Seabourn has announced an alliance with Colorado-based Black River Caviar that will provide our discerning guests with top quality ossetra sturgeon caviar produced by a sustainable “wild farming” method in South America.

The caviar, which is processed by the lower-salt Malossol method, comes from Siberian sturgeon stock raised in a natural environment carefully researched to provide ideal conditions. The end result is caviar that has been praised by experts including a number of renowned chefs and Ruth Reichl, the former editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine for its flavor and texture. It has also been verified as being ecologically sustainable by the authority of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and granted a top “Green” rating by the Marine Conservation Institute.

“Caviar is a luxury,” noted Richard Meadows, Seabourn’s president, “and as such, it is a part of the culinary repertoire on board our ships. Seabourn guests expect us to provide quality caviar,” he continued, “and they also share our concern for sustainability, so we are pleased to have discovered the Black River ossetra.”

“Black River Caviar is very pleased to be serving Seabourn,” said Graham Gaspard, president of Black River Caviar.  “Both companies share the same philosophy of providing our clients only the finest quality products and service in an environmentally responsible way. We are grateful for Seabourn’s support of sustainable farming which is critical to the preservation of several sturgeon species. We consider it a great honor to be working with a company not only known as the pre-eminent luxury cruise line but also the role model for environmental stewardship.”

Black River Caviar is produced by a family-owned facility on the Rio Negro in Uruguay, under the guidance of a Russian master sturgeon farmer. The firm was started in 1990 with fertilized Siberian sturgeon roe imported from Russia. After twelve years of cultivation, the company began harvesting caviar in 2001. The caviar is produced to order, and never stored. For more information about Black River Caviar, visit www.blackrivercaviar.com.

Captain Erik Lund Anderssen brought Seabourn Legend into the Turkish port of Cesme for the first time on April 7, and the town turned out a top‑notch greeting, from a fireboat salute to whirling Turkish dancers and a red carpet on the dock, plus a full complement of local dignitaries and luminaries to welcome the ship and her guests to their city.

Red carpet treatment: L-R Mrs. Sissel Anderssen, Cruise Director David E. Greene, Captain Anderssen and a local port official stroll toward the reception hall.

Salute off the fantail: A fireboat welcomes Seabourn Legend to Cesme.

Step Lively: Turkish folk dancers greet Seabourn Legend guests at the pier head.

Seabourn Spirit picked a picture-perfect day for a Caviar in the Surf beach barbecue at Prickly Pear Island in Gorda Sound.

The beautiful Seabourn Spirit

Ready, Set: Seabourn Spirit’s Maritime Bar Team ready to rock ‘n’ roll.

Master and Commander: Capt. Bathgate at the helm of his “other boat.”

Perfect day for kayaking!

Seabourn has unveiled an exciting 2013 Europe season featuring more than 100 departures aboard its six intimate, all-suite ships, visiting many of Europe’s captivating cities and hidden gems from April through October next year. From the sun-blessed resorts on the Mediterranean coast to the shining polar ice pack in the Arctic Ocean, the line’s award-winning ships will carry travelers to more than 180 ports on voyages ranging from seven to 21 days in length. Seabourn’s 2013 Europe cruises are now available, and itineraries, fares and other details can be viewed on www.seabourn.com.

Seabourn’s 2013 Europe season will offer a variety of new itineraries, including a 21-day cruise beyond the Arctic Circle on Seabourn Pride, 10- and 11-day Mediterranean cruises round-trip from Venice on Seabourn Spirit, and 10-day Mediterranean cruises from Athens, Monte Carlo and Barcelona on Seabourn Quest. The program will also feature overnight stays in many popular cities, such as St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Venice, Malta, Barcelona, Istanbul, Edinburgh and Dublin, allowing guests ample time to explore these magnificent destinations.

“There is so much to see and experience in Europe, and we’re pleased to offer a diverse range of itineraries, featuring our hallmark mix of well-known marquee ports and hidden gems,” said John Delaney, Seabourn’s senior vice president of marketing and sales. “Our cruises offer the best of both worlds: explore many of Europe’s historical and cultural treasures from the incomparable elegance and ease of the world’s highest-rated cruise line.”
Seabourn’s fleet will visit many landmark cities and picturesque seaside towns that dot the coast of the Mediterranean. Seabourn Legend will offer alternating 10-day Western Mediterranean voyages between Monte Carlo and Rome. These popular cruises highlight the best of the Italian and French Rivieras and will stop at yacht harbors and quintessential Mediterranean islands. The itineraries will also include the popular Marina day, where guests can take to the water and enjoy a variety of watersports right from the ship’s exclusive marina. The 10-day cruises can be combined for a 20-day vacation with different ports at extra savings. The ship will also operate four new seven-day cruise itineraries in the spring from Rome, Nice and Monte Carlo.

Seabourn Quest will traverse the entire Mediterranean on a series of 10-day cruises from Barcelona, Athens and Monte Carlo, visiting a host of fascinating ports and cities. The voyages can be easily combined into longer voyages of up to 30 days without repeating ports of call, providing the ultimate Mediterranean cruise experience.

Seabourn Spirit will visit the best of the Adriatic and Dalmatian coasts on alternating 10- and 11-day cruises from Venice. Guests will be able to explore the region’s picturesque villages and enjoy an onboard overnight in the romantic city of Venice at the end of each voyage.

In the Eastern Mediterranean, Seabourn Odyssey will explore the Greek Isles and Turkey on seven-day cruises alternating between Athens and Istanbul, and Venice and Athens.  The ship will also operate three seven-day voyages to the Black Sea, featuring a full day and overnight onboard in Istanbul.

Seabourn Sojourn and Seabourn Pride will be based further to the north in the Baltic and Scandinavia. Seabourn Sojourn will operate a series of seven-day Baltic cruises between Copenhagen and Stockholm and feature three days in the majestic city of St. Petersburg, a signature Seabourn offering.  The ship will also operate a pair of cruises to the beautiful Norwegian fjords, as well as a 21-day cruise from Dover to Montreal, visiting quaint towns and ports in Ireland, Scotland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland and Québec.

Seabourn Pride will offer longer Baltic cruises, with 12- and 14-day voyages that include overnight stays in St. Petersburg. The ship will also operate a new 21-day North Cape cruise, venturing into the Arctic Ocean, calling on Longyearbyen and Ny Aalesund in the dramatic Norwegian Spitsbergen islands and skirting the shining polar ice pack. In addition, Seabourn Pride will sail on a 15-day British Isles voyage round-trip London with overnight stays in Edinburgh (Leith) and Dublin.

For additional information or reservations, contact your travel agent, call Seabourn at 1-800-929-9391 or visit www.seabourn.com.

From our families to yours, we wish you and your loved ones a very happy holiday season and a wonderful and healthy 2012!

Seabourn Odyssey, in the home stretch of its westbound transatlantic cruise, mounted an epic tug of war on a sunny afternoon. A baker’s dozen teams turned out, from the “Girl’s Blouses” (Bridge Officers) and “Ongatongi” (Housekeeping Utilities); “Men in Black” (Restaurant Brigade); “Pacific Warriors” (Pursers) and “Muscle Tension” (Spa) to “Dragon Fly” (Restaurant); “Devil’s Advocates” (Bar Team) and “Granny and the Gangsters” (Stewardesses). Cruise Director Nick Hale raised the bar on the silliness scale in a day-glo magenta fright wig. After a series of heartbreaking eliminations (Stewardesses defeated the Bridge Officers soundly), the Devil’s Advocates (Bar Team) poured it on in the final to ice the victory. Thanks to Cruise Sales Consultant Sara Ferreira for the photos and the news! Happy Holidays to all our blog friends and watch for Holiday decorations pictures soon!

Cruise Director Nick Hale sets the tone for the festivities

The Field of Honor

Ongatongi ( Housekeeping) vs. Chefs

Devil's Advocates ( Bar Team) celebrate victory!

Seabourn Legend recently completed its transit of the Red Sea bound from the Mediterranean to Asia. One of the most popular ports is Aqaba in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. From Aqaba, guests can join the modern caravan of traffic up the King’s Highway and arrive at the mouth of the narrow, winding Siq (canyon) that leads to the long-lost city of Petra, completely carved from the reddish sandstone of the canyon walls. After viewing some of the many tombs, the Roman Theater, and the many unexplained rooms of the city, guests began the journey back down to Aqaba. A short side trip took them to a sort of modern-day caravanserai, where Seabourn Legend staff had created a surprise Champagne & Caviar station in the midst of the desert. It may have been miles from the nearest beach, but the hospitality, and the spirit, was the same.

The dramatic "treasury" welcomes Seabourn guests to ancient Petra.

Champagne, caviar and fixings in the Jordanian desert

The Petra brigade (L-R) Justin Botes; Daniel Parker; Executive Chef Martin Kitzing; Hotel Manager Guillaume Colas; Maitre d"Hotel Michael Simon; Bromley Smith; Jose Pena Lara

Seabourn Quest’s maiden transatlantic voyage naturally included a number of “firsts” for the ship and her crew. Among these, none was more eagerly anticipated than the traditional on-deck Tug of War featuring teams from the various onboard crew departments. On Friday, November 18, guests assembled on deck to witness the titanic struggle, and some formed cheering sections for their favorite teams. The event was hosted by Captain Magnus Bengtsson and Cruise Director Handre Potgeiter. Teams were fielded by the pursers department,entertainment,  bar staff, housekeeping utilities and stewardesses, restaurant brigade and carpenters. After much straining and grimacing, the bar team “the Fuzzy Labels” experienced the thrill of victory. For the rest– the agony of defeat.

Stewardess team "Aristocats" put their backs into it.

The entertainment team pulls against the carpenters

Champion Fuzzy Labels' patented pot-banging rally technique

Captain Bengtsson starts the final pull

I am Bruce Good, Seabourn’s director of public relations. I am currently sailing aboard Seabourn Sojourn on a Patagonian Passage East from Valparaiso, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. It’s a region I’ve always wanted to visit, and I thought I’d blog from here to let you know what it’s like. Hope you enjoy it.

The penultimate day of my Patagonian Passage voyage was a half-day visit to the capital of Uruguay. After weeks of marveling at albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters, this morning I looked out the window from my treadmill and saw a standard-issue urban pigeon flapping by! We cruised up the wide La Plata river and soon the skyline of Montevideo hove into sight. The port was busy, even on Sunday, the cranes ceaselessly lifting containers from one end of the huge cargo ships and setting new ones at the other end. I had been to Monte several times, although that was a long time ago. I didn’t book any excursions here, although there are some good ones. I planned to walk into town and try to get some pictures of the vintage architectural details in the old town, which I remembered fondly from a couple of decades ago. The helpful tourism person gave me a good map and pointed out the well-marked pedestrian streets that criss-cross the old town to and from the main Independence Square. I should mention that we are now officially back in summer. The weather is balmy and the sun is bright. I walked along the streets, lined with shops mostly closed but quite a number of street vendors of everything from fresh produce to hand-crafted jewelry and antiques. I did manage to get shots of some interesting buildings and especially entryways, but I found that since my last visit a lot of the ornate Art Nouveau and Art Deco entries had added security gates or shutters, and, this being Sunday, these were closed, so the pickings were slim. Nevertheless a few examples are below. I strolled around for a couple of hours and then went back on board, passing a Brazilian military vessel just ahead of Sojourn that had a pop combo in uniforms performing on deck, presumably for visitors. Tonight after dinner I went to my suite to, as the saying goes, “Set on my grips” to get them out for pickup later that night. After that, I sat a while on my veranda watching the play of lightning along both shores of the river as we slowly threaded our way through the tortuous channels between Montevideo and Buenos Aires.

Next morning, I woke early and prepared to disembark. I had hoped to visit the incredible Natural History Museum in nearby La Plata, which is filled with huge fossil skeletons of dinosaurs and prehistoric beasts such as mastodons and the giant ground sloths and tank-sized armadillos that once roamed the Pampas. But it was Monday and the place was closed. So I opted for a “Day with the Gauchos and airport transfer” which would give me a different experience before my 10:15 PM flight home. This turned out to be a fun day and a great way to say bye-bye to Argentina. We drove about 90 minutes north and west of the city into the Pampas, which our Porteño guide reminded us went on for “days and days” just like what we were seeing right now. Hernan filled the trip with information and anecdotes about Argentina, Buenos Aires and various other topics. When we finally reached the entry to the estancia, the driver missed it, and backing onto the shoulder of the two-lane road, immediately mired the wheels in mud from last night’s rain. In vain he gunned the engine, which only caused the rear to sideslip and mire deeper. Sheepishly, Hernan said we’d walk across the road and into the estancia. It wasn’t far. The estancia was lovely and pastoral, and as we walked up the drive the hostess came out and gave us each a traditional “Hola” and a peck on the cheek. She was charming and energetic, and ushered us to the house for empanadas and wine. Later we went outside and those who wished took a short ride either in a horse-drawn carriage or on horseback on the traditional gaucho saddle stacked with plenty of sheepskin. A young beef was roasting on the spit in front of an open fire, and we enjoyed a luncheon of barbecued chicken, beef, and plentiful vegetables and salads. A concert of folk music and dance followed, with opportunities to take part in both. Then we repaired to an open pasture to witness the Gaucho “games” which are contests of horsemanship and skills at hunting, droving and retrieving suspended rings from the back of a galloping horse. But probably the highlight was a demonstration of the “Indio” way of horse handling. The gaucho in question began by climbing to a standing position on the saddle of his horse. From there, he began what I can only describe as a slow, sensuous survey of his mount, touching and in some cases massaging it, revealing along the way the tremendous bond of trust and affection that he had established with the animal. This was no slouch horse. We had just seen it galloping the length of the pasture and back, and believe me, it was a good strong horse. He crawled between its back legs and forward between the front. The culmination, for me, was when he lifted the horse’s foreleg and slowly tipped it onto its side, where it lay seemingly content and trusting as he lay on top of it, curled up under its foreleg, and finally turned it onto its back and lifted its forelegs onto his shoulders, give it a kiss. It was an astonishing performance, accompanied by the soft plucking of guitar music by his associate. Later a woman from Texas was overheard to say “My father used to shoe horses, and he’d lift their legs up and put them on his legs so he could get at the shoes. But I imagine he’d say that there was just perverse!”

Equestrian statue of Jose Artigas, Montevideo

A street of vintage edifices, Montevideo

Faded glory, Montevideo

Gaucho "musical chairs" on horseback!

"Indio" starts his horsemanship display

Trust and respect, gaucho style