Seabourn Odyssey at Port Everglades

Seabourn Odyssey has made it to the USA!  It was a beautiful morning in South Florida as the new luxury ship breezed into Port Everglades at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on the morning of November 10, carrying more than 400 guests who sailed in her maiden transatlantic cruise. The ship and guests received a warm welcome from the port with the display of colored spray arching from a port-sponsored fireboat, as well as from Broward County’s very own Nova High School Titan Band, which assembled on the dock in their green and black uniforms and greeted them with lively, energetic music.  It was the first coastline the pampered guests had seen since they left the Portuguese island of Madeira on November 2.

Seabourn Odyssey’s maiden call in the U.S. will begin with inspections by the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Public Health Service.  That will be followed by a two-day open house. The first, on November 11, is for the proud staff who work at Seabourn’s Miami headquarters, and the next day is for travel agents eager to see the vessel USA Today called “…quite simply a game-changer for the luxury segment.”

On November 13, Seabourn is sponsoring “Arts Odyssey,” a gala overnight cruise benefiting the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and three of its resident companies: The New World Symphony, Florida Grand Opera and the Miami City Ballet.  The gala will also feature a performance by Broadway star Bernadette Peters.

Today, Seabourn announced that it will not operate a planned five-month, 15-cruise series of voyages in the Indian Ocean aboard Seabourn Legend in late 2010 and early 2011. The vessel will instead be positioned back to the Americas at the end of its Mediterranean season to cruise in the Caribbean for the winter.
Seabourn’s President and CEO Pamela Conover said that the intended shoreside destinations remain apparently safe for visitors, but the high seas routes between them are currently vulnerable to incidents of piracy that have not been adequately controlled.
“It makes me sad to have to cancel these cruises,” she said. “I personally loved touring Kenya’s game parks, and the islands of the Seychelles, Madagascar and Zanzibar are lovely and exotic destinations where we sincerely had hoped to be able to take our guests. We look forward to a time when the sea routes are controlled enough for us to cruise there for a season.”
But if you are looking for an exotic Seabourn voyage in 2010 and 2011, you’re still in luck.  Seabourn Spirit will sail through Egypt, the Suez Canal, the Red Sea and Oman to Dubai. Spirit will then continue via India, Thailand and Malaysia to Singapore, to begin a season of cruises exploring Bali, Borneo, Java and the islands of the Java, Flores and Savu Seas.  Spirit will even venture southward to Australia’s Northern Territories and Great Barrier Reef.

Seabourn Pride, meanwhile, will be in Asia for the full year, and in the autumn will be sailing in China, Thailand and Vietnam, with land extensions to Beijing, Guilin, Cambodia & Laos and the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

Seabourn Odyssey will make a maiden circumnavigation of South America in early 2011, encompassing the Peruvian and Chilean coasts, the Chilean fjords and Patagonia, Cape Horn, the Falkland Islands, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and the Amazon.

Seabourn Legend’s voyages in the Caribbean are designed to take advantage of her intimate size, and features such as the fold-out watersports marina that can be deployed for a “Champagne and Caviar in the Surf” beach barbecue. Activities ashore range from snorkeling, yacht-racing, kayaking, hiking, horseback riding and zip-line adventures to visiting artists’ studios, tony boutiques or relaxing on world-class beaches. On board, deck barbecues and al fresco dining options make the most of the bucolic climate, as do Dancing and Movies Under the Stars.

Seabourn Odyssey and Seabourn Spirit

Seabourn Odyssey and Seabourn Spirit were together at Dubrovnik, Croatia on Wednesday, July 29, and we got this picture sent by the Hotel Managers. There is a bit of perspective at work, since Odyssey is really only about a third longer than Spirit. She looks bigger than that, because she is closer. But the family resemblance is striking. They will be together again at Venice several more times this year, when both will be disembarking and embarking guests.  Looks like their guests had a beautiful day in picturesque Dubrovnik. You can see the town walls and the red-tile roofs of the UNESCO World Heritage Site just beyond Spirit on the right.

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. (more…)

Spin the globe and stop it with your finger – chances are The Yachts of Seabourn go where it lands in 2010-2011.  It’s the most extensive and diverse year yet. Cruises now can be viewed at www.seabourn.com. A cruise catalogue will be published in April.

With the addition of Seabourn Odyssey in June 2009 and Seabourn Sojourn in June 2010, Seabourn can explore more far-flung ports of call, such as Palopo on Sulawesi; Zanzibar; and Madagascar. (more…)

Odyssey Chief Engineer Neil Carney files another report from the “fitting out” dock at the T. Mariotti shipyards in Genoa.

“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. (more…)

We have said before that Seabourn enjoys a very high rate of repeat guest bookings. People tell us that one of the reasons they return again and again is the personalized style of service they receive. That is sort of hard to describe in general terms, so we thought it might be easier for those who haven’t been on board a Seabourn yacht to post some great stories. (more…)

Q: How is a world cruise like falling in love?

A: Because there’s only ever one first time, and it’s something you’ll remember as long as you live.

And Seabourn Odyssey’s first world cruise in January 2010 will also be the first one ever for The Yachts of Seabourn, so that makes it even more special.

Guests aboard the Seabourn Odyssey will be privy to plenty of exciting experiences when the Inaugural World Cruise sets sail. The 108-day journey will span four months and 42 ports.  As if a cruise around the world wasn’t enough, a series of splashy shoreside events aptly named Shoreside Spectaculars will make the tour even more fun. (more…)

Guests aboard the eagerly-anticipated maiden voyage of Seabourn Odyssey will share the unprecedented honor of acting as Godparents, an honor usually reserved for royalty or celebrities. The way Seabourn sees it, their guests are the primary reason this vessel is being built. So it makes sense that they should participate in an event symbolizing the beginning of Odyssey’s career. (more…)