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.

Odyssey’s World Cruise departs January 5, 2010 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. During the next 108 days, it will visit 42 fascinating ports on six continents, and 25 countries. Many of those countries require visitors to have visas. In a number of them, Seabourn Odyssey is able to acquire the visas for guests on arrival, but there are a number that require visitors to have visas before they arrive. That means that World Cruise guests have to apply and get their visas before they embark for their voyages.  If any guest has not done so, it is important that they check on Seabourn’s website to see what is required for their nationality and their itinerary.

Here are some visa requirements  for most nationalities:

• United States: Non-US citizens or residents must follow the regulations to acquire a visa to enter the United States. Those vary by nationality.
• Australia requires a visa to be acquired in advance for entry.
• India requires an individual visa to be acquired in advance for entry.
• Guests who are taking an Overland Journey in China (from the port of Hong Kong) are required to acquire a visa in advance of arrival. Those just sailing to Hong Kong do not require a visa in advance.
• Visas are also required for entry into Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Oman and Egypt, but these can be purchased on board for your convenience.

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.

In his Virtual Gourmet newsletter, John Mariani blogs about his recent and delicious experience aboard Seabourn Legend. John ranks his Seabourn dining experience with authentic European fine dining and stated the luxury cruise provided him with his best cruise dining experience ever!

We were thrilled to be selected by the readers of Condé Nast Traveler as the Best Small-Ship Cruise Line in their annual Readers’ Choice Awards last fall.  And now, Travel + Leisure magazine has released the results of their 14th annual World’s Best survey and their readers have again voted The Yachts of Seabourn the World’s Best Small-Ship Cruise Line. Are we ever proud now! The best news, in a way, is that these votes of confidence from our guests are the results of cruise experiences before Seabourn Odyssey even joined the fleet. With Odyssey already pleasing guests and Sojourn getting set to do the same, we have high hopes for the future. Thanks to everyone who voted for us, and special thanks to the crew of our Seabourn yachts, who send everybody home happy and  ready to cast their ballots for us.

“The Seabourn Odyssey is a stunner… Similar in size and layout to rival Silversea’s bigger ships (Silver Whisper and Silver Shadow), the Odyssey boasts a far more stylish, sophisticated decor and design with several downright spectacular public areas. It is, quite simply, a game-changer for the luxury market.”
– Gene Sloan, USAToday.com
http://blogs.usatoday.com/cruiselog/page/2/ (more…)

Check out Anita Dunham Porter’s Tripso.com article on how Seabourn Odyssey is taking luxury cruising to a whole new level.

Seabourn Odyssey set out to sea today for a weekend of sea trials. Marco Ghiglione was good enough to send along these dreamy pictures of our heroine as she prepares to show her stuff.  Thanks Marco and good luck and Godspeed to Seabourn Odyssey!

If you agree that variety is the spice of life, then dining aboard Seabourn Odyssey will suit you to a T. Seabourn continues its collaboration with award-winning chef/restaurateur Charlie Palmer because….well,  because we really like his food!  On Odyssey, The Restaurant will be open-seating, just as it is on Pride, Spirit and Legend, and will feature a fine-dining setting for breakfast, lunch and dinner. While The Restaurant can accommodate all guests, you frankly wouldn’t expect to see everyone there, because of the delicious alternatives available. (more…)

Many veteran cruisers specifically choose cruises that provide at least a few days at sea. Seabourn Odyssey will be a great choice for the sea-loving  cruiser who craves that languorous feeling of lazy leisure. There will be loads of on board activities during those days, including a great game of bridge. Odyssey has a beautifully designed card room on Deck 7, forward of Seabourn Square.  And Seabourn has teamed up with one of the biggest names in the game to bring top-flight instructors aboard to teach and supervise tournaments. Audrey Grant is the dynamic force behind the Audrey Grant Better Bridge series of books, TV shows, lectures and the Better Bridge magazine. She works with the game’s best theorists to ensure that her materials are up-to-date and authentic. Along with many-time world champion Eric Rodwell, she is the author of “2 over 1 Game Force,” a manual on the popular variation of Standard American Bidding methods. Audrey Grant herself will be instructing on Odyssey’s Maiden Voyage departing Venice on June 24. And thereafter instructors from her group will be on voyages of ten or more days’ duration which include at least three days at sea.

Something for the bridge enthusiasts on the 2010 World Odyssey to look forward to!