No news on new expedition ships?

[machotspur]

4 hours ago, jdk-atlga said:

My Seabourn TA called me last night and we went through the many options and booking process last night. As far as I can tell, the US Seabourn website is still not updated accordingly, but I can see a portion of the booking in My Reservations. That said, I remember seeing a posting somewhere with the Venture Deck plans. Does anyone still have that? And yes, I am booked for one of the Arctic trips. 

-

 

As with the US site, the UK website doesn't yet contain any info regarding the Seabourn Venture. 

 

Please find attached the deck plans for the Venture, as provided to me yesterday by the nice people at the Seabourn UK office.

 

[machotspur]

... and the layouts of each of the suites ....

 

 

[cece50]

We have a booking that our TA just sent us after expressing interest in an Arctic cruise on Venture.   We are mulling it over.   This one is Svalbard - Beyond North Cape.   Lots of landings.  Has anyone done an Arctic itinerary?  Should we be looking at another which includes Greenland etc.  Any insights appreciated. 

[Covepointcruiser]

We are now booked on a Venture voyage sailing from Greenland to St. John in Canada.   It’s very expensive $15K each for a 15 day cruise.

[Joc123]

Thank you Machotspur for deck plans and suite layout.

We are booked on the Maiden Voyage from Greenwich on July 15th 2021 (hope we are still alive).

We are in suite 711 (VP category) and at the time of booking had no idea where or what the suite was like. From the plans, we are very happy with that one.

[jdk-atlga]

Regarding the deck plans, I hope that SB finish them out soon -  It is curious that they are only showing the cabins and not the public areas. I presume that they will be fleshed out as the ship is built and the spaces decided. I'm currently booked for V1, Deck 5, which should be fine for us...

[cruiseej]

They have previously posted renderings of several of Venture's public spaces. Not much is left to "get decided" at this stage of building the ship.

 

 

Atrium

 

Mud room

 

Theater

 

Lounge

[Joc123]

It looks very brown to me

[rols]

On 5/10/2019 at 12:25 PM, Joc123 said:

Thank you Machotspur for deck plans and suite layout.

We are booked on the Maiden Voyage from Greenwich on July 15th 2021 (hope we are still alive).

We are in suite 711 (VP category) and at the time of booking had no idea where or what the suite was like. From the plans, we are very happy with that one.

Those VP suites look absolutely lovely - that's certainly what I'd book if we could afford these itineraries at all! I think we'll need to wait until both ships are built and operating before we're likely to find a cruise fare which works for us but we're certainly jealous of all of you who will be inaugurating these ships, they look super. 

[jdk-atlga]

Regarding the “standard” veranda, they may be a smidge small than the ones on the Odyssey class. Bigger veranda, but smaller inside.

Veranda Suite (OB)

Decks 5, 6, 7, 8; Approximate total space: 355 sq. ft. (33 sq. m.) including veranda of 75 sq. ft. (7 sq. m.)*

 

All Veranda Suites onboard Seabourn Venture feature a comfortable living area; private veranda; queen-size bed or two twin beds; walk-in closet; personal safe; interactive TV with music and movies; fully stocked bar and refrigerator; writing desk with personalized stationery; makeup vanity; spacious bathroom, separate tub and shower, plush robes, slippers, luxury health and beauty products, hairdryer and 110/220V AC outlets.  *Some veranda sizes vary.

[florisdekort]

On 5/9/2019 at 6:12 PM, Covepointcruiser said:

We are now booked on a Venture voyage sailing from Greenland to St. John in Canada.   It’s very expensive $15K each for a 15 day cruise.

 

We may join you as we have a hold from Reykjavik to Barbados.  We’ve got 6 more days to decide.  Quite shocked by the 25% deposit request!  

 

Floris 

[2SailingNomads]

Interesting in the deck plans above no public places are described.  (We heard somethings on our last cruise from a long time crew member in the know about some of them - see no pool instead zodiac storage, not at liberty to say about others not yet disclosed). We held a reservation for a cruise on the Venture but decided after knowing the layout to decline it as this ship and it's sister have a specific purpose, specifically cold weather itineraries, what we reserved was mostly warm weather - will be great to go back to Antarctica on this ship or if they do the Northwest passage.  Lots of competition coming so time will tell about pricing, which Seabourn like the currently announced competition is hoping people will sign up for at top dollar or Euro or Pound or...

[jdk-atlga]

From the deck plans, there is a small pool, with a couple of whirlpools, on Deck 5. That said, I believe that the two Expeds are intended for truly expedition (Arctic and Antarctic) ventures, with the occasional relocation trips to warm places. I am keeping my Arctic 🥶 trip on the books. 

- jdk

[cruiseej]

We're trying to evaluate the Venture versus the Silversea expedition ships for going to Antarctica. We'd prefer Seabourn, but there seems to be a significant cost difference. Silversea also does South Georgia Island in fewer days than Seabourn's too-long-for-us 24-day itineraries.

[machotspur]

On 5/27/2019 at 4:36 AM, cruiseej said:

We're trying to evaluate the Venture versus the Silversea expedition ships for going to Antarctica. We'd prefer Seabourn, but there seems to be a significant cost difference. Silversea also does South Georgia Island in fewer days than Seabourn's too-long-for-us 24-day itineraries.

 

cruiseej - your comments are identical to our thoughts.

 

A few years ago we decided that Silversea was no longer for us so we have been waiting for the launch of the Seabourn ship/itinerary. (We want to do Antarctica/Falklands/S.Georgia - and NOT Patagonia). 

 

As you say the Seabourn product is too lengthy and is significantly more expensive than Silversea.

 

We are now feeling that we may return to Silversea - just for this one itinerary - on the soon to be converted/refurbished Silver Wind.

 

[Mahogany]

Another option for Antarctica is to look at land-based companies. I went with Abercrombie & Kent who charter the whole Ponant ship. Excellent. 2 days in BA, then a chartered flight to Ushaia, and included South Georgia, a must-see island group.

[cruiseej]

@machotspur We have cruised on Regent and Seabourn, but never on Silversea until last summer, when we explored Greenland on Silver Cloud, the smaller ship which was refurbished to be an expedition ship. We had a fantastic cruise, thanks especially to some outstanding weather and the excellent expedition staff.

 

For reasons that are hard to put my hand on, we slightly preferred Seabourn to Silversea; it's hard to say if some of the differences were due to the difference in size between the Silver Cloud and the Odyssey-class Seabourn ships. I don't think I'd attribute it to the age of the Silver Cloud; although she's about 25 years old, the refurbishments made her feel quite similar to the Seabourn ships. But the slight difference we felt between Seabourn and Silversea (an A to an A-, perhaps?) wouldn't dissuade us from traveling with Silversea again on the Silver Cloud, or the Silver Wind once it receives the similar refurbishment. (A Galapagos trip is also high on our wish list, and the renderings of the new Silversea Silver Origin coming next year look awfully enticing!)

 

@Mahogany Thanks for mentioning Abercrombie & Kent. I was planning to take a look into Ponant; I didn't realize A&K chartered their ship. I know it's hard to compare expedition and non-expedition cruises, but how would you say the Ponant ship and experience compared with Seabourn?

 

[Mahogany]

13 hours ago, cruiseej said:

@machotspur We have cruised on Regent and Seabourn, but never on Silversea until last summer, when we explored Greenland on Silver Cloud, the smaller ship which was refurbished to be an expedition ship. We had a fantastic cruise, thanks especially to some outstanding weather and the excellent expedition staff.

 

For reasons that are hard to put my hand on, we slightly preferred Seabourn to Silversea; it's hard to say if some of the differences were due to the difference in size between the Silver Cloud and the Odyssey-class Seabourn ships. I don't think I'd attribute it to the age of the Silver Cloud; although she's about 25 years old, the refurbishments made her feel quite similar to the Seabourn ships. But the slight difference we felt between Seabourn and Silversea (an A to an A-, perhaps?) wouldn't dissuade us from traveling with Silversea again on the Silver Cloud, or the Silver Wind once it receives the similar refurbishment. (A Galapagos trip is also high on our wish list, and the renderings of the new Silversea Silver Origin coming next year look awfully enticing!)

 

@Mahogany Thanks for mentioning Abercrombie & Kent. I was planning to take a look into Ponant; I didn't realize A&K chartered their ship. I know it's hard to compare expedition and non-expedition cruises, but how would you say the Ponant ship and experience compared with Seabourn?

 

I've been on several Seabourn cruises with their Ventures team. I jokingly told Joe the ornithologist that he was almost as passionate about birds as the A&K woman in Antarctica. I also went to the Arctic with A&K.  Their expedition team is excellent and the ship as good as Silversea I think.  English is the first language with A&K, not so with sailing Ponant through them, I believe. I went to Galapagos with Silversea and am traveling with them on Muse this fall. Seabourn has become my favorite line but only by a whisker. Itinerary drives my choices. 

[SLSD]

Last night on the Sojourn, Robin West, Seabourn's Vice President of Expedition Operations gave a talk about the new expedition ships.  Some of the information was not new, but some of it was new (at least to me).  Just in case, it might be new to you as well, I'm posting what I remember about his talk.  

 

First, Mr. West said that the new phrase the expedition ships will be using is "Extraordinary Expeditions" which is slightly different from Seabourn's "Extraordinary Worlds".  He assured everyone present that the new vessels are fully a part of the Seabourn fleet, but will set themselves slightly apart as they are deemed to be very special.  

 

The first ship, Venture, will launch in June of 2021, while the second (name not revealed) will launch in May of 2022.  

 

These are purpose built ships with strengthened hulls--Polar Class--  nine tenths of coverage.  This concerns how they will deal with ice.  Mr. West stressed that they are not ice breakers and will not be able to go through very thick ice, but will be able to go through more ice than the Quest currently can do.  He said they they could go through ice a meter and a half thick.  

 

The new expedition ships will have no rudders.  They will have steerable propellers instead.  These are called aussiprops.  This is a technology that the other SB ships do not have.  Essentially they will be able to  turn 365 degrees.  This means the ships are highly maneuverable. 

 

Each ship will have 26 expedition staff members and each of them will be trained to drive the Zodiacs.  There will be 24 Zodiacs on each ship and all can be deployed at one time (if necessary) to give guests the same experience.  Previously, the Zodiacs went out a few at a time and when they returned others went out.  This will still be done most of the time, but if conditions warrant and there is only a certain window of time to launch them, everyone can go out at one time. 

 

Each ship will have two submarines which will seat 7 people each.  (The ship will be able to house four submarines).  The subs will be able to to down 300 meters (100 feet) in the ocean.  

 

The ships will have a new Open Bridge policy.  While this will be at the captain's discretion, the idea is that passengers can be more fully involved in the expedition and privy to what is going on in the bridge.  

 

Venture and her sister ship will also look different from other ships in the fleet.  The bow is very straight--the idea is that it will look aggressive like an expedition ship should look.  The stern, on the other hand, is styled to look like a large yacht and has significantly sized open deck areas so that everyone can be outside for observation of sights.  

 

The hull of the ships will be painted a dark green black.  Mr. West explained that this will help camouflage inevitable scrapes and nicks the hull will experience in going through ice.  There will be an orange accent stripe at the bottom which will be a signature of the ship and will match the orange jackets SB passengers will wear. 

 

One of the design features of the ships will be a lot of floor to ceiling glass in many areas for better viewing.  There will be eight deluxe suites (can't remember the name he gave them) on each side of the ship.  The Winter garden Suites have been redesigned to be two stories.  

 

The club is going to be at the top of the ship and will include a Sushi Bar. 

 

There will be two infinity jacuzzis. 

 

The ship will have "full dynamic positioning".  This means that the ship will be able to stay stationary in one place without an anchor.  (There will be an anchor system on the ship in case it is needed.)

 

The ship will hold 264 guests and 235 crew.  

 

There will be a large room called the "Expedition Lounge".  This will be a very comfortable area for passengers to gather before going out on expeditions.  This will replace cramped uncomfortable waiting areas on previous ships.  The lounge will have a "ski lodge" type decor, meant to be reminiscent of "early exploration,"  There will be leather accents, comfortable furniture, wood floors and rugs.  There will be black and white photography of early explorers.  The Expedition Lounge will have two fireplaces.  These will not be real fireplaces and the fire  suppression technology  required would have been too expensive.  Instead, these fireplaces will use a vapor system.  Mr. West said they look very real.  There will be another of these fireplaces in the Club.  

 

Instead of the Grand Salon, the Venture and her sister ship will have the "Discovery Center" where passengers will gather to see videos on a very large screen.  This is the area where passsengers will be briefed.  The screen in this room will be 33 feet wide. 

 

These ships will be traveling to the Arctic, the Antarctic, the Amazon River, the Caribbean, and to Central America.  

 

Mr. West said that there are other innovations in these ships which will be revealed at a later time.   

Edited June 4, 2019 by SLSD

[SLSD]

I forgot to mention the restaurants.  The ship will have a MDR, the Colonnade (looking out the back of the ship), and the Sushi Bar at the Club.  There will not be a Thomas Keller Grill, but there will be Thomas Keller food served  at times in the two restaurants.  When the absence of the TK Grill for these ships was announced, there were audible cheers from the assembled passengers.  (I am just reporting, not commenting here.)   

[galeforce9]

11 minutes ago, SLSD said:

Last night on the Sojourn, Robin West, Seabourn's Vice President of Expedition Operations gave a talk about the new expedition ships.  Some of the information was not new, but some of it was new (at least to me).  Just in case, it might be new to you as well, I'm posting what I remember about his talk.  

 

First, Mr. West said that the new phrase the expedition ships will be using is "Extraordinary Expeditions" which is slightly different from Seabourn's "Extraordinary Worlds".  He assured everyone present that the new vessels are fully a part of the Seabourn fleet, but will set themselves slightly apart as they are deemed to be very special.  

 

The first ship, Venture, will launch in June of 2021, while the second (name not revealed) will launch in May of 2022.  

 

These are purpose built ships with strengthened hulls--Polar Class--  nine tenths of coverage.  This concerns how they will deal with ice.  Mr. West stressed that they are not ice breakers and will not be able to go through very thick ice, but will be able to go through more ice than the Quest currently can do.  He said they they could go through ice a meter and a half thick.  

 

The new expedition ships will have no rudders.  They will have steerable propellers instead.  These are called aussiprops.  This is a technology that the other SB ships do not have.  Essentially they will be able to  turn 365 degrees.  This means the ships are highly maneuverable. 

 

Each ship will have 26 expedition staff members and each of them will be trained to drive the Zodiacs.  There will be 24 Zodiacs on each ship and all can be deployed at one time (if necessary) to give guests the same experience.  Previously, the Zodiacs went out a few at a time and when they returned others went out.  This will still be done most of the time, but if conditions warrant and there is only a certain window of time to launch them, everyone can go out at one time. 

 

Each ship will have two submarines which will seat 7 people each.  (The ship will be able to house four submarines).  The subs will be able to to down 300 meters (100 feet) in the ocean.  

 

The ships will have a new Open Bridge policy.  While this will be at the captain's discretion, the idea is that passengers can be more fully involved in the expedition and privy to what is going on in the bridge.  

 

Venture and her sister ship will also look different from other ships in the fleet.  The bow is very straight--the idea is that it will look aggressive like an expedition ship should look.  The stern, on the other hand, is styled to look like a large yacht and has significantly sized open deck areas so that everyone can be outside for observation of sights.  

 

The hull of the ships will be painted a dark green black.  Mr. West explained that this will help camouflage inevitable scrapes and nicks the hull will experience in going through ice.  There will be an orange accent stripe at the bottom which will be a signature of the ship and will match the orange jackets SB passengers will wear. 

 

One of the design features of the ships will be a lot of floor to ceiling glass in many areas for better viewing.  There will be eight deluxe suites (can't remember the name he gave them) on each side of the ship.  The Winter garden Suites have been redesigned to be two stories.  

 

The club is going to be at the top of the ship and will include a Sushi Bar. 

 

There will be two infinity jacuzzis. 

 

The ship will have "full dynamic positioning".  This means that the ship will be able to stay stationary in one place without an anchor.  (There will be an anchor system on the ship in case it is needed.)

 

The ship will hold 264 guests and 235 crew.  

 

There will be a large room called the "Expedition Lounge".  This will be a very comfortable area for passengers to gather before going out on expeditions.  This will replace cramped uncomfortable waiting areas on previous ships.  The lounge will have a "ski lodge" type decor, meant to be reminiscent of "early exploration,"  There will be leather accents, comfortable furniture, wood floors and rugs.  There will be black and white photography of early explorers.  The Expedition Lounge will have two fireplaces.  These will not be real fireplaces and the fire  suppression technology  required would have been too expensive.  Instead, these fireplaces will use a vapor system.  Mr. West said they look very real.  There will be another of these fireplaces in the Club.  

 

Instead of the Grand Salon, the Venture and her sister ship will have the "Discovery Center" where passengers will gather to see videos on a very large screen.  This is the area where passsengers will be briefed.  The screen in this room will be 33 feet wide. 

 

These ships will be traveling to the Arctic, the Antarctic, the Amazon River, the Caribbean, and to Central America.  

 

Mr. West said that there are other innovations in these ships which will be revealed at a later time.   

 Thanks so much SLSD.  Definitely some new information for me there and it must have taken you a long time to provide us with the details. 

[SLSD]

Galeforce, I took notes last night, so I just typed from my notes.  One other bit of information.  Mr. West said that they are beginning to plan future expeditions and are talking about a World War II expedition, beginning in Japan and using the submarines to explore World War II sunken ships etc.  

Edited June 4, 2019 by SLSD

[galeforce9]

Just now, SLSD said:

Galeforce, I took notes last night, so I just typed from my notes.  One other bit of information.  Mr. West said that they are beginning to plan future expeditions and are talking about a World War II expedition, beginning in Japan and using the submarines to explores World War II sunken ships etc.  

How interesting!!

[cruising kirby]

Thanks SLSD for all the information, very interesting.  Did Robin West mention if zodiac excursions will be included in the cruise cost (as they are for Antarctica on the Quest)?  And the submarines?  The prices of the Seabourn Venture cruises are very high, it may be because departures are so far out at this stage, but for those rates I am keen to see what the inclusions are.

[jdk-atlga]

SLSD: Very big thanks on this great information. As I have previously stated, I am currently booked for the Arctic (from Oslo to Reykjavik) in August 2021. I booked sight unseen, but love the thought of such a trip (if I can convince my wife to go to cool climates over the next two years). That said, I am second guessing myself a bit since I know that I can probably do a 21 day from Dover to Reykjavik for nearly half the cost over the 14 day booked on the Venture. I do wonder that, for a first time type of trip, will I really tell that much of a difference- the Venture and it’s sister do seem very special, still...j