www.CRUISESHIPODYSSEY.com
|
|
|
|
All text and photographs (unless stated otherwise) © Paul Timmerman As mentioned before, life aboard the Seabourn vessels is casual, the only exception as far as dress code is concerned is formal night. To be exact, Seabourn advises four kinds of dress code: formal (tuxedo), informal, elegant casual and casual. Guests are kindly requested to follow the advised dress code of the day. These rules apply after 6 pm to all public rooms aboard. There is one, recently introduced, exception: one may dress informal when having dinner at the recently refurbished both in- and outdoor Verandah Cafe. Dinner is open seating and service is impeccable, there is even a possibility to dine outside on deck, sheltered from the sun by a white canvas. The Club, Marco Polo deck Needless to say that these vessels offer all the amenities of a land-based hotel : gymnasium, sauna, library, two restaurants, bars , lounges, a swimming pool and a marina “that folds out of the stern” in the sea offering all kinds of watersport facilities like snorkeling, windsurfing, waterski and the inevitable banana boat. Friendly and impeccable service is a trademark of Seabourn Cruises, one example of this is the bridge being open to passengers virtually at all times.
Have a look in the pool from an unusual angle...... Unfortunately, these ships are for the happy few who can afford it and most passengers are experienced cruisers. First timers are very rare. Like on yesteryear´s ships catering for the de luxe segment like the famous Cunarder Caronia, several passengers organise parties in their suites. The small number of passengers aboard makes it possible to really get to know fellow passengers. Because of their limited draft, the Seabourn trio can enter almost any port. But, their length of ca 135 m and beam of 19 m are enough to make deep-sea voyages and still offer a comfortable cruise.
Main circular stairway Seabourn Legend differs from her two sister ships (the original pair) in a few minor details, because of some adjustments her first owner Royal Viking Line made when they took over the ship. They gave her a clipper bow, adapted the mast and funnel to Royal Viking -style, eliminated the planetarium (made so many passengers on the Seabourn ships seasick…..) and the underwater observatory and had her fitted out in warmer colours. The L (legend) shaped doorknobs of the librabry is one of the examples that show the attention for detail when fitting out this high class vessel. This trio of vessels sail all over the world, and are rated 6-stars. They sail in direct competition with the ships of Azamara Cruises, Crystal Cruises, HAPAG Lloyd´s Europa (which sails mainly for a German Clientele), Silversea Cruises and Seadream Yacht Club. All these vessels are signifcantly larger apart from the Seadream vessels which offer the same intimacy. Presently, Seaborn Cruises has three newbuildings on order from the Italian shipyard T. Mariotti which at 32.000GRT/ 450 passengers are considerably larger than the three vessels currently operated by the line. They will be taken into sercive in 2009, 2010 and 2011. End
|
|
End
|
