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. Read more