In July I had the pleasure of sailing aboard the all-new Seabourn Sojourn. Wow is all I can say – the ship is absolutely wonderful! It is amazing to me that this was only the third sailing for the Sojourn as the crew worked together like a well-oiled machine. The entire staff called you by name and they would bend over backwards to get you anything you needed.  The wait staff easily remembered your preferences, for example if you ordered a drink while out by the pool; later in the lounges they would ask if you would like the same.  Everyone had smiles on their faces at all times and looked to really enjoy what they were doing.

The suites aboard Seabourn Sojourn were very spacious and the colors they used worked very well together.  The bathrooms were quite large and included a shower, separate tub and double sinks.  I have never seen a suite with so much storage space.  This will be a wonderful ship for world cruises – large closets and lots of drawer space.  Through your TV you can book your shore excursions and spa treatments right in your room.  The TV also has all kinds of music and movies downloaded on it, eliminating the need for DVD or CD players.  They do also have an iPod docking station and the rooms have wireless internet.

The food onboard was fabulous.  I dined in the alternative dining venue, Restaurant 2 most of the trip (reservations are required). Restaurant 2 features a tasting menu of about seven small courses and is different every night. The food is presented and explained in detail, and they even tell you how to eat it for the best taste.   This venue is only open for dinner and holds about 42 people with reservations staggered between 7:30pm and 8pm.

Although I only dined a few times at the main dining venue, The Restaurant, each time it had a lot of choices and the food was wonderful as well.  The Restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner – with dinner being seated at 7pm.

The Patio Grill is an outdoor casual dining venue located by the pool and is open for lunch and dinner.  It may be outdoor, but the dinner is sit down and you are waited on. We took advantage of some nice weather evenings and decided to dine here.  Lunch is a serve yourself environment with salads and various American foods.

The Colonnade dining venue is buffet style for breakfast and lunch and features a different theme every day. Then for dinner it turns into a sit down venue, also with a different theme every evening.

The entertainment on board was top notch and they really did a great job.  During our cruise for our main nightly entertainment we had a ventriloquist one evening, an opera singer for two evenings, a comedian for two evenings and then the rest of the evenings we had Seabourn’s own singers and dancers that do various different acts.  Before and after dinner there was always a piano player in the Observation Lounge and a singer and band in The Club. The Club was also open late every night with dancing being enjoyed by all.

My most favorite part of the ship (besides lounging by the pool) was the Seabourn Square.  This was a hub of activity and yet still managed to stay very quiet and peaceful.  Within Seabourn Square there is an espresso bar, Library, Internet Café and the Front Desk.  There were comfy chairs and couches to sit and read or to just look out the window and the ocean.  The front desk is located right in the middle of the square and has four desks – this would also be where you would arrange your shore tours if you didn’t want to do this on the TV in your suite.  You can also check out Notebooks and use them anywhere on the ship; you do have to purchase the internet package to get online.

The Spa at Seabourn is two levels and included a fitness area and spa suites. The fitness classes started out just ok, but did improve throughout the trip as the instructor learned everyone’s skill set.  They fitness area on our cruise was always packed.  The spa treatments were good and they had a large treatment menu to choose from.  The spa has a very tranquil area out on the back deck that included a hot tub and private pool area; many people were enjoying this area.

I was really surprised by the difference in ages on this Seabourn ship.  It was overall a pretty young crowd onboard and there were even quite a few kids. The ship doesn’t have a designated kid’s area, but they did have a Nintendo Wii and Playstation onboard for them.

I am grateful to have had this opportunity to sail onboard the Seabourn Sojourn. This is truly a wonderful product and I have now become very spoiled.  I cannot wait to go on it again!