SEABOURN SOJOURN REPORT

Ken and I had the opportunity to sail on the Sojourn, below is my report on the ship. Any other questions you may have I will be happy to answer. This is a wonderful cruise line and the Sojourn is a beautiful ship and I would recommend it without hesitation. No ship is perfect and each line has its positives and negatives.

Overall Impression
The Seabourn Sojourn is a very classy ship with light and bright décor and soothing atmosphere. The cabins are well designed and the public rooms are spacious with comfortable furnishings. The public rooms are all at the aft of the ship and cabins forward. No major atrium or WOW effect on entering the ship. The new Silversea Silver Spirit and the new Seabourn ships are featuring this layout rather than focusing around a center atrium or having all public spaces on the same decks. I find the ceilings are lower in most cases on these new ships and personally prefer the public spaces primarily on the same decks as it is more convenient. I also find it harder to remember all the decks for all the different public rooms. This does not take long to get used to of course. The advantage is that there are no aft cabins but that also means those that enjoy an aft cabin with a big deck cannot find that type of cabin on this type of ship design. Only exception to the aft location for public rooms is the Observation Lounge which of course is forward on the top passenger deck. There is a circular stairway between decks ending with a large sky light in the center of the ship. Food was very good. Overall this is a wonderful product.

EMBARKATION
Our registration and picture taking was done on the dock in a tent before boarding. It went very smoothly. The staff was lined up outside the ship to welcome people on board and once on board the traditional glass of champagne was offered. I asked where lunch was being served and was surprised to hear NO lunch was offered but sandwiches and cookies were available in the lounge where we would have to wait until the cabins were ready. The lounge had a news channel playing on the large screen but I am not used to being asked to sit in a lounge for 2 hours rather than being able to wander around the ship and check it out on boarding. Then stewards came in and picked up guests to take them to their suites. I really did not like this boarding procedure and felt a lunch should have been offered to embarking guests and the guests should be able to check out the ship while waiting for cabins to be available. This took the excitement out of boarding.

STANDARD CABINS – 300 sq. ft interior space and a 65 sq. ft balcony
The décor features light woods, with brown and beige coloring for the accent pillows, couch and drapes. A clock is mounted on the wall and the clock makes no noise. The bedside lamps are mounted on the wall with a small flexible reading light attached which is very handy.

This is the best storage we have seen in a cabin of this size. Across from the bed is a narrow wall storage unit. This is probably about 14” deep and about 7’ long. There are three set of doors and two shelves the length of the cabinet. Lots of storage space plus a counter top that is very handy. There are two triple compartment cabinets. One houses the refrigerator, mini bar, fruit and glasses. The second cabinet houses 3 drawers, the television and two shelves. The vanity table has 30” large drawer, one 110 and one 220 outlet. No mirrors to see the back of your hair. The closet has two 4’ single hanging racks and one 4’ single hanging rack, 5 drawers, two shelves and a safe that is about 18” x 12”. End tables are about 18” feature a shelf and two drawers. There is no desk but a 3’x 2’ table with a chair on each side. It is a little high for a computer table or for dining but works well enough. A small cube slips under the desk that also features a wooden removable top. This actually was very handy and the stewardess uses this to hold the nightly paperwork on your bed.

Walking around space is also very good. The distance between the end of the bed and wall cabinet is about 30” quite adequate. The living area feels more spacious than most cabins of this size. There is a 5’ couch and two small leather arm chairs but these are not oversized and this probably helps with the space. The bed next to the wall is the only problem this is very tight probably only about 12’ from the bed once the bed is made up and you feel like you are going to bang into that wall.

Bathroom is very nice. A white and brown granite combination, double sinks, full size bathtub and separate shower. Storage features two small shelves and one wall medicine cabinet plus a shelf under the sinks on both sides. A large free standing magnifying mirror is in the bathroom.

Other details on the standard cabins
Not enough outlets in the cabin. At the table on the floor level is a plug outlet that is difficult to reach with a 110 and 220 volt outlet. At the vanity table there is a 110 and a 220 outlet, the 110 outlet does not work for all hair appliances depending on the configuration of the plug as some plugs will not fit. In the cabinet housing the mini bar is a 220 outlet. With all the computers, camera and cell charging, and other electrical appliances this is just not enough outlets for a new ship.

The flat screen TV is too small and the shelf holding the TV does not extend out far enough to give the best angle for viewing from the bed. The on demand entertainment system features a nice range of movies and TV shows. BCC, CNBC, CNN, FOX are the offered news channels and there are two euro sport channels.

PENTHOUSE SUITES – 436 sq. ft. interior space with 98 sq. ft. balcony
These are wonderful accommodations with an entirely different layout. There is a long desk area along the wall with plug outlets for computers and electrical appliances along the side. The bedroom area is in a glass enclosed square in the center of the cabin with a large flat screen TV and vanity area with side mirrors so you can see the back of your hair. The glass surrounding the bed area has a pattern and of course a drape can be drawn for more privacy. The lounge area is also large with nice furnishings and a secondary large flat screen TV and table with four chairs. The bathroom is an entirely different configuration and is much larger. The toilet with a sink area is accessible to guests without entering the entire bathroom area. The bathroom features a whirlpool tub and larger walk in shower and double sinks. This suite also features a larger walk through closet between the bedroom and the bathroom area.

THE WINTERGARDEN SUITE – 914 sq. ft. with 183 sq. ft. balcony
This is probably the nicest large suite I have ever seen. The living area is very spacious with a large circular sectional sofa, a big screen TV, a dining table with six chairs and a wall desk unit. There is a walk in wet bar complete with espresso machine. The large balcony features two separate areas. Off the lounge is a sunning area with table and chairs for four, and lounge chairs and off the bedroom is a large freestanding bathtub with sofa and chairs with blinds for privacy in port. The bedroom also has a large flat screen TV and the adjoining bathroom is big and features a huge round whirlpool tub, larger glass enclosed shower, and double sinks. The closet area is also much bigger. It would certainly be a wonderful experience to stay in this cabin on a cruise.

RESTAURANTS AND FOOD

The Restaurant
A long walkway with lighted white columns on each side leads the way to the main restaurant featuring a white and cream décor. This is the one area of the ship that did not inspire me, a purely personal response others may love this look. There is one small bench in the large area outside the restaurant that could only seat about three to four people. There should be more seating here and probably that will come in the future. On all the tables there are white roses in a contemporary low glass container. They look great – they are not real roses but the effect is wonderful, many thought they were real roses.

The dinner menu is laid out in a strange way. They have FIRST COURSE then MAIN COURSE. The FIRST COURSE has three appetizers, two soups and two salads. There is no clear division between these items so guests at our table thought you could only order “one” first course. MAIN COURSE selections are four mains and a vegetarian dish. A simplicity section offers the same items each night, chicken breast, salmon, pasta, lamp chops and a filet mignon.

The lunch menu features basically the same items that are offered upstairs in the Colonnade. We did not see any items on the lunch Restaurant menu that could not be found at the casual restaurant the Colonnade.

The large breakfast menu has all the offering one could wish for similar to all the other luxury cruise lines.

Restaurant 2
The décor is dark featuring red, black and brown with almost a contemporary Asian flair. This is a small reservations only restaurant that only seats about 50 people. This restaurant offers a set tasting menu of 7 courses with most courses featuring 3 items. The servings are tiny, two bites at most. The dinner is served with explanations about each items and finishing touches added at the table. A unique idea and everything was excellent, fun for a night but something that for many one time would be enough. There are seven different menus featured. At this time reservations are only accepted 48 hours in advance. That means you have to keep calling when they open at 6.00 pm each night hoping for a reservation for that night or the next night. This seems an ineffective way to handle this and probably the system will change with time.

The Colonnade - casual dining
The Colonnade Restaurant is a very nice venue featuring a warm and inviting earth tones décor with a combination of normal tables and chairs and a high counter bar with stools and an outside on deck area. This restaurant serves a buffet breakfast and lunch during the daytime and a la carte dining at night.

The breakfast buffet offers almost everything you could wish for all the traditional items along with made to order eggs.

The lunch buffets are excellent. A square serving island features salads, cold seafood and deserts with a choice of four different ice creams. Six large chafing dishes feature hot dishes and another small area features a carving station and about eight additional hot items. Each day a featured pasta and fish dish along with simplicity items such as chicken breast, hamburgers and salmon are offered by table service. The selection of hot dishes is superior to most cruise lines I have experienced, however the desserts are more limited in selection and no hot dessert is offered. The salad and cold seafood offerings are similar to those on other luxury cruise lines.

For dinner the theme changes each night and features different ethnic cuisines. On a formal night an “elegant” theme is offered so you can dine without having to dress in formal attire and the Colonnade restaurant features the same prime items offered in the main Restaurant.

The Grill
Outdoor dining featuring the normal salads and cooked to order simplicity items are featured at breakfast and lunch. In the evening the grill is open for outdoor deck dining and features a more upscale menu with a Filet Mignon, Rib Eye, Lamb Rack chops, fish of the day and a vegetarian option.

The Seabourn Square – a wonderful concept
A wonderful addition to any ship and I believe this concept is going to be very popular on any new builds in the future. A combination coffee shop with light fare of cookies, pastries, sandwiches, ice cream and specialty coffees and teas coupled with the computer center, tour and guest services facilities, library books and the shops. This is a large space with extensive seating with all the tables featuring an orchid in a contemporary low glass container. Again silk not real orchids however I like the look and found it very appealing.

The front wall of the square is the coffee shop. The back wall of the square is all glass with a wonderful view from the back of the ship. In front of this area are many chairs and tables and some remote control lounging chairs that are very comfortable. In the center of the room is a secondary square that internally houses the tour desk and guest services desks. On two of the outside walls of the center square are the two banks of computers – four on each side with a printer in the middle.

Probably a highlight on this new ship, the extensive seating with all this activity available in one space is really convenient for the guests. There was a long line for the tour desk that backed up to the coffee counter so a slight alteration in traffic flow may adjust this situation.

Afternoon Tea
This is held in the Club on deck 5. Exotic teas and a single area for an afternoon treat featuring sandwiches and pastries. There are also two warm offerings, scones and then a daily special such as crepes or cheese blintzes. On a sea days it appeared this was the same situation no gala afternoon teas. The scones were absolutely terrific. Light and fluffy best scones I have had in years.

Comments on the food and service staff
The food overall was very good, of course food is very subjective to each person’s tastes so these comments are only my opinion. I believe lunch in the Colonnade is better than most ships. The hot items were the difference with five chafing dishes a carving station and eight other hot offerings. The desserts were not as plentiful or as inspiring as we would have expected. The main restaurant dinners were the same as other luxury ships. Some items exceeded our expectations some items were not as good as we have had in the past. There is an effort to go a “step beyond” in the style of serving for example pouring the soup at the table instead of prior to serving, but this also resulted in cold soup at times so not sure that this is really such a great idea.

No self service coffee espresso machines anywhere on the ship. The lack of the self service machines created delays for service in the coffee bar and I think would speed things up if offered. This is true particularly for people who simply want tea or a basic coffee and do not need a drink made to order. I think the desire here to offer more service by having everything done to order actually detracts from the overall experience as you have to wait for service instead of just making your own tea or coffee that many people prefer to do. The only place I saw any self service was outside the lounge for lectures there is self service cold drinks and thermos coffee and hot water for tea

The service staff was very good with a huge contingent of South Africans on board along with Europeans. We did not see one food or housekeeping service person from the Philippines a common source for staff on both Regent and Silversea. Although friendly there is a distinctly more formal service atmosphere on board. One night at dinner in the main restaurant it seemed so much went wrong. Mixed up and wrong orders, people being served a main course while others had to wait and a very long time with several requests for extra sauces or condiments. This can happen on any ship on a given night of course.

DRESS CODE -There are three dress codes after 6.00 pm in the evening.
Casual: No jacket required,
Elegant Casual: Jacket required but tie optional
Formal Optional: This was the most contradictory situation based on the information we got from the Seabourn reservation center, the web site and then once on the ship. Once here we discovered that to eat in the dining room you MUST have either a tuxedo or black suit nothing else is acceptable. For those who prefer not to dress formally the Colonnade Restaurant with the prime items from the formal dinner is available. One couple told me that they were turned away from the Colonnade and told they must eat in the dining room as they were dressed formally. Probably in an effort to balance the guests they were holding space in the Colonnade for non-formally dressed guests.

There is definitely a higher standard dress code here. A man would have to bring a jacket. In contrast Regent’s Elegant Casual does not require a man to wear a jacket at any time. This is a positive or a negative depending on your personal preferences.

PASSENGER MIX
We sailed on an active Baltic’s itinerary. The mix of guests ranged from the wheelchairs group to probably mid fifties, a few children that were no issue at all. What was surprising was the number of Europeans and Australians on board.

The ship has a classy and more formal attitude. This starts with the upscale décor through out with solid colored leather chairs and no wild colors or fabrics. Afternoon tea people speak softly; even in the Seabourn Square it is quieter than one would expect with that many people around. Sitting in the Observation Lounge is very tranquil. This is NOT a negative it is simply a different atmosphere that many may appreciate and prefer.

Self service laundry rooms
Two laundry rooms are offered on deck 5 with two sets of machines per laundry room.

THE SPA
A lot of space is devoted to the spa. The exercise room offers about six treadmills and other equipment and is open to all guests.

A $300 per person charge offers access to the facilities of the spa for the voyage. This includes a steam and sauna room and a beautiful area with a small walking pool filled half with hot water and half cold water surrounded by lounging chairs including stone heated loungers. A private sun deck and whirlpool is available for spa guests.

A private spa villa featuring a Balinese style bed, large bathtub for bathing rituals, two treatment tables, a dining table and a private deck area at the front of the ship. Prices start at $650 for 2 ½ hours and if you take the spa villa for four hours or more you can have a meal in the villa.

Of course any treatments are at an additional cost and the lounging areas are available pre and post treatments for a specified time period.

THE INTERNET PACKAGES

Explorer: $9.99
One hour actual on line time used as you please over multiple days or sessions
Business User: $39.99
Good for unlimited access for 24 consecutive hours from initial log in/
Always Connected: $234
Unlimited access for seven days
Loyalty: $399
Unlimited access during your cruise of any length

The internet is a little faster here than we have experienced before but there are far fewer people using the internet probably due to the cost.

ENTERTAINMENT
There is a nightly show, comedian, guitarist, singer etc. They do not do the big Broadway type shows that are on larger ships but do have a group of singers. There is duo that play and sing dance type music in the club and a pianist in the observation lounge. Quiet piano music is present at tea time.

CARD ROOM
A large card room features many tables and bridge is of course the primary usage for this room.

CASINO
Small with a craps and roulette table, some blackjack tables and a wall of slot machines, it was not very busy on our trip.

TRIVIA
Not a big draw on the Seabourn ships and only held on sea days at 12.00 noon. Teams can be up to 12 and the answers are given by each team following a set of three questions. Fifteen questions altogether. About 30 people turned up for trivia. The winning team received Seabourn bookmarks.

SEA DAY LECTURES AND GAMES
On the sea days there were guest lecturers that were related to the area we were travelling. There were also a few games available.

DECK WALKING
You can not walk totally around the ship. On deck 5 you can do a horse-shoe type walk turning around and returning in the direction from which you came and do the majority of the ship.

DECK FOR YOUR CABIN
Deck 4 offers forward non balcony cabins and the only other public room is the dining room. Deck 5, 6 and 7 are the only decks where you can go from the front to the back of the ship without having to go outside over the decks. Deck 8, 9, 10 you can access public aft rooms by taking the elevator to 5, 6 or 7 and crossing over.

A wonderful product and I would definitely consider the Sojourn if the itinerary and pricing suited your vacation plans.

Best aspects: The cabins, the Colonnade lunches, the food overall, the Seabourn Square concept, the elegant atmosphere of the ship.

Improvements: Lunch on embarkation, clarity on dress code, some self service coffee areas.

Thanks Ngaire, as always very good info for possible future use.

See you in Oct.

Thanks N found your review very interesting - oh the W Suite I'll have to keep buying lotto tickets :) :) I will always remember our Horizon suite on Mariner, thought it was pretty sweet, and had 6 in for dinner one night outstanding!

Ngaire, everyone finds their niche in cruising. Seabourn obviously isn't yours, but everyone finds theirs after cruising for a while. I've sailed on Seabourn, Silversea, Crystal and Regent and a bunch of other cruise lines and right now, Seabourn and Cunard work for me. I love the Seabourn triplets, the Spirit, the Legend and the Pride, but I haven't been on Seabourn for four years (I embark in two months) so we will see if it's still my cup of tea! A lot has changed in my life since the last time I sailed on Seabourn.

Julie, I think the Seabourn Sojourn is a wonderful ship. I would go on this ship again in heartbeat. If you read that report as a negative that is my error and I need to reword things and am very glad that you mentioned that you saw this report in this light. Nothing is perfect I was just trying to give an honest opinion of my impressions.

I am going back to edit this with a couple more positive paragraphs to make it clear that I really liked this ship.

Ngaire, I am a Seabournaholic so you you have to factor that into my response. I think you should hear from someone less biased :)

Funny I never read it as negative at all - after your review I'd give it a try

Ngaire,

Does this spa charge seem reasonable for a luxury cruise product and did you perceive it to be of good value?

Elizabeth

RE: A $300 per person charge offers access to the facilities of the spa for the voyage. This includes a steam and sauna room and a beautiful area with a small walking pool filled half with hot water and half cold water surrounded by lounging chairs including stone heated loungers. A private sun deck and whirlpool is available for spa guests.

Honestly I do not know. I am NOT a spa person at all so to me all the spa prices always seem high on all the ships. I do not claim to be any authority on spa pricing, just reporting the facts perhaps someone else who is familiar with pricing for access like this could comment.

Ngaire, loved reading your Seabourn Sojourn review. I think it is very balanced as your reviews always are. Even though we're quite die hard with Regent, we've wanted to try Seabourn out for a couple of years so while you were away we booked the Spirit with Susan for a week Sept. 25th, then we bounce over to Athens for TUT.

What stood out the most for our daily habits is NO self service coffee/espresso machines. Would hope in time Seabourn will see what a huge hit they've become with Regent. Hoping on our 7 day Spirit cruise there will not be any formal nights...but it will be what it will be.

Thanks for the GREAT review

Silversea has no self service machines either even on the Prince Albert which is a less formal ship. At least they had some coffee and tea set up in the observation lounge in the morning but things do not stay hot in a thermos and the machines deliver a good product most of the time.

I guess Silversea and Seabourn feel "self service" is not luxury and there are probably many people who would agree with that comment.

It has been so long since I was on Crystal do they have self service coffee machines?

The other thing that both Silversea and Seabourn are missing out on in my opinion is triva at teatime. It is SUCH a hit on Regent and I am sure if either line coupled it with tea time it would take off well there also. This is very popular and people really enjoy the event each day.

Not to worry on a 7 day cruise there are no formal nights on Seabourn. I think you will enjoy the little yachts they are very intimate. On a small ship the staff can develop more rapport with the guests which makes the experience very personal.

I will be curious for your review Marcie - we, too, are open to trying SB or SS etc

We're trying out Seabourn Sojourn in October, Rome to Ft. Lauderdale (you know, curious minds want to know). From your description, Ngaire, I think we'll be happy. It's not that we don't like Regent, just curious to have a comparison point. Plus, we like formal nights and don't mind schlepping the appropriate clothes.

I agree Donna nothing wrong with being curious - and Tony does not mind bringing jackets etc he loves to dress - Alan sure looks handsome in his whtie dinner jacket - whatever works is fine for each couple.

Great review, thanks! Based on your comments, Ngaire, it sounds like they may have worked out some of the issues I addressed in my review of our trip on the the Odyssey last fall . Also sounds like they still had some of the same issues - like the lack of adequate outlets!

I'm curious - did they get rid of those blasted magnetic "click" closures on the cabinets? They drove me crazy cause they never worked!

Even thoough we had a few issues on our Odyssey cruise, we would happily try Seabourn again if the itinerary was right!

Ngaire: Not sure what you meant about no trivia on Seabourn. Their trivia is so tough that Clyde and I slunk out the first day!! Maybe you mean they don't have it at teatime. No, they have it at noon and then the participants flood into the restaurants when it's over!! But they are passionate about their trivia, make no mistake!!

Wish you had a review like this one on Sojourn on the new Silversea Spirit! Is there one somewhere you could direct me to?

Jean, for (4 somewhat recent) SS Spirit reviews, pls check CC:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=542

Suggest first reading LCT member/DebbieH103 (very detailed) review of the maiden voyage last December (4 stars) and then the April review (5 stars) to get a feel for gradual improvement in
the Spirit.

We're were on the Spirit for 16 days with Dougburns for the maiden crossing in January..Agree with Doug that the Spirit is the smoothest sailing ship we have been on but IMO, the Spirit has design flaws; standard veranda cabins too narrow, with full ship--pool decks (9,10) have inadequate space for pax & loungers) Obvsn lounge (deck 11) no bathrooms have to go down to deck 9 to use pool deck bathrooms and for us fatal design flaws--common spa area, fitness room much too small for scale (540 pax) of Spirit. However, would sail the Spirit again if we were going with good friends (e.g. Doug & Lynn Burns.

And Jean, another LTC couple Harbormaster (Jean and Kathy) just disembarked the Spirit on 14 August, after a 7 day med cruise...pls see post
#40 in this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1250961&page=2

Marcie,
I agree with Ngaire that you are very likely to enjoy the intimacy of the smaller Seabourn Spirit. 200 guests give a totally different feeling. I hope that you will enjoy and certainly it will be interesting to hear your review when you back to back on two different cruise lines.

I started getting very confused because of the two "Spirit" ships being discussed. I think that "they" shouldn't allow ships with the same name on two different luxury lines :) .

Really enjoyed Ngaire's review. I'm still trying to figure out exactly when she fit it in. From our one experience on SS, and all the reviews I've read about the new ships, I think that Regent is still at the head of the class for us. However, I'm anxious to hear reviews of Oceania's Marina when it sails.

That said, I'm sure that if the itinerary was interesting and especially if it was a B&K escorted cruise, such as CAMEL, we'd be happy to try something new.

-------------

Eugene

My husband and I are trying out the Seabourn Odyssey in October so I read this thread with great interest. Our last cruise was three years ago with Regent and we had planned to sail on the Mariner again in May but had to cancel. We selected Seabourn this time based on the itinerary and they were offering great fares. I look forward to trying another luxury cruise line but would still cruise with Regent. I'm sure each line has positives and negatives.

Eugene, I see where you are coming from with the "Spirit" thing. Ngaire was giving a review on the Seabourn Sojourn, so far apart from the "triplets" concept.

So to not confuse others:

"Seabourn Spirit" - small, one of the older "triplets"
"Silversea Spirit" - one of her NEW larger ships, not a part of this discussion.

Ngaire, I enjoyed your review for the Seabourn Sojourn. I printed it out to read, as it was comprehensive. Embarkation, either you get lunch or you don't. I am glad I know not to expect this if I book a Seabourn cruise, having in the past being able to go to pool deck and get lunch on Regent and stroll the whole ship. Sitting in a lounge for two hours not good, even worse if you are expecting freedom of movement.

Room layout. Can't cheat on the facts about inches and watts, space between bed and walls, how many plugs there are, etc. I just never think about it unless it annoys me with my appliances, chargers, etc. Wasn't much of a problem with Ngaire

I felt whatever negative points you made were based on facts, just the way things are. Didn't like the thing about the reservations to one of the alternatives, calling and calling.

Those things about the low ceilings and the all-white decor in the restaurant, I have already read about endlessly on cc and a couple of other boards.

Bottom line, I would LOVE to cruise on Seabourn one of these days! Especially if it were a BK cruise, like Eugene (Dreps) said! We did this on Silversea after I had already tried it an loved it. I think we should all be open to change. Lord knows Seabourn has some great deals out there if you are on their email list like I am. And they have about the most loyal board I have ever read on CruiseCritic.com

Thanks for a very detailed review, Ngaire. I am wondering, too, when you got the time to write it .

We've found cruising scratches some of our travel itches. Of late, we've found the right fit of itinerary, schedule and price on 3 Silversea sailings, plus we've done more land-based travel. The silversea and regent ships are quite similar; the service and amenities are about equal but delivered in a noticeably different way. Based on the latest silversea and regent sailings, I'm happy to sail on either line. It's good to know what the differences are and adjust one's expectations accordingly.

off the top of my head in no particular order ... Silversea very much priorities individual service. It may make you nuts if you want a fast cup of coffee, but it is a nice touch. Tea time is about tea .. not trivia. Our NZ trip had a trivia time run concurrently with tea time, but didn't provide beverages. We had to call another open bar and they would send a waiter down with the requested drinks. The pre-dinner cocktail hours just plain work better on silversea than regent. We very much enjoyed meeting a more geographically diverse group of passengers on silversea. Regent, though, has worked out the right mix of loyalty benefits. Free internet, 6 hours phone time, and what ever else fits into the tier level is a huge and welcome benefit. We don't need too much more time on Regent to gain the platinum tier. Regent has larger ships, still small enough to avoid crowding and large enough to offer better on-board activities and alternative restaurant choices. Regent's dress code also fits our packing style better than silversea. We can dress down on silversea as well, but we stick out a bit more than on Regent.

I'm less inclined to add another cruise line, given the loyalty benefits. If there was the right price, group, itinerary and a fit with our schedule, we'd give it a whirl.

Well since several of you really want to know when I wrote this I will share that with you.

I really checked out the cabin while I was on board to give an accurate description and did the approximate measurements and did notes on the cabin on the ship. I do think cabins are very important.

Then I edited the cabin notes and wrote the rest on the plane coming home. Was a bit worried as I am NOT a good writer to begin with and we left the hotel at 4.30 am to fly home so my brain was not at its best but you take advantage of the time you have. I figure you all will forgive me if my writing is not that great you just want the information after all. It is not a writing exam!

I also did some more details on the Prince Albert for those considering Antarctica but still have to tranfser that from my lap top to my web page on the internet.

Playing catch up too so a "little busy" right now. Should have the Prince Albert done in the next few days. I do LOVE this little ship.

Ngaire, I think you are a fine writer. Thank you for this report, though I can deduce from it that this is probably not the ship for us. My husband has to have his spa and would be unhappy to have to pay extra for it on a "luxury" ship. I like my deck walking and want to be able to go all the way round. Then you add in having to pay for internet, not being able to get your own tea any time you like, no lunch on embarkation day, him having to bring a real suit. Too many negatives for us.

Thanks for the detailed write-up Ngaire. We would like to try the new Seabourn ships one day - we sailed on the Seabourn Spirit in '98 to Indonesia and rank it as one of our favorite and most interesting trips of all time, but now prefer the updated cabins and amenities of their newer ships.

The spa charge at first sounds odd, but if you have a treatment then you get use of the spa before and after, so that is probably OK for most. Not sure I'd pop for an extra $300 to have access to the sauna/steam etc.

For us, itinerary would rule the decision and we always enjoy trying new experiences.

Cindy I just went back and read your review and of course it means more to me now that I have been on the ship.

It is so interesting that there were a lot of issues that we felt the exact same way about and it was really only on the subjective aspects of the cruise that we saw things a little differently. We all use a ship in our own way, you like to be out at the pool area we seldom go there at all. I liked the cabin much more than you did. I felt there was good storage you did not. We probably use our space and organize differently.

By the way the magnetic clicks worked fine I barely noticed them until Ken pointed them out.

We all have to find what suits us and the three major luxury all inclusive cruise lines Regent, Silversea and Seabourn are all good. Each line has its positives and negatives and are all a little different. This is a good thing so we can all find the product that suits us the best.

Personally I would be happy to spend time on any of these cruise lines - life is pretty good aboard.

Ngaire, Thanks for your detailed reports on the different ships. I look forward to reading your PAII review, especially since I hope to be with you in 2012 for Antarctica.

I have completed the verbage on the cabin details but waiting for Ken to get me the cabin pictures to make it even clearer. The new information is primarily on the Explorer class.

I also have the Arctic report ready and also waiting for Ken to get me all the pictures.

Ngaire, thank you for the comprehensive and informative review, I read it as a positive, but that's just me.

The coffee thing means nothing to me since I've never tasted coffee! (I saw how the coffee drinkers turned out).

DW Cathy formerly drank coffee - black, no sugar- but has turned to tea - possibly I'm a good influence after all.

Ted I love your infrequent posts - soooo funny the best !!!! Hi to you and Kathy - Joanna and Tony

Well, Clyde and I are trying the Sojourn in November. Since we've been on he Odyssey there really will be no suprises for us. We like Seabourn but do miss the perks of being Platinum on Regent. As Ngaire says, you really can't go wrong on any of the top three cruiselines.

My take on the suites is that when we first entered our Odyssey suite my first impression was that it is narrower than Regent. Don't know if this is actually true or not. Other than that, they are very similar. The layout is better, though, on the two bigger ships than on the little triplets. (You can fall out of bed into the bathroom if there is a rough sea!!) Just kidding, Marcie.

"The service staff was very good with a huge contingent of South Africans on board along with Europeans. We did not see one food or housekeeping service person from the Philippines a common source for staff on both Regent and Silversea. Although friendly there is a distinctly more formal service atmosphere on board. One night at dinner in the main restaurant it seemed so much went wrong. Mixed up and wrong orders, people being served a main course while others had to wait and a very long time with several requests for extra sauces or condiments. This can happen on any ship on a given night of course."

I quoted the above from your review Ngaire. This was one of the parts where I thought no two people have the same take on the same thing. And that's what makes the world go round! I had the opposite experience, if I'm interpreting what you are saying correctly. I find the servers on Seabourn more friendly, more willing to engage and so Seabourn seems less formal to me :) When I was on Regent there were a lot of servers from the Philipines and they were very kind, warm and smiled a lot but (and I"m generalizing here) they didn't seem to want to get into full conversations as much as the servers on Seabourn. I've gotten into lots of conversations with them about their homes, their families, their travels, their jobs before they came to Seabourn, so it bridged the distance between staff and customers. Of course, it wasn't universally true, just like it wasn't universally true on Regent that the staff didn't engage with me. The Seabourn staff just seem more likely to linger at the table and have a conversation. Just my personal opinion, it's not a criticism of Regent just an observation that everyone finds Cruise lines (or airlines or dry cleaners) that they click with and become loyal customers of. Of course, a few more frequent cruiser perks on Seabourn would help, their loyalty benefits have got to be the worst (excluding the free 7 night cruise of course that can take you 20+ years to accrue).

You are so right Julie it is what you get used to I believe. We really did enjoy the South Africans on board Seabourn because of we love South Africa and talked to them quite a bit. I have become so accustomed to the servers from the Phillipines and that may be why I find it friendlier, they have become like family in a way.

As for the mix up with food it really was bad that one night BUT I have had that happen on Regent and Silversea it can happen on any given night on any ship.

It really means a lot when you see staff you remember or who remember you, I don't know why, but it does. Just means we are human, I suppose, and enjoy connecting with people. We haven't sailed on Seabourn that much but there is usually a few familiar faces and it's always great to see them. You must have so much joy, Ngaire, when you go on a ship and feel like you are coming home, no anonymous resort in Cancun or Bora Bora :)
Cruising has so many intangibles that people who have never cruised don't "get" until they start and become hooked themselves.

Just thought I would add for Julie and other Seabourn fans that it is never nice to see ANY negative on a product you know and love. I do not like it when I see a negative in a review that I truly believe is not correct particularly a negative from one experience when I have multiple voyages and know that this must have been a one time thing or simply the perspective of the reviewer. This review I posted is exactly that, it is from the ONE experience I have had on the Sojourn.

I still have to write the review as I see it and I think it is important to give an honest perspective not a sales hype review or the review really has no merit. I have yet to find a PERFECT product but with their few flaws all these luxury ships are a wonderful experience and the positives onboard FAR outweigh the few negatives.

When I decided to sell river cruises and wrote my reviews on LCT on the river cruises I told everyone to drop their expectations of cabins, food and service. This is the reality, great value, lots of fun but not an ocean cruise line with the food and service experience and of course tiny cabins in comparison to the luxury lines.

There are issues on all the other luxury ships too. Voyager the aft cabin area is like a rabbit warren, the Mariner design flaw with the bathrooms, the Navigator no observation lounge and aft vibration. Silversea Whisper and Shadow are basically the Navigator with the same lack of an observation lounge and with no back entrance to the dining room it is very inconvenient for those on the lower floors. The new Silversea Silver Spirit cabins are too narrow and I understand this is from another design flaw where extra unanticipated space was required for the "floating TV in the mirror" that caused this problem.

The worse ship of all was the Song of Flower, talk about a mess climb over the toilet to sit in your half size knees to your chin bathtub. MAssive vibration all kinds of issues - however with all her flaws my FAVORITE ship of all time.

A few negatives do not mean a product is not absolutely wonderful and I prefer people to be prepared for what they may encounter. The biggest problem is unrealistic expectations, this is what causes people to be unhappy. I do not "look" for negatives just tell it as I see it. As my summary said, I would recommend the Sojourn without any hesitation.

I hope to try the newer Seabourn ships soon. I've only been on the triplets and we will be on Spirit (a triplet) in October. Since we haven't been on Seabourn for a few years I'm anxious to see if it's changed any, at least not for the worst :)
Since we have a 2 year old now, my perspective may have changed in some way (this will be our first cruise sans child). And I hear a lot of the old staff are now on the larger ships :(
We have been taking our daughter on Cunard. We done two transatlantics (one in January!) and a med cruise with her. I actually enjoy the QM2 a lot. I understand Seabourn no longer has formal nights on 7 cruises and I love to see the hubbie in a tux! I'm sure the newer Seabourn ships have better public areas. The club on the triplets is fine, small dance floor, room for a trio but to me there is nothing like having a drink in the Chart room on the QM2, it's so beautiful and glamorous. I love the intimacy of smaller ships but there is, of course, a trade off. On transatlantics every other night is a formal night and we, strike that, I, like that too. The hubbie gets tired of dressing for dinner :)
And as I've said before, you can't beat the Children's program. Finding a good ship for a family reunion with children is tough.
I do consider ourselves incredibly lucky to be able to afford to cruise fairly frequently, to have jobs that allow us to take a decent amount of time off work and to have wonderful parents who will look after our daughter for a week while we have a vacation by ourselves. That license plate frame is so true "I'd rather be crusin." My second cruise was a three day cruise on Carnival out of LA. While the accomodations were 'petite' it was still vacation