise. I can not say I'm a fan of this new experience. To me being asked my cabin number every evening made me feel like there was now some tier system in place and you were seated at premium table according to your cabin allocation. This is probably not the case but the whole system did not feel as personal as it use to. Our group had an issue with our table one evening and her handling of the situation was poor.

We took Pandaw river cruises. Unbelievable experience. Replicas of the original steam boats that sailed the Irrawaddy. Very boutique. We cruise with Seabourn and have booked river cruises with Uniworld so we like luxury and the Pandaw delivers this. Check them out as an option from the larger cruise companies.

Thank you for sharing your Seabourn experience with us. It is wonderful to hear all the positives. We were on the Odessey for 35 days November/December last year and second everything you have shared. Martin is one of the best chefs we have experienced on Seabourn and most of the crew you mentioned were also on our cruise and are exceptional. Love the Odessey!! Can't wait to get back on board.

On our last Barcelona to Cape Town cruise a couple bought bikes in Barcelona and took them on the ship. When we arrived in Cape Town they had arranged to donate the bikes to a charity. They had the best time getting to places some of us tour guests did not. On another Seabourn cruise we did a couple took fold up bikes on board. I think they arranged all this before hand. The bikes we waiting for the guests at every port next to the ship. Great idea and now that I have seen it work I would highly recommend it.

Hi Jim and Millie,

Here is the e-mail address of my driver. Just let him know when you arriving on Seabourn at the port and he will be there to pick you up. I would suggest a traditional dance performance. Then on to Ubud to view the rice paddies and temples. You could do Tanah lot temple on the way back to the ship depending on the time. Ketut can be very flexible and if you let him know your interests he can take you to more temples or art studios in Ubud. I like the dance he took us to as it is under an hour and that is perfect to get to see the Balinese dance without getting overloaded and bored. The dance performance starts at 10.00 a.m.

ketut Yudi <ketutyudibali@yahoo.com>

Hope this helps. Just let him know that Ibu Karen recommended him.

No they do not get sharks! In fact the seal have no predators which is why there are so many!

Walvis Bay Namibia: This port was a highlight for us. I had booked a private 4x4 tour into the desert and then onto Sandwich harbour. What a wonderful trip. After going up and down amazing dunes we reached beautiful Sandwich Harbour. We stopped to look at the ruby red sand and spot animals in the desert. We then stopped for Champagne and oysters (local from Walvis Bay) in the middles of the dunes, talk about decadent. As we were overnight at this port I booked a kayak tour to see the seasl and the many birds including two types of flamingo. If you ever think about doing this cruise with Seabourn and are able to kayak then this is the tour to do. We were kayaking amoungst thousands of young seals. They played with our paddles and played chase with our kayaks as well as giving us jumping displays over the front and rear of our kayaks. This was also a private tour I had arranged and well worth the $50.00 USD. We left the ship at 7.45 a.m. and were back by 12.30 as the ship was leaving at 3.00 p.m. Great port and a lot to see and do. Guests who took the Seabourn tours also said they had a fantastic time and friends who could not kayak took a private tour in a large catamaran to see the seals. They really enjoyed this tour and one of the seals comes on board the boat to get his feed of fish!

I have just had a face to face with immigration in the Grand Salon and overheard a lady saying that they are expecting 200 new passengers to board in Cape Town and that 20 children will be amoung them. Not sure if this is just a rumour or a fact but I hope it is just a rumour for the sake of the guests boarding. We have had one child on board this cruise and it has caused some contention amoungst the guests. I do know that it is school holidays in South Africa but can not imagine the ship handling 20 children.

As always the food and service remains 1st class.

Bom Bom Island experience: This is the first time Seabourn has been to Bom Bom Island and taking so many supplies off the ship is logistically challenging for the crew. What a great day we had. We have had caviar in the surf in Ko Khood in Thailand but this surpassed even that. The island itself is so tropical. The white sand is surrounded by grass and palm trees so there is plenty of shade. There were in fact two beaches, one near the swimming pool of the resort. The water was very clear and a perfect temperature. My husband and I took one of the paddle boats out along with a kyak. They also had the banana boat operational and many passengers enjoyed this. My husband also went water skiing and enjoyed himself. The whole event was a huge success.

Hello to all who are reading my posts. Chef Neal will be getting off the ship in March. The Ready Steady Cook game that he hosted was very good fun. There were three teams consisting of three people. Two guest teams and one crew team. Chef Neal was very entertaining as he not so sneakily replaced the pepper in the crews pepper shaker with cornflakes and there salt shaker contained sugar. I did feel sorry for the judges who did have to taste the dishes that were presented to them. The Captain had a very entertaining comment "I did not need a menu as you have put every ingredient on your plate". One of the guest teams won and every one had a entertaining time. We find Chef Neal a great mix of personable and an excellent chef. Very impressed with him.

We had the Liar's club last night as the singer they had brought on board still has no voice. We were lucky enough to be the winning team! The pair of bears are happily sitting on our bed thanks to our stewardess Debbie.

The internet seams a little more reliable but I'm still not able to upload my photos for you to see which is very frustrating!

I'm glad we had an answer for the gym as I have been up to the gym and have not used any of those chest machines so did not have an answer and was going to find out today.

We are all looking forward to Bom Bom Island as it will be a caviar in the surf experience. Seabourn is taking over a resort on the island and is having a bbq along with the toys from the beach. I love to kayak so hopefully those will be out for guests use. Again I will take photos and try and post them here. If not I will give you a link so you can view all the photos of our cruise.

Today we had one of the best lectures or Conversations as they are referred to in the Herald. It was given by Richard Stone an Artist. He is in fact the royal portrait artist. This was his first in his series of talks he will be giving on our journey to Cape Town. One of his talks will be about his time painting the portrait of Nelson Mandela. Another will be about his time with coco the gorilla who communicates in sign language. I'm really looking forward to his talks. He along with Philip Hurst have given the best talks on board.

Today we have been invited to an Australian party which I believe the other 142 Australians have been invited to. As mentioned in my previous posts the food on board has been of the highest standard that we have experienced on board Seabourn. The fish has been particularly excellent and the creativity of the chef has been fantastic. Tomorrow they have scheduled a Ready Steady Cooking competition with 6 of the guests being the competitors.

My husband who was very concerned about filling in the 6 days at sea wakes up to a full schedule every day!

All the crew are doing a wonderful job of serving us with their usual humour and excellent attitudes.

Just a quick update on the internet. We have a new satellite connection and things have improved. I think so many people complained that they had to do something.

I will try again tomorrow to post the photos I have been collecting.

I'm still here but the internet on board was totally unusable yesterday. It has been slow previously but yesterday it was unusable. I have given up trying to upload the photos I have taken to post. There have been many complaints from passengers who have paid the $400.00 internet package and have no internet. I'm posting this at 6.00 a.m. which is the only time the internet is usable. I'm told by my husband that there is not enough bandwidth for the passenger usage on board which is why I'm sending this post so early in the morning.

The two port at Cape Verde Island were actually interesting if you took a tour or got out in a taxi. The first port we took a ship tour and the scenery was magical. The second port we took a taxi to the old town which was interesting but nothing to write home about. For small islands they were interesting and the weather was very nice.

The food and entertainment is still of a very high standard. I'm sorry this is a short post with no pictures but I'm afraid if I don't post it now it may never go.

Will report back on the state of the internet which is a big deal for a lot of people on the ship who must keep be able to keep in touch with their office for business reasons. It has become a hot topic on the ship.

Sorry about the pictures of the wine list and menu being too small. I struggled to get the size right. I had to involve my husband the Tech Nerd in the family and even he found it difficult. I will try again.

We have a day at sea today and the sun is out so I imagine the pool deck will be busy. Just to keep you informed we received the guest list today and the make up of passengers is:

Argentina 2

Austria 3

Australia 72

Belgium 2

Canada 27

Denmark 1

France 2

Germany 41

Greece 2

Ireland 1

Italy 1

Japan 2

Netherlands 4

New Zealand 2

Norway 6

Spain 1Sweden 8

Switzerland 13

United Kingdom 77

United States 142.

I have spoken with Handre and he is leaving the ship in February and Sophie (who is now assistant CD) will be taking over. Handre will be back on board the Odyssey in May.

The food has been exceptional other than the too salty soups in the Colonnade. The fish I had today in the Colonnade was cooked to perfection.

Today I had arranged a private tour for the 6 of us traveling together. Tangier was a great surprize. The day was lovely and sunny and 66f which made walking through the Kazba a great experience. We also took a drive to the lighthouse and had a fantastic view of the old town of Tangier. The medina was a delight with winding narrow street full of bakeries, tailors, silk thread stores and beautiful door and tiles decorating the front of the small houses. After Casablanca my expectations were low and after visiting Tangier I can say we had a delightful day. I would highly recommend the tour company I used and the tour at $35 Euro it was good value for money.

I know that a lots of people on these boards (like me) like to know what complimentary wines are on offer. I have had a copy of that list delivered to our suite and include a picture of it here. I also have a picture of the menu for tonight.