Random thoughts on my first SB cruise

[imcpa]

My wife & I were on the Sojourn during June 16-28, from Vancouver to Seward. This was our first SB cruise and our first trip to AK. Beginning in 2010 we have sailed SS three times (Cloud, Spirit & Spirit), Crystal (Serenity &Symphony once each), Regent (Mariner), Paul Gauguin, and Windstar (Surf). We are in our upper 40s from Dallas.

 

In no particular order…

• Ever since I’ve been aware of luxury cruises and looked into the different companies, I have always thought SB had the coolest looking ships from the outside. I love the look of the smoke stacks and the curvatures before them with the glass circle in the middle. Still think thisis the case, but of course, once on board, it doesn’t matter. Up to now, we just did not find a good date/itinerary on SB that worked for us.
  
• This was a wellness cruise with Dr. Weil. We did not make his lectures, but watched them on the suite TV. They were interesting. The movie and TV episode collection available on the suite TV was lacking in my opinion.
  
• Boarding was easy and smooth, but we were disappointed no crew were handing out champagne during the whole process, especially since we walked by two welcome signs with pics of crew in tuxedos with a tray of champagne glasses. They did have champagne glasses on a table in the salon (where the boarding processtook place) filled with water or fruit punch (silly). We arrived to board around 12:30 and had to go through a quick customs line in the Vancouver port before boarding.
  
• Our suite was close to the front of the ship on deck six. This may be my favorite layout, with the TV, drawers, cabinet, etc. between the bed area and sitting area. With the long couch along one wall and the nice size table and chairs along the other wall, there was plenty of floor space. I also really liked having two sinks in the bathroom. The shower was a tad small, but good for us.
  
• The Molton Brown bath products were good, but I prefer Bulgari or L’Occitane. They did offer multiple types of bar soap that were really good.
  
• The balcony was a good size, but the big chairs made it a little crowded.
  
• The included SB Parkas are really nice and we used them near the end of the cruise when it was much cooler.
  
• We used the gym every morning, any time between 9:30a and 11a. It was small and could get crowded because it is so narrow. There is a separate yoga/aerobics room that we could stretch and do other exercises in.
  
• We made breakfast a few times. It was good, but had the worst looking scrambled eggs I have seen in a long time. Lucky for us, we always order an egg white omelet.
  
• We ate lunch a few times in the Colanade and it seemed crowded most of the time. Finding a table for 2 was difficult. We always ate outside as much as possible. Lunch was good but it was difficult getting healthy veggies. The salad options were good.
  
• We ate lunch at the patio grill most of the time. It was good but also could be difficult to get veggies. The salad options were good here too. The ass’t MD (Wian) was great and one our favorite crew to talk with every day.
  
• The pool bar service was mostly good, but the Sky Bar seemed closed often even when it was supposed to be open.
  
• The pool deck issues still exist and the big plants were still in place for people to avoid the worst areas, but they did not do any work on it during our trip.
  
• Our suite attendant started great, then really slacked off from the middle of the trip to the end. She often forgot to replace many needed items. Luckily, we could easily call room service for fridge items (mainly Diet Coke and champagne). The attendant did at least restock the water as we drink many, many bottles a day.
  
• We really liked the Nicolas Feuillate champagne, but were quite disappointed in the Prosecco. My wife really enjoyed the Pinot Noir, the Rose and the beer selection (seven AK beers to try). I mainly stick with champagne.
  
• We used room service many times for dinner and it was mostly good and arrived in decent time. Dinner in the MDR was must too slow the first time we dined there. We did dine there a few other times and just told them we were in a rush and service was a little quicker.
  
• We saw the hotel director and F&B manager many times around and they were always friendly and informative.
  
• Deck 11 has an area called the Retreat, but it is not the same as the new ships. On the Sojourn, it is a nice area and the sports area (ping pong,shuffleboard and a putting green) was cool, but not really appealing on this cruise.
  
• The front the ship with the hot tub (deck six) was a great area. Early on, we used this area much since it was so close to our suite. Many people used the hot tub, even on cold days.
  
• We really enjoyed the Observation Bar. The bar is really cool and service was mostlygreat. The snacks at tea time were goodat times. The pianist was friendly, butI think her voice was lacking.
  
• Seabourn Square was awkward to me with the highwalls making it seem darker. I hear thenew ships are different. The back of thearea and the deck space at the back were nice.
  
• I think we have gambled in the casino on all prior cruises, but did not on this trip. It just did not seem very inviting. Maybe because it was never busy, but it just did not appeal to us. I look at this as a savings…but you never know…could have been a profit.
  
• We went to the Club most nights. It was fun, but never too busy. We thought the main band was average, but the Trio that was earlier most nights was great.
  
• The scenic cruising on many days was great. I was surprised and happy we got as close as we did to some glaciers, especially the glacier near the College Fjords.
  
• Overall, this was a great trip with great service, good food and fun times. We met a lot of friendly people and many of the crew were great to joke around with.
  
• We hope to sail SB again, but would also just as quickly sail SS, Crystal or Regent again. We already have a Viking cruise planned for January 2019.
  

Let me know if you have any questions. As I remember other thoughts, I will post them.

[Keith1010]

I enjoyed reading your summary.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write it and share it.

 

Keith

[Laylam]

Imcpa, thanks for sharing your thoughts. We disembarked the Sojourn on June 4th, the cruise where the patio repair was attempted. We could see it deteriorating again as soon as the work was stopped. I would be very interested to know if you received any "inside information" from Wian (also one of our favourites) about how/when it may be repaired. We are due to sail on Sojourn again in January.

[billichka]

Thanks Imcpa, my Wife and I are on the September Seward to Vancouver sailing.

 

Just a couple of questions:

 

1. Are there any shore excursions that you highly recommend? I am considering the halibut fishing.

 

2. Was much local seafood served? Salmon etc.

 

Pity that the MDR was slow but it sounds like room service was a good substitute!

[Fletcher]

1. Are there any shore excursions that you highly recommend? I am considering the halibut fishing.

 

2. Was much local seafood served? Salmon etc.

 

Obviously no luck with the halibut then.

[Roxburgh]

Glad to hear that Wian is now an ass’t MD. He was a waiter on our last two Sojourn cruises and one of the best to the extent that we tried to dine in his section.

[Isklaar]

Also glad to hear that Wian has been promoted. He was working 'out back' in the Colonnade at breakfast and lunch during our last Sojourn cruise and we always chose a table in his section. Didn't see much of him in the evening but I think he was usually in the MDR.

He got a lengthy mention on my cruise feedback questionnaire.

Very well deserved.

[imcpa]

Laylam,

I did notask any of the crew about the pool deck area, and none volunteered anyinfo. I got the feeling everyone waspretending they didn’t notice and I played along.

Billichka,

The onlyexcursion we did was in Juneau and we booked it on our own. It was a 4 hour boat/bus whalewatching/glacier tour. It was OK, but wedidn’t see anything we hadn’t already seen from the ship.

There wasalways a fish of the day, but not as much salmon as I had hoped. My wife and & eat lots of salmon, at home& on vacation. In the first few daysof the trip, it was good, but not great. It did get better and fresher as the trip went on. The room service salmon was always good. To be honest, the salmon patties offered inthe Colonnade everyone now and then were average. The salmon burgers on Regent and the salmonwraps on Crystal are much better. Halibut was also served many days, but not every day. The other fish offerings were good.