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

[texanaust]

 

Day 5-Sete, France

 

I strolled off the ship after the meeting with the hotel director and had a good 4km walk around town. Without researching, I can say that seafood is one of the main industries here. Tons of fishing trawlers all over this city. I visited a nice market with lots of cheese, small goods and of course lots of fresh fish, moules, oysters and more. Sete is a nice port stop and nicer still that Seabourn docks right in the city with only a short walk to all the action. 

 

Last night we had our Pomme Moscovich and Weiner Schnitzel. Both excellent and the veal so good that I had about three bites before I thought to take a photo, so you will just have to trust me. We also went to the 9:45 show which featured the singers and dancers. The singing was good, the two dancers excellent but the music was kind of blah for my liking. The show really did not have a theme, so maybe that was the issue…

 

Tonight we have a few events. There is the Club reception, another dinner at TK and then at 9:45 is the dance party by the pool. I suspect this will be popular, especially if the weather holds up. However it is currently sprinkling with rain, so we will see.

 

Room/Covid update: Well I met with the Hotel Director and GSM this morning. They were pleasant and apologised for ‘dropping the ball’ when it came to the cleanliness of our suite. In regards to Covid, they admitted the family were quarantined the first part of their cruise and that once they were negative, the staff disinfected the suite while they were still in the room. Apparently Seabourn follows the CDC guidelines which is to air out the suite for four hours before the next person. There was no offer of compensation beyond the apology. I think there have been plenty of comments of how this could have been handled better and what would have been appropriate, so I won’t comment further. It was not Seabourn’s finest hour and the response by management was half-hearted. 

Finally, for those of you thinking the ‘Covid’ suite needs to be torched, left alone for two weeks and then reconstructed using engineers in hazmat suits…well that is simply not happening. The reality is that SB is trying to make money and that means turning over the suites as quickly as possible and sailing at maximum capacity. The whole incident is rather unfortunate, but we plan to continue enjoying our time onboard.

 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by texanaust
photo issues

[lincslady]

It is good, in many ways, that you are taking this problem so well - it means you are able to enjoy what are obviously  very good things about the cruise without feeling 'eaten up' with anger (which I might have).

 

I presume what they are telling you is that your suite was left for four hours to 'ventilate', and then someone in charge dropped the ball and forgot to check that it had then been cleaned up, as well as the stewardess involved.  I would like to think someone got a rocket at least - and still think you should consider  taking it further.

 

Sete is a really nice typically French southern port; and the ships we have been on have docked in town, which is even better.  Love your photos.

[hensus]

Another word of thanks for these helpful words and photos!  It is very helpful as we prepare for this same itinerary in August.  Do you have any comments/advice on Seabourn excursions in Bandol and Sete?  Just wondering if maybe you have heard others discussing their excursions.  Hope you have a safe and worry free rest of your trip😊

[SLSD]

1 hour ago, texanaust said:

 

 

Room/Covid update: Well I met with the Hotel Director and GSM this morning. They were pleasant and apologised for ‘dropping the ball’ when it came to the cleanliness of our suite. In regards to Covid, they admitted the family were quarantined the first part of their cruise and that once they were negative, the staff disinfected the suite while they were still in the room. Apparently Seabourn follows the CDC guidelines which is to air out the suite for four hours before the next person. There was no offer of compensation beyond the apology. I think there have been plenty of comments of how this could have been handled better and what would have been appropriate, so I won’t comment further. It was not Seabourn’s finest hour and the response by management was half-hearted. 
 

I applaud your very mature attitude and your determination to enjoy all the good things on your cruise and in the ports.  I just read  your comments about how Seabourn has handled this to Mr. SLSD and his comment was that "this is very disappointing".  Evidently, there were multiple failures on the part of Housekeeping and Seabourn just doesn't think it is a very big deal.  This certainly is food for thought.  

[Mr Luxury]

Again lovely photos.

I would drop a line to Josh Leibowitz

And raise your concerns and let him know how the situation was handled.

[fdnycruiser]

Thank you for posting the reviews. Also, good for you, taking a lemon and making lemonade. Many of us, would’ve let that start ruin the trip. Enjoy the rest of your cruise

[saminina]

1 hour ago, Mr Luxury said:

 

I would drop a line to Josh Leibowitz

 

The net result of that would be a promotion/pay increase for the hotel manager.

[nolatravelgirl]

Love the photos. More photos around the ship please like the colonnade breakfast/lunch offerings  🙂 so we can live vicariously.  

[Mr Luxury]

13 hours ago, saminina said:

The net result of that would be a promotion/pay increase for the hotel manager.

And entry to CCL share save scheme 🤑

[frantic36]

22 hours ago, texanaust said:

I visited a nice market with lots of cheese, small goods and of course lots of fresh fish, moules, oysters and more. Sete is a nice port stop and nicer still that Seabourn docks right in the city with only a short walk to all the action. 

 

I think Sete is wonderful and Halles Market with the fresh oysters shucked in front of you, served with a glass of wine is something I am looking forward to. I'm just hoping they are open when we arrive on Bastille Day.

[texanaust]

 

Day 6-Palamos, Spain

 

From a distance, Palamos and its seafront looks very much like a line of 70’s era apartment blocks.  And while that may be true, this small city on the Costa Blanca is actually quite beautiful.  Palamos has some lovely tree lined streets, a very nice waterfront promenade and they even have park benches.  Most of the busier areas in Europe have done away with benches or any type of non-paid seating, so it was refreshing to sit down after my walk and do some people watching.  The Sojourn docked very close to town and although there was a shuttle bus, if you want some exercise it was only 10 minutes to the center.  Also off to the right side of the pier/breakwater is a nice little path to a lighthouse.  It only takes five minutes and has some good views.

 

Last night was back to TK and it did not disappoint.  Mrs. Texanaust said if pork was on the menu to get it.  It was and I did.  Actually we shared the awesome pork chop you see in the photos with a gluten-free lobster thermidor.  Both were fantastic.  According to Waldo our server, this particular pork can be served as sashimi (not at TK).  I don’t know if I believe him or what the FDA/Food Standards Aus would have to say, but if I were to eat a piece of raw pork, this would probably be the one.  

 

We also attended the Club party and the Dance party.  About half the ship are returning guests with several in the 600+ day category.  Our next door neighbor Dr. B was the winner.  Out of curiosity, does anyone know if you are the top person (# of days) and you embark for an extended period, do you keep getting gifts every week????  Dr B might need to get an extra bag if that is the case!  The dancing and music started at 9:45pm.  It was not heavily attended, but there was still a good group of passengers having fun.  Many of the families with teens came to this event.  It was quite cool last night, so plenty of people were wrapped up in blankets.

 

Food Review to date:  I really cannot fault the food quality onboard.  The bakery items are so much better than pre-covid.  The salads are better, the fresh produce is better and there appears to be more variety.  Photos for Nolatravelgirl from Colonnade lunch attached.  Tomas the FB director is everywhere making sure things are perfect.  A Seabourn shining star for sure.  

 

Tonight is a show called Stage & Screen featuring ‘well known songs from the latest award winning Musical Theatre productions and hit movies.’  I’ve included a few extra photos today including last night’s party.  Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

[travel4b]

Great to see these photos and read your post.  Your impressions are consistent with ours.  Tomas is great; I'm not sure when/if he gets a rest.  The TK team is stellar start to finish.  We liked some of the new shows better than others, but the quality of the singers and dancers was top drawer regardless, the same for the band.  And Dr. B is always up for a conversation, no? 🙂 

[saminina]

33 minutes ago, texanaust said:

 

 

 Our next door neighbor Dr. B was the winner.  Out of curiosity, does anyone know if you are the top person (# of days) and you embark for an extended period, do you keep getting gifts every week????

 

It is one and done for your neighbor.   A different recipient next week.   Great pics!

[Mr Luxury]

Great photos 

Food looks top notch 

Glad to hear that there is consistency and all are having a lovely time.

[Saffron05]

I too am enjoying your posts.  I always enjoy the dance party on board and after a few stiff ones even I get up and dance!  My twin sister from Melbourne and I (from the UK) are joining you on Sunday.  If you spot us please say hi.  We are no longer young in age but want to make the most of our time together as its been 2 and half years since we saw each other.  
If you have the time, keep the posts coming - we are all keen to hear Seabourn news.  
 

[texanaust]

 

 

Day 7-Palma de Mallorca, Spain

 

 

In hindsight, I should have taken the shuttle to the city center. But instead, I decided to explore the area close to the ship which consists of a massive marina and rows of tacky souvenir shops. It was hot and there was little shade so after 5kms I was done.

 

I did shop around for a luxury super yacht, but unfortunately none were within my allocated budget. There was a Ferrari parked out front of one that definitely could give the Sojourn a run for its money though. Anyway it was fun to do a bit of window shopping, but I’ll have to be content with my Chaparral 240 at home…

 

I’ve been wanting to try Earth & Ocean, but the menu that I like has not appeared yet, so it was back to the Restaurant last night. Once again a very nice menu with an unusual appetizer gnocchi dish that looks very similar to the TB goats cheese soufflé. Afterwards we attended the show which was good, but the ‘latest award winning Musical Theatre productions’ actually meant ones that were made in the 90’s. Not exactly recent by my standards. I think the latest number was from Mamma Mia which has been on stage for quite some time. The Club musicians have been good but verrrrry mellow at least in the early evening. When U2 (I still haven’t found what I’m looking for) is turned into elevator music, it brings a tear to my eye. But seriously, I’ll be checking myself into the old age facility before classic rock is allowed to be played by Seabourn other than as Muzak.

 

Yesterday was also quite eventful with a massive fire on the hillside behind Palamos. It appeared to start around lunch time while we were eating in the Colonnade. By 4pm, multiple water-bombing seaplanes were scooping up seawater right in front of Sojourn. Several times they flew low over the ship, their turbine engines at max power as they climbed out. When we departed, the Captain announced that the seaplanes would be avoiding the area for a while. I guess the pilots didn’t get the message, because the Canadair CL-415’s continued scooping right in front of the pilot boat and the Sojourn!

 

Tonight we have the Epicurean deck event with the officers being held at 6pm and a comedian at 9:45pm.

 

Suite Update: Seabourn did reach out to us again and we received a nice gesture in regards to the aforementioned issues. All in all an excellent end to the first week.

 

 

 

 

[frantic36]

Thanks for all the postings and port information. It is making the anticipation for our upcoming cruise more acute. 

 

We enjoy Palamos and the people. I hope the fire was brought under control quickly without too much loss of property and no injuries. Unfortunately we in Australia as you know @texanaustare all too familiar with Summer fires. Great photos by the way.

[texanaust]

On 6/30/2022 at 7:05 PM, Mr Luxury said:

Again lovely photos.

I would drop a line to Josh Leibowitz

And raise your concerns and let him know how the situation was handled.

As word has it Josh and his family will be  joining tomorrow for week 2 along with Belinda King for the launch of the new Tim Rice show.

[Mr Luxury]

Belinda is a lovely woman.

Give Josh some of your wisdom

[travel4b]

4 hours ago, texanaust said:

As word has it Josh and his family will be  joining tomorrow for week 2 along with Belinda King for the launch of the new Tim Rice show.

They did the soft launch of the new show last week.  It's entirely new music and seemed very well received.  I enjoyed it, but Sir Tim does come across as rather full of himself.  I'm not sure if he sits on the right hand of Sir Elton or vice versa!

[texanaust]

 

 

Day 8-Barcelona, Spain

 

 

Just a short entry today as we are having a ‘sea day’ to catch up on some work back at home. Sojourn arrived at 7am and the majority of passengers disembarked leaving almost the entire ship empty by 10am. The rumors of Josh and Belinda arriving are correct, but no Sir Tim Rice on this voyage. I have a feeling that SB will be doing something special for July 4th as one of the singers is supposed to sing the national anthem. Also St. Tropez has no shore excursions scheduled leading me to believe (hopefully) that a marina day will be scheduled for this stop. The weather today is a nice 25C with low humidity, so wonderful for relaxing outside. I had a refreshing dip in the pool for the first time after exercising-WOW was that cold! It was very pleasant to have the deck to myself before the full complement of passengers arrive later today.

 

Yesterday’s Epicurean event was enjoyable as we sailed away from Mallorca along with the crew 'thank you' assembly. The Restaurant was lightly attended, but the food was excellent, especially the escargot. Last night we skipped the comedian and relaxed in the Observation Bar for a few drinks after dinner, so a fairly early night for us.

 

Tonight appears to be mostly a repeat of last Sunday. We are going to TK again, the Restaurant menu is the same and the entertainment in the theatre is the same as last week. Mrs Texanaust ran into the guitar duo yesterday and said ‘Oh, you must be the new entertainers.’ To which they replied, ‘Well actually we’ve been on all week and done two shows, where have you been!’ So on that note, we decided we’d better attend tonight.

 

 

 

[Mr Luxury]

Thanks for your post.

I can taste the garlic in those Escargot 🥴

[lincslady]

19 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

Thanks for your post.

I can taste the garlic in those Escargot 🥴

I know -  I was drooling - had to hurry to the kitchen to make - a bacon sandwich.  Not quite the same.

 

Lola

[Mr Luxury]

Spread a little garlic puree on the bread first 😋 

[texanaust]

 

Day 9-Mahon, Menorca, Spain

 

We awoke early to exercise and enjoy the sail in to Mahon at 7am. Mahon, Menorca is the largest natural harbour in the Med and as such is quite picturesque. It took us about 30 minutes to sail up the harbour to our berth in the city center. Mahon is very pretty with its Georgian houses, but requires a steep ascent to get to the main town. There does appear to be an elevator, but we did not use it. Once in the center, there was plenty of shopping, tapas bars and even a supermarket if there was anything you had forgot from home. The supermarket is actually located in part of the cathedral along with some other small goods stores, a few butchers and some souvenir shops.

 

Today we had massages before going off to explore the town. The onboard massages are very good, but way overpriced. $179 for 50mins plus gratuity. There was plenty of availability, so I suspect they are not flat out at those prices. The jewelry boutique appears to be another white elephant. Does anyone purchase enough jewels to make that store a going concern?

 

This afternoon in the 4th of July sail away celebration at 4:45pm. The pool deck has been adorned with the red, white and blue. More on that tomorrow.

 

Tonight we are back at the Restaurant with a few special orders as the menu is the same as last week. Tonight is also a repeat of the comedian, so who knows if we’ll make it or not…(didn’t attend the first time).

 

One item that I don’t think I've mentioned so far is how the Seabourn team attempts to learn everyone’s name. It has been stellar on this cruise. Everyone knows our name (well okay, maybe not the laundry team) and has pretty much since day 2.