Live from Sojourn

[twodjs]

5 hours ago, Emperor Norton said:

The water bottles (and their sanitization/sterilization process) were a bit off putting. 

What bothered you about this process? Could you ask what the TDS (total dissolved solids) level is of the water? Good purified water (like Sparkletts for example) is about 25 parts per million. Tap water may read 400 ppm. I agree with others who have said it didn't taste as clean as expected. They can do better. 

[sfvoyage]

17 hours ago, 2SailingNomads said:

Hi sfvoyage,

Is there the threatening note to charge you in the suite?  Aa the poster above claimed?

I didn't get the note because I was debarking in San Juan. However, friends who got the note said that it was a polite message, nothing threatening as was implied in the other post.

Edited December 21, 2019 by sfvoyage

[Qld13]

12 hours ago, Isklaar said:

I can confirm that we have the new size containers for the MB products here on Sojourn.  Can also confirm that a card was left with them reminding guests that they can be purchased from the boutique, or a charge will be made for any that go missing.

Hi are you able to find out how they are to be cleaned for the next guest or do they replace bottles with new ones for new guest.

Thank you

[3418ahl]

I was dismayed to find tea served at table on our last cruise.  The amount of waste is enormous.  We went to a high tea and most people ate, perhaps, 2-3 items off a three tier tray holding over 20 items.  I was told they can no longer even give the leftovers to crew.  I suggested they bring smaller trays and state that more is available,, or walk around with large trays and let people indicate what they desire.

[SLSD]

6 hours ago, twodjs said:

What bothered you about this process? Could you ask what the TDS (total dissolved solids) level is of the water? Good purified water (like Sparkletts for example) is about 25 parts per million. Tap water may read 400 ppm. I agree with others who have said it didn't taste as clean as expected. They can do better. 

 

1 hour ago, Qld13 said:

Hi are you able to find out how they are to be cleaned for the next guest or do they replace bottles with new ones for new guest.

Thank you

 

6 hours ago, twodjs said:

What bothered you about this process? Could you ask what the TDS (total dissolved solids) level is of the water? Good purified water (like Sparkletts for example) is about 25 parts per million. Tap water may read 400 ppm. I agree with others who have said it didn't taste as clean as expected. They can do better. 

Just a thought---we have decent but not tasty water through a community water system at our farm.  We put it through a Brita pitcher and the taste is much better.  Would a Brita help the ship's water?  In other words, should we bring one?

[twodjs]

With 20 years in the water purification industry, the better solution would to find out what they are doing wrong to produce less than delicious water onboard. Trust me, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out! 

[twodjs]

I believe the question of replacing or cleaning containers refers to the Molton Brown liquid soap and shampoo products. The water bottles are used once by a guest, then cleaned (probably the same way any reusable glassware is cleaned) refilled and sealed for use by a guest. Don't know their protocol for sanitizing. That is a fair question. The answer from a qualified source would eliminate concern.

[Qld13]

7 minutes ago, twodjs said:

I believe the question of replacing or cleaning containers refers to the Molton Brown liquid soap and shampoo products.

Yes sorry for confusion, hoping Isklaar can confirm the process of change over day and what happens to used shower/shampoo pump bottles in readiness for new guests

[twodjs]

1 hour ago, SLSD said:

 

 

Just a thought---we have decent but not tasty water through a community water system at our farm.  We put it through a Brita pitcher and the taste is much better.  Would a Brita help the ship's water?  In other words, should we bring one?

I don't think a Brita would help this situation, as it doesn't remove dissolved impurities - just off tastes and odors. The water I tasted on Sojourn seemed to have a higher level of dissolved impurities giving it a "thick" taste, more like tap water from Orange County, California (not a compliment!) not refreshing like a good purified water should be. 

[markham]

Isklaar,

 

I checked with Seabourn Square on you behalf and regret to inform: no Howdy Doody this Christmas cruise. Seems the Signature Event is small letters s e without CD Handre who lerves this Regent import. And apparently it just does not fit into the itinerary/schedule with no sea days early on that would benefit from this 6pm event.

 

So... it’s next gonna happen on the World Cruise with Handre for those lucky enough to join in Miami on 4 Jan. (Can you believe that Howdy Doody will last into 2020? Who knew?)

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

 

 

 

[Isklaar]

I've been unable to get a consistent response about the refill or replace situation for the MB toiletries. I will ask again and post the reply here.

 

Last night at around 11pm there was a "Christmas Singalong" in Observation bar. Lyric sheets were distributed for guests to participate. We had an early night but friends onboard who were there describe it as a "cringe fest" with hardly anyone wanting to join in the singing despite Michelle the pianist trying her best  to raise some enthusiasm amongst the guests. 
Our friends hadn't expected it, they usually enjoy a quiet drink or some convivial after dinner conversation in Obs at that time. Apparently it had originally  bern scheduled to take place earlier.

Not sure if friends' attitude is a bit "bah humbug" but they didn't enjoy the experience, felt it wasn't really what they expect on Seabourn, however they have seen the funny side this morning. They did suggest that it would have been more appropriate if held on Christmas Eve. 
if a similar event takes place again I will attend to make my own opinion!

 

Today we're in Charlestown, Nevis. It's a beautiful day. 
Formal night this evening. Not sure why it's not on 24th or 25th as it has been on our previous holiday cruises but there must be a reason.

Edited December 23, 2019 by Isklaar

[cruiseej]

The pianist is Deborah, by the way. And yes, the Piano bar sing-along two nights before Christmas was quite weak. But the one the following day on Christmas Eve in the Club was very well-attended, and most people were singing; it was quite nice. And the show by the entertainment team (the singers and dancers, the trio, the pianist, and the CD and ACD) in the theater on Christmas Eve was very well done; a video of all the staffs around the ship in Christmas garb and sending their Christmas greetings was quite touching, followed by dozens of them, led by the captain, pouring into the theater for the finale. It was nice to see what the local team can do without directions and staging from corporate.

 

I'll just add a note that we've found the water to be absolutely fine. All the messages here about how terrible or off it is had me worried, but I find the water -- in our room and int he restaurants -- perfectly palatable. 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2019 by cruiseej

[Isklaar]

Cruiseej - Thank you for the correction of the pianist’s name. I know her name is Deborah, we’ve had a very pleasant, albeit brief, chat with her most evenings over the last 15 days! I have no idea what made me call her Michelle. Brain is now switched to vacation mode apparently. Apologies Deborah if you’re reading. 
 

We enjoyed the Christmas Eve show very much yesterday evening (along with two of our ‘Bah Humbug’ friends!). It’s always a super production but we felt last night’s was even better than usual.  
 

Looking forward to a traditional Christmas dinner in MDR this evening and hopefully the weather stays dry for the dance party tonight, we were rained off into the Club for the same event on the last segment but nevertheless it was a great night. 
 

 

[Mauzac]

We have returned from Sojourn, caught up with Christmas and thankful for such a lovely time!  ISKLAAR... our paths probably crossed and we didn't know it, good to hear you're enjoy the next leg of the cruise!

 

We loved the early evening and after dinner singer in the Club.  I can't remember her name, but she had a lovely melodious tone to her voice.  

 

It was a disappointment to have the deck/dance party in the Club as it is one of my favourite nights outside but it was rockin' and rollin' in the Club and great fun.

 

As far as the water, I can only report positively on it.  Firstly, the bottles slot nicely into the fridge door - we always kept three in there which we easily got through in a day, and our lovely Room Attendant always made sure we had 2 to spare.  We used the cold ones from the fridge to fill insulated bottles for excursions.  We actually found the taste very pure and clear.  

 

One thing we noticed on this cruise and hadn't encountered on any of our cruises before ... occasionally we like to go to the Obs Bar before dinner and sit at the bar stools, and watch the wonderful mixologist at work ... it didn't matter what time we went (it varied greatly with us), the seats were always taken... all of them by the same people every night!  When we chatted to a couple of the staff about this (not complaining, just curious!) they said it was noticeable on this cruise and that some turned up just as Afternoon Tea was finishing to sit round the bar, and it wasn't normally like that!  

 

We had a really great time on our cruise, all the staff worked so hard to make it so, they are undoubtedly SB's true asset.  

 

 

Edited December 26, 2019 by Mauzac

[Isklaar]

Hello Mauzac, yes our paths probably did cross, a pity we didn't know, as I would have liked to say hello to a fellow CCer. We thoroughly enjoyed the first 11 days of the cruise, and very much agree with you about the staff. 

 

On the subject of the water, I've tried it a couple more times since I last mentioned it in a post, and am finding it a bit hit and miss. Sometimes it tastes ok, but at other times it has this weird taste going on. 
 

We had a fun deck party last night but I was ready for yet another early night so we didn't go for drinks afterwards.

At sea today, en route to Wllemstad Curaçao, my first visit there.

 

[Isklaar]

Apologies to anyone who had been anticipating an ongoing, engaging 'Live From' thread, I just don't have the patience to waste my precious holiday time battling with poor internet signal ! (Just now am outside Seabourn Square where signal has been consistently good but it's been very poor in the suite.)

I will upload menus and some Heralds when I'm back at home.
 

This, for me at least, has been somewhat of a Tale of Two Cruises, will write more detail at some point. 

We're at sea todat en route to Port Antonio, Jamaica. (Somewhere I've never heard of).It's the Seabourn Club get together this evening, followed by Chef's Dinner in MDR.

I've found the crowd overall to be less friendly on this segment since San Juan. Also encountered some disturbingly boorish behaviour which has been disappointing but I believe is a reflection of how society appears to be changing. As a British friend of mine often says "manners cost nowt" but it no longer seems that way! 
 

For samamina- Yesterday I finished the box of tissues in the bathroom. I replaced the old box with a fresh one from the pile under the sink. Fresh box is Kleenex, but is the last. The others are a brand with which I'm not familiar and are made in China.

 

 

[SLSD]

23 hours ago, Isklaar said:

Apologies to anyone who had been anticipating an ongoing, engaging 'Live From' thread, I just don't have the patience to waste my precious holiday time battling with poor internet signal ! (Just now am outside Seabourn Square where signal has been consistently good but it's been very poor in the suite.)

I will upload menus and some Heralds when I'm back at home.
 

This, for me at least, has been somewhat of a Tale of Two Cruises, will write more detail at some point. 

We're at sea todat en route to Port Antonio, Jamaica. (Somewhere I've never heard of).It's the Seabourn Club get together this evening, followed by Chef's Dinner in MDR.

I've found the crowd overall to be less friendly on this segment since San Juan. Also encountered some disturbingly boorish behaviour which has been disappointing but I believe is a reflection of how society appears to be changing. As a British friend of mine often says "manners cost nowt" but it no longer seems that way! 
 

For samamina- Yesterday I finished the box of tissues in the bathroom. I replaced the old box with a fresh one from the pile under the sink. Fresh box is Kleenex, but is the last. The others are a brand with which I'm not familiar and are made in China.

 

 

Isklaar, I hold out high hopes that someday, Mr. SLSD and I will meet you on a Seabourn itinerary.  I'm so sorry you have encountered some boorish behavior on your current cruise.  We promise that our behavior will meet the bar of expectations.  I've been reading on a Facebook Seabourn page and so many others (currently on other SB itineraries) have reported the same experience regarding behavior of guests.  Regrettable for sure.  

[Isklaar]

41 minutes ago, SLSD said:

Isklaar, I hold out high hopes that someday, Mr. SLSD and I will meet you on a Seabourn itinerary.  I'm so sorry you have encountered some boorish behavior on your current cruise.  We promise that our behavior will meet the bar of expectations.  I've been reading on a Facebook Seabourn page and so many others (currently on other SB itineraries) have reported the same experience regarding behavior of guests.  Regrettable for sure.  

SLSD, sad to read that other Seabourn cruisers on a different ship are experiencing unpleasant behaviour by fellow  guests. 
I've never before witnessed this sort of thing on a Seabourn ship. I feel sorry for the crew who have to deal with it. We may just be turning up in the wrong place at the wrong time, as one set of our friends haven't witnessed anything out of the ordinary.

 

 

So today we're in Port Antonio, Jamaica. It's a beautiful spot. In fact the port information sheet provided at SB Square tells me that Errol Flynn, the actor, stated that this small bay was "more beautiful than any woman he had ever seen". He built a house here and the small marina   is named after (for) him.

Hoping it stays dry tonight for the NYE deck party.

 

And lastly for now, I really cannot praise the wonderful Sojourn crew highly enough. 

Edited December 31, 2019 by Isklaar

[Chairsin]

Good to hear you are enjoying your Caribbean holiday. I witnessed some of the unpleasant behavior others described on our recent Ovation cruise but soon learned who theses passengers were and managed to steer clear of them for much of the cruise so their impact on our cruise was minimal. As you pointed out unfortunately the crew don’t have this option and I alway feel quite sorry for them when they have to deal with difficult passengers. I even went up to one wonderful waiter in the restaurant the night after a guest at a party I threw was extremely demanding which made for a trying and uncomfortable situation for all at our table not to mention the waiter. Anyway, I apologized for his behavior and told her I marveled at how graciously she handled the difficult situation.  

[auldlassie]

Can’t say I have witnessed any boorish behaviour on this cruise, but I am probably not too often out and about in the public areas, especially during the day. I thought the New Year’s Eve dinner, just like the preceding day’s chef’s dinner, was good. It was great to see so many people dressing up in the finest party style. We are travelling with friends and all of us thought that the New Year’s Eve deck party was just fantastic! A huge congrats to all the staff who have worked so hard during this cruise.  It was an incredible time to be on this ship.

 

After a few years away from Seabourn’s smaller ships we were worried to be reading many posts that Seabourn is no longer as good as it was. Well, I can only say that our fears have turned out to be totally unfounded. We think the crew is excellent, just as friendly and caring as before, with personal greetings and interactions every time from the get go. The F&B manager, Antonio Cirillo is running an extremely well- trained staff and that makes such a huge difference to how any cruise goes for most passengers. 

 

Just great to be back on Seabourn really! Happy New year to all. 🙂 

[Isklaar]

Happy New Year to all!
 

We had a very enjoyable NYE dinner and deck party last night. The party appeared to go on later than usual, in previous years we've stayed to the end but last night we gave in to tiredness and returned to our suite well before it ended. Anyway it was great fun, everyone was having a wonderful time. 
 

Today we're at anchor in Cayman Islands, this island is called Cayman Brac. Sojourn announced her arrival to the locals this morning at approx 9.30 by giving ten blows of the ship's whistle. (Captain Tim did say that the locals had requested it). We're "resting" in recovery from last night so we didn't venture ashore but other guests said there are some stunning beaches here. 
I believe this port and the one we visited yesterday were both scheduled for the original Cuba itinerary that had to be cancelled.

, 

 

[frantic36]

Happy New Year Isklaar, auldlassie and to all onboard the good ship Sojourn! I am glad you had an enjoyable New Year celebration. 

 

It sounds like Port Antonio and Cayman Brac were both lovely replacements for Cuba. It is disappointing they couldn't visit Cuba but at least the replacement wasn't just a sea day.

 

The crew on Seabourn are really lovely. I have only had one or two that I met that I felt weren't in the right job. We encountered one aggressive boor in the Club one night but met other nice people. I guess in the end it balances out. 

 

I hope the cruise continues on the current happier note.

 

Julie

Edited January 1, 2020 by frantic36

[Isklaar]

Thank you Julie. I will take this opportunity to say that my thoughts are with all of you in Australia. I have been  following the news and what is happening there is awful.

 

So, on our departure from Cayman Brac, the same was repeated. Ten blasts of the ship's whistle. Again requested by locals. I also learned an improvement to my English from Captain Tim.  The ship's whistle gives a blast, not a blow as I wrote earlier 😄

[frantic36]

Thanks Isklaar for your thoughts. Thankfully here in Perth we haven't had the devastation they have had over East. I am hoping it doesn't happen as we get deeper into the Summer fire season. 

 

Last December on Sojourn we visited Bateman's Bay where my husband and I took a hire car to Mogo to visit the lovely  town and the zoo. Yesterday I was saddened to hear that many businesses on the main street have been burnt. Thankfully the zoo was spared because of the tireless efforts of the zoo staff and volunteers wetting the area around the zoo. From the news article I have linked the photos show what looks like Hell with the red overlay of the fire and smoke.

 

https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/heroic-job-mogo-zoo-staff-protect-animals-threatened-by-outofcontrol-new-south-wales-fire/news-story/af04d00faf13063f233a78cb472fd9cf

 

It is very scary when you think of the multiple other places this is happening.

 

Julie

[Isklaar]

A few more thoughts now that I'm back in the UK, sadly the holiday is already becoming a rather distant memory!

 

Captain - Tim Roberts

Hotel Director - Theresa Haughey

Cruise Director - Emma Able,  Assistant CD was Jessica

 

We had a great cruise, the crew can't be praised highly enough. Lots of them were new to Seabourn, on their first contract,  but they were doing a great job even though IMO they are now too few to provide a seamless service especially in MDR. 

 

 

The ports were mostly ones we've visited previously. We hadn't planned to take a cruise in 2019 but circumstances changed mid-year and so we booked this cruise in early July, by which time the itinerary had been changed from the original Cuba itinerary.

I had a huge file of notes and advice from fellow guests about the Caribbean ports which I'd hoped to add to but unfortunately it's lost on a broken hard drive which I discovered about 2 weeks before we started our holiday. This meant that I couldn't refer to it for our own planning and we were both far too busy with work before departure to do much research. I decided to just take a few ship's excursions but actually once we boarded and I had time to read about them, none of them were very appealing or we'd taken the same excursion previously. Overall I was disappointed with the selection of ship tours, we've taken plenty before this cruise and they've usually been fairly good, but in the end this time we didn't take any of the ones on offer. 

 

 

For  us this was a 25 day cruise, not a B2B. The cruise was divided into two - an 11 day and a 14 day. 

 

Ports, from memory, were as follows - not in chronological order :

 

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Isla Margarita, Dominican  Republic - Caviar in the Surf and beach BBQ held here

Gustavia, St Barts. - I was pleased to revisit St Barts after a few years' absence. The island is recovering well from the hurricane of 2017

St John, Antigua

Fort de France, Martinique

Ile des Saintes, Terre de Haut, Guadeloupe - this has been a favourite Caribbean port for me in the past. Unfortunately on the day we anchored here I was tied up with work and couldn't find a free hour to head ashore. Oh well, there's always next time!

Cruz Bay, USVI

 

I will add the remaining ports in a later post.

 

Internet - fast enough on open decks but painfully slow in our suite. I had the most problems with my iPad. iPhone was faster, Mac Airbook was adequate. In the suite, where I set up my office,  it was so slow and unreliable (constantly cutting me off) that this may be a dealbreaker for future long cruises before I retire. We were on deck 6 midships, a location we're very familiar with but this was the worst internet service I've experienced on SB, with the exception perhaps of an infamous Odyssey cruise a few years ago. 

 

Food - generally very good to excellent. We had Chefs Lindsay and Jes onboard the whole time. I had anticipated Jes leaving in San Juan which was the turn around day for the 14 day  cruise but he stayed on.

 

I do plan to post some copies of the new MDR menus but they're in a suitcase which is currently in Norway (my car key nearly ended up there too!) so can't be posted until I can retrieve them. We noticed a definite improvement for seafood lovers, plenty of selection of fish as well as crustaceans. Scallops and shrimp seemed to be on the menu most evenings. There were always two choices suitable for vegetarians. I didn't see anything specifically labelled as vegan.  

 

We ate lunch in the Colonnade most days and dinner was usually in MDR or the Colonnade.

We had 3 bookings in TK Grill, food and service there was as good as I remembered it from previous cruises. 

We only dined at Earth and Ocean a couple of times on this cruise but as on Ovation last Christmas the food was very good. We found the service at E&O to be not so good as elsewhere, although we ended up with the same server both times so that could be the one person who isn't quite up to standard rather than the whole venue! We felt very rushed, even though we asked for a pause between courses. The final time we ate there we were eating our dessert whilst a table for two that was seated at least 30 minutes before us was still finishing appetisers. 

Antonio was the F&B Manager and was always around to chat or to hear feedback. 

 

The MDR was usually open for breakfast and lunch on sea days. In port it was closed. This is in line with our experience of previous Caribbean cruises.