The ship is sleek and painted an elegant money green. Boarding Seabourn Venture brings the same feeling of elegance, service and welcoming Champagne as arriving on any ship in Seabourn Cruises’ fleet. But this new Venture from Seabourn, is destined to be a game changer.
Carrying a maximum of 280 guests, Venture is half the size of other ships in Seabourn’s growing fleet, scaled to be able to reach the most remote places on earth and strengthened to sail through polar ice. It’s got a team of two dozen experienced expedition guides and scientists to lead explorations on land and at sea in zodiacs and kayaks and submarines.
Yet it’s still very much a Seabourn ship. And that means spacious suites that feature walk-in closets, marble topped cabinetry with storage everywhere and amenities including a pair of high-quality binoculars for viewing the shores and wildlife as we sail the Pacific on this cruise from Lima to Santiago. Here are features that make this first Seabourn Expeditions ship extraordinary:
It’s got style and substance
While expedition cruise ships of the past have tended to put function foremost, Seabourn Venture is dedicated to the proposition that you can explore in style. The interiors are by luxury hotel and yacht interior designer Adam D. Tihany, whose company has designed interiors for such elegant showplaces as The Beverly Hills Hotel and the Belmond Hotel Cipriani in Venice, as well as some of the world’s top restaurants.
Even the crew refer to this as a personal yacht rather than a cruise ship. At times you can feel you have your own staff, being the only one on an outdoor deck that has an attendant at the ready to bring a drink or snack if you wish. Have a question about that colorful bird soaring overhead? One of the experienced expedition team members is likely to be scanning the skies and will invariably have the answer.
While this is the line’s first dedicated expedition ship, Seabourn has extensive experience in exploring polar waters and the tropics in its Ventures by Seabourn programs on other ships in the fleet that have expedition teams to lead excursions with Zodiacs and kayaks. The 280-guest Seabourn Venture and a sister ship, Seabourn Pursuit coming in 2023, take the concept further, being purpose built to demanding Polar Class 6 standards, capable of breaking first-year ice, they can explore even more hard to reach locales.
It’s a remarkable lineup on the Captain’s welcome party as the expedition team of 26 introduces themselves. There are wildlife specialists, zodiac operators, kayaking expedition leaders, and three whose specialty is piloting submersibles. This cruises’ expedition leader, eco-tourism specialist and adventurer Luciano Bernacchi, has two decades of experience and has been leading Seabourn Ventures expeditions and lecturing on board ships since 2015.
And this ship has submarines
Exciting additions to the gear on Venture are a pair of battery-powered six-passenger submersibles capable of diving as deep as 1,000 feet beneath the waves to experience undersea life in comfort. Each sub is driven by an experienced pilot, so all you need to do is settle in and enjoy the stunning view. The fit and finish inside and out matches a luxury car, with swivel leather seats to give passengers a nearly 360-degree view through clear glass domes. The air inside is pressurized and at room temperature so there’s no need to wear parkas inside even in the iciest waters. Oh, yes, there’s a bar and a chiller filled with Champagne to toast the extraordinary journey.
There’s a place for everything
Settling into one of the ship’s suites is simple and we discover specialized features for exploring in comfort. Between the walk-in closet and the bathroom is a large closet that’s specifically designed as a place to hang damp jackets and boots after zodiac adventures and wet landings for drying. Turning on an radiator leaves them crisp and warm for your next outing. Above the drying zone there’s a dedicated storage space for life vests, but they’re not like any you’ve seen before. Seabourn has gone with a modern low-profile design rather then the old-fashioned orange blocks you used to have to tote to lifeboat drill. The new safety vests are not much bulkier than a heavy scarf, meaning more comfort when you go on a zodiac or kayak trip and additional space in the cabinet for storing souvenirs acquired along the way.
Outdoor terraces everywhere—and some are even heated
No matter where you are on the ship, Venture is purpose built to make it easy to get out on deck to see the view and the wildlife we’re visiting on the cruise. Even on a cool day there are warming elements in the ceilings of the outdoor deck of the Colonnade so lunch can be al fresco. Of course, there’s always an attendant on hand to bring a drink to celebrate the experience.
The sixth level Bow Lounge is a unique feature on Venture and it’s so tucked away you might miss it completely. Walking forward on the corridor of deck 6 you seem to be coming to a dead end ahea, but there’s an alcove and suddenly you’re in a room with the same view you’d have if you were in the ship’s bridge above. It features all the radar and navigation information the Captain would be getting as well, along with cameras on flanks of the ship.
Coolest of all is a walk out deck over the bow that on days at sea is often manned by expedition guides ready to point out whales, dolphins, sea birds following the ship. It’s piece de resistance is a balcony directly over the prow of the ship that really does make you feel you’re flying over the waves as you look down and imagine you’re joining the sea birds who follow the ship’s draft.
And oh, the places you can go
Some guests on this cruise are planning to spend 30 days from Lima, where we joined the ship ,all the way south to explore the Antarctic Peninsula and the tip of Argentina. The ship does a series of 10- and 12-day round trips to Antarctica then an intensive along the east coast of South America. Spring and summer bring it to the British Isles and then the Arctic, with a 28-day Greenland and Iceland intensive in the summer. of 2023. The fall of 2023 sees it sailing from Vancouver all the way down the Pacific coast of North and South America.
While we will only be sailing from Lima to Santiago, our first impressions on Seabourn Venture suggest that any itinerary will be a cruise to remember. Stay tuned to The Cruisington Times as we report the experiences on board and ashore.
Story by Wallace Immen, The Cruisington Times
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