***Live from the Sojourn 14 Day Grand Med***

[MARIANH]

Well done Seabourntraveller.:D You deserve a round ( or two) of applause.

 

Enjoy your new accommodation and sweet ( undisturbed) dreams.

[Emperor Norton]

I just received a response by email from Seabourn from Richard Meadows Office detailing below. We will be enjoying our Complimentary Upgrade as of late tonight and our additional $400.00 OBC. Thank you Seabourn for doing the right thing!

 

Dear Mr. Seabourtraveller,

 

 

Thank you for your email addressed to Mr. John Delaney. Mr. Delaney has reviewed your comments and asked me to respond on his behalf. We sincerely apologize for our delayed response, and we greatly thank you for your patience.

 

 

First and foremost, we are sorry to read about your dissatisfaction regarding the referral program terms and conditions. We acknowledge your feedback and we truly appreciate that you have taken the time to share your thoughts for us. Comments are important to us and are definitely considered in the ongoing evaluation of our loyalty program. As you now are aware, our referral onboard credit is non-combinable with other promotional onboard credits. When your agency’s promotional credit was applied the higher of the two was kept on the booking because we were not able to combine them. Though we do not have immediate plans for any changes, we have made all appropriate senior management aware for their information and consideration in future planning.

 

As a special one-time exception to our policy due to the disappointments you have detailed, we would like to extend the $400.00 Onboard Credit. Please be advised we asked the Guest Services Manager to ensure this is applied against your shipboard account.

 

 

Additionally, we were sorry to learn about the noise issues you have been experiencing in your suite. We truly regret any discomfort, and we have also asked the Guest Services Manager to provide the alternative suite to you as compliments of Seabourn.

 

 

We thank you for contacting us. Also, we thank you for choosing Seabourn and recommending us to your friends and family, and we do hope you enjoy the remainder of your time on board.

 

Warm regards,

 

Ms. Sydney Leonor

Senior Advisor

Office of the President

 

It's nice the anchor will no longer be your morning wakeup call. Do you think management would've done the same for a first timer on the line?

[Seabourntraveller]

Enjoy - haven't tried it but it does sound delicious!

 

We too loved the informality of the Patio Grill dining on the Quest, perfect for those lazy nights when you simply can't be bothered to change into anything too grand for dinner, don't want room service, but want to "dine out".

 

12 euros for a Capp - that's ridiculous and we thought Capri was expensive!

 

Good luck with JD and let us know.

 

30K views and rising! (that's got to be worth an FOC upgrade).

 

Come on you shy "Lurkers" make yourselves known! :D

 

fairbourne;...read the outcome from contacting Mr. Delaney's Office got the $400.00 OBC and moved to that V6 cabin...:)

[Seabourntraveller]

I think it is a fait accompli that the days of complimentary upgrades are over. SB is now offering upsells instead. I know that those of us who have sailed with SB for a long time and are used to booking a guarantee with the expectation of an upgrade are disappointed but that's the way it is now. And frankly, it shouldn't have anything to do with the number of days sailed. Otherwise the person who has sailed 100 days will lose out to the one who has sailed 200 days and so forth. Then nobody is happy. jmo.

 

Maybe not Wripro, as read my outcome with contacting senior brass at Seabourn HQ yesterday and thier follow up with me today regaridng the complimentary Suite move to a CAT V6. We can always hope...it's still FREE!

[Seabourntraveller]

Thank you for your quick response about Portofino. Time to do some research on what we may want to do in Portovenere instead.

 

Ever thought of approaching Seabourn to be a guest speaker - you definitely have the ability to share the wealth of knowledge you've been able to gain with others. Besides, from capturing the number of views it is obvious people are interested in what you have to say - I know I am!

 

I'll post Seabourn's tours for tomorrow in Portovenere and also any additional port information they may have as a hand out at Guest Services.

Maybe I should approach Seabourn at some point about guest lecturing on the high seas. Sure would help the wallet for my cruising budget.

[Seabourntraveller]

Hi,

I have also been lurking on your blog. Love all the info you are sharing. I must say not as exciting as your last cruise---sounds as if there are too many "normal" people on this trip!

Wish we could blast the boards and get you an upgraded suite but I guess it just ain't happening.

Maybe "Neo" with his great influence and love of Seabourn could contact the Boss and do something.

Anyway, just wishing you a continuing great cruise and keep your eyes open for scandal and intrigue.

I have to live vicariously thru your posting until August when I will be on board again!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

MillieMeter; you are right there seems to be too many "normal" people onboard or at least the people I have hit. Remember on Friday Apr 20th we start another 7 day cruise with more paxs embarking in Civitavecchia...so still hope for scandal, intrigue and shananigans on the high seas still....stay tuned!:D

[Seabourntraveller]

It's nice the anchor will no longer be your morning wakeup call. Do you think management would've done the same for a first timer on the line?

 

We will be opening our balcony door for fresh air as a wake up call and not the anchor in Portovenere tomorrow morning....thank god! Beware of cabin 413, it has the trusters and the anchor right in it's path...a one two punch!

 

I am hoping the answer would be yes, that Management would be consistent and respond the same way to a first time Seabourn cruiser in the hopes of retaining them.

[fairbourne]

MarianH - We Scots, you are quite right are rather partial to a mac cheese pie and I thought we were the only ones daft enough to do this! Until watching the "Hairy Bikers" on the telly ce soir, and finding out that Italians from just outside Venice - cant remember the place name - also have a long tradition of a pasta pie, made with tube pasta, bechemel sauce with a slow cooked meat sauce and then encased in a very rich pastry - mama Mia - talk about a million calories a mouthful. For our non-UK friends, the "Hairy Bikers" are a couple of beard wearing "chefs" who travel around on their motorbikes cooking wherever they go. Currently on British TV with a series called " Bakation " where they are travelling through Europe, baking!

 

As for the other matter, thank goodness we will no longer be subject to it!

 

 

Well done ST - great result!I am quite sure that SB are recognising the great PR job you are doing.

 

Was telling the DH of your €12 cappuccino and expecting a reaction of "that's a bit steep ", but he just reminded me that a recent G n T pour moi was a mere £9 at Gleneagles, and I quickly reminded him "I'm worth it"! ;):D

[Seabourntraveller]

Update on this Evening;

 

Since the weather has not been cooperating this evening at all and with high winds we decided not to go to the Patio Grill but instead ordered Room Service and watched "Rango"...what a hoot this movie is....a must see IMHO.

 

We started off with a Caviar set up for 2 (asked for extra caviar) then the Minestrone soup which was quite interesting, and the Filet Mignon from the Menu off the Restaurant.

For Dessert we had an Apple Tartin with Vanilla Ice Cream which was very nice and a Triple Chocolate Torte which was divine. Marianh, we did order and kill a bottle of Serego Alighieri and could have had two without being a glouton...that's how good it was and I would recommend you order some on the Quest if they have it....an excellent choice that complimented the steaks.

 

Our sea conditions tonight are not bad at all but then again we are practically crawling at 9 knots per hour here tonight. Will be calling it an early night as there isn't much happening onboard. Might head out to Seabourn Square for a late night cup of Cocoa.

 

Btw, for those interested, I got more information as to why Portofino was canceled. Turns out as I stated before, the Italian Government passed a new law in late March of this year because of the Costa Concordia incident that whereby any marine park/santuary that is within 2 nautical miles of anchoring is no longer permitted in ANY port in Italy. This could also affect other ports that have a designated marine park/santuary status.

 

More to come later tonight onboard the Sojourn making our way ever so slowly towards Portovenere, Italy.

[MARIANH]

Update on this Evening;

 

. Marianh, we did order and kill a bottle of Serego Alighieri and could have had two without being a glouton...that's how good it was and I would recommend you order some on the Quest if they have it....an excellent choice that complimented the steaks.

 

 

 

.

 

I thought it would be :)

 

Now a final challenge if you could be so kind. Could you sample the Arrowood Merlot. We had it on Silversea last year and enjoyed it greatly.

 

Nice to know if the current year on offer is good.

 

Many thanks.

[Yorkiebargirl]

Am I missing something here, you waited to book till you could get the "best" price. Arrive at the ship and do not get upgraded as you expected, because of your own choice in waiting for the best price. You get a assigned a lousy suite because the ship is full, and then complain.

You say you have over 100 days yet when you were on your previous cruise you said it was 42/4 days, where are the rest of 100 days from?

It beggers belief that somehow you have been given an upgrade, and am I the only poster to think this is unreasonable.

[purpleally]

Further Update on the weather;

 

 

 

I got a call from Guest Services saying that my referral coupon of $400.00 will be applied to our account later tonight. I guess Mr. Delaney has responded to the ship directly, now I am awaiting his response to this upsell they have tried to pull on us earlier today....let's see stay tuned!:eek:

 

 

what did you have to do to follow up with your referral coupon? I have one but my TA has been unable to confirm and I am concerned it will not be on my account either.

 

Thanks so much for posting, I am enjoying very much!

[DocJames]

Am I missing something here, you waited to book till you could get the "best" price. Arrive at the ship and do not get upgraded as you expected, because of your own choice in waiting for the best price. You get a assigned a lousy suite because the ship is full, and then complain.

You say you have over 100 days yet when you were on your previous cruise you said it was 42/4 days, where are the rest of 100 days from?

It beggers belief that somehow you have been given an upgrade, and am I the only poster to think this is unreasonable.

 

No, you are not the only poster who thinks this is a bit unreasonable. Although I do applaud Seabourntraveller for his/her tenacity and the ability to leverage a large cruise critic readership on his/her postings to great advantage.

[freddie]

Yorkiebargirl - Thanks for confirming my own suspicion that the math was a bit off, with regard to the number of days sailed. Like you, I find these whines about the cabin to be somewhat peculiar, since that is the category the OP booked as a GTY. It is seriously presumptuous to declare that one should be upgraded to a higher category than one has booked, merely because one has become a star in his own mind due to a lot of hits on a cruise blog. It's disappointing that SB HQ in Seattle is surrendering to such a ploy.

 

However, this may be a lesson to all of us who would like free upgrades on SB - make lots of noise on CC and establish of a clique of cheerleaders. Seems sort of like high school; but if it gets one a better cabin, why not? Hmm, some of the rest of us might be content to book the cabin class in which we wish to cruise and simply leave it at that. Not as dramatic; but it requires a lot less posting on CC.

[Seabourntraveller]

Am I missing something here, you waited to book till you could get the "best" price. Arrive at the ship and do not get upgraded as you expected, because of your own choice in waiting for the best price. You get a assigned a lousy suite because the ship is full, and then complain.

You say you have over 100 days yet when you were on your previous cruise you said it was 42/4 days, where are the rest of 100 days from?

It beggers belief that somehow you have been given an upgrade, and am I the only poster to think this is unreasonable.

 

Uhh no we did not wait until the last moment to get the best price on this cruise...in actuality we got scr*wed price wise because we booked 14 days out and the ship was already been sold out for month. Secondly, I said 100 days including our Odyssey in Dec of 2012.:rolleyes:

[Seabourntraveller]

Yorkiebargirl - Thanks for confirming my own suspicion that the math was a bit off, with regard to the number of days sailed. Like you, I find these whines about the cabin to be somewhat peculiar, since that is the category the OP booked as a GTY. It is seriously presumptuous to declare that one should be upgraded to a higher category than one has booked, merely because one has become a star in his own mind due to a lot of hits on a cruise blog. It's disappointing that SB HQ in Seattle is surrendering to such a ploy.

 

However, this may be a lesson to all of us who would like free upgrades on SB - make lots of noise on CC and establish of a clique of cheerleaders. Seems sort of like high school; but if it gets one a better cabin, why not? Hmm, some of the rest of us might be content to book the cabin class in which we wish to cruise and simply leave it at that. Not as dramatic; but it requires a lot less posting on CC.

 

freddie;

 

Let me correct the notion on here that Seabourn "Cowtowed" too me because of my blog on here. I never once mentioned in my letter that I was writing a blog on CC. Secondly, when we booked this cruise on March 29th the only CAT available was a CAT A and on a GTY....nothing else or even the ability to pick a cabin within that CAT A. We were assigned this cabin on Apr 5th late in the day at which point I had contacted Reservartions to see if they could move us knowing very well this location would be problematic with most likely where the trusters and anchors would be. Remember there are only 8 cabins in a CAT A on the Odyssey, Sojourn and Quest.

 

Reservations got in touch with Inventory Management and I was told and I quote..." should a better cabin location become available prior to or on day of sailing we will move you." There was no mention of a paid upgrade/ipdell, my verbiage and language that I used at all times up to and including arriving onboard even with the Guest Services Manager was being "upgraded" and NOT an Up/Sell. The fact that Reservations Supervisor emailed the ship the day prior to sailing to advise them to upgrade if they had a better located cabin confirms everything too me. The fact that Seabourn did end up upgrading me was for nothing more than myself being tenacious and for them coming to thier senses and making a smart business decision.

 

The referral coupon was given too me as well based on the misinformation surrounding the OBC that I received from my TA. My TA being a very large National Account Holder was giving the OBC not just partly as rebated commission but also was coming from a National Account. I have never seen the uncombinability with this TA's OBC and the referral coupon in the past and also being applied on 2 future bookings for the Odyssey in Dec of this year for 42 days which were applied even though I am using the same TA and the same OBC method.

 

I hope this clears the air and mistruth's that people start up on here when they don't have all of the information which NONE of you had in great detail as you do now.

[Seabourntraveller]

Day 6: Portovenere, Italy 8:00am-6:00pm

 

Good early morning here on the sleepy Sojourn....couldn't go back to bed after that last one, so instead here I am in Seabourn Square waiting for Kevin to arrive and get a cup of coffee.

 

In case some of you didn't know where Portovenere was located; it's a town and comune located on the Ligurian coast of Italy in the province of La Spezia. It comprises of three villages of Fezzano, Le Grazie and Portovenere, and the three islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto. In 1997 Portovenere and the villages of Cinque Terre were designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

 

The weather forecast for today is 15C or 62 F and partly sunny skies....it's getting warmer I think?:confused: The seas last night were relatively calm compared to other nights here onboard Sojourn. This morning the ship is tossing around a little as we are only travelling at 9 knots and there seems to be strong winds outside.

 

Our tender service will begin this morning at 8:00am or shortly thereafter.

 

Will be having a quick breakfast in the Colonade and hopefully heading soon thereafter. We also have to get our new keys to our Suite and get moved this morning to Deck 6 as it was too late last night to do so.

 

More to come later this morning onboard Sojourn about to arrive in Portovenere in a couple of hours time.

[Seabourntraveller]

Today's Activities Onboard Sojourn;

 

8:00am Arrival

8:30am Tender Service Deck 3, AFT

10:30am Golf-Putting Enthusiasts, The Retreat Deck 11

12:00 noon The Colonade opens for Lunch (British)

12:30pm-3:30pm Patio Grill opens for lunch, (Oriental)

2:00pm Unhosted Bridge

3:30pm Card Games Get Together, The Card Room Deck 7

4:00pm-5:00pm Afternoon Tea & Piano Melodies, Observation Bar Deck 10

5:00pm Friends of Bill W., Conference Room#1

5:30pm Last Tender

5:30pm Passport Handout until 7:00pm Seabourn Square (for those leaving on Friday)

6:00pm Departure, Sojourn set sail for Portoferraio

 

 

Evening Activities:

 

Tonight's Attire-Elegantly Casual

 

6:30pm Panoramic Piano Moods with Pierre, Observation Bar Deck 10

6:30pm-8:00pm Club Cocktails, The Club Deck 5

6:45pm Pre-Dinner Seabourn Speaker Series: "Elba-Gem of the Tuscan Archipelago"

9:30pm Smooth Melodies with Pierre, Observation Bar Dec 10

9:45pm SHOWTIME: LIMELIGHT, Grand Salon, Deck 6

[Seabourntraveller]

Tours on Offer for Portovenere;

 

 

There are only 3 tours on offer for Portovenere, probably because they so little time to put something together from when we got the annoucement mid day yesterday. I suspect as the season goes on they may add more tours now knowing that Portovenere will be the permanent port instead of Portofino which is a shame.

 

 

Guided Walk of Portovenere-2 hours and departs at 9:00am $69.00

 

Santa Margherita & Transfer to Portofino-9 hours departs at 8:15am $169.00

 

Villages of Cinque Terre by Land-4.5 hours departs at 8:30am $149.00

[won2go]

Seabourntraveller,

I note that you have finally caught onto the correct spelling of "heathens", so can I draw to your attention that the restaurant on deck 8 is known as "The Colonnades".

I also agree that a guaranteed cabin is just that. Like you we have been upgraded on four previous Seabourn cruises but for our Quest cruise next week we have been allocated a cabin exactly as guaranteed. Unfortunately I don't think that Seabourn management care about us. It would appear to be the case, confirmed by several other readers, that the policy has changed and upgrades will not be given under normal circumstances.

[Seabourntraveller]

Seabourntraveller,

I note that you have finally caught onto the correct spelling of "heathens", so can I draw to your attention that the restaurant on deck 8 is known as "The Colonnades".

I also agree that a guaranteed cabin is just that. Like you we have been upgraded on four previous Seabourn cruises but for our Quest cruise next week we have been allocated a cabin exactly as guaranteed. Unfortunately I don't think that Seabourn management care about us. It would appear to be the case, confirmed by several other readers, that the policy has changed and upgrades will not be given under normal circumstances.

 

Won2go; Thank you for the new correction; Colonnade or The Colonnade;)I disagree with you about Seabourn Management caring about you. I would simply call Reservations and ask if there is any possibly of being moved into a better cabin up until departure date with Inventory Management. It can't hurt to ask...what's the worst they could say NO? It doesn't hurt trying. I believe it's a bad business practice if this is becoming policy not to upgrade and rather upsell. On the Legend in Dec from Athens to Dubai we were only 118 paxs out of 208, and again the ship was charging people to upgrade even though half the ship was empty...it's outright WRONG IMO.

There were two women travelling together and asked if they could split them up and give them each a cabin since the ship was half full and it was a known fact onboard since the Cruise Director Jan told us all at Muster Drill. What does it hurt or take away from anyone giving out an extra cabin especially when the opportunity window to sell the cabin had long past? This part is typical HAL mentality and Management at work since it's a HAL practice to provide upsell offers first and then if no one bites to upgrade paxs. Coincidence ever since Seabourn has merged offices with HAL now the same practice is happening over at Seabourn? Hardly a coincidence IMHO.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise on the Quest. We were going to book the Quest originally for the crossing from Dubai to Venice for 21 days but couldn't get away for the 21 days and instead booked the last cabin on the Sojourn for 14 days which was the longest we could get away. (without knowing at the time it was the last cabin)

[margbem]

what did you have to do to follow up with your referral coupon? I have one but my TA has been unable to confirm and I am concerned it will not be on my account either.

 

Thanks so much for posting, I am enjoying very much!

 

We had the same question about our on board credit. Our TA has nothing to do with this as it is from a referral coupon. Just e mail Seabourn club and they will confirm your credit, as they did for us.

[Seabourntraveller]

Update on Ship's Loss of Power at 8:30am;

 

I was in the shower and all of a sudden at approx. 8:30am local time the lights went out, all water stopped coming out of the shower. My initial thought was that my partner was pulling a crank on me and ask him to as I put it..."hey turn the godam lights back on" to which he responded ..."it's not me!"

 

The Sojourn completely blacked out for well over 2-3 minutes before finally Captain Hamlish came over the P.A. to say that the ship's power would be restored in a moment and that they were unsure what had caused all systems to fail. I had shampoo in my hair and eyes at this point and thought since we are so close to the rocks here in Portovenere I hoped they could resume all power before we started to drift. Before I could say boo the lighting, other systems slowly started to come back online. The Air Conditioning System in some areas have been affected as well as the Satelite TV which is still not restored. The Captain did say he would get back to us when they knew what had caused this power malfunction that affected the whole ship's systems to power down....stay tuned!:confused:

 

We ended up moving from Deck 4 to Deck 6 (which btw is not a CAT V6 but rather a V5 which to me has to be the samething) and we are a 4 cabins away from the Grand Salon...perfectly Mid-Ship and couldn't ask for better. Apparently the people that were in this cabin had an emergency yesterday mid day and hastily had to leave and were staying onboard as us until April 27th.

 

Our new cabin is exactly the same layout as our old cabin minus the trusters and anchor being dropped. The balcony is unobstructed and has glass from bottom to teak rail....very nice addition and very much appreciated the gesture to accomodate us.

 

More to follow later this morning from the Sojourn anchored currently off the coastline of Portovenere, Italy. We are approx. 41.4 nautical miles away from Portofino, Italy and 97.5 nautical miles from Portoferraio, Italy.;)

[Seabourntraveller]

what did you have to do to follow up with your referral coupon? I have one but my TA has been unable to confirm and I am concerned it will not be on my account either.

 

Thanks so much for posting, I am enjoying very much!

 

purpleally;

 

Sorry I missed your initial post to answer you straight it works like this. The referral coupon is completely combineable with anything except Onboard that does NOT come directly from your TA. If your TA is part of a consortium such as Ensemble or Signature chances are that your referral coupon is not going to be combineable with that type of OBC. Or as possibly as in my case, my TA is part of Seabourn's National Accounts which is there largest volume TA's that sell the most for Seabourn. What Seabourn failed to tell me initially in our case is that National Accounts receive a subsidy from Seabourn Corporate (hence why I now understand that mu usual $500.00 OBC I would always get from this TA was even greater for this cruise which I couldn't understand but gladly took there $1000.00 OBC + my Carnival Shareholder Credit of $250.00 for cruises 14 days or greater which is ALWAYS combineable with EVERY Promotion offered by Seabourn even including AMEX Platinum Onboard Credit and now the one time goodwill of $400.00 for the referral coupon I had initially sent in and that they originally denied because of my $1000.00 OBC from my TA being a National Account.) In our case we received a total of $1650.00 Onboard Credit between the OBC from the TA, OBC from Carnival Shareholder Credit $250.00 and the Referral Coupon Credit of $400.00.

 

Whew, I hope this helps answer any of your questions. If the $$$$ is coming directly from the TA only and only the TA, and from no one else (e.g. Consortium such as Emsemble and/or Virtuoso or Signature) then the rule of thumb is that it is combineable and you will receive the $400.00 Onboard Credit in addition to the OBC provided from your TA. The OBC has to come from the TA either by them purchasing it on your behalf thru Seabourn and/or Rebating a part of thier commission back to you as in the form of an OBC.

 

If you have any questions regarding the combineability of the coupon I would suggest that you contact Kristin at the Club Desk directly by email and she can confirm usually sameday the combineability.

 

seabournclub@seabourn.com

[fairbourne]

Cheerleader here!;):D

 

gawk strewth it's all been happening while I've been enjoying my beauty sleep!

 

Some people on here take things waaaay too seriously but you don't need my help ST, you have responded admirably.

 

By the way to those of you who don't like the postings and the fun of ST's posts, why on earth are you bothering to read the thread??????

 

Hope you enjoy your V5 - we had a v5 on the quest, loved it!

 

Hope all was well in the Kolonade with no heatons going aboot!

 

Now where are those Pom poms???????