|
Normally I wouldn't take the maiden voyage of any cruise ship because they haven't worked out the kinks with the ship and staff yet. When I saw the destinations of the Sojourn's maiden voyage, I thought why not, it's Seabourn. I was absolutely right. This voyage was awesome. Yes, there were a few minor issues with the ship - doors that whistled, bathroom rugs that tripped you - but overall it was up to Seabourn's usual high standards.
The rooms were great with a just a few problems. The couch was too narrow and hard for afternoon naps. The comfortable veranda furniture was a tad too big for the small veranda but we didn't use it much because of the cold weather. The bathroom was wonderful - two sinks, bathtub and separate shower. The rug had no rubber backing and continually caused me to trip if I was wearing shoes. So twice a day after our room was serviced, we just picked it up and hung it over the bathtub.
We only ate in three of the four dinning venues. The fourth required reservations and offered a menu beyond our Texas-trained pallets. We never had a disappointing meal. Both dinning and room service staff were fantastic.
Our sail away was from Greenwich- right on the Thames - instead of the usual UK ports. What a night. We had a wonderful first dinner and then were treated to fireworks as we sailed down the Thames. As this was the maiden voyage, the President of Seabourn was aboard and always visible and approachable. We had two special Seabourn events - one in in Iceland and one in Amsterdam. They were very different experiences and perfect for this maiden voyage.
We had one of our stops in Iceland cancelled due to poor weather but because this was Seabourn, by noon that day, they arranged a new stop at the Shetland Islands and it was a wonderful day.
I can't say enough about the staff and crew. Though this ship holds 400 passengers rather than the 108 of their smaller ships, many of the wait staff knew my name. The captain was very visible and would stop to chat. The Sojourn is a beautiful ship but I would be happy sailing on a tug boat that had these wonderfully warm and professional people working it.
|
