Currently on Sojourn, very large group on board

I am currently on the Sojourn and we have a large group of around 120 - 140 (actual number has been difficult to determine), on board. I won't advise the company involved, but all the group are here as part of a reward scheme for sales of a particular product, and are travelling for free. It has caused major distress to the rest of the guests and the first two days of the cruise were absolutely horrendous. Bad language, drunken behaviour, people "bombing" into the pool etc. To the absolute credit of the crew, steps were taken to control the worst of the behaviour and they have been reasonably effective, but I am sad to say that the atmosphere on board is just not the Seabourn I love.

Is the group English or from Australia?

Very sorry that the experience is not too good.

Kind regards,

Tony

I am so sorry to hear this Kirby and sorry that your cruise was negatively impacted. These numbers suggest that a third of the passengers are affiliated/ in the group. I strongly feel that cruise lines have an obligation to inform other pax when 1/3 of their cruise is subscribed like this. This has been a topic previously with various lines and various [eg bridge] groups. It never seems to go well....and often the cruise you paid for is taken over by the group.

I hope that they are departing in BCN where we are boarding.

I am so sorry to hear this Kirby and sorry that your cruise was negatively impacted. These numbers suggest that a third of the passengers are affiliated/ in the group. I strongly feel that cruise lines have an obligation to inform other pax when 1/3 of their cruise is subscribed like this. This has been a topic previously with various lines and various [eg bridge] groups. It never seems to go well....and often the cruise you paid for is taken over by the group.

I hope that they are departing in BCN where we are boarding.

I agree 100%. We have had this same issue on SeaDream and had a much lesser product than that advertised due to the practice of selling "partial charters". Sort of like being part pregnant.:eek::D

That is really rotten luck - and I like to think pretty unusual with Seabourn. It really is a very large group of people. I would encourage you and fellow passengers to let Head Office know how you feel. I am also surprised that they felt they would not be able to fill the ship with regular passengers on such a nice cruise, but obviously it makes life easier for the office though much more difficult for the onboard staff.

Has anybody else reading this had a similar problem? In all our many days on Seabourn we have never encountered any real 'groups', the most which was a bit noticeable a party of about 8 recently who were a bit noisy though not unpleasant.

Thanks for the report! Sorry to here that but glad to see Seabourn is taking steps to tone it down.

Not sure why loutish behaviour is confined to England or Australia??.

On my last crystal cruise in Europe, we were outnumbered by a large group of Venezuelan insurance salespeople, who had revolting habits and commandeered the staff constantly, ruining our experience. So this is not confined to a particular country?!

However, it was most entertaining watching the outfits for day and evening! Around the pool it was fishnet dresses for the ladies, very hefty ones at that. And wife beaters for the men were de rigeur!! Oh, and the polyester evening attire was a treat.

Years ago I was on a triple back to back Legend Med cruise. The last leg had a huge group of insurance salesmen onboard. The whole "feel" of the cruise was so very unlike the first 2 legs. It was obvious that they had never sailed SB nor would they ever again.

Years ago I was on a triple back to back Legend Med cruise. The last leg had a huge group of insurance salesmen onboard. The whole "feel" of the cruise was so very unlike the first 2 legs. It was obvious that they had never sailed SB nor would they ever again.

Absolutely, the group i mentioned were certainly not your typical SB clientele!!

Cruising Kirby, I am very sorry that you are having to cope with this ugly, unacceptable and potentially dangerous situation. I feel for you, the other PAYING guests and the crew as well.

Now to try to salvage the rest of your holiday, i recommend sending a discreet note to the Guest Relations manager asking to have complimentary access to the Serene area of the Spa due to this terrible inconvenience.

Once home, I would send a detailed letter to corporate and negociate a deeply discounted future cruise, that is if you are willing to en trust your precious vacation time to Seabourn again.

Good luck and try to enjoy yourselves regardless.

I must admit I would like to know where your large group hails from - but feel it could be from anywhere in the world.

If I were onboard I would feel that I should have been informed in advance, and maybe have had a reduction in the cost of my cruise, and/or the option to opt out, but I suppose this is too much to ask? I am still very surprised to hear that Seabourn would allow such a large group on board,and disappointed.

I must admit I would like to know where your large group hails from - but feel it could be from anywhere in the world.

 

If I were onboard I would feel that I should have been informed in advance, and maybe have had a reduction in the cost of my cruise, and/or the option to opt out, but I suppose this is too much to ask? I am still very surprised to hear that Seabourn would allow such a large group on board,and disappointed.

I second that

Outrageous situation, sounds like greed on the part of SB, this kind of situation never works.

Seabourn should either set aside a couple of weeks a year that companies can hire the ship for large groups etc or simply not accept them full stop.

Apparently prior to our recent Odyssey cruise an online gambling company took the whole of the ship and caused chaos by drinking SB out of champagne etc.

This alienates far too many paying passengers and regulars to be worth it surely??

I recently read a post on the Regent board where there was a large group of Mary Kay sales people from China on a Baltics cruise. This was also a reward type corporate cruise for them. Needless to say some of the "cultural differences" were not appreciated by regular Regent passengers. So it looks like this can happen on any of the luxury cruise lines.

Yes, it has happened on all of the luxury lines. No one is safe!!!!

Yes, it has happened on all of the luxury lines. No one is safe!!!!

You are right. I guess the only sure way to not notice is to sail Carnival. That way you could not tell the difference.:eek::D

 

Once home, I would send a detailed letter to corporate and negociate a deeply discounted future cruise, that is if you are willing to en trust your precious vacation time to Seabourn again.

My opinion is that the time to begin the compensation process is today and have it finalized prior to disembarkation. If you have a good travel agent, get them involved if you are not gaining traction on board. The TA can deal with their SB rep and often cut through the BS you are likely to encounter waiting for Seattle to react. Once you're off the ship.....well, you are out of sight.

you are right. I guess the only sure way to not notice is to sail carnival. That way you could not tell the difference.:eek::d

lol.

I recently read a post on the Regent board where there was a large group of Mary Kay sales people from China on a Baltics cruise. This was also a reward type corporate cruise for them. Needless to say some of the "cultural differences" were not appreciated by regular Regent passengers. So it looks like this can happen on any of the luxury cruise lines.

Yikes! A heavy traveler friend of mine was on that sailing. Alas, she is a corporate exec with Mary Kay and one of the folks over Asia for their company. I'm sure she'd be interested in feedback on how they were disruptive so that she can work to prevent that in the future. :(

Large charter groups on any line almost always disrupt the ambiance and dynamics of a cruise. It's partly the "herd mentality" and partly the fact that people simply don't know how to comport themselves in such an environment. I guess Seabourn has the sanction of telling the group/company they will no longer be welcome because of their poor behaviour and attitude but that doesn't help the "legit" passengers who aren't there to party on their employer's dollar.

We've only been severely impacted once (not SB) when a large group effectively took over the whole ship including many public lounges, bars, etc for endless private functions. Luckily they weren't rowdy or disruptive or the whole trip would have been intolerable. I guess all we can do is ask beforehand if any groups are booked. The question then is, would they tell us?

We have been cruising on Seabourn for over 14 years and have only experienced a large group once and this was on the little ship. As you can imagine on the smaller ships it really did impact other guests. The groups constant demands on the crew left other passengers feeling unattended to and the noise they made left other passengers with few places to find peace and quiet. I wish I had the foresight to complain directly to the Hotel Manager at the time and then later follow this up with a letter to head office. Seabourn is entitled to book groups on the cruises it offers however it has an obligation to all guests to offer the experience promised. Perhaps if more people complained and asked for compensation Seabourn would think twice about accepting groups that were part of an incentive reward.

Kirby and the other Sojourn guests are not getting the experience that they expected because of the large group that is on board at the moment. I also know that the crew suffer when they have large demanding or poorly behaved groups on board. No-one wants to be a complainer but if you don't say anything nothing changes. I know that if I was in this situation now I would make a complaint.

We were on the Spirit last fall when a group of Mexicans (40ish people) were on for one leg and they did their best to take over the club by plugging in their iPhone into the music system and Suzanne Gayle our CD put a stop to it right away once she was made aware. It is tougher on a small ship when this happens but we refused to back down and we found the feel that week to be very different but fortunately it was the middle leg of a 3 leg cruise for us. If we had only been on for that one week as Seabourn newbies we would probably not return to the line due to that.

Does not hurt to ask your TA the week before final payment to check to see if any affinity groups are booked. We have done this because, as others have said, it really does affect the quality of the Seabourn experience. Had several Maui vacations at a five star resort ruined by these groups. One group even took over the room service kitchen.

I recently read a post on the Regent board where there was a large group of Mary Kay sales people from China on a Baltics cruise. This was also a reward type corporate cruise for them. Needless to say some of the "cultural differences" were not appreciated by regular Regent passengers. So it looks like this can happen on any of the luxury cruise lines.

As a long time Radisson person let me say that whatever the Mary Kay people did paled in comparison to the damage caused by TAs from that part of the world. That was a once in probably forever thing Regent did.

Large charter groups on any line almost always disrupt the ambiance and dynamics of a cruise. It's partly the "herd mentality" and partly the fact that people simply don't know how to comport themselves in such an environment. I guess Seabourn has the sanction of telling the group/company they will no longer be welcome because of their poor behaviour and attitude but that doesn't help the "legit" passengers who aren't there to party on their employer's dollar.

 

We've only been severely impacted once (not SB) when a large group effectively took over the whole ship including many public lounges, bars, etc for endless private functions. Luckily they weren't rowdy or disruptive or the whole trip would have been intolerable. I guess all we can do is ask beforehand if any groups are booked. The question then is, would they tell us?

How is a group that according to you effectively took over the whole ship including lounges/bars for private functions NOT disruptive?