Seabourn Sojourn: 10 Days in the Caribbean

I’ll start by saying this: today is my first day back at work after a glorious vacation, and I am none too pleased about it. (Of course, I am now in the process of planning the next vacation, so it is not all bad.) The Sojourn is one of the three larger ships in the Seabourn fleet, and holding just 450 passengers, she is beautiful.

We arrived at Port Everglades to board the ship, and were escorted to a seating area, where we were offered beverages until we were called (a whopping

ten minutes later). The embarkation process took about five minutes and then we were onboard and eager to start the vacation in earnest. As the suites were not ready yet, we were escorted up to the Colonnade Restaurant, so we enjoyed lunch, and the first of many, many glasses of champagne. We sat with another couple, and as the cruise progressed we shared many more glasses of champagne with them. I am now hell-bent on going to Wales to visit them.

Once we finished lunch, I was able to turn my phone off and truly disconnect. When the suites (on Seabourn ships there are no “cabins“, only “suites“) were ready, we made our way down one deck to our new home for the cruise. We booked a verandah guarantee, which means we were going to get a balcony room somewhere on the ship, but we had no control over where that was. The good news is that there is really no bad place to be. On our last cruise, we just had a window, not a balcony, and that was wonderful, too. As it turns out, our suite on deck 7, right near the stairs and elevators, was perfect.

Our suite stewardess greeted us with champagne, canapes and a selection of soaps. She also asked if we had any special requests, and throughout the week kept the ice fresh and the refrigerator stocked with sparkling water and sliced limes. Sadly, she did not come home with me, so it is now time to get my own sparkling water and slice my own citrus.

The suite is beautiful and large, at about 300 square feet plus another 65 feet of balcony, we had plenty of space. Although the walk in closet could probably use a few more drawers, there was ample room for our clothes, and our Halloween costumes (yep, we brought them along!) One other point about the suite: The Herald, which is the daily activity list aboard the ship, personally welcomed us. By name. That is a nice touch. Oh, there is also personalized stationary in the suite, but that I think they can do without. After all, who writes letters home from the ship anymore? Emails, sure, but letters? (I know I am going to get some emails about how letter writing is a lost art, etc for this one, but I am just stating a fact.)

After getting unpacked, we headed out to the muster drill held in the Restaurant, and we did not have to bring our

life vests, which is good because nobody looks good in neon orange. (Life lesson from the ’80s.) From there, it was up to the Sky Bar to meet some new friends, and people we had chatted with before the cruise over on the Cruise Critic message boards.

As we sailed away from Fort Lauderdale, we knew we were going to have a great time. Coming up on the blog over the next two weeks: more on the cruise – the ports, the food, the Caviar in the Surf, and behind the scenes videos with the Captain, the Hotel Director, the Bar Manager (yep, I get behind the bar for that one) and the Chef. Stay tuned.