No news on new expedition ships?

[claudiaYVR]

Details about the itineraries and booking availability for the Venture are expected to be out in the spring of 2019.  We can only hope 🙂

 

I should note that is “spring of 2019” info was just released to travel agents a few days ago and is different from the earlier announcement of “fall of 2019”.

Edited March 16, 2019 by claudiaYVR
Add info

[machotspur]

21 hours ago, markham said:

 

As Seabourn seems to have its hands full and cannot seem to release itineraries past October, 2020 (apart from the one mentioned above), I doubt we will see much about these 2 planned expedition ships for a long time, and that presumes the ships’ deliveries will be on time for Seabourn. I wish it were otherwise...

 

 

The recent press release on the Seabourn expedition ships advises that the itineraries will be out in 'Spring 2019' (whenever that will be !!).

This was also the 'party line' from the Cruise Consultant when we were onboard Seabourn Ovation a couple of weeks ago.

So any day now then 

 

NB - edit - apologies to claudiaYVR - just noticed you are saying the same thing on Page 2 !

Edited March 17, 2019 by machotspur

[machotspur]

On 3/16/2019 at 11:22 AM, Fletcher said:

 

However, I believe that this expedition cruise does not include any excursions which seems nuts to me.  Also you pay extra for everything you drink.

 

 

Yes I agree - Hapag Lloyd frustrate me greatly.  We would book several of their cruises in a flash but the chaotic irrational excursion policy, the 'pay for' drinks (including water !!) and the smoking policy (although that changes soon) are all absolute red flags for us. They say they wan't 'international' guests but seem reluctant to move away from the traditions of their core market.

 

I do hope Seabourn are arranging some decent itineraries for these new ships - or Royal Caribbean invest some serious $$$ in transforming the Silversea product (and attitude !!)   

[markham]

For those who were wondering when Seabourn will announce the 2021 World Cruise - and by extension any cruises past the single cruise its website shows for November, 2020 -  I just received a surprising response from Seabourn Guest Services. The answer was “12 to 18 months” beforehand. 

 

How is this surprising? There is  surprising lack of specificity here. And Seabourn’s main competitors in my book ie Silversea, Crystal and Cunard have theirs out already. Which makes it very easy to book with them and get their early, best fares, as I did last year at this time for 2020.

 

Why Seabourn is perennially late and/or later than their competitors by months is beyond me. Their fleet of 5 ships is stable as they are all underway. So this task should be easy enough to deliver. 

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

 

 

[Hoyaheel]

There's some sort of press conference going on today - they've been releasing photos on Twitter. This is the new Expedition lounge and Discovery Center. I really like the lounge!

[SKP946]

Hoyaheel, thanks for the lovely photos, but are you sure that’s Seabourn?

Where are the sight-line destroying pillars in the Lounge ?🙄🤔😀

[Hoyaheel]

Well, it is still a mock-up ;-).....

[machotspur]

For those that are interested the Itineraries/Prices for the Seabourn Venture expedition ship are to be released tomorrow (Thursday).

 

I was contacted by Seabourn UK today, via my TA, and have successfully booked for us to sail on an Antarctica/Falklands/S.Georgia itinerary - in Feb 2022  !!!  

 

I understand that those who had made an onboard option booking were being contacted - today in the UK at least.  

[galeforce9]

3 hours ago, machotspur said:

For those that are interested the Itineraries/Prices for the Seabourn Venture expedition ship are to be released tomorrow (Thursday).

 

I was contacted by Seabourn UK today, via my TA, and have successfully booked for us to sail on an Antarctica/Falklands/S.Georgia itinerary - in Feb 2022  !!!  

 

I understand that those who had made an onboard option booking were being contacted - today in the UK at least.  

That’s really interesting. Thanks for the update.  Glad the South Georgia cruises won’t just be restricted to Christmas as they are now.  Do you know where the cruise sails from/to? 

[machotspur]

4 minutes ago, galeforce9 said:

That’s really interesting. Thanks for the update.  Glad the South Georgia cruises won’t just be restricted to Christmas as they are now.  Do you know where the cruise sails from/to? 

 

This itinerary is showing on two dates - 

 

14 Dec 2021 - Buenos Aires - Buenos Aires - over Christmas

 

16 Feb 2022 - Ushuaia - Buenos Aires

 

The two itineraries operate in opposite directions. The second is the one I prefer as it sails from Antarctica -> South Georgia ... the Shackleton 'rowing boat' route ! 

[SKP946]

Back in March of this year I posted that I had paid A$400 deposit to secure preferential booking on the expedition ships.

last night I received an email with this attachment:-

 

“How to win friends and influence people”.

For a start I have never booked or sailed in a V1, I HAVE  been to Antarctica (on Quest)  AND I expect to choose when, where and how I cruise.

I will be cancelling this booking and asking for my deposit to be transferred to a future cruise deposit.

Someone in Seabourn marketing needs to go back to school.

Edited May 8, 2019 by SKP946

[galeforce9]

🤔

[machotspur]

21 minutes ago, SKP946 said:

Back in March of this year I posted that I had paid A$400 deposit to secure preferential booking on the expedition ships.

last night I received an email with this attachment:-

“How to win friends and influence people”.

For a start I have never booked or sailed in a V1, I HAVE  been to Antarctica (on Quest)  AND I expect to choose when, where and how I cruise.

I will be cancelling this booking and asking for my deposit to be transferred to a future cruise deposit.

Someone in Seabourn marketing needs to go back to school.

 

I too received a similar 'booking' through my TA today,  

 

However - It took the TA just 15 mins to contact Seabourn to change the entries to the cruise and suite we wanted, complete with the onboard booking discount. No hassle at all - it all worked fine for us.

 

I do however agree that it is a strange way of working, sending out what I assume are 'dummy' bookings.

 

  

[MJN1]

Here are some of the non Antartica itineraries between July 2021 and April 2022 to wet yr appetites

[MJN1]

Sorry, duplicate

Edited May 9, 2019 by MJN1
Sorry, duplicate

[MJN1]

Ditto

Edited May 9, 2019 by MJN1

[galeforce9]

Wow yes please.  Sign me up now 

[Fletcher]

Nothing interesting here . . . same old routes that other lines have been doing for years.  I'm particularly disappointed with the Cape Verde across to the Amazon - not stopping at Fernando da Noronha or Guyana or Suriname or . . . . 

 

I really do yearn for some more imagination or is it just that I've been there, done that?

[galeforce9]

Are these on the website?  I can’t see them yet.  

[MJN1]

54 minutes ago, galeforce9 said:

Are these on the website?  I can’t see them yet.  

The cruise consultant on board has them...😍

[cruiseej]

I also put down a deposit to have the first opportunity to book an Antartica cruise on the new Venture. So I was surprised and disappointed to get an email from my travel agent last night saying we had less than 24 hours to book a trip before they go onsale to everyone today. We didn't get automatically booked, as some people above did, but we were given a few hours to make a decision about what could be the most expensive trip of our lives. Oh, and there were no prices for the cruises -- just a typed list of itineraries! What's the difference in what is seen on the trips that spend 5 days in the Antarctic versus those that spend 7 days in the Antarctic? No information. Will Quest also be sailing in the Antarctic at the same time? No information. What about those new islands that extend the Falklands visits from one to three days? No information. I was hoping for a shorter trip that includes South Georgia Island, but the shortest is still 22 nights. So far, this has been a crushing disappointment for the trip-of-a-lifetime we have been waiting to book

 

I told my travel agent this morning that as interested as we are in an Antarctic trip, and our hope to do it on Seabourn, that we couldn't make a snap decision on something this expensive this quickly with this little information. I guess we'll wait and see what more information Seabourn provides when these go live on the website later today. And maybe we;ll need to look at Lindblad or Ponant if this means we'll miss our opportunity to jump on Seabourn.

[jdk-atlga]

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. 

- jdk

[SKP946]

I just received this Seabourn Venture Antarctic itinerary:-

[machotspur]

1 hour ago, SKP946 said:

I just received this Seabourn Venture Antarctic itinerary:-

 

 

Yes - this is the one we booked yesterday for February 2022.  

 

I have the entire document showing all the cruises on this new ship (not just Antarctica). I've had a go at attaching it to this post, but not sure how this works. However any TA should surely have this available as Seabourn supposedly sent to all TA's a couple of days ago.

 

ExpeditionDossier_UK.pdf 

 

[galeforce9]

Thanks machotspur.  That’s really helpful