You might want to keep the name Harry Cotterill in mind. The 18-year old Briton seems a young man likely to go far.  On September 10, he came down to Southampton, England, to present Captain Hamish Elliott a copy of a drawing he had made of Seabourn Sojourn. The drawing is remarkably detailed and precise, and demonstrated a mastery of technique rarely encountered in one so young. Thank you, Harry!

Gifted: Young Harry Cotterill unfurls his drawing for Captain Elliott.

Harry accepts a photograph from Captain Elliott in return.

Seabourn Sojourn sailed through a rough patch crossing from Ireland to Iceland. But when she arrived, the island nation greeted her with beauty and tranquility. Captain Hamish Elliott sent along some pictures of the ship and the harbor at Grundarfjordur on the west coast.

Sojourn at anchor in the fjord in Iceland.

The rugged peak of Kirkjufell guards the harbor at Grundarfjordur.

A distinctive sculpture decorating the pier in Copenhagen inspired Seabourn Pride’s deck crew and officers to put their heads together for the good of the team. Staff Captain Kai Odegard sent us the picture, along with the advice that “Seabourn Pride’s staff are always thinking about new ways to make our guests’ experiences better!”

Putting their heads together: The Pride Deck Team pondering on the pier.

On August 26, 2012, on the second to last day of the cruise, Seabourn Pride made its maiden call to Faaborg, Denmark. The good people of Faaborg gave the ship a very warm welcome, greeting them with a gun salute, followed by a parade with famous characters such as Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.

“The people of Faaborg certainly know how to welcome and made both guests and crew of Seabourn Pride feel special,” said Seabourn Pride Cruise Sales Specialist Sara Ferreira. “Some guests said that this greeting was the perfect ending of a great cruise.”

Faaborg salutes Seabourn Pride!

A group of locals dressed as Danish author Hans Christian Andersen and characters from his popular children’s books welcome Seabourn Pride guests.

Seabourn celebrated the announcement of the luxury Swiss watchmaker Hublot as its official timekeeper with a special visit aboard Seabourn Quest on Sunday, September 2, 2012. Seabourn Quest Captain Geir-Arne Thue Nilsen welcomed Carnival Corporation and plc Chairman and CEO Micky Arison and Hublot’s Chairman of the Board Jean-Claude Biver aboard the line’s newest ship during a port call at Cannes, France.  Captain Thue Nilsen led a personal tour of the Seabourn Quest, proudly showing off several of the elegant Hublot wall clocks now displayed at various locations on the ship.

Pictured here from left to right in front of the new Hublot wall clock outside the ship’s Grand Salon are: Jean-Claude Biver, Hublot’s Chairman of the Board; Seabourn Quest Captain Geir-Arne Thue Nilsen; and Micky Arison, Carnival Corporation & plc Chairman and CEO. To view more images of the celebration, please visit our Facebook page.

Seabourn named Hublot as its official timekeeper. Seabourn guests on board the line’s six intimate ships will now be kept abreast of the current ship’s time by means of handsome Hublot wall clocks, designed and finished with the same flair and elegance that have made Hublot’s wristwatches multi-faceted icons of a constantly evolving Swiss watchmaking tradition, which pay tribute to it by connecting it with the future.  The clocks are a perfect complement to the stunning beauty of the ships themselves, adding a luxurious accent and an eye-catching cachet to various locations throughout each vessel.

This summer Seabourn Pride has been making calls to Ronne on the lovely little Danish island of Bornholm. Bornholm is famous throughout Scandinavia for its succulent smoked herring. So a place with a lot of smokehouses seemed like a place that might have an occasional need of fire extinguishers. Coincidentally, Seabourn Pride received its complement of new dry powder type extinguishers, and Safety and Environmental Officer Stefan Tsvetkov found a home for the old water-type extinguishers with the Ronne Fire Department, who were thrilled to receive 64 extinguishers in good working order.

Seabourn Pride SENVO Stefan Tsvetkov hands over the extinguishers to the Ronne firefighters.

Loading up the extinguishers.

The afternoon weather in Geiranger Fjord was typical Norwegian “Green Winter” (summer), so Seabourn Sojourn’s stewardesses were in sweaters and jackets for a special meeting on Deck 11.  Hot chocolate was the drink of choice, and it was an appropriate beverage for a toast to Holland America’s Rotterdam which shared the anchorage with Sojourn. As both ships departed, they saluted each other with blasts of their horns. That must have awakened someone on shore, because they received an answering salvo of cannon fire from ashore. Thanks to Seabourn Sojourn Executive Housekeeper Tracy Beswetherick for the story and photo.

A fond farewell: Seabourn Sojourn stewardesses toast the departure of Rotterdam from Geiranger Fjord.

Chelsea and Kyle Johnson, the winners of our “Seabourn Moments” Facebook contest, just returned from their seven-day cruise aboard Seabourn Sojourn in Northern Europe. Not only was this their winning cruise, but it was also a special trip to celebrate their anniversary!

Chelsea and Kyle in front of Catherine’s Palace in St. Petersburg. They attended Seabourn’s exclusive, intimate evening featuring a private tour of the palace, followed by a champagne reception and a live orchestra.

They had a fun time discovering the treasures of the Baltic, and St. Petersburg, in particular, was their favorite port on the itinerary. They explored the city as much as they could, visiting the Hermitage and Catherine’s Palace, walking through the Church on Spilled Blood, watching the ballet, seeing Peter and Paul’s Cathedral and experiencing the “White Nights.”

“We left the city feeling a sense of accomplishment I do not believe we have experienced, at least to that extent, when traveling previously,” said Chelsea and Kyle. “Two of the most enjoyable activities we did were browsing the market behind the Church on Spilled Blood and stopping for pelmeni (Russian dumplings) off of Nevsky Prospekt,” she added.

We also asked them if they experienced any new “Seabourn Moments” during the cruise, to which they replied, “We have a lot!!” They rattled off a few unforgettable experiences, including the moment they stepped onboard and staff greeted them immediately with champagne in their suites. By day two, the staff was addressing them by their names – even those they hadn’t met yet! Chelsea and Kyle were impressed by the never-ending exceptional service and meeting and getting to know different members of the staff.

“In particular, we met Dani, a bartender at the Sky Bar above the pool, and we told her our story about winning the trip. She immediately asked if we liked caviar, to which we responded we had only sparingly tried it in the past. Without hesitation she ordered us a huge portion of caviar and poured us two glasses of champagne,” said Chelsea and Kyle.

Seabourn Sojourn staff surprised the couple with a wonderful cake and bottle of wine to celebrate their anniversary!

It didn’t end there. Knowing they would be celebrating their anniversary, the staff went above and beyond to make the occasion even more special … and to give them another “Seabourn Moment” they will never forget. Chelsea and Kyle happily shared this story with us:

“The Restaurant Manager surprised us at dinner in Restaurant 2 with the most delicious cake!  Our actual anniversary isn’t until July, but we were celebrating a bit early on this trip! We were having the best time experiencing the tasting menu in Restaurant 2 when the staff brought over our special cake. We had a full plate of deserts to try on the tasting menu, so they delivered the cake to our suite for us to have later. When we returned to our suite later that night, there was a note from the staff and a bottle of wine along with our cake. It certainly was another Seabourn Moment!

Overall, we just had the most amazing time on our cruise. We are already looking at cruises for 2013 to see if it might be possible to do another! I’m also working on convincing my parents they need to go on one. We are definitely Seabourn fans for life, and we won’t even consider going on another cruise line. You have lifelong Seabourn customers!“

Thank you, Chelsea and Kyle! We’re thrilled you had a wonderful time and look forward to welcoming you aboard again soon!

Click here for more photos from their cruise.

Another milestone day celebrated during Seabourn Quest’s world cruise was the birthday of Mrs. Alene Witzke.  Mrs. Witzke passed her 2500^th day on board earlier this year, and since her birthday fell during the cruise, her friend Dr. Patricia Sakai hosted a private birthday bash in her suite, followed by a dinner in Restaurant 2.

Birthday cheer: (L-R) Capt. Thue-Nilsen, Mrs. Witzke, Cruise Sales Consultant Lindsay Havis, Cruise Director John Barron.

Queen for a Day: Mrs. Witzke celebrating at Restaurant 2.

Mrs. Witzke’s beautiful birthday cake was baked and decorated by Pastry Chef Renil Jacob.

Special “Seabourn Moments” happen all the time on our ships. Here is an example of one that took place recently on Seabourn Quest.

Elice Haverty, a guest currently sailing on the World Cruise, was craving her favorite coffee creamer and inquired to staff to see if there was any chance they would be able to get some onboard. Sure enough, the staff placed a special order and received the shipment in Cape Town, South Africa — all the way from the U.S.!  In true Seabourn style, two staff members donned white gloves and happily presented the creamer on silver platters to Mrs. Haverty, much to her delight. She can now enjoy her coffee just the way she likes it for the rest of the voyage!

Ask and you shall receive!

(L to R): Seabourn Quest Hotel Manager Vitor Alves, a very happy Elice Haverty, and waiters Ismael Rodrigues Lourenco and George Spreij