Seabourn Sojourn 5229A Rome-Rome June 26-July 10-Live

[texanaust]

Day 0

 

We departed Trieste and another cruise for Civitavecchia today.  I thought taking three trains and spending 8 hours traversing Italy would be fun…I was wrong.  The Regionale trains (4 of the 8 hours) were packed and not very comfortable.  However the Frecciarossa 1000 from Venice to Rome was excellent.  Definitely splurge for Executive class.  The carriage has 10 seats total and full dining/drink service included.  For perhaps a $50 upgrade, it was well worth it.  Tomorrow we embark!

 

PS. This live review will mainly focus on the ship, the food and the service.  Don’t expect lengthy port reviews from me…I will be comparing the current quality to what we experienced pre-Covid.  

 

Edited June 25, 2022 by texanaust
.

[Catlover54]

I like forward to your review of the ship, and hope you will speak frankly!  I have no loyalty to any one luxury line (I mix and match), and have tried several lines since Covid (less total cruise days than I originally had planned due to the restrictions), so I love objective information.

 

For reference, perspective,  and orientation, if you don't mind answering, how  many prior SB cruises have you done and how long ago, i.e., any since Covid?

 

Some reviewers (on CC and elsewhere) are so happy to be cruising at all since Covid that despite paying high prices, any problems encountered are excused (especially since they are also present on other luxury lines), i.e., a "count your blessings" type of approach (perhaps healthier).   Others continue to understandably expect top service for the top prices they pay and are unhappy when expectations are not met.  I'm somewhere in between.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SLSD]

I look forward to a real time report which is honest, not pulling any punches, but endeavoring to be balanced and fair!

 

[frantic36]

5 hours ago, texanaust said:

PS. This live review will mainly focus on the ship, the food and the service.  Don’t expect lengthy port reviews from me…I will be comparing the current quality to what we experienced pre-Covid.  

 

I will try to do a blog about the ports when we board on the 10th and I think we have similar ports on our cruise. I will leave the ship description to you and others. 

[bonnieg]

Thank you for starting a review. I board on July 3rd for my 1st Seabourn cruise. I'll be interested in hearing what you have to say. 

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your review.

[LouChamp]

Thank you for taking the time to share your journey. I wish you good health and smooth sailing. Have been blessed to have visited the ports you;are going to so if ok with you and my fellow cc’s please post food porn lol!

[texanaust]

Day 1-Embarkation

 

We arrived at the cruise terminal at 11:30am.  Prior to today, our embarkation time had changed no less than six times.  We were finally given 4:00pm with multiple stern email warnings that we would be sent away should we arrive early.  This included alerts on my Apple watch!

Well I am pleased to say that no one cared.  Seabourn waited until 12:30pm before boarding commenced.  Water and juice were offered in the terminal.  I was a little amused to watch almost everyone that took the reusable bottles spill them on their clothes when they tried to drink.  They really need different bottles-plus the water does not taste good IMHO.  We have requested Acqua Panna which the FB manager said he too prefers.  Unfortunately only Evian is onboard right now, but I have been assured that my preferred brand will be procured in the next few days.  

 

The ship looks in great condition from initial inspection.  There are definitely some familiar faces and Handre is onboard!  Matt is the CD and welcomed us on the gangway.  He seems to be very nice-a bit like Handre's protege (wears bow ties too!).  Not much has changed lunch wise-your choices are the Colonnade and the Pool grill.  The variety and quality seem about the same.  The main restaurant is closed for lunch.  I may be in the minority, but I like a more elegant place to have lunch sometimes.  Tonight we will dine in TK after obtaining last minute reservations.  The senior staff have definitely shown themselves around the ship today and seem genuinely happy that we (guests) are onboard. 

 

For those that care, mask wearing is about 10%, maybe less as the day wears on.   

 

So overall an excellent start with the exception of our suite...Unfortunately our Stewardess(es) did not prepare our room properly.  The toilet was dirty (and I don't mean ring around the collar, I mean brown water).  We also found nappies/diapers and a whole cupboard full of games, junk, etc.  Totally unacceptable.  Our first contact with the stewardess (we gave her two hours) also did not render results so we had to escalate.  After a re-clean we came back and found cards, bottles and plastic debris under the bed (I am not kidding), plus the carpet had not been cleaned.  There were chunks of food on the floor, the couch and the chair.  The Head Housekeeper just arrived and was profusely apologetic-she agreed that the condition of the suite fell well short of Seabourn standards.  I will report on the results of cleaning #3 tomorrow!

 

@Catlover 54-we have approx 150 days on SB over 20 years.  We don't sail all year long and we also sail on other companies.  This is our first SB since Covid, the last being about two months prior to the shutdown.  

 

Sorry no photos today.  I cannot figure out how to upload successfully from my mac.  Back to the ipad tomorrow!

 

 

 

[lincslady]

Great that Handre is on board.  Really awful  that the suite is so bad - my guess is a new stewardess who  needs supervision and help.  Hope that improves immediately.

[Saffron05]

Thanks for communicating texanaust.  Im glad to hear from you as we will be boarding on 3rd July.   I hope they upgraded you as after such a monumental clanger….

 

Jan

 

[washdcguy]

Thanks TexanAust!  This is the post / live review we've been hoping for.  We're on the 7/28 sailing out of Monte Carlo on the Sojourn and have been very interested in the Sojourn restart and overall quality of food & service on board.  Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

Can you share how full the ship is?  We're intrigued as to whether SB is selling to full capacity yet.

 

Hope your cabin is cleaned, TK was great, and that your Sojourn experience is going well!

 

 

[Fletcher]

Thanks texanaust! Will be following this keenly - we're on the Sojourn in September.  I was really shocked to hear about your suite.  Can't understand how that could have happened and would most certainly have expected to have been moved and/or upgraded. 

[Catlover54]

". . . .

So overall an excellent start with the exception of our suite...Unfortunately our Stewardess(es) did not prepare our room properly.  The toilet was dirty (and I don't mean ring around the collar, I mean brown water).  We also found nappies/diapers and a whole cupboard full of games, junk, etc.  Totally unacceptable.  Our first contact with the stewardess (we gave her two hours) also did not render results so we had to escalate.  After a re-clean we came back and found cards, bottles and plastic debris under the bed (I am not kidding), plus the carpet had not been cleaned.  There were chunks of food on the floor, the couch and the chair.  The Head Housekeeper just arrived and was profusely apologetic-she agreed that the condition of the suite fell well short of Seabourn standards.  I will report on the results of cleaning #3 tomorrow!. . . ."

 

The filth on the first round could have been due to a suite having been accidentally "missed" during the initial cleanup rounds.  More disturbing is the junk under the bed and food chunk presence on the "reclean" round.  Something is wrong with the assigned stewardess. 

 

Even mainstream lines typically had immaculate rooms at least at the start of  the cruise  (but of course where they then fail is on quality of food, public passenger space, and other service).

[texanaust]

A few photos from yesterday.  The ship has 280 onboard, next week it will be full with 450.  Lots of multi-generational families onboard with plenty of teens.

 

I forgot to mention that testing was available at embarkation yesterday.

 

Suite update:  After round two of cleaning, everything looked to be back to SB standards.  However this morning we couldn’t get one of the cabinet drawers closed.  Behind it was multiple crushed bags of snacks.  I gave those to guest services…waiting to hear back from the Guest relations manager.

[SLSD]

I am truly shocked that your suite was in that condition.  Entirely unrelated, but I am also shocked the previous guests would leave it in that condition.  It there are belongings that we don't plan to pack and take with us, we always put them in the trash can OR stack them neatly beside it.  And who leaves chunks of food on the floor? That is truly gross.  

 

I agree with others that  your suite must have been skipped--so much for thorough cleaning during the Pandemic.  Did you request another suite since the ship is not nearly full?  

 

I do hope the rest of your trip is wonderful and that the multi-generational families are well behaved, not too loud, and respectful of other guests.  I am assuming they will be, but I have seen families that are not.  

[RetiredandTravel]

I'm most surprised that Seabourn doesn't have someone inspect that every suite is cleaned correctly at the beginning of the cruise.

 

 

 

 

[frantic36]

1 hour ago, SLSD said:

 Entirely unrelated, but I am also shocked the previous guests would leave it in that condition.  It there are belongings that we don't plan to pack and take with us, we always put them in the trash can OR stack them neatly beside it.  And who leaves chunks of food on the floor? That is truly gross.  

 

 

Totally agree. The poor cleaning by the stewardess is not good and they obviously need supervision and retraining, however, the passengers leaving their room in such a state reflects entitlement syndrome and lack of civilised behaviour.

[SLSD]

1 hour ago, frantic36 said:

 

 

Totally agree. The poor cleaning by the stewardess is not good and they obviously need supervision and retraining, however, the passengers leaving their room in such a state reflects entitlement syndrome and lack of civilised behaviour.

I agree about the entitlement and lack of civilized behavior.  While guests are not expected to clean their own suites, I would think that most would leave them neat and orderly without food on the floor and trash under the bed.  As we always told our children when they were growing up---Class has nothing to do with money.  

[texanaust]

Day 2-Livorno (Florence/Pisa)

 

Last night's dinner in TK was fantastic.  We shared the Dover Sole and the NY Strip-both were divine and the service was impeccable.  Seabourn excels with catering to coeliacs and the special bread brought out for Mrs Texanaust was apparently the best she's tasted in years.  We had never dined in TK on the smaller ships, but the setting seems more intimate, almost like a railway carriage.

 

After dinner we went to the Club and then outside on the rear deck for a DJ party. One change to note is that the Jukebox has been permanently switched off (on all ships).  If you liked having music between sets or at other times of the day, then like me you'll be a little disappointed.  On the plus side, these DJ on the rear deck parties will provide some modern music for those wanting something a little newer than Buddy Holly and Chubby Checker.

 

This morning we were up early to view our arrival into Livorno while exercising on deck.  Many guests left early for full day excursions to Firenze.  Not us, and with 36 degree temps today we decided to enjoy the ship.

 

We had a very good breakfast via room service.  Everything was good quality and they seem to have upsized their bagels which taste much better than before.  On the subject of breakfast, the Pool Grill is open and has plenty of new healthy options.  We will be testing the options tomorrow, so I will take some photos.  Lunch was at the Colonnade.  The quality of the salads has definitely improved.  There are many choices and all the vegetables are tasty and fresh.  TK burgers/hotdogs are off the menu currently due to 'supply constraint issues.'

 

Back to the suite problems ...everything is clean now.  We have been given some free drycleaning and a flower arrangement as an apology.  If you have a problem with SB, my advice is to act early and bring the issue to the attention of guest relations as soon as possible.  We did not ask to be moved and to be honest, we are not big complainers.  We were however taken very seriously and I have had numerous officers stop me around the ship to apologise.

 

Tomorrow is Portofino and they will be doing a Marina day.😁

 

A few 'enhancements' from Seabourn:  No more lux soap (as others have posted). Molton Brown toiletries are now in large bottles with a warning about stealing them (see photo).  No printouts of any kind unless specifically requested (the exception being advertisements from the spa).

 

I just received a copy of the complimentary wines (see photo).  This list seems a little more extensive than the other one that was recently posted.  Dinner in the Restaurant tonight.  Well that's it for Day 2...

 

 

[saminina]

So in the past month they have converted the toiletries and eliminated the jukebox.   No jukebox hurts.  Spent many afternoons peacefully listening to great songs.

Dover sole is a consistent winner and it helps when you're seated at the back corner table.

Great reports!   And the Executive car Italian rail is great value.....and experience.

Edited June 27, 2022 by saminina

[cruiseej]

6 minutes ago, saminina said:

So in the past month they have converted the toiletries and eliminated the jukebox.

 

The large toiletry bottles were in place on the Odyssey last September, so this isn't a change in the past month. And I think they had indicated this was coming back before the pandemic, so this wasn't a Covid byproduct or corporate cost-cutting; it's part of their environmental effort to reduce the waste of hundreds of thousands of plastic bottles. 

 

But why is the jukebox turned off?

[texanaust]

31 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

But why is the jukebox turned off?

The official reason from Matt the CD is Covid.  When I prodded Handre, he waffled, saying the ‘Club doesn’t have an identity.’  He was not a fan and offered to send one to my home in Australia…if he was being serious I’d probably take it!

 

 

[Mr Luxury]

2 hours ago, frantic36 said:

 

 

Totally agree. The poor cleaning by the stewardess is not good and they obviously need supervision and retraining, however, the passengers leaving their room in such a state reflects entitlement syndrome and lack of civilised behaviour.

Go on Julie,I know you want to say Peasants 😀

[SLSD]

31 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

Go on Julie,I know you want to say Peasants 😀

Note my comment on this topic.  Being "low class" has nothing to do with money.  I am still outraged about the chunks of food on the floor and the trash under the bed--the fact that SB guests would leave a suite in that condition!  It's the little things...

Edited June 27, 2022 by SLSD

[Mr Luxury]

What a shame.

Common courtesy and manners cost nothing.

 

Edited June 27, 2022 by Mr Luxury