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

[travel4b]

2 hours ago, texanaust said:

@jdk-atlga All cabins have these large bottle.  6 of them.

@saminina Caviar tasted fine, but we haven’t travelled for two years so cannot remember.  It looks lighter in colour than before.  Pizza is good, but not like the stuff I had in Naples (Napoli) recently.

@travel4b Yes, close to those numbers.  Any idea what was going on?

Sorry, I meant to say starboard side - between 521 and 533, not 523.  If so, I'd rather send you a private message.

[sfvoyage]

4 hours ago, jdk-atlga said:

I'm curious though: When we were on the Odyssey last month (LA-Vancouver), we just had the small plastic tubes for Molten Brown. We were in a Veranda suite, so is the larger MB bottles only for the Penthouse (and up) or is it now across all cabins?

In late 2019 & early 2020, SB started to change over from small tubes to big refillable bottles for all cabins ship by ship. Covid hit before the changeover was completed, and they restarted sailing with the small tubes last year.  Apparently they are now in the process of changing over to big refillable bottles again.

 

(Previously, regular cabins were stocked with 50ml tubes, while penthouse suites and above had 80 ml tubes.)

[whogo]

On 6/27/2022 at 6:36 AM, SLSD said:

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.

I am shocked by the previous guests, too, the diapers/nappies (whether adult or infant) must figure into the problem. No excuse, but I sympathize with the stewardess. She has an exhausting job at the best of times, on embarkation day she has to do more in less time. Staff shortages would exacerbate the problem.

 

Great thread you have going here, texanaust. Thanks for posting.

 

 

[SLSD]

23 minutes ago, travel4b said:

Sorry, I meant to say starboard side - between 521 and 533, not 523.  If so, I'd rather send you a private message.

Were those possibly the suites used for the quarantine of those testing positive for Covid?  

Edited June 28, 2022 by SLSD

[Sunprince]

2 hours ago, SLSD said:

Were those possibly the suites used for the quarantine of those testing positive for Covid?  

That makes sense, especially with the treasure trove of games etc.  But (speculative only), if it was a quarantine suite then I am totally shocked that a new guest would be booked in that same suite…AND it was never cleaned properly which is a huge concern given Covid. 

[Thenagers]

I am a board as well but only doing the 7 day. I feel bad you had such a bad experience with your cabin. Our attendants have been amazing. We are on 9. I have enjoyed the food and service. A few hits and misses? I will do a full review later totally bummed also that marina day was canceled. We had a wonderful time in portofino before the downpour. Got a new Louis! Best service ever. 

[texanaust]

Day 4-Bandol, France

 

Bonjour and welcome to Bandol! After an early start exercising, we had breakfast at the Pool Grill. The Grill really is a hidden gem and a great replacement to the Restaurant. No one seems to know about it, the food is great and they pretty much make anything you want fresh on the spot. 

 

After breakfast, I took a 9am tender to shore. I’m not sure if everyone jumped overboard last night, but no one was on my ‘private' tender. Bandol is a seaside town, much larger than Portofino, but pretty nonetheless. I was impressed with the cleanliness of the town given my recent experiences in Italy. After a several km walk along the promenade I decided to return to the Sojourn. The tender ride out was rough and I had a feeling things would get worse. My feelings proved correct and it was an extremely rough ride back in another private tender. Where is everyone???? I guess sleeping in, because when I returned the outgoing tender was packed.

 

Just prior to noon, tender service had to be paused due to the conditions. Sojourn is now being moved closer in after getting approval from the port authorities. 

 

Last night was formal night. Jackets were enforced in the Restaurant as I saw one person struggling to get on an undersized ‘loaner’ at the podium. All the food we had was excellent and the service seemed better than the prior night. The TB goat’s cheese souffle tasted better than the last time I ordered it which was pre-covid. Surprisingly the Restaurant was not that busy overall. I am starting to think that maybe the concept of the main dining room is on its way out. With SB not opening it for breakfast and lunch, it seems a huge wasted space. Maybe they need to split it into multiple different restaurants??? For tonight we have special ordered Pomme Moskovich and Veal Schnitzel (gluten free).

 

Covid Update: I know there was some discussion of our suite being a covid isolation room. Not likely given the undeleted messages on the suite phone. They were definitely around the ship and Matt brought them the games. A two year old was in the suite and she was very messy according to the housekeeper. However there are at least two suites with the little table in front of them. One is the first suite on floor 5 and another is in one of the large suites on deck 9. I haven’t really walked the corridors too much, so there may be more. The bartender in the Club went missing last night too, so not sure what happened to him. There is zero announcements regarding Covid and literally no one seems to care. According to Matt, Trivia was packed, and at last nights show I didn’t see a single guest with a mask on. The word from one of the higher-ups is that they are considering getting rid of the staff masks soon. I’m not sure if anything will come of that, but honestly there is no point when some of the staff walk up to you and then pull their mask below their chin to chat with you. Interestingly Handre (who has now left for Venture) never wore a mask, so maybe Seattle execs are exempt? 

 

Jukebox Update: My persuasion techniques appear to have paid off and the Jukebox has been switched back on! Thanks to Matt, we can listen to good music between sets!! (I apologize in advance to those currently onboard who are probably going to hate my selections!)

 

Later today we have a caviar sailaway and tonight is the first production show with the singers and dancers called LIVE & WIRED. According to the description it has a diverse selection of pop songs from The Beatles 😒 to Bowie 🥳 to Buddy Holly 😩. I’ll let you know how that goes tomorrow. Well that’s it for today, off to the Gym now.

 

 

 

[Mr Luxury]

Thanks for your report Texanaust

 

Handre looks good in a bow tie but not a mask.

Your pictures.of the food look great

I can taste the TBGCS now

[saminina]

So maybe the jukebox is an Handre thing?   Charming as he might be, his stock will take a dive if the records go away.

[highplanesdrifters]

@texanaust Thank you for your excellent thread! 

We are on Venture August 7, so for us it was good to hear that Handre was headed her way. By chance do you have any other Venture news?

[Isklaar]

Thank you texanaust for your reports and the photos.

It's so good to see Sojourn again, almost 2.5 yrs after leaving her last time. My favourite ship in the fleet. The food looks good. I would have been first off the ship this morning to purchase some of the famous Bandol rosé wines!

 

I hope that you continue to have a very enjoyable cruise, especially as your suite situation has apparently now been properly resolved.

[travel4b]

The chef is Indian so the menus have skewed a bit Indian - which is welcome in my opinion.  I thought he did a particularly good job on formal night and the Restaurant Chef's Dinner.  There was also an a la carte  Indian night in the Colonnade that we really enjoyed; I wish they had had a better turnout.  

 

Handre was on our cruise the entire time and often was masked.  Maybe he stopped wearing it so much so people wouldn't think he was part of the crew.  He's done a great job with his selection of entertainers and the new Tim Rice show.  

 

As for your suite on Deck 5 starboard, it was occupied by the same young couple with two children (a toddler and an infant) since we departed Athens.  They were quarantined within a few days and released about the time we reached Malta on June 16th.  Having two small kids in tow it was obvious when they weren't around - and even more so when they were!

Edited June 29, 2022 by travel4b

[RetiredandTravel]

2 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Thanks for your report Texanaust

 

Handre looks good in a bow tie but not a mask.

Your pictures.of the food look great

I can taste the TBGCS now

 

 

I feel terrible for these people that they still have to wear masks.  Time to move on.

[texanaust]

1 hour ago, travel4b said:

The chef is Indian so the menus have skewed a bit Indian - which is welcome in my opinion.  I thought he did a particularly good job on formal night and the Restaurant Chef's Dinner.  There was also an a la carte  Indian night in the Colonnade that we really enjoyed; I wish they had had a better turnout.  

 

Handre was on our cruise the entire time and often was masked.  Maybe he stopped wearing it so much so people wouldn't think he was part of the crew.  He's done a great job with his selection of entertainers and the new Tim Rice show.  

 

As for your suite on Deck 5 starboard, it was occupied by the same young couple with two children (a toddler and an infant) since we departed Athens.  They were quarantined within a few days and released about the time we reached Malta on June 16th.  Having two small kids in tow it was obvious when they weren't around - and even more so when they were!

Can you please state the suite number?  I have just raised the issue again and  we are not impressed if this is true.

[lincslady]

My thoughts  exactly!  Obviously this suite had not been cleaned and disinfected etc. since a family with Covid had been in it.  Really strange, and if true, unforgivable.

 

Hope you can not only find out but get the appropriate apology - at the very least.

[SLSD]

25 minutes ago, lincslady said:

My thoughts  exactly!  Obviously this suite had not been cleaned and disinfected etc. since a family with Covid had been in it.  Really strange, and if true, unforgivable.

 

Hope you can not only find out but get the appropriate apology - at the very least.

Of course we don't know yet, if this is the case--but it is the thought I had--and I was horrified upon having the thought.  The dirty toilet, the food chunks on the floor. I can't unsee this!  Seabourn needs to do more than the flowers and dry cleaning--a LOT more.  We are very laid back guests who hardly ever make waves of any kind--but this really bothers me.  

[travel4b]

I’m pretty sure you are in 527.  Dr. B is next door.  

Edited June 29, 2022 by travel4b

[texanaust]

34 minutes ago, travel4b said:

I’m pretty sure you are in 527.  Dr. B is next door.  

Bingo.  Will report back tomorrow.

[travel4b]

15 minutes ago, texanaust said:

Bingo.  Will report back tomorrow.

Everyone on the crew was really great and I hope this doesn’t overshadow all the positives or get anyone in trouble beyond those directly responsible. I just can’t understand why/how they would make such an obvious self-inflicted blunder. 

[lincslady]

I think it had been  empty for one cruise, waiting for a deep clean.  I assume the beds had been changed, so a stewardess had done the first bit, then no one had been back to do the important bits.  A big blunder on someone's part, sadly probably the person in charge of this part of housekeeping?

 

It is good that you have been enjoying the good things Seabourn have had to offer on your cruise, so you have had  some nice times - and presumably not picked up any bugs.  But they certainly owe you bigtime.

[travel4b]

6 minutes ago, lincslady said:

I think it had been  empty for one cruise, waiting for a deep clean.  I assume the beds had been changed, so a stewardess had done the first bit, then no one had been back to do the important bits.  A big blunder on someone's part, sadly probably the person in charge of this part of housekeeping?

 

It is good that you have been enjoying the good things Seabourn have had to offer on your cruise, so you have had  some nice times - and presumably not picked up any bugs.  But they certainly owe you bigtime.

Unfortunately no; they were onboard until we docked at Civitavecchia. 

[lincslady]

Even worse.  Sorry for my mistake.

[Sunprince]

2 hours ago, texanaust said:

Bingo.  Will report back tomorrow.

Texanaust,  I am so sorry your holiday has been impacted in this unfortunate manner. A holiday should be a stress free escape….to say this situation is unacceptable would be a gross understatement.

 

I believe you did mention that the Head of Housekeeping visited your suite.  The Head would have clearly known the history of the suite, and that it had been used for quarantine.  IMO, this is a big failure on their part. The Head should have moved you immediately. And what about the GM, they are accountable as well.  Where are the GM and what is he/she saying?  
 

It makes me wonder if Seabourn management has any clue as to what they are doing? I at least thought there was some comfort in the rigorous  Covid cleaning protocols as advertised on Seabourn’s website, but perhaps in practice this is not the case?

[SLSD]

3 hours ago, Sunprince said:

Texanaust,  I am so sorry your holiday has been impacted in this unfortunate manner. A holiday should be a stress free escape….to say this situation is unacceptable would be a gross understatement.

 

I believe you did mention that the Head of Housekeeping visited your suite.  The Head would have clearly known the history of the suite, and that it had been used for quarantine.  IMO, this is a big failure on their part. The Head should have moved you immediately. And what about the GM, they are accountable as well.  Where are the GM and what is he/she saying?  
 

It makes me wonder if Seabourn management has any clue as to what they are doing? I at least thought there was some comfort in the rigorous  Covid cleaning protocols as advertised on Seabourn’s website, but perhaps in practice this is not the case?

I agree with everything  said here by Sunprince.  I think you should definitely contact the Hotel Director and  perhaps even the person he answers to.  I am so appalled.  This does not engender confidence in Seabourn--my favorite cruise line.  I'm beginning to think that your entire cruise fare should be refunded as this is a legal breach of duty.  

Edited June 30, 2022 by SLSD

[lincslady]

Agree with everything in the two posts above.