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.

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. Plus,  Seabourn Sojourn is under construction as we are writing this, and there are tales to tell about that as well. Plus, we can’t forget that a third new Seabourn yacht has already been started (her keel was laid at the same time as Sojourn’s).

In January, Odyssey will set off around the world,  providing a lot of interesting topics for us to discuss including special shoreside events along the way, guest celebrities and chefs and much more.  So we have decided to expand the focus of this blog to encompass all the Seabourn yachts– their staffs, their guests, their itineraries and the new yachts a-building.

This will be a process, rather than a “presto.” We have already begun…you’ll notice that the countdown clock in the upper right corner is now tallying days ‘til the Sojourn debut.

So we invite you to check back often, and watch as we expand our focus beyond Odyssey to the broader Seabourn world. As always, we welcome your comments, suggestions and questions, and we appreciate your interest.

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!