The latest update from Neil Carney at the Odyssey shipyard….

As we all know Seabourn Odyssey will be named in Venice. But it is a proud moment to actually see her name spelled out on the bow. As you can see from the photo, the starboard bow now has the steel letters of her name spot welded in place.

Progress is going well with the engine makers’ commissioning engineers on site, her main engines have been started and we are undertaking the commissioning testing protocol for these. There is a change in feel on board now, the smell and the vibrations of the engine room – the on and off rumble the engines give each time they are started. There is a definite feel of life in her– the heart beats– and now with her soon-to-be name etched in steel. The pregnancy may be a bit more than nine months, but now the delivery is less than 3 months away.

Bye from a sunny (yes, no rain) Genoa.

Brgds:

Neil

Seabourn Guest Services Trainees

The trainees for the Guest Services Specialists who will care for Odyssey guests at Seabourn Square have arrived in Seabourn’s Miami headquarters for a six-week course designed by Barbara Poelmans. They come from all three Seabourn sisters and from other places as well, but they are all gathered to meld into a team and learn everything there is to know about Seabourn Odyssey in particular and Seabourn in general.   Seen smiling in the lobby of Seabourn’s offices are (L-R) Barbara Poelmans (trainer,) Pierre van Breda (South Africa,) Ben Luckx (Belgium,) Miranda Doran (Netherlands,) Ralf Hoehn (Germany,)  Kathrin Stubenhausen (Austria,)  Anamika Mard (Sweden,)  Doris Resch (Austria,) Kyle Rankin (South Africa,)  Eric Manez (Philippines,) Chris Bevins (South Africa.)

New dishes are being added to our existing menus, recipes are being documented, china purchased, and sophisticated equipment is being sourced from vendors all over the world. Tony has been a frequent visitor to the shipyard, just to make sure all the kitchens are constructed according to his plans.

The main kitchen, which is over 6,400 square feet, is constructed on two mirror plans, so that during the dinner service the staff can be divided into two lines to ensure speedy service. The Colonnade and Restaurant 2 will operate out of a combined galley on Deck 8; the Officer and Crew Mess has its fully equipped galley on Deck 3 and the Patio Grill has another galley of its own.

Too many chefs in the kitchen or too many kitchens for the chefs? Let’s have a look at the manning:

The Executive Chef de Cuisine supervises all the outlets. He’s responsible for proper manning, flawless and timely execution of all dishes, ordering of provisions, quality of food, maintaining Public Health standards and more.  In order to accomplish all of this he’s assisted by a workforce of 57:

1 Chef de Cuisine – Colonnade
3 Executive Sous Chef
1 Executive Pastry Chef
1 Patio Chef
13 Chef de Partie
2 Chef de Partie – Crew
1 Baker
1 Asst. Baker
1 Butcher
1 Asst. Butcher
11 Demi Chef de Partie
3 Demi Chef de Partie – Pastry
1 Utility #1
14 Utility Staff
1 Garbage Manager
2 Utility Garbage Staff

So where does Seabourn find people who can do all that?

The answer is that they aren’t born, they are made. Seabourn is gathering skilled, cheerful and naturally helpful people and creating a training program to prepare them for the uniquely challenging duty of having all the answers and knowing what to do about anything. So they take a person who has been doing a great job at the reception desk, for instance, and now they teach them about how to book tours, and about future cruise procedures, where the church or the nearest ATM is in a particular port of call…everything else.

Ten such individuals are starting this demanding course in the next few days. We’ll meet some of them and hear more about their course work during the next six weeks.
And then they will debut, along with Seabourn Odyssey, in Venice –as a new sort of person that doesn’t exist in nature– A “know-it-all” that everybody likes!

You know things are getting close when thoughts turn to celebrations.  With the launch of Seabourn Odyssey only four months away, the Inaugural Events Team is working at full tilt.

Special cards were sent to all Maiden Voyage guests verifying their preferences for how they would like their names to appear on the Godparents plaque, which will be displayed permanently on the ship.  (Yes, there are still a few suites remaining on Seabourn Odyssey’s Maiden Voyage, June 24th.  So there’s still time to get in on the fun of naming the yacht, becoming one of her godparents, and getting your name on that plaque.)

Musicians and acrobats are being auditioned.  Chefs are debating which of Seabourn’s many favorite dishes are best suited to special Gala menus.  Sound engineers and lighting technicians are poring over technical drawings. The Stazione Marittima terminal in Venice is being measured for red carpets, ribbons, velvet ropes and other surprises to greet arriving godparents.

In a field outside of Venice, an Italian company known as the Vector Group has erected scaffolding in order to build a prototype of a special bottle-breaking mechanism.  The plan is to run a zip-line from atop the mast to the steel atrium enclosure at the top of the pool deck.  Mechanical engineers calculate that the magnum of champagne will be traveling at more than 100 miles an hour when it smashes overhead.

In the late afternoon, Seabourn Odyssey will leave the main terminal in Venice and set sail down Giudecca Canal, passing along one of the world’s most scenic waterfronts. Odyssey already has special permission to tie up in the heart of Venice at a small pier known as Sette Martiri, footsteps away from St. Mark’s Square. At that moment, from the upper decks, Odyssey’s guests will be able to watch the domes, towers and rooftops of Venice turn yellow, then orange and then gold as the sun sets behind the skyline and the Inaugural festivities begin.  Don’t you want to be there?

This is a picture of the waterfront along the Riva dei Sette Martiri where Seabourn Odyssey will be docked.

“Seabourn was easily the best of the cruise ships I’ve ever traveled on–impeccable service, first-rate cuisine, very well-chosen wines, and passengers that reminded me of what it must have once been like to hobnob with those who sailed back in the 1950s.”

John Mariani interviewed Seabourn’s VP of Marketing, Adam Snitzer, in the latest issue of his Virtual Gourmet. One of the questions included in the interview was….

JM: What makes the difference in price worth sailing on Seabourn rather than booking top accommodations on other lines?

AS: The size of our ships differentiate us. Our current fleet carries  208 passengers, and our new ships, Odyssey (to sail in June 2009), Sojourn (2010) and a third (in 2011) will carry 450 guests, whereas big lines carry thousands. We think a small ship gives you certain advantages, a more sophisticated experience, better service,  and better food, which is served in more of a restaurant style than a banquet style.  Because of our size and because we often sail to smaller ports, or even when we go to a big port like St. Petersburg, Russia, we can go in and dock right in town.  Our pricing is comparable to what you’d pay for the upper suites on the big ships, with perhaps a 20% premium in price  But when you walk out of your suite on a big ship you are mingling with thousands of people and take part in that mass experience. On Seabourn you are always enjoying a more intimate and more sophisticated atmosphere.

Thanks to John Mariani for such a fantastic article about Seabourn. We invite you back to sail with us anytime!

“With the new year in full swing in the Mariotti shipyard, Seabourn’s on-site team now has new members. The Odyssey’s Master, Captain Karlo Buer, Staff Chief Engineer Jonny Gojostol, and Safety & Environmental Officer Kreso Volaric have recently arrived. We will continue to organize Seabourn’s onboard operation and continue to assist Carnival Corporation Shipbuilding personnel who are supervising the final stages of construction. With less than six months to go, things are hotting up and our presence will continue to increase as time passes, making for a smooth and successful transition from “Building” stage to “Operation” stage.

In this  photo you see Captain Buer (in Blue Boilersuit) and myself on the navigation Bridge. It will not be long before Odyssey’s steering wheel and the rest to the navigational equipment being supplied by “SAM Electronics” will be fitted, providing state-of-the-art control at the Captain’s finger tips.”

As time moves quickly forward, we would love to hear from you. What are your questions about Seabourn Odyssey? If you are joining us for our maiden voyage this summer, what are you most excited about?

We’ve talked a lot about the construction process for Seabourn Odyssey. But not all the activity is about cutting and welding or engines and rudders.  Adam Snitzer, Vice President of Marketing for Yachts of Seabourn, reports from the Miami headquarters as the Seabourn Odyssey build takes on yet another form.

“I’m often stunned by the number of details that need to be covered when bringing out a new Seabourn yacht. And, I’m always amazed by the intense focus the hotel operations team put on all of those innumerable details.

Take menus, for example (not the actual decisions about which dishes to serve. That will be the subject of another blog post.)  I was recently in a meeting where the hotel operations team was presenting their vision of how the menus should look – the sort of paper they would be printed on, the number of pages, the size, and the covers.  The options are dizzying.

There are literally hundreds of different colors and textures of leather for menu covers.  And, with the variety of the dining venues on Odyssey, there’s also a desire to “mix things up a bit” from restaurant to restaurant.  So some of the final choices are truly one- of-a-kind presentations, meant to intrigue and delight guests from the moment they enter each dining venue.

In the end, The Restaurant will get a stylish black on black leather treatment, which will elegantly match the décor and lighting of the room.  The Colonnade will receive a special card and holder that is meant to evoke the ocean itself.  The Patio Grill menus will match the teak decking.  And Restaurant 2 is meant to be a surprise, so I won’t tell you.  You’ll just have to come onboard to find out.”

Seabourn Personnel and Training Manager Jo Poelmans reports from Seabourn Pride in Paracas Bay, Peru that his covey of Seabourn Academy cadets are having a splendid seminar on board.  They are training for a range of different positions, from waitstaff in the Restaurant to cooking duties in the galley to training as Seabourn suite stewardesses in the housekeeping department. Jo took them all to the forward whirlpool spa located on Deck Five for a formal portrait, and they are indeed a great-looking bunch. That’s Jo seated in front.

In the second picture, Jo is showing cadets from the Restaurant service brigade the finer points of preparing Crepes Suzette, a scrumptious flambé dessert that is a favorite of Seabourn guests. One of the first, and most important lessons about tableside flambé preparation is the skill of positioning the portable cooktop so that the fire sprinklers don’t come on and soak the table when the flames leap up after the brandy is added. Jo is quick to add ( with a laugh) that this portion of the hands-on training is undertaken only after the cadets have had their orientation and training in emergency procedures in case of fire….

Awhile back, we showed you some pictures of the new wave of  Seabourn cadets serving their on-the-yacht training period aboard Seabourn Spirit in Southeast Asia.  Well, another group of cadets is currently learning “The Seabourn  Way” aboard Seabourn Legend, sailing through Panama, Belize and Costa Rica.  Captain Erik Anderssen has sent along some pictures of this group as they learn the ins and outs of the all-important “Champagne and Caviar in the Surf” beach barbecue at Hunting Caye (off the coast of Belize.) The first picture shows the sunny faces of the cadet corps on the dock at Hunting Caye with Seabourn trainer Oliver Ellinger (right,) showing them the ropes. The second picture is the group at the beach site where the actual barbecue buffet will be set up, with Oliver illustrating his point, and probably discussing the subtle art of serving food and drinks while walking in fine, white sand.