Seabourn Sojourn Food and Service

[sananda]

Samanda,

 

Can you send us the link to American Express Platinum guide where 8 Diffferent reviewers

each went on all the lines within a 3 month period. ( or where to find it?)

Thanks.

 

I was mailed a hard copy by my concierge. I have mentioned this review on other boards and people have found it online. The issues (related to me by others) are that you need to be registered online with AMEX and possess a platinum or centurion card. I'll ask my PA to look for the hard copy. I could upload a PDF if he finds it.

[sananda]

Sananda,

 

Have you booked an Oceania cruise?

 

Since my cruise on the Sojourn in April 2012, I have cruised with NCL, Crystal and Oceania. NCL and Crystal were exactly as I expected based on past experiences with these lines. Crystal was once again excellent. Oceania far exceeded my expectations, though my expectations were fairly modest. I think the food was the best I have ever had on a ship. I really liked the quality and variety offered in the specialty restaurants. Service was excellent. Our butler was top notch, very helpful. The ship was gorgeous, with plenty of entertainment. I didn't find it crowded, no cues, even sailing at full capacity. Even though I didn't think Oceania was going to be anything special, I would be very happy to cruise with them again. They were first rate.

 

As an aside, I would like to point out this difference between Regent and Oceania. I don't know why Regent has equated all-inclusive with luxury. My experience is that this is definitely not the case. I think the luxury has declined since they have gone completely all-inclusive. I think the old adage, "you get what you pay for" is generally true and they have diluted the quality of each individual experience. On Oceania many things were not included, but there was a tremendous amount of choices at many price ranges. I really liked that I could pick and chose what luxury experiences were important to me (better suite, better wine, etc.).

[commodoredave]

Since my cruise on the Sojourn in April 2012, I have cruised with NCL, Crystal and Oceania. NCL and Crystal were exactly as I expected based on past experiences with these lines. Crystal was once again excellent. Oceania far exceeded my expectations, though my expectations were fairly modest. I think the food was the best I have ever had on a ship. I really liked the quality and variety offered in the specialty restaurants. Service was excellent. Our butler was top notch, very helpful. The ship was gorgeous, with plenty of entertainment. I didn't find it crowded, no cues, even sailing at full capacity. Even though I didn't think Oceania was going to be anything special, I would be very happy to cruise with them again. They were first rate.

 

As an aside, I would like to point out this difference between Regent and Oceania. I don't know why Regent has equated all-inclusive with luxury. My experience is that this is definitely not the case. I think the luxury has declined since they have gone completely all-inclusive. I think the old adage, "you get what you pay for" is generally true and they have diluted the quality of each individual experience. On Oceania many things were not included, but there was a tremendous amount of choices at many price ranges. I really liked that I could pick and chose what luxury experiences were important to me (better suite, better wine, etc.).

 

Agree with your opinion of Regent. After 10 cruises with them we are taking a "vacation" from Regent after a disappointing experience last year. Seabourn is on our docket for September, our third with the line. We were last on the Sojourn in Oct of 2010 and had a great time.

[Paminflorida]

Just got my Conde Nast Traveler in the mail - Seabourn Sojourn is ranked 8th, with Pride taking 4th, and Odyssey in 5th. Legend is 11th. I sailed on the Pride a few years back, and am sailing Sojourn for 15 days at the end of March. I'll post a review when I get back, but am looking forward to a wonderful cruise!

[wripro]

I would not put any trust on those Conde Nast or Travel & Leisure surveys. They are slanted by people who prefer one line or another and who are willing to take the time to fill out the surveys. Just look at the hotel ratings and you can see how skewed they are.

[Mr Luxury]

I would not put any trust on those Conde Nast or Travel & Leisure surveys. They are slanted by people who prefer one line or another and who are willing to take the time to fill out the surveys. Just look at the hotel ratings and you can see how skewed they are.

 

You'll be telling me that Howard Johnsons is the number one Hotel chain :D

[Roxburgh]

I would not put any trust on those Conde Nast or Travel & Leisure surveys. They are slanted by people who prefer one line or another and who are willing to take the time to fill out the surveys. Just look at the hotel ratings and you can see how skewed they are.

 

I did quite a lot of research prior to my first Seabourn cruise. I used various reviews as well as trawling Cruise Critic. At the time (2009), Seabourn looked like a better fit for my needs than the other high-end cruise lines. Having found that Seabourn was everything I had hoped for and that it has maintained that standard over a number of cruises, I don't bother reading the reviews any more.

[sananda]

I would not put any trust on those Conde Nast or Travel & Leisure surveys. They are slanted by people who prefer one line or another and who are willing to take the time to fill out the surveys. Just look at the hotel ratings and you can see how skewed they are.

 

No matter how you do things, there is going to be potential for bias or limitations. Do you think these biases and limitations with Conde Nast have changed from years past? If not, it is essentially the same survey as in years past, flawed though it may be. Therefore, a particular cruise line falling in the rankings should be cause for concern.

[commodoredave]

I would not put any trust on those Conde Nast or Travel & Leisure surveys. They are slanted by people who prefer one line or another and who are willing to take the time to fill out the surveys. Just look at the hotel ratings and you can see how skewed they are.

"They are slanted by people who prefer one line or another and who are willing to take the time to fill out the surveys. "

By your measure, anyone who fills out a survey is slanted. Therefore, no survey in the world can be trusted unless you agree with it. Doesn't that sound a bit ridiculous?

[marchanxiety]

I've always found the Conde Nast ratings amusing. The cabins on the little sisters would have different ratings by ship, when we know they are the same, except for the bathrooms on the Legend (one sink instead of two).

[Mr Luxury]

The only review that I take seriously is my own.

After seventy one cruises I think that I have got the hang of the cruise business by now.

[sananda]

Marchanxiety - It's possible the differences you describe occur because the different ships are being rated by a different subset of the survey respondants. For example, someone who has only been on the legend would only rate the legend.

 

Mr Luxury - What you say is very true, but not everyone has as much experience as you. So surveys can be valuable to a lot of people that don't have their own personal experience to go with. Also everybody has a different opinion, so a survey where tens of thousands of opinions are sampled might be a better indicator than a board where a vocal minority can dominate opinion.

[wripro]

I did not put any more faith in these surveys years ago when SB was number one than I do now. My thoughts on these magazine surveys have nothing to do with my thoughts about SB. They are what I feel about them in general.

[sananda]

I did not put any more faith in these surveys years ago when SB was number one than I do now. My thoughts on these magazine surveys have nothing to do with my thoughts about SB. They are what I feel about them in general.

 

It is good that you are confident in your opinions. However, some people find value in the opinions of others. The power of a survey like Conde Nast's is that they sample tens of thousands of opinions. The drawback is that you don't know the values of the respondents and if they are similar to your own, but with a large enough survey, this should not matter so much.

[Mr Luxury]

It is good that you are confident in your opinions. However, some people find value in the opinions of others. The power of a survey like Conde Nast's is that they sample tens of thousands of opinions. The drawback is that you don't know the values of the respondents and if they are similar to your own, but with a large enough survey, this should not matter so much.

 

Does it not strike you that this magazine survey business is not an exact science and in fact it just becomes another tool to sell more magazines like the competitions that these publications run.

[sananda]

Mr Luxury - If we put our minds to it, we could come up with a list of all the flaws inherent to a survey. If we are honest, most if not all of these flaws would also be applicable to anonymous online reviews. Like I said above, the great power of these surveys is that they sample such large numbers of people, over 46,000 people for Conde Nast in the 2012 survey. With these types of numbers, potential confounds are negligible.

 

I completely agree that one of the major purposes of the surveys is to sell magazines. Obviously, a lot of people must be interested in them.

[wripro]

Agree completely, Mr Luxury. If someone really wants to properly research a cruise line or hotel there are professional reviewers who are trained to rate them far better than some random survey of magazine subscribers.

[Mr Luxury]

I always think that the Berlitz guide is the one to use if you want decent information

[AldoEnzo]

Jim, we've just comeback from two weeks on Spirit and I can assure you that our experience there was perfect in all respects.

Yes, the portions served were not huge but my wife and I found them just right. When the night's wine selection was not to our liking we asked for something (usually from a prior meal) and it immediately appeared.:)

[sananda]

Agree completely, Mr Luxury. If someone really wants to properly research a cruise line or hotel there are professional reviewers who are trained to rate them far better than some random survey of magazine subscribers.

 

I agree, in that you should try to make use of as many sources as possible. The chief complaint many people have with professional reviews is that they are not sure how independent they are due to the number of complimentary cruises the reviewers receive. My frustration with the professional reviews is that they are dated. I believe a good review should be current and specific to the ship you are interested in. If I am considering the Odyssey in 2013, I don't care what someone thought of the Pride in the 90's. A lot of the big review sites are hopelessly dated. Some (like Fodor's) still talk of Seabourn from a time before they introduced the Odyssey class. I think this is why a lot of people like the Conde Nast survey. It is current and comprises a large number of opinions.

 

Mr Luxury - Are you aware that the Berlitz Guide to Cruising is now available as an App for your Apple products?

[Mr Luxury]

Thanks Sananda,

I stay clear of Apple prefering Samsung on the Android system.

I have not looked,do you know if there is an Android App also.

[CraftyEC]

No, not available for android :(

[Mr Luxury]

No, not available for android :(

 

I prefer to have the book anyway.

[HappyFeet13]

Wow! I started this thread when I was aboard Seabourn Sojourn and it is entitled, "Seabourn Sojourn Food and Service". It is truly amazing how far afield it has gotten. I finished my 14 day cruise on Feb 18. Here's my final verdict: The food and service on Seabourn Sojourn for the period I was aboard, Feb.3-Feb 18, was.....mediocre, at best. Service was always slow in the main restaurant, even at breakfast when there were only 10-12 others there. It was truly amazing. You'd sit there and watch the waiters and waitresses stacking plates (or whatever) and they would NEVER come over and order a coffee refill, more juice, etc. At all meals, service in the main restaurant is very slow. Wine refill can take 1/2 hour. You CAN get good service but you have to be really insistant, almost unpleasant, to do so. I was part of a small CC group and watched in amazement as one of my cohorts demanded and got special food, special treatment, "off the menu" delicacies, etc. They were a loudly squeaking wheel and got attention everywhere they went. That is not my style. I'd like to just go to a nice retaurant, get good food and service and enjoy the company with me. At breakfast and lunch most people go to the Colonnade and it is very crowded and hard to find a table. I recognize that this was an unusual cruise because we were in cooler climes and outdoor eating was often not possible, and this crowded the Collonade. Overallo, no matter where you ate, the food quality was (with a couple of notable exceptions) a 4-6 on a scale of 10. Portions were often RIDICULOUSLY small. I know, I know, some of you LIKE small portions, and you can always order more. But the fact is that when you order a lobster tail as your entree, you should not expect that you will receive an overcooked 3-ounce version of something unrecognizable as the "Maine Lobster" that was billed. When you order a bagel with salmon and cream cheese, you should get at least enough cream cheese to make a thin covering of both halves of your bagel, not the single melon-scoop they give you. And enough salmon to cover that. I could go on...the portions are really, truly, not appropriately sized for the AVERAGE person. I met NO ONE who did not agree with me on this. As to quality, most of us learned to order off the safer "classic" menu. The filet mignon is a decent size. (And to go with it, you can say I'd like a TRIPLE order of the shrimp cocktail and then you will get 5-6 shrimp.) Most nights, when you go to the restaurant for dinner, you will probably not see anything on the menu that sounds delicious or enticing. I believe that, from what I have read about other experiences on this ship written by those who were aboard at other times, and what I've read about other experiences on other Seabourn ships, that current lower level of Sojourn food quality/quantity/service is an aberration...in need of immediate help at the management level, and sorely in need of better training of staff. I am writing to top management of Seabourn with specifics.

[oregon50]

Perhaps the ships are different. I have seen no reference to "Maine" lobster on current Quest cruise. "American" lobster on some menus, never "Maine." And I would never get too worked up over lobster tail. Will be on Sojourn next month and mine will be the official, but never final word on their food portions and quality.

 

I would say portions can be inconsistent, but not generally small.