On board Sojourn - Mumbai to Athens Blog

Here is a link to my blog if you're interested in following it. By the way, we could not be having a better time on the Sojourn, just wonderful. Ready to transit the Suez Canal tomorrow.

http://claudiayvr.blogspot.sg

Interesting Blog, could you also post please some photos of Sojourn and possibly the crew.

Thank you for taking the time to blog. I'm enjoying reading and seeing your photos. We did the reverse of your cruise on the Odyssey last October. We were able to stop in Egypt and your pictures of Luxor bring back many nice memories.

Wow! Thank you so much for your fabulous blog! I enjoyed it all, particularly the parts on Egypt. I visited those places about 6 years ago and they remain one of the highlights of my travel life. You write beautifully!

Thanks for that.

At one stage we were planning to be onboard but Virgin Airlines / Delta pulled the Mumbai flight which meant our free upper class flights from London were no more !

So instead reading this from the shade in a rather sunny Thailand. Gathering energy for a bust Songkran (Thai New Year).

Enjoyed reding the blog

Henry :)

For the record, there are over 100 Australians on board, a delightful bunch altogether.

For the record, there are over 100 Australians on board, a delightful bunch altogether.

I hope the bar manager is on the ball with all those Aussies aboard.

The cruise really exceeded our expectations, despite the earlier disappointment with the cancellation of the Egyptian ports. I finished my blog, have a look if you're interested:

http://claudiayvr.blogspot.ca/2015_03_01_archive.html

I'm working on a review which I'll post later.

Cheers!

Great blog claudia, really interesting.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog. Thank you for taking us along with you.

Very enjoyable read thanks. May I ask whether you used Seabourn for your excursions and if so what was the approximate cost of each?

We did use Seabourn's excursions on this cruise. Even though we don't often do, generally preferring to source local excursions or doing our own self-guided, we felt that on this particular itinerary it was wise to stick with the ship's and not risk being left behind on any given port. Also given the instability of the region (in Oman we were 200 ks from the border with Yemen for example), we thought we'd feel more reassured being in Seabourn's hands at all times.

In the end we know we would've been just fine with non-Seabourn tours but don't regret it doing it this way. They were all good and the tour guides very knowledgable and with excellent English. The half-day tours were approx $80 and the full days between $150 to Jerusalem and $250 to Petra for example.

By the way, we used Ramses Tours in Egypt and they were excellent and Namaste Tours in Mumbai which was also very good.

We did use Seabourn's excursions on this cruise. Even though we don't often do, generally preferring to source local excursions or doing our own self-guided, we felt that on this particular itinerary it was wise to stick with the ship's and not risk being left behind on any given port. Also given the instability of the region (in Oman we were 200 ks from the border with Yemen for example), we thought we'd feel more reassured being in Seabourn's hands at all times.

 

 

 

In the end we know we would've been just fine with non-Seabourn tours but don't regret it doing it this way. They were all good and the tour guides very knowledgable and with excellent English. The half-day tours were approx $80 and the full days between $150 to Jerusalem and $250 to Petra for example.

 

 

 

By the way, we used Ramses Tours in Egypt and they were excellent and Namaste Tours in Mumbai which was also very good.

Thanks - we are the same, usually preferring to do our own thing but would probably use Seabourn for trips on this cruise; for Israel and Jordan at any rate, given the distances involved. Your information has been very helpful.

We did use Seabourn's excursions on this cruise. Even though we don't often do, generally preferring to source local excursions or doing our own self-guided, we felt that on this particular itinerary it was wise to stick with the ship's and not risk being left behind on any given port. Also given the instability of the region (in Oman we were 200 ks from the border with Yemen for example), we thought we'd feel more reassured being in Seabourn's hands at all times.

 

In the end we know we would've been just fine with non-Seabourn tours but don't regret it doing it this way. They were all good and the tour guides very knowledgable and with excellent English. The half-day tours were approx $80 and the full days between $150 to Jerusalem and $250 to Petra for example.

 

By the way, we used Ramses Tours in Egypt and they were excellent and Namaste Tours in Mumbai which was also very good.

Thank you for your interesting blog. Lots of good information in them and wonderful photos. I especially like the ones from Petra as the way you put them was wonderful. First the beautiful colours in the rock and then the next photo the glimpse of the wonders you were about to see. :)

Hi Claudia. Just booked this cruise thanks to your blog. Any tips on ports of call and the trips you took (seems to be a confusing array over our two days in Israel) or anything else greatly appreciated.

Please would you let me know whether the main dining room was open for lunch every day during your cruise?

Hi Galeforce,

so glad you booked, you won't regret it. If you haven't been to Egypt this is the time to go, just plan a pre-cruise. The tourims industry is suffering and it seems to me that Egypt is no more unstable or unsafe than any other place in the region. Since there are so few tourists, we never experienced some of the downsides I had heard about Egypt, particularly about how crowded and dirty Giza is (there were no crowds and no garbage when we were there). Yes, the road to Giza is next to a river/canal used as a dump and therefore it was perplexing to me to see people hurtling their garbage bags onto the banks. I'd say a week in Egypt would be great, we only had a full day in Cairo and another one in Luxor but would have loved to go to Abu Simbel.

Israel impressed me in many ways and I enjoyed all our time there. We chose to go to Jerusalem one day and Haifa/Akko the next one and it turned out really well. If given a chance one day I'd go back to see the See of Galilee, the Dead Sea, Tel Aviv.

To your dining room question: on sea days the dining room was open at lunchtime (there was also a Galley Tour lunch one day) but we chose to have lunch outdoors at the Colonnade almost every day. It is just so pleasant and the choices for food are good. If you don't care for the daily buffet (theme changes every day), there are items always available from the regular, but small, menu like awesome burgers, pasta, etc.

Happy to answer any specific questions you may have.

I can add to what claudiaYVR said. We switched between the Restaurant and the Colonnade on sea days. Although you can order off the small Colonnade menu and have it served by a waiter at your table, the majority of people seem to go to the buffet or even mix and match. We found the relative peace and slower pace of the Restaurant a very pleasant change on occasions.

I agree. Michael. Sometimes it's nice to just sit down at a lovely table and be served. Though I do tend to drink a bit more wine in the MDR than at the Colonnade. But that's a good thing, right?