New Seabourn Ship - agreement signed

[Palmeat]

Just for info - in case you haven't seen today's announcement :

 

Seabourn and Fincantieri have signed a letter of intent for a newbuild to be delivered in the second half of 2016.

 

T. Mariotti built the trio of Odyssey-class ships for Seabourn.

 

'We are pleased to be moving forward with the plans we announced earlier this year to build a fourth ship similar to the highly regarded new design we introduced with Seabourn Odyssey, Seabourn Sojourn and Seabourn Quest,' said Seabourn president Rick Meadows.

 

He added that the experience and the amenities offered by the ships has 'raised the bar in ultra-luxury cruising.'

 

'We are very pleased to have acquired a new customer like Seabourn and at the same time to have strengthened our historic partnership with the Carnival Group,' said Fincantieri's Gabriele Coco, executive svp merchant vessels. 'This agreement is particularly important: it strengthens our leadership in the luxury cruise niche and confirms our primacy in the cruise industry.'

 

The price and further details were not disclosed.

[oregon50]

Sad news!

[commodoredave]

Sounds like positive news to me. Seabourn adds a 4th ship, same size as the current trio of newbuilds, which I like, very much.

[markham]

Whether this is good or bad news for the Seabourn brand will depend on how Seabourn management and this shipyard design and deliver the ship AND how the market responds. And it remains to be seen just what the design is. For example, if it scrimps on passenger square footage vs the Odyssey class it will not be as worthy an offering. But if it is identical then that's great.

 

Ship building is an art and it can be tempting for an operator to make economies with the build. Remember the newish Silversea ship of a couple of years ago which, in appearance at least, is reminiscent of Odyssey but with another deck on top and about 90 more passengers? Who would be fooled by that?

 

Hopefully we will hear more soon.

 

Happy sailing!

Edited October 18, 2013 by markham

[purpleally]

Sad news!

 

Why do you feel that way, if I may ask?

[DUHCAR]

Remember the newish Silversea ship of a couple of years ago which, in appearance at least, is reminiscent of Odyssey but with another deck on top and about 90 more passengers?

 

That's what I heard Seabourn was doing with the new ship. An extra deck.

Kinda like the extra gun deck on the Vasa.

[Nevian]

Well said Duhcar, if it is so, it may share the same fate, metaphorically speaking.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Flamin_June]

From the Seabourn Blog:

 

"The vessel will replace the capacity that is leaving the Seabourn brand with the sale of Seabourn Pride, Seabourn Spirit and Seabourn Legend. These ships will be transferred to their new owners in April 2014, April 2015 and May 2015, respectively."

 

 

So that will be a 600(+) pax job then - it may be a fine vessel but to many it will not be the Seabourn we have known - so a little sad. And the Windstar experience is shaping up to be something a little less rather than on par.

 

 

 

The end of an era. But time marches on....

Edited October 18, 2013 by Flamin_June

[cjknox]

Sad news!

 

Well why is that?

 

 

This is great news!

[Pop-I]

http://blog.seabourn.com/seabourn-signs-letter-intent-fincantieri-build-ship-delivery-2016

[Emperor Norton]

That's what I heard Seabourn was doing with the new ship. An extra deck.

Kinda like the extra gun deck on the Vasa.

 

As has been pointed it, it's like they didn't think their cunning plan all the way through.

 

IMO at 600 passengers you'd need a huge ship to have the Seabourn level of service, but then it wouldn't be nearly as personal which is a feature I like.

[markham]

Pretending you can add another 100+ passengers (with the same number of crew in their accommodation?) into the dining rooms, Seabourn Square, Grand Salon etc. won't fool anyone- except those who have never traveled on Seabourn. So maybe this is a "taster" ship that Seabourn can use for the mass market e.g. HAL (and did you love the RCL surfing pool?) newbies and those ubiquitous travel agents that we see around the ships?

 

Like I said above, it's about space per passenger. You don't mess with what works.

 

Happy sailing!

[wripro]

At this point everything is speculation. I'm sure the new ship will carry more people but we don't know if it's a hundred or fewer. Let's wait until we get more specific information before we start complaining.

[Roxburgh]

At this point everything is speculation. I'm sure the new ship will carry more people but we don't know if it's a hundred or fewer. Let's wait until we get more specific information before we start complaining.

 

I agree. And, even if she does, nobody is forced to book a cruise on her.

[commodoredave]

From the Seabourn Blog:

"The vessel will replace the capacity that is leaving the Seabourn brand with the sale of Seabourn Pride, Seabourn Spirit and Seabourn Legend. These ships will be transferred to their new owners in April 2014, April 2015 and May 2015, respectively."

So that will be a 600(+) pax job then - it may be a fine vessel but to many it will not be the Seabourn we have known - so a little sad. And the Windstar experience is shaping up to be something a little less rather than on par.

The end of an era. But time marches on....

 

Windstar is certainly not up to the Seabourn standard, at least not at this point. However, I note that the nearly 80,000 people who cast 1.3 million votes in the current Conde Nast Traveler Best in the World 2013 survey rated Windstar at 92 out of 100, just 6/10s of a point behind Seabourn at 92.6, and better than SeaDream at 91.6, Silversea at 90.9, and Regent at 91.5.

 

So Seabourn management should think carefully about the design and capacity of their newbuild if they want to remain the top small ship line in the world.

[Cisleman]

At this point everything is speculation. I'm sure the new ship will carry more people but we don't know if it's a hundred or fewer. Let's wait until we get more specific information before we start complaining.

 

Well said - As I recall a month or so ago most of us were predicting they would not add another ship.

[won2go]

I may well be in a minority here but I cannot why the Seabourn product cannot be retained in a ship with say 600 passengers. Obviously the staff to passenger ratio will have to remain the same and there must be an increase in the dining and bar availability for the extra 100 passengers, a full ship on the new ships now does have a few bottlenecks at times. This I am sure would be well thought out in the planning phase of the new vessel. It is not going to work if you just add a whole new deck with cabins and a consequent increase in crew accommodation.

[lincslady]

won2go - my sentiments exactly, this should be the template for Seabourn on any new ship; same staff to guest ratio and enough space for all passengers in public areas. Hope they are listening!

[markham]

What may put people on their guard is what Silversea delivered with the Spirit. I am happy to be corrected but for now it looks to me to be a Seabourn Odyssey with 90 more passengers and no more than a few additional crew. Physically it appears to be Odyssey with another cabin deck added on top.

 

I trust that Seabourn with its 600 build will construct to the scale of an Odyssey with a proportionate increase in crew and space. That's not a stretch Odyssey but would be a fully new design.

 

Happy sailing!

[commodoredave]

I may well be in a minority here but I cannot why the Seabourn product cannot be retained in a ship with say 600 passengers. Obviously the staff to passenger ratio will have to remain the same and there must be an increase in the dining and bar availability for the extra 100 passengers, a full ship on the new ships now does have a few bottlenecks at times. This I am sure would be well thought out in the planning phase of the new vessel. It is not going to work if you just add a whole new deck with cabins and a consequent increase in crew accommodation.

 

I agree and have only minor issues with 600 pax on a ship built to accommodate that many with the same or better space/pax ratio as the Odyssey class ships. However, 600 or more pax would take a ship out of the small ship classification and into the mid-size ship category. Some current SB loyalists may find that disappointing as a mid-size ship is a different experience.

[Emperor Norton]

I may well be in a minority here but I cannot why the Seabourn product cannot be retained in a ship with say 600 passengers. Obviously the staff to passenger ratio will have to remain the same and there must be an increase in the dining and bar availability for the extra 100 passengers, a full ship on the new ships now does have a few bottlenecks at times. This I am sure would be well thought out in the planning phase of the new vessel. It is not going to work if you just add a whole new deck with cabins and a consequent increase in crew accommodation.

 

IMO the following is why the Seabourn product can not be retained in a 600 passenger ship.

 

Scenario 1: The rumors were right and the new ship is just an Odyssey class with extra decks added for more passengers. That means a ship with 600 passengers and a crew/kitchen setup for 450. You lose the crew:passenger ratio, you lose the space:passenger ratio. Further there's not much of a chance you're going to get personalized service on this understaffed ship. As well the kitchen could be hard pressed to turn out an extra 150 a la minute meals meaning food may be cooked ahead of time and wait for you to order it. None of this is what Seabourn is about.

 

Scenario 2: The rumors were wrong and the new ship is an entirely new design. The crew:passenger ratio is maintained, the space:passenger ratio is maintained and the galleys are large enough to accommodate 600 people. Now you have sufficient crew and space but what you probably won't have are an intimate ship (599 other passengers isn't quite intimate) nor are you likely to have personalized service. From reading these forums the Odyssey class with 450 already have issues in this department which would be further exacerbated if the crew were supposed to memorize another 150 names. At the end of the day because the setting is no longer intimate and the service is probably not going to be anywhere near personalized you have something that isn't really what Seabourn is about.

Edited October 20, 2013 by baychilla

[Roxburgh]

Scenario 3: Seabourn build another 450 passenger ship to the same design as Odyssey.

[Emperor Norton]

Scenario 3: Seabourn build another 450 passenger ship to the same design as Odyssey.

 

I left that out because the press release stated the new ship would replace the missing capacity which was ~600. Although I like the new 450 Odyssey class scenario better than the two I came up with:D

[Roxburgh]

I left that out because the press release stated the new ship would replace the missing capacity which was ~600. Although I like the new 450 Odyssey class scenario better than the two I came up with:D

 

Fair enough.

 

I like the 450 capacity ships. For me they get the right balance between good facilities and not being too big.

 

We did a cruise on Regent Voyager which carries 700 passengers. Admittedly it is an older design but, in our opinion, the facilities were not sufficient for the number of passengers.

[Host Dan]

Doesn't anyone remember how well SB pulled off the Seabourn Sun? (tongue in cheek)

 

Host Dan