Suite

Seabourn Cruise Line

Luxury Cruises

Family Cruises

Romantic Cruises

Cruises for the Disabled

Senior Cruises

Gourmet Food Cruises

Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

Singapore

Vancouver

Monaco (Monte Carlo)

Hong Kong

Miami

Copenhagen

Rome (Civitavecchia)

Cape Town

Stockholm

Kobe

Barcelona

Los Angeles

Buenos Aires

Seward

Dubai

Auckland

Lisbon

Athens (Piraeus)

London (Greenwich, Tower Bridge, Tilbury)

Manaus

Santiago (Valparaiso)

Mumbai (Bombay)

Montreal

Shanghai

Seychelles

Bali

Dover

Rio de Janeiro

Europe - All

Asia

Mediterranean

Europe - Western Mediterranean

France

Alaska

Caribbean - All

Columbia River

Thailand

Caribbean - Eastern

Italy

Spain

U.S.A.

Baltic Sea

Caribbean - Southern

Cambodia

Vietnam

Malaysia

South America

Africa

China

Japan

Philippines

Vietnam River

Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

Myanmar (Burma) River Cruises

South Africa

Switzerland

Middle East

South Pacific

India

Europe - British Isles & Western

Panama Canal & Central America

Australia & New Zealand

Oman

World Cruise

Israel

Nile River

Transatlantic

Transpacific

Europe River

Mexico - All

Indonesia

USVI

Hawaii

Mexican Riviera

Costa Rica

Croatia

French Polynesia

Morocco

New Caledonia

Papua New Guinea

Portugal

Vanuatu

Douro River

Caribbean - Western

Europe - River Cruise

Canada & New England

Canary Islands

Greece

Pacific Coastal

North America River

Brazil

Egypt

Germany

Turkey

Rhine River

US River

Excellent

Average

Very Good

Poor

Terrible

Seabourn Odyssey

Seabourn Quest

Seabourn Sojourn

Seabourn Encore

Seabourn Ovation

Seabourn Venture

Seabourn Pursuit

Not bad 

Paris

This was our 45th cruise overall and our 3rd time on Seabourn.  Seabourn is our favorite line because of the conviviality of our fellow passengers.  We were traveling with family and all of us had a good time, relaxing, enjoying an excellent level of service, attentive but not fussy. It was an Atlantic crossing, but there were enough activities on board, including some very good enrichment lectures.  Some of the entertainment, such as solo shows and featured guests, were very good;  the group shows were standard cruise ship entertainment.  Lots of good alcohol, excellent service at all of the bars.  Never crowded, no waiting for anything ever.  Ship's officers were everywhere asking the PAX for feedback.  My only negative feedback regards the food quality, which tends to standard old fashioned cruise ship fare, including the disappointing specialty restaurant, the TK Grill.  TK is scheduled to be replaced, happily.  The best place to eat is Earth and Ocean on the pool deck at night.  Adventurous and inventive menu.  The Collonade features various ethnic themes, but these cuisines tend to be inauthentic.  The problem seems to be that all menus throughout the ship are strictly controlled by staff in the Seattle HQ so there is no fresh food and the chefs are not allowed to deviate or invent.  It seems like food designed and controlled by the accountants.  I fear that Seabourn will lose out in the competition with Silversea, where cuisine is more like land-based restaurants.  But we were happy enough and will return to Seabourn in 5 months.

Excellent Service, Food Needs Improvement

I chose   because of the itinerary and wanted to try Seabourn cruise line. We have sailed multiple times around the Mediterranean with Silversea  so I wanted to go outside of the Mediterranean.  This cruise started in Lisbon to Canary Islands and to Morocco into Med to Motril Spain and ended in Lisbon.  While anticipating our trip I  read a lot of Seabourn reviews and was nervous  about the trip because of the negative reviews. I will try and be as honest and fair and  and give  a few opinions. To all the nay sayers  I felt Seabourn has done a good job of recovery from the pandemic. To long time sailers I wonder if the golden age is over and comparing pre covid to post covid is not fair. The industry took a huge hit and   finding and retraining staff  seems tough. I will say the staff on Seabourn was great though sometimes short staffed. The House cleaning was teriffic and always friendly. Rooms and Ship very clean, food was very good . So overall worth our money. Now for the cons and it is always easier to point out the negatives so don't compare list . I still give the cruise a 4 out of 5  but it could easily be a 4.5 if i could pick that.   The ship is starting to show  its age if you want the newest updated furnishings look elsewhere. I wonder if the Sojourn is on the auction block like its sister ship? Coffee was not very good if you want a good am coffee  you won't find it. Thomas Keller very good , service was great but don't worry  the food did not blow us away and food in main dinning area was very good. Shore excursion staff not really knowledgable  about locations and did not have any great advice on ports. They seemed to just read you the brochure. Casino  and gym small . I know everything is dressing down but seeing jeans at night does tarnish the ambiance . So overall I would travel with Seabourn again but if I found a  comparable  cruise line with a similar itinerary and an updated ship I would book elsewhere.

recovery

Kauai

Just finished 17 day cruise of Western Mediterranean.   First time on Seabourn.   3rd cruise on ultra luxury cruise line.   The most notable experiences on this cruise are as follows:

Service of Staff.   From the first day on board the staff made a point of knowing your name and treating you as special.   This was clearly something Seabourn trains their staff to do as I saw many with "cheat sheets" with your name and photo on it.   Nonetheless, even with 430 guests on board, they really made an effort and they succeeded in making us feel special.

Food:     Prior to going on this cruise I read many reviews complaining of the quality of food and the portion size or the service.   Our experience with the food on board was excellent.   The best was the Restaurant.   We basically ate 14 dinners at the Restaurant, 2 at Thomas Keller and 1 at Colonnade.   The portions were just right for my wife and I as we like to have an appetizer, soup, entree and dessert.  We hate to waste on only once at Thomas Keller did we eat so much that I had to give up 1/2 of my steak because I was so full.   I guess if your goal is to eat your "money's worth" then you could want more but we found the quality and quantity to be absolutely excellent.

Entertainment:   We were amazed at the caliber of the entertainment that they were able to get.   On both legs of our cruise (10 day and 7 day) they had a great classical pianist, 1 or 2 great singers to perform for us.   I really did not expect this level of entertainment for a smaller ship like this.   Have to hand it to Seabourn for attracting such talent.

Cabins and Facilities:   The decor of the ship is a little dated but the upkeep and cleanliness was excellent.   I definitely could not complain about the size of our cabin, the fully equipped gym (many weight machines) that we used every other day.   With 430 guests on board, you never felt like cramped.   There was always a sense of private space.   With all the different restaurants available, I would say the main restaurant was not more than 50% full on any evening (other than the first night).  We really felt the extra money that we paid for was well spent.

Excursions:    Of the 15 port days we had, we booked an excursion through Seabourn for every one of port days.   The excursions were not the cheapest, but we appreciated the small groups and high quality and attention of each one of them.

Overall, we had a great time on our Seabourn cruise.   Would definitely cruise with them in the near future.

Excellent cruise on Seabourn Sojourn

Saint-Tropez

We have been on odyssey  and encore so this  is our 3rd with seabourn.  From  the  embarking to everything  else it has been  very disappointing. A noticeable reduction in crew, standards of dress code have dropped and are not reinforced when appropriate. 

A lot more children than ever before, this is crazy as there are no facilities for children. 

Guests arguing over the use of aged laundry facilities. Only one dining  area  for breakfast, used to be two. Communication is  absolutely useless, you used to get printed information on tours, this has stopped now you must use a Seabourn App.  to view all tours, costs , even to view menus for any dining . This does not suit all age groups.

All round a reduced luxury quality cruise which we didn't expect , reinforced by many guests, obviously with a reduced financial base as the reason. We will not be booking  another cruise with seabourn because there are too many issues to comment  on this site.

Very disappointed 

Ketchikan

We decided to cruise on the Seabourn, having only done one other cruise with them.  We did back to back cruises, starting in Barcelona and ending in Rome 20 days in all.Embarkation was good.  The ship softgoods (interiors of cabins} very very tired.  They were in dry dock during Covid, and it would have been a good job to re-do those dark cabins, with lighter fabric.  Our penthouse suite  was very nice, the bathroom was fine, having two entrances one from the hall the other from the closet.  Our Penthouse stewards were amazing, and went out of their way to please.  All of the staff was great, as they tried in every way to please.  The Grill on the deck was completely under staffed and we really felt sorry for these guys.Hamburgers were precooked and sitting aside the grill .  When I order a hamburger, and want it cooked from scratch.    It was extremely hot and humid, so people going out on tours were reluctant to stay ashore, and wanted to come back to the ship for lunch, so they were always crowded.  The dining room staff again...they were trying,either understaffed, or in training something was amiss.  The service was awful.  To go to the dining room at 7 and still  waiting for your desert 2 1/2 hours later is not acceptable.  The portions were a joke.  A Caesar Salad was three strips of lettuce.  The portions were so small, that we, ended up ordering double and triple portions to get a normal salad, we traveled with another couple and they also had the same problem.  The food service and portions were insulting.  The Thomas Keller restaurant is where we had our best meal.  We ate their twice, as you can only make limited reservations there so all have a chance to eat there.  Service and food was terrific, and portions were normal size.  In the morning breakfast at the Colonade was just fair.  We have been on the Silver Sea and Crystal a total of 25 cruises, they have omelet stations onboard.  This ship did not.  The had food in chaffing dishes, fruits and bread and cheeses, if you wanted eggs you had to order them from your waiter.    Our best meals were off the ship.  I have never paid any attention to food on Crystal or Silver Sea it was always great, but this was really bad.  I dont want you to think that we are large overweight people that were expecting midnight buffets, NO we just expected better quality food, and quantity than this cruise line offered us.   We would never go on another Seabourn cruise again, we will stick with Crystal, Regent or Silversea.

20 Days on the Sojourn 

Galveston

Let’s start with a disclaimer. We are strong Seabourn advocates. We have sailed on Seabourn for years and have spent more than  500 nights aboard Seabourn Ships. 

That being said, this review will be honest and we will share with you the good and fair on our trip. You will notice we did not use the word “bad”. The reason for us not using this word, is that we have had no bad experiences on this cruise or for that matter any of the Seabourn cruises we have been on.

Introduction:

For those reading this that may not know, Seabourn has six ships, two expedition ships, two ships with a  capacity of 450 guests and two with a capacity of 600.

For those that may not know about this ship, she is one of the two remaining ships in the Odyssey class. She has 225 suites 90% of which have verandas.

Seabourn is a member of the luxury class of cruise ships. They say they provide a six star experience and that is supported by the fact that the customer to crew ratio s 1.3/1 which is excellent.

Seabourn is an all inclusive line. The fare includes meals, speciality restaurants, wine, beer, liquor, Wi-Fi, 24 hour room service, speciality coffee’s, caviar, champagne, special events and water. The only things not included, depending on what loyalty status you hold, are streaming Wi-Fi, laundry and excursions. 

This cruise was a 141 day cruise around the world aboard the Seabourn Sojourn. Cruises of this length can expose any of the system’s weaknesses that may well be hidden on shorter voyages.

The Itinerary:

Dee and I have sailed around the world twice before this cruise. The  first one was on Princess and then on Viking. The main difference between this and our other cruises was its itinerary among other things. We won’t go into the many differences between these cruise lines here.

This cruise started in Miami and ended 141 nights later in Barcelona. Seventy five percent of the ports on this cruise were new to us and that really created interest for us. 

There were several ports that really held our interest. First there was Easter Island, Pitcairn island, Eastern Africa, South Africa and Western Africa. The Safari at Victoria Falls was an exceptional experience.

The itinerary for the most part met or exceeded our expectations. There were a few exceptions. The stops in Probowlingo Java, Indonesia, Surabaya Indonesia, Cotonou Benin, Tema Ghana, Lome Togo, Banjul Gambia were less than great stops and Port Elizabeth also had a major problem.

On another subject, one of the things we learned at a dinner with the Chief Purser on this World Cruise is that they have a series of challenges that shorter cruises may not. Among these is the logistics of refurbishing. It is a matter of timing and in some cases government action. In the case of this cruise it was both issues that affected this cruise. Keep in mind, the “supplies” are ordered in advance and then come in shipping crates. If the ship carrying the supplies is impeded or the transfer of the crate from one ship to another is impeded, the supplies will not arrive on the given day at a given port. This happened on several occasions during our cruise. In one instance an anti-government riot stopped the crates from being delivered to the ship. On another occasion it was a weather phenomenon. The Sojourn was forced to leave the port and anchor off shore because of large swells in the port. On those occasions shortages did occur and the less understanding of the guests were upset and complained.

The Cabin

The cabin was just around the corner from the forward elevator and was close to being mid ship.

As usual the cabin more that fit our needs. What made this cabin stand out were the cabin’s housekeepers. As expected they did a great job. What made them standout was their personalities. They were very interactive and fun.

The Entertainment

Entertainment is not an important part of our voyage however the entertainers we got to know and see were really quite good. 

In one case we met a singer from South Africa and her fiancé. Not only did we have dinner with them but we spent a fair amount of time with them on the seventh deck. They impressed us so much that, with their permission, we wrote them into one of the stories in our next book “Bedtime Stories For Grownups”

Conversation Speakers

This is one area that we really enjoy. In this area our assessment on a scale of 1 to 10 is an eight. The reason we didn’t rate it higher was the number of repeat messages. We heard to many talks on longitude and Captain Cook. On the other side there were some great conversations given by articulate and personable people on subjects that are seldom covered.  

Special WC Events

Being a person with mobility issues I am not sure we are the ones to really evaluate these events. That being said, there were on and off ship events. 

The off ship events dinners were just OK except for the last one which was really not available to those with mobility problems. We say this because that with the exception of the pre boarding dinner, the food was almost warm at best. The entertainment on the other hand, was excellent and fun to watch.

The in ship special events were hosted in the Colonnade which in truth was not large enough to house the Around The World cruisers. That meant if you were slow, you waited quite a while for an open table, sat out side and hoped for the warm weather, or head to the restaurant and skip the event. We can attest to how great the first one. The food was excellent and the entertainment really fun. We missed the second one. This sound like sour grapes however line crowding filled all the inside tables so rather than wait for a table, we joined friends in the Restaurant. 

The Food

Dee and I are not foodies. Even if we were, food is difficult to evaluate as it relates to it’s quality so these comments relate only to our experiences. 

It is unrealistic to expect the chefs meet the quality standards and expectations of 450 different palettes. 

With the number of venues onboard, there was always more than    an ample selection of great food to choose from. 

We ate in the Colonnade almost every day at lunch. The Maître d'hôtel and the Food and Beverage Manager were always available and “walking the floor”. They were very interactive, they knew your name and food wishes. In Cape Town they both headed home and we are sorry to say that their replacements were not as attentive as their predecessors. The service didn’t change much as the waiters were on the ball. The new Maître d'hôtel wasn’t as available nearly as much and we don’t remember seeing the Food and Beverage more than twice between Cape Town and Barcelona. That change was really noticeable.

The food and service in the Restaurant was excellent. The selections offered were somewhat limited at times because of the logistics issues. All in all the preparation, quality, and selection was excellent.

Earth and Ocean’s quality, service and selection were excellent. It has a fairly fixed menus however the quality, service and ambiance made a difference. Our love of being outside didn’t hurt our beliefs either. Our favorite Earth and Ocean’s menu item was their 16 oz cowboy steak. The truth is that it rivaled the Grill’s steak.

The Grill, fleet wide, needed to up its game. Thomas Keller sent his right hand chef to the fleet to make necessary changes and there was an immediate improvement. 

The Grill however seemed to be a point of contention. The main complaint we heard revolved around it’s fixed menu. The truth is that the Grill has a daily special which we found to be very very good. That being said, we really enjoy the Grill, not only it’s fixed menu but it’s daily specials as well. Not only is the food great, but so is the ambiance and service.

Finally, there was a French Executive Chef from corporate  on board when we boarded in Miami. The French Executive Chef that was assigned to the Sojourn became ill. When he recovered he returned and we had two French Chefs aboard for a short period of time. Our regular executive chef really did an excellent job. He was out and about getting a sampling the guest’s comments about the food’s quality.

Service

As we wrote earlier, we have been on Seabourn for 500 plus days. In those 500 days the service has been exceptional with very few exceptions. This trip was no different even with the multiple crew changes. If you are a perfectionist, you would notice a drop in service at the change but in a day or two things are back to normal. A long cruise like this one, crew changes are more noticeable however. The truth is that the effects of crew changes are as much a matter of personality loss as it is about service changes.

The Store 

First the shop is a contacted operation. As hard as they tried it just didn’t meet its expectations. The staff were great and the manager was very personable. The problem was the shop provider’s container shipments did not link with the Sojourn so there were a number of shortages.

The Spa

The Spa is a contracted service as well. We are not Spa people. Our only contact was for hair cuts. From that perspective our experience was good. For us. our only comment on our experiences are they were expensive. The cost of a haircut was three times more than what we have experienced at home.

Wi-Fi 

Wi-Fi is a chronic complaint at the Seabourn Square. There is no doubt it is slow and at times spotty. What drew the most complaints was when we were cruising towards Easter Island. The signal was all but gone secondary to a lack of satellites and therefore there was little or no coverage in that area.

During this time, complaints came out of Seabourn Square with a bit of volume. The two complaints that stood out were ridiculous in our opinion.	

“People have to pay bills and with the loss of Wi-Fi they can’t.”

As to bill payment issues. We put our bills on auto pay. As a security check, we have our bank email us every time an expense is paid. Any body can do the same just prepare.

“I have to talk to my patients daily and the loss of Wi-Fi makes that impossible.”

I can’t understand a practitioner that would subject their patient interactions to the vagaries of a cruise line’s Wi-Fi, but that’s is just me.

The truth is, if you are going on a 141 day world cruise, there will be times when Wi-Fi will be lost and you should expect this issue and prepare for it. Screaming at the people in Sojourn Square will not replace your lack of preparation.

On the bright side, Seabourn has made a commitment to install Starlink fleet wide. Once installed it will improve upload and down load speeds, however there still may be areas of poor coverage. That being said this upgrade can’t come soon enough.  

The Source App

The Source app is much better than it was a year ago but still has a ways to go. All cruise lines are installing more customer related technology. An excellent example of this is the Princess medallion. 

My next comment may raise some hackles. Hold your breath for just a minute.The demographics on this trip was older than we have seen before. It’s also known that seniors seem to be less tech savvy than other demographics. This may be a reason to be slow in this area. On the staff side, some of the tablets used in the Restaurant died and the waiters had to return to paper, which impacted service. It is clear that Seabourn needs to improve their technology infrastructure, both for its customers and staff.

What continues to amaze us however are the abilities, knowledge and patience of the Seabourn staff when dealing with technology questions and complaints.  

The On Ship Environment 

This was a long cruise for one hundred and sixty eight of us.  I don’t know if the cruise length caused an environmental change or not. What was apparent to us and others we talked to, there was a small number of guests that believed they were special and should be recognized as such. We mention this only because it was an unusual for us to see. We will just leave it at that. On the other side of the coin, we met many great people on this trip.The people we met were from the US, Australia, South Africa, the UK, Germany and New Zealand just to name a few

Seabourn Moments

Seabourn moments are one of the important things about sailing on Seabourn so here are just a few of them that we experienced.

When we came back from our safari there were notes and a heart saying welcome back.

One of the great things about sailing on Seabourn is sailing with crew members we have sailed with before. That smiling face and welcome back means a lot.

We ate in the Colonnade every lunch on sea days and when we were not on an excursion. The daily interaction and joking with the staff made our day.

We went on a ten and half hour excursion to Marrakesh Morocco. The destination staff wasn’t sure we could do all the walking so they arranged, while we were getting there on the bus, for a less strenuous excursion in Marrakesh. 

The waves off of Easter Island were really rough. Transfer to the island was via tender. The tender rose and fell five feet as compared to the ship. As bad as it was, the crew made sure I got in the tender. They crew were really amazing.

One evening we were heading back to our cabin after dinner. We ran into the captain and his wife. We said hello to them and he said, “Good evening Ms. Coffeen and Mr. Russell.” In all the 750 days we have cruised across four cruise lines has the Captain has never known our name.

One of the great things about Seabourn is the Block Party. Everyone steps out of their cabin to meet their neighbors. Champagne and snacks are brought out and you get to know the people around you.

Seabourn has hosted tables that many were invited too. We were invited numerous times. Those invitation offered us numerous opportunities to meet new people. Hosted tables are one of the benefits of solo travelers so they don’t have to eat alone.

Hosted tables are an excellent opportunities. Two that stood out to us were with a photographer and his wife as well as an an anthropologist. 

Both were not only very experienced in their fields,  articulate, exceptionally engaging, and had the ability to make the complex understandable. In both cases the table was active past 9:30PM which in itself is a sign of a successful table.

As I have said before, the crew gets to know what you like. I really liked Nine Hats Cabernet Sauvignon with dinner. Supply line issues caused the supply of Nine Hats to go to zero. Our waiter, from some where, got me a glass of Nine Hats for two nights after they officially ran out. I didn’t ask where it came from so he wouldn’t have to tell.

When we got back from our Safari there was our own personal bottle of Nine Hats in our room with a note our wish was their desire. Now that is a Seabourn moment.	 

Excursions

Seabourn excursions are good as well as some what expensive. 

Four excursions stand out with us, one however was through a private company. The Easter Island excursion was exciting, the Cape Town excursion was really fun, Marrakesh excursion was terrific, and the Safari through a private excursion company was phenomenal.

Some were not that great however in truth there was little to see at these stops.

In the end, the destination team was excellent and we used them extensively. 

Summary

All in all this cruise was typically Seabourn, great service, good food, responsive staff, great captains and surrounded by a classy environment.	

The weaknesses revolved around some very poor port selections and according to some, poor supply planning.

The real question is, would you do a world cruise again? As we noted earlier this was our third World Cruise. We have stepped on all seven continents and visited over 100 countries. There are two reasons we probably will not go on a fourth world cruise. First, there are countries in the world we have not visited and they will be at the head of our travel list. Secondly our age and mobility are factors. That does not mean we will stop taking longer cruises. We are booked on an 80 day cruise that travels around South America, into Antarctica and the Amazon for a second time. Like the world cruise, this cruise will visit ports we have never been too.

A great world cruise

Bayonne (Cape Liberty)

For those of you who have read some of the, shall we say, less than glowing recent Reviews of the Sojourn on this site, and who might as a result, have some hesitation about booking this ship, as we did despite previous sailings, I would say very firmly "do not worry". Standards throughout the ship remain very high indeed - the food in all outlets is of an excellent standard, the inclusive wines are varied and very acceptable, but the absolute standout was the Crew, all of whom were excellent and very friendly - nothing ever seemed to be too much trouble. I would have no hesitation at all recommending a cruise on the Sojourn to friends, and we have already booked a significantly longer trip next year. There were a few negative points, but these were very minor, and for the most part attributable to the challenges of the places we visited - as anyone who has visited West Africa will understand. I would guess that organising shore excursions while ensuring a high level of guest security in some of the Ports would have been very challenging indeed, but for the most part they were well done. 

Overall a thoroughly enjoyable trip, with no discernable drop in Seabourn's standards. Highly recommended.

Return to Seabourn Sojourn

Wellington

We have been Seabourn cruisers since 2014 and have always found them to be excellent and well worth the premium price. We returned from a 16 day cruise to the Caribbean and were horrified at our experience. The only good aspect was the quality of the food and the variety of the menus; however, the vaunted Thomas Keller Grill badly disappointed and the overall staffing of the ship was abysmal. We were on the sojourn in 2015 and nothing on the ship had been refurbished -- the carpets were old and stained -- the upholstery in the cabins had not ben touched. We were unable to get bottled water for our room. The water was supplied in plastic bottles that were not sealed closed. Who knows if they had even been washed. The ship took no precautions with respect to COVID. Cakes and cookies were left out in the open for the passengers to paw over and put back. The wait staff was clueless as to propriety or what they were serving. The wine stewards did not have a clue about the wines on the list. Our personal attendants in the cabin were totally overworked. the two women were charged with maintaining 17 rooms twice a day. Obviously Seabourn did not get its original employees back after the pandemic. Perhaps other cruise lines are experiencing the same problem, but for the premium price paid, we would never go on another Seabourn ship

What happened to Seabourn

My husband & I have over 300 days on Seabourn and lots of wonderful memories. This cruise was not one of them. 

From Embarkation to Disembarkation it was certainly not a 6 Star experience.  Embarkation was a joke totally disorganized. We were originally given a 4pm time and got that changed to 12.30. The hall was packed at 12.15 - at least 3/4 of the guests were there waiting. 

The service was no more than average.  The food was way below average my husband ordered a Filet Steak on the first day that was tough. Thomas Keller restaurant was sub standard. Thank goodness we didn’t pay extra for that privilege. 

Public bathrooms were not checked on a regular basis as often there were used towels left on sinks and toilets not cleaned. 

Our suite and others creaked and vibrated continually whilst the ship was sailing. To the extend that some previous guests had folded a piece of cardboard and pushed it between the ceiling and the walls. We spoke with the Hotel Manager - eventually - after they tried to placate us with the Guest Relations Lady. Neither could have cared less just used the excuse of Covid and shortage of staff - not my problem - the price  we paid didn’t discount for staff shortage!! 

All in all Seabourn is a brand that is living on a reputation from a long time since whilst being dragged down to the lower level and standards of the other cruise lines across the carnival brand.  Finally there were broken windows on the top deck at the front of the ship and stain upon stain on many carpets. This would never have happened in the Seabourn of old.

Definitely Not the Seabourn as we know it 

Our November 2022 Caribbean cruise on the Seabourn Sojourn left us resentful and angry. We had been Seabourn fanatics, enjoying cruises with them about twice a year and proclaiming Seabourn THE best experience available. We had a typically fabulous Seabourn cruise in November 2021, post-pandemic, with everything up to standards and wonderful. As such, we booked the exact same cruise for the fall 2022.

Major Problem #1, Open Bags Marked as Hazardous Waste Neglected in the Hallway: Blood-red heavy duty biohazard bags printed with black skulls, stuffed full of room service trays and similar, often were in the hallway about five rooms down from my cabin. These bags were OPEN with dirty dishes, soiled linens, etc. emerging out of the top. They usually were put out in the morning and not collected until evening. As suspected, a cabin had tested positive for covid early in the cruise and self-quarantined, a fact confirmed privately to me by staff only at the end of the cruise. I could complain about atrocious housekeeping or questionable healthcare procedures, but prefer to ridicule a protocol where biohazards are identified and bagged appropriately, but the bags are left open and allowed to accumulate for ten hours, almost every day. The mostly older Seabourn clientele who have been advised to take extra precautions must have loved walking around those bags in the narrow hallway.

Major Problem #2, The Worst Dining Service: There always is the occasional error or bad timing in cruise ship dining rooms. No big deal. But the only excellent service on the November 2022 Sojourn cruise was in the coffee shop, Seabourn Square. The main dining room had its usual slow-but-adequate service. Service at the buffet for breakfast and lunch, usually the fastest and most enjoyable on the ship, plummeted to almost nonexistent. This is a huge black mark for Seabourn, whose buffets formerly surpassed all others in quality, service, and a prevailing feeling of luxury. Quality was fine, but you better not expect beverage service or other assistance. I came to leave my table and walk to Seabourn Square for coffee and bring it back to the buffet. The roundtrip walk and short wait at SS was more rewarding than hoping to get a coffee refill at my table.

The worst dining service was at Earth & Ocean, traditionally our most anticipated dinner of the cruise. We were the first table seated, we watched other parties come and go, inquired about our food, received a smile and an apology and were brought the wrong things, [skip two hours of details], then finally received our food as they were closing for the night, along with a tableside apology that was appreciated to a small degree but not helpful as our situation was known long beforehand in this tiny dining venue.

Major Problem #3, Amateur Night Bar Service:  The individual bartenders were good as always, but the servers and the stock of provisions were a joke. The servers were kind and intended to please but had no understanding of beverages, brand names, or training in taking orders. We ordered amaretto sours and received tumblers filled with straight amaretto, had a happy chat with our server about how to make that easy drink, and she brought back the same tumblers each still filled with the same 3/4-cup of amaretto, now with a float of sweet-&-sour and still no ice. Elsewhere I ordered an Aviation gin-&-tonic. After a long wait the server reported that they don’t now how to make an Aviator. No, Aviation is just a type of gin; clear bottle with a black label. We don’t have that. OK, Beefeater will be fine. Long wait. What is in a Beefeater? . . .  I can’t really know of course, but these incidents suggest that the untrained wait staff, rather than real bartenders, were trying to understand and make drinks themselves in the galley.

The other problem with the drink service was inexcusably depleted stock. I am not exaggerating that plain clear-bottle Bombay was the best gin available at some of the bars and plain Woodford was the best bourbon. Yes, a real First-World complaint, but not what we’re paying for with Seabourn and certainly not what they advertise.  I felt consistently let-down and under-served, but the only time I became insulted or angry was when one bartender joked with us, “HaHa, they drank up all the good stuff on the last leg!” like we were supposed to enjoy the hilarious irony that we would not be receiving what we paid for.

Selected Smaller Problems:

1) The quality of desserts decreased uniformly, and every cake we tried was terrible. Bad cake included the lauded coconut cake at Thomas Keller Grill, which I know well as it a favorite from past cruises, and a special decorated sheet cake that was made for Thanksgiving Dinner in the buffet. It looked so unappetizing that few people even took pieces, and those were abandoned after one bite.

2) The Thomas Keller Grill lost any sense of being special other than the stylized service. It now seems just a satellite of the main restaurant with a different menu and atmosphere.

3) Housekeeping began staging for the next guests two days before the end of the cruise. There always are supplies stashed and ready for the next whirlwind re-install, but this time it was too much, too visible, and made us feel we were not longer welcome in our room. Nobody wants to return after breakfast to find perfectly nice flowers in the trash and the vinyl luggage sheet pulled out two days too early.

4) Seabourn’s signature Molton Brown scent that made the entire ship feel like a luxury spa had been scrapped or just forgotten. There was a faint aroma in the spa area, but no more stepping onto the boat and inhaling the gorgeous fragrance. A small thing, but this delicious confirmation that you are entering another world is sadly missed, or perhaps reflects the new reality in its absence.

In Summary:  The frequent up-beat welcoming presentations by Senior Staff often included some acknowledgment that staff is short, many are new, and Thanks for bearing with us on what we knew would be a “slightly different” adventure. . . .  And Thank You, Seabourn, for acknowledging that you knew this cruise would suck, but still went right ahead promising the moon and charging full price.

The Solution?  Maybe talk with the Hotel Service Director on board and explain these problems calmly, especially the HazMat bag thing?  No, that accomplished nothing. Maybe fill out the post-cruise questionnaire accurately and let some of these concerns be known?  No, no acknowledgement.  Hey, I know!  Try Celebrity! We sailed both Aqua Class and Retreat Class Celebrity very recently and had fabulous experiences. I have zero complaints of any sort. Food quality and service in the Retreat and Aqua restaurants were perfect, often better than ‘old’ Seabourn. Housekeeping was better than most Seabourn experiences. Service from the very well-stocked bars was skilled and friendly. We are looking forward to another Celebrity cruise next month, and I would recommend to anyone who feels let down by Seabourn to try Celebrity Retreat class.

Seabourn loyalists left disappointed, resentful, and disinclined to return.

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