We have fantastic news to share – today we signed and took delivery of our newest ship, Seabourn Sojourn! It was a wonderful day in Genoa and we are so proud to welcome her to our fleet. Shipyard staff members, who proudly worked on her for the past year, stood at the dock and waved goodbye to Sojourn as she pulled away this afternoon and headed out to sea. For the next few days, onboard crew will be preparing the yacht for two days of exciting festivities in London, where we will officially “name” the yacht and introduce her to the world. It will be spectacular, so stay tuned for more news from the inaugural celebration!

Twiggy

We are very pleased to announce that British supermodel Twiggy will be the Godmother of Seabourn Sojourn.  She will name the yacht during a christening ceremony hosted on board on the River Thames on Friday, June 4.  In addition, we have donated Sojourn on Saturday, June 5, to the non-profit Breast Cancer Haven as the venue for an exclusive fundraising gala event to celebrate the charity’s 10th anniversary.

Twiggy exploded onto the international modelling scene as a London teenager in 1966. She went on to define the term ‘supermodel’ and to become the icon of 1960s style worldwide. In the early 1970s, she became an actress and singer, winning two coveted Golden Globe Awards for her first film “The Boyfriend.” In the 1980s, she took Broadway by storm in the Tony Award-winning Gershwin musical ‘My One & Only.” More recently, she has been a judge on America’s Next Top Model and fronted the phenomenally successful campaign for the British retail giant Marks & Spencer. Along with this, she designs her own clothing and bed linen lines in the U.K. and has just launched her “Twiggy London” collection in the U.S. on the Home Shopping Channel.

She is an ardent campaigner for animal welfare and breast cancer support. Twiggy’s renowned elegance and style perfectly complement the values of Seabourn, reflected in the gracious lines and sophistication of Seabourn Sojourn.

We have no doubt it’s going to be spectacular ceremony in London.  We’re very much looking forward to welcoming Twiggy on board Seabourn Sojourn!

It was an exacting task to align the two pieces perfectly and then weld the seams to form one smooth and sleek hull. That task was finished last week and the entire hull was then towed back to San Giorgio di Nogaro, where they will begin adding the blocks of her superstructure.  Once that phase is complete, Quest will be towed again all the way around the “boot” and up the coast of Italy to the Mariotti shipyard in Genoa, and the yard will begin to outfit the yacht for her arrival in June of 2011.  Before you know it, she’ll be ready for the world to see!

Here is a great picture of Seabourn Quest arriving in San Giorgio.  You can see her name proudly affixed on the bow. Even though she is in the early stages now, you can tell she is going to be a stunner!

Seabourn Legend Hotel Manager Ralph de Klijn sent the following update and photo about a group of cadets who recently finished their Seabourn Academy training on Legend:

Here is a wonderful picture of all the cadets who successfully completed the Seabourn Academy over the last three and a half months on Seabourn Legend. Our training manager, Paul Charsley, has debarked Legend, leaving his pupils behind after a successful couple of months onboard. In total, we had three waves of cadets training on the yacht, and they will now be assigned to begin their careers throughout the fleet, including the new Seabourn Sojourn. It was great having new talent added to the Seabourn family and we wanted to share this as guests, particularly some who sailed during the Legend’s crossing, have asked for an update on their training. From myself and the Legend management, we wish all new Seabourn family members the best of luck in the next years aboard our yachts.

We’re only one month away from the launch of Sojourn and there is a great buzz in the air here at Seabourn!  We are in the midst of finalizing plans for the inaugural festivities in London while workers at the shipyard are putting the finishing touches on the yacht.  We know many of you are just as excited as we are to see her. The debut is right around the corner, but in the meantime, here are some new construction photos of Sojourn. (more…)

Seabourn Sojourn has reached an important maritime milestone, after completing four days of sea trials in the Mediterranean. She “stretched her legs” and took to the sea for the first time, sailing under her own propulsion power off the coast of Genoa, Italy.  Sojourn has returned to the T. Mariotti shipyard, and the staff is putting the final touches on the vessel before she is delivered in May. (more…)

We know many of you are anxiously waiting for the introduction of Seabourn Sojourn.  We can’t wait to see her either and are thrilled to share with you some photos from the shipyard.  Our blog correspondent, Staff Captain Magnus Bengtsson, is nice enough to take some time from his busy schedule to keep us posted on the progress of the yacht. (more…)

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

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. (more…)

Since we started this blog, it has been mainly focused on Seabourn Odyssey. There were, and still are, many great stories to tell about that amazing vessel. But we also have a myriad of topics about the three other Seabourn yachts as they branch out and explore ever more exotic destinations. (more…)