Outside of the Colonnade restaurant, the teak deck has already been laid. Just imagine what a beautiful place it will be to have breakfast and sip coffee while overlooking the beautiful scenery of Trondheim, Norway.  The Restaurant and galley are coming out nicely, and once finished, the chefs will surely be very inspired to prepare delightful and delectable cuisine for every single guest!

The Colonnade

The Colonnade

The Restaurant

To get an idea of what the rooms will like when completed, below are some pictures from Odyssey.

The Colonnade Outside Deck

The Colonnade

The Restaurant

Despite rainy weather and grey skies, staff is hard at work with the latest addition to the Seabourn family. The Seabourn team is closely monitoring the progress to make sure all is done in a correct and timely manner. As you can see, the name has been affixed on the bow, and the staff is busy loading materials aboard the vessel.

Inside Sojourn, the guest suites are coming together nicely.  Here you can see one of the Wintergarden suites under construction.

And here is it will look like once completed.  These shots are from the Odyssey, sister ship to Sojourn.  The Wintergarden suite will undoubtedly be a marvelous suite to relax and watch the world sail by!

A lot of progress is also being made in the engine room.  Generator sets, propulsion systems and electrical main switchboard are already installed, while piping and cabling still need to be run. The workers are striving to test run one generator set by the end of the month.

Raoul Jack has forwarded some new pictures of Seabourn Sojourn in the Mariotti shipyard at Genoa, Italy.

The first picture is a shot from directly astern with Sojourn in the drydock. You may recall from Odyssey’s construction that this is where they complete the work that is below the waterline when the vessel is afloat. Including bottom paint and mechanical things like the bow thrusters, seen in the second picture. Then there’s a picture of Deck 6 forward, showing the signature Seabourn single whirlpool that’s a favorite with so many guests. It looks like they’re having great fall weather in Genoa, too!

More pictures later this week.

Raoul Jack sent along a few more shots of Seabourn Sojourn alongside the fitting-out dock at the shipyard in Genoa. It was obviously a rather gray day, but we can get a good look at her sleek shape, which is looking lovely already, even without her coat of paint. A lot of the work going on now is inside, so the outer form doesn’t show radical changes from day to day. But there’s a lot going on.  I especially like the shot from astern, which gives a good view of those great terraces of open deck down the aft end—a great place to have a glass of Champagne and watch the harbor lights of another great port of call fade,  as you sail away to enjoy a delightful night at sea.

Seabourn Sojourn

Seabourn Sojourn

Great News! Seabourn Sojourn has departed San Giorgio di Nogaro and arrived at the T. Mariotti shipyards in Genoa to begin her fitting out. As you can see from this picture, taken on her departure from S. Giorgio, the luxury yacht is already taller than Odyssey was when she left the Adriatic yard. That’s because they not only installed her engines while the hull was being assembled ( recall that Odyssey’s were installed at Genoa), but they also added the blocks of superstructure up to Deck 9 (Odyssey floated up to Genoa just finished to Deck 6.)  The second picture shows the ship being snugged up to the fitting out dock at the Genoa shipyard. About a thousand workers will be occupied getting her ready for her June, 2010 debut at Greenwich, England.

Seabourn Sojourn at Nogaro

Seabourn’s second new yacht, Seabourn Sojourn, has been growing at San Giorgio di Nogaro in a process pretty similar to the one we tracked for Seabourn Odyssey. The two halves of her hull were formed and then floated down to Rijeka in Croatia where they were joined together into one sleek piece. That is an amazing feat!

They position the hull on hundreds of devices that are sort of like very large and very sophisticated furniture dollies. They wiggle these a bit here… a bit there…and a trifle higher on this one…and lower on that one, until the two halves come together and make a smooth seam. Then the welders go to work inside and out, bracing and joining and making her into one smooth package.

Seabourn Sojourn Arrives at San Giorgio

The whole hull was towed back up to Porto Nogaro and arrived this past week. Meanwhile, we got a couple of pictures of her: one moving up the river to the shipyard and the other alongside, now sporting her name-to-be on her bow (technically, she’s still MAR063). The blocks of her superstructure, up to Deck 9, have already been assembled there to be added using that huge crane you see in the picture. Before long, she will begin her journey out of the Adriatic and up the Italian coast to Genoa and will take her place in the Mariotti shipyard after Odyssey sets off on her world wanderings. She’s due there in the early part of July. They grow up so fast!

Seabourn Sojourn

As Seabourn Odyssey is being prepared for her maiden Voyage in just a few short weeks, the second sister is also “coming of age” over at San Giorgio di Nogaro. If you recall, the hull segments are built in two halves and then set on barges and taken to a place called Rijeka in Croatia where they can be joined into one sleek hull. This week, the front half of Seabourn Sojourn’s hull was finished and carefully loaded onto a semi-submersible barge for the trip to Rijeka. There it will be precisely fitted against the aft half of the hull and the two will be welded together. Once they are joined and the hull has been made watertight, it will be towed around the boot of Italy from the Adriatic up to Genoa and the Mariotti shipyard. It appears that both Odyssey and Sojourn’s hull may be there at the same time just before Odyssey departs for Venice. Once the Sojourn hull leaves Nogaro, the workers will begin crafting the hull segments for the third sister.

Brand New, Never Before Seen Shot of Seabourn Odyssey

Since Odyssey was created for Seabourn guests, it makes complete sense that they should be involved in the naming experience.  We created a contest called “Guess the Name” and had a great time reading the amazing amount of submissions we received. The winner’s prize? An amazing trip for two during Odyssey’s maiden voyage season!

The first three Seabourn Yachts were named Pride, Spirit and Legend, so lots of guesses for Dream, Vision, Valor, Honor, and other magnificent-style words were presented.

We also saw a litany of alliterations like Sea, Sun, Star, Serenade, Song, Symphony and Sonata. Although catchy…we still decided to keep looking.

We heard guesses of grandeur such as World and Universe. One man really pulled out all the stops and guessed Cosmos. Another candidate guessed Country, which was either slightly more humble or perhaps just an expression of musical taste.

Another guess was Seabourn Surprise…..which reminded us a bit of some type of casserole-themed cruise ship, but was amusing nonetheless.

A gentleman guessed President, Senator and Congressman, which would have been timely considering America’s upcoming elections. However, Seabourn always delivers on its promises, so a political choice didn’t seem right either.

Some others:

•    Seabourn Enigma – reminds us of one of those spy novels in the airport bookstore
•    Seabourn Wraith—sounds a bit spooky
•    Seabourn Orchid—too delicate for sea duty
•    Seabourn Glee—we like the sentiment, but a trifle giddy
•    And then there was Seabourn Spleen, which still has us scratching our heads…

When we decided on Odyssey, we just knew it was the right choice. After all, the word is defined as “a long series of adventures or travels,” so what could be more perfect?

If you missed out on the contest, don’t worry, as we are having another contest to guess the name of Odyssey’s second sister. Submit your best guess to names@seabourn.com by October 15, 2008, and you might win a free cruise for two during the new yacht’s maiden season!