Launching a luxury cruise vessel in this day and age is a risky venture, but the Yachts of Seabourn seem to know something about their upscale clientele. Despite the global recession and fares that start at $16,000, the inaugural 14-day sailing onboard the new Seabourn Odyssey was sold out.

The 32,000-ton, 450-passenger is the first new yacht in 15 years for Seabourn and the first luxury ship launched in 6 years. It’s also the first of three new vessels Seabourn is building, a 216 percent increase in capacity for the line, with Seabourn Sojourn launching in June 2010 and a third new-build in 2011. All three new ships are twice the size of Seabourn’s other yachts. “The launch of Odyssey allows us to serve more travelers but still offer the intimate and exclusive experience which has made us a leader in the luxury cruising market,” said Seabourn CEO Pamela Conover.

Modern luxury
Seabourn calls all its vessels yachts because of the high service and amenities guests experience onboard. The line boasts the highest passenger to crew ratio in the luxury cruise market and the Odyssey has one the highest ratios of space per guest in the industry.

Odyssey’s design is modern and encompasses an elegant, sophisticated, yet understated ambiance. “The ship has been designed to provide options. That’s really what today’s customer wants,” says Conover. Like its sister ships, the Odyssey offers fine dining, relaxation, and fun. It has four restaurants, two outdoor swimming pools and six whirlpools, a water sports from the vessel’s marina and a diamond showroom.

What’s new? The Spa at Seabourn Odyssey is the largest spa on any luxury vessel covering a massive 11,400 square feet that spans two decks. There’s a waterfall at the entrance and facilities include seven treatment rooms, a gym with Kinesis equipment, a hydro pool, heated loungers, and a patio. The spa also features two 750-square-foot private retreat “Spa Villas” with seating and dining areas, indoor double bed lounger, two treatment beds, whirlpool and separate shower, and wraparound terrace with sun loungers for half-day use including preferred combination of treatments.

New are the Sun Terraces, all the way forward at the very top of the ship on Deck 11. These offer 17 double sun beds, full bar service and stocked iPods. Just aft of the Sun Terrace is the Retreat, a multi-activity piazza that features all kinds of deck sports for those who want a little more activity. There are two shuffleboard courts, a nine-hole golf putting course, and giant chess board for amusement. The area will also offer open air fitness classes and on evenings when the skies are clear, stargazing sessions under the guidance of an onboard trained celestial navigator.

One very unique addition is Seabourn Square, an idea conceived by Micky Arison, chairman of Carnival Corporation, Seabourn’s parent company. Seabourn Square has replaced the typical lobby style reception area found on most ships. The idea is to have a comfortable lounge area where guests can go for all their needs. The area is offers a coffee bar with pastries and gelato, Internet area, library, and in the center desks with the line’s Guest Services Specialists. Part purser, part destination services manager, part concierge and part future cruise expert, these multi-tasking staff are able to assist guests with virtually any inquiry or request on the spot.

Compared to Seabourn’s other yachts, the Odyssey offers more entertainment options. The Grand Salon main show lounge has a show stage with moveable seating and the pool patio area has more space for entertainers. The Observation Bar, high atop the bridge, offers live music and The Club will offer nightly dancing. There’s also a small casino for those that want to roll the dice.

Suite life
With just 225 suites, ninety percent with private verandas, guests can almost convince themselves it’s a superyacht. All suites have a modern look with earthy tones and décor. There are 13 suite categories, including Seabourn’s first penthouses, 23 of them. Each is 450 square feet with a 100-square-foot veranda. But they’re not the largest accommodations on board; those stretch more than 1,300 square feet.

All suite verandas are roomy enough for dining – you can order anything off the menu and be served course by course. And the all bathrooms have separate tub and shower compartments. Guests will feel special and cared for by everything from scented Pure Pampering baths drawn by the stewardess to a bar stocked with preferred beverages and spirits.

Gourmet dining
On Odyssey, the main dining venue is The Restaurant — a white and airy venue that is open seating and features fine dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The small Restaurant 2 offers an innovative small plate tasting menus served in a whimsical style. Both restaurants offer recipes inspired by Chef Charlie Palmer.

On Deck 8 aft is The Colonnade a more casual, indoor/outdoor option. For breakfast and lunch, Colonnade offers Seabourn’s signature array of prepared hot and cold specialties, but they have done away with the classic buffet line and instead are offer different sorts of dishes from several positions around the room. Cooked-to-order items are available as well. In the evening Colonnade will feature influences of the cuisines of different countries or regions, i.e. Thai, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean or Chinese, plus a selection of classic fare such as steaks, fish and roast chicken.

Brand new on Odyssey is the Patio Grill. Situated poolside on Deck 8 it offers freshly baked pastries and coffee in the morning. At lunch time pizzas and grilled specialties are offered.

For those that can afford it, Seabourn Odyssey offers amazing personalized service in an atmosphere of intimate socialization and innovative sophistication – it truly has taken luxury cruising to a whole new level.

If you go:
Seabourn Odyssey will spend its maiden season in the Mediterranean before relocating to the Caribbean. Seabourn’s first world cruise, a 108-day trip, will depart January 5, 2010. Fares start at $1,000 per person per day, but discounts from 15 to 40 percent are offered on various cruise itineraries. Visit the Yachts of Seabourn’s Web site for more details.

It’s 7:00 am and anyone who is still asleep has just been awakened by this morning’s announcement. A polite good morning call that announces it is a “nippy” 39 degrees outside, and a reminder that the bus for the winery tour leaves in one hour. Not that anyone is in bed — no one wants to miss a thing. The fall foliage was just setting in making the scenery along the Columbia River Gorge more spectacular. Add the backdrop of the Cascade Mountain Range with snow-covered Mount Hood and it’s even more breathtaking.

Expedition cruising aboard Cruise West’s Sprit of Discovery, as you might have gathered, is quite different from your one week cruise around the Caribbean. For one thing the ship is small and there is no casino, lounge acts, bingo contests, disco, spa or fitness center. There’s no dressing up since the atmosphere onboard is very casual — jeans, khakis, sweaters and fleece jackets are the norm. Accommodations are basic – cabins have no television, radio or telephone, and get this, no locks on the doors. Still everything is secure, safe, clean, and the all-American crew is friendly and eager to please.

Spirit of Discovery

One of the hottest trends in cruising today is the almost insatiable interest in cuisine. Food and wine have always been an integral part of the cruise experience, but in recent years, the interest has become more refined to include special cruises dedicated to specific cuisine. When it comes to wine many cruise lines offer wine tastings, but few have the ability to take you right to the source.

Cruise West, a company long known for its educational eco-cruises to adventure destinations like Alaska, Costa Rica, and Asia may seem like an unusual fit for a wine cruise. But the company is known to focus on the destination rather than the cruise itself, and sailing along the Columbia River with access to Washington and Oregon’s growing wine region offers an amazing experience for wine lovers.

Spirit of Discovery, launched in 1976, was purpose-built for cruising off-the-beaten track waters. It is small carrying just 84 passengers and functional, with a dining room, lounge, bow viewing area, sun deck, but little else. The downside is that cabins are compact with twin beds (queen beds in higher class cabins) and tiny shower area, the sink is located outside the bathroom in the cabin. The good news is you won’t spend a lot of time in the cabin since shore excursions take up most of the day.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the intimate, open-seating Grand Pacific Dining Room. Meals are at set times, and since there is no 24-hour room service or alternative dining, you eat when you are supposed to or you will miss out. For early risers there is a Continental breakfast spread in the lounge, the same area where all the lectures take place. A sit-down breakfast follows in the dining room. Lunch is scheduled around the shore excursions. Dinners are the highlight where the chef uses local ingredients from the Pacific Northwest. Menu choices are somewhat limited, but the cuisine with the highlighted wines offered was excellent. Standouts included Wagyu Shortribs, Kurbata Pork Prime Rib, and Wild Pacific Sturgeon and Grilled Salmon and amazing breads like Walla Walla Onion Cheddar and Curry Egg. Coffee, tea, and sodas are complimentary – the only extras are cocktails and wines not part of the tastings.

Onboard entertainment consists of enrichment lectures by two Cruise West Exploration Guides who lecture on the history of the Columbia River. Come evening, there are activities in the Discovery Lounge – mainly wine tastings and talks by the ship’s guest “Wine Guy”, Frank Baldassare. He lectured on how grapes are grown and how various regions produce different wines, how to properly taste wine and pair it with food, and how Washington and Oregon became wine regions.

All shore excursions are included in the price and Exploration Leaders separate passengers into two touring groups. This made it easier to spend time exploring and not overwhelming the destinations visited. We hiked through pear orchards in Oregon, onion fields in Washington, toured the giant Bonneville Dam with its huge power generators and salmon fish ladders, jet boated to the Hanford Reach Monument where we witnessed abundant wildlife and glimpsed at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation (birthplace of nuclear energy), watched seafood cooking demonstrations in Astoria, and in Walla Walla and Richland drank barrels of wine – literally.

Swirl, smell, sip

Prior to the winery tours the first lecture was Baldassare educating us on the Four S’s of wine tasting: see, swirl, smell, and sip — a valuable way to experience and understand each wine from first to last taste. This practice would be essential to make the most of this cruise with all its abundant wine samplings.

Surprisingly most all the passengers on this trip were over 65 years of age, I am 43 and I was by far one of the youngest. But let me tell you these seniors were sprite and could run laps around you, not to mention being able to swill wine with the best of them.

The first winery tour was Three Rivers Winery just outside of Walla Walla. The visit coincided with the October crush season when grapes are harvested and placed into wine vats to cure. Jan Wessel, a retail manager for Three Rivers, gave a group tour of the vats and told how making fine wines is a blend of science and art. “It is the result of a host of varying environmental factors and, typically, the combination of several different grape varieties, each in varying quantities, overseen and orchestrated by master vintners to create a unique and excellent vintage,” he said. Tastings included a number of red and white wines where my personal favorite ended up being the 2005 Syrah.

Since gourmet food goes hand-in-hand with good wine our group stopped for lunch at Walla Walla’s Backstage Bistro and dined on an amazing three-course meal. During the meal more wines were sampled and one in particular stood out – a 2003 Nicolas Coles Cellars Camille, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. I just loved this wine so much I had several glasses and was feeling no pain. Baldassare laughed at me and told me to “pace” myself. The reality is there are five S’s in wine tasting – the last being spit, which I quickly learned to do or I would not remember a thing about this trip.

After lunch it was off to visit two more wineries. At Beresan Winery the farming aspects of growing grapes was discussed, and our group was able to pick and eat Merlot grapes right off the vine – yum! The next winery was Basel Cellars set atop a hill, not only did we drink wine but we drank in the beautiful scenery as well.

The next day the ship docked in Richland and it was off to visit three more wineries. The first stop was Coyote Canyon Winery located high above the Yakima Valley in the remote area of Horse Heaven Hills. The owner Mike Andrews gave a tour of the 500-acre vineyard and afterwards indulged our palates in a number of excellent vintages. Next it was off to the Red Mountain area and the Terra Blanca Winery with amazing landscaped grounds and sweeping views of the Yakima Valley. More tastings and lunch was followed by a tour winery’s vast cave system storing thousands of barrels of wine. Our last stop was another winery in the Red Mountain area, Kiona Vineyards. Kiona was the first vineyard in the area and has cultivated a stellar reputation for producing amazing vintages. The Vivacious Vicky wines are not to be missed.

For Baldessere, educating others about the joy of wine is simply not a job, it’s a passion. “It’s all about exploration and the process of discovery, and rediscovery of tastes,” he says. This, as it turns out, is an essential ingredient to creating a memorable travel experience.

If you go:

This cruise is best for intellectually curious travelers interested more in culture and nature than splashy big ship amenities. The eight-day, seven-night “Taste of the Pacific Northwest” cruises on select dates in April, September and October 2009. All trips depart from Portland, Oregon. Rates range from $3,299 to $4,399 per person, depending on cabin category. Prices include taxes, port charges, airport transfers, shore excursions, and gratuities. Visit Cruise West’s Web site for all the details.