When Seabourn launches its first of two purpose-built expedition ships it will not only be the smallest vessel in the ultra-luxury cruise line’s fleet, it will be the smallest in the Carnival Corporation stable of cruise brands.
At 26,000 gross tonnes and with a capacity of 264-guests, Seabourn Venture (and her yet-to-be-named sister ship) will be just 170-metres in length and 10-decks high. Each will have around 225 team members, including 26 dedicated expedition crew, meaning a guest to crew ratio of almost 1:1.
By comparison, Seabourn’s Odyssey-class ships (Seabourn Odyssey, Seabourn Quest and Seabourn Sojourn) carry around 450-passengers, and Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation slightly more than 600.
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Robin West, Vice President and General Manager, Expeditions says the new ice-class ships are comparable in size to those Seabourn started with back in the late 80s – Pride, Legend and Spirit (which have since joined the Windstar Cruises fleet).
In LATTE‘s second exclusive column with West, he discusses Seabourn’s expedition fleet hardware, brand new spaces, and state-of-the-art technology to access new regions of the world.
“With Seabourn Venture we’re creating a new and a very different product, but by no means are we creating a new brand,” West says.
“We wanted to be very specific with that so when we designed both the expedition ships our Seabourn Club Members who have cruised previously with us are instantly familiar with the ship when they step onboard.”
Seabourn enlisted Adam Tihany to design the expedition fleet’s indoor and outdoor guest areas. Interiors “very much feel like a ski lodge – wooden floors, heavy furniture, leather, rivets, thick carpets and throws,” West explained.
“We looked at a lot of other ship interiors and they resembled a five-star hotel anywhere in the world. We wanted to create a feeling inside of the vessel that was a tribute to the early explorers,” he said.
Old and New touchpoints
Popular venues have been carried over from Seabourn’s ocean fleet, such as the casual dining venue, The Colonnade, the fine dining Restaurant, the Seabourn Square cafe gathering point, and the Club.
