| Seabourn looks to grow expedition

THE inauguration later this year of Seabourn Cruise Line’s second newbuild expedition ship, Seabourn Pursuit, will open significant new opportunities for exploration for the company, according to Vice President Global Sales Steve Smotrys.

Speaking to Cruise Weekly yesterday during his first-ever visit to Sydney, Smotrys (pictured) said having travelled on the new Seabourn Venture ultra-luxury expedition ship in Greenland and Iceland late last year “it blew me away, it was more than I could have ever expected”.

Smotrys said the expedition segment was “really exploding” at the moment, with many new entrants into the space, but noted that Seabourn’s long experience would hold it in good stead.

“Experience matters when you’re going to places like Antarctica and the Arctic, that expertise is really important”.

The arrival of sister ship Pursuit in Oct will open up a “breadth of different scenarios” for Seabourn.

“We’re going to explore other things like the Kimberley (CW 17 Aug 2022) which we know here in this market is very very important, but also places like the South Pacific and Asia, the British Isles, there’s some really incredible expedition experiences to be had,” he said.

On top of the destinations, “at the end of the day it’s about the experience and how you feel on board, and we think that is really our secret sauce,” Smotrys said.

So-called ‘Seabourn Moments’, which are integral to the service culture developed over many years aboard the line’s fleet, are built around key pillars such as signature experiences like the onboard Marina for watersports or caviar in the surf, unexpected surprises and providing a seamless vacation experience for guests, he enthused.

Smotrys joined the rest of the Australian Seabourn team and a number of Australian key travel advisor partners for an event on Sydney harbour last night, aboard the One O One superyacht which was adorned with the line’s branding – pics on page three.