But this isn't a ski lodge. It's an expedition cruise ship — the new Seabourn Venture, as designed by Adam Tihany and described by Seabourn President Josh Leibowitz.
'Adam's done a great job of bringing nature into the ship,' said Leibowitz, who extolled the 'overall design palette,' as well as the 'beautiful, comfortable' suites with everything ergonomic. And the 'sauna with a view to the outside world is going to be a real treat,' he said.
Sea-view sauna
At 23,000gt and carrying just 264 passengers, this is a very spacious ship, with loads of outdoor areas and the lounges that are on existing Seabourn vessels plus a dedicated Expedition Lounge and more.
'Each space is designed to accommodate the entire ship as a cohort,' Leibowitz said. So lounges like the theater-style Discovery Center — for briefings and lectures — can seat everyone.
Discovery Center
There are 24 Zodiacs — enough to take all passengers out exploring together — with one expedition guide for every 10 guests. Plus kayaks and two submarines.
Leibowitz and Gerald Mosslinger, SVP guest operations, recently toured Seabourn Venture at T. Mariotti in Genoa following sea trials. The inaugural voyage is scheduled for July 15.
Visiting T. Mariotti where Seabourn Venture is in final outfitting
Mosslinger's especially enthusiastic about the Bow Lounge, an area that gives everyone a view like the captain has from the bridge. Seabourn Venture has an open bridge policy, but the Bow Lounge, located on Deck 6 forward, will also provide the closest access to water level via the foredeck, making it an ideal spot to observe marine life. Touchscreens will provide navigational charts and scientific information.
Great views and outdoor access from the Bow Lounge
'It's a really neat space, really special,' Mosslinger said.
Expedition staff will be on hand there, and large screens will project live footage from a half-million-dollar, high-resolution camera system. With that, it can be possible, for example, to track a polar bear for up-close viewing, Leibowitz said.
Mosslinger's also excited about the submarines. Each carries six people plus a pilot. He's keen to take the pilot training but can't get away for the two weeks that requires. (So he'll just have to stick with his usual motorcycle fix instead.)
Seasoned expedition team for deep immersion
Seabourn Venture is planned to go out with all seasoned team members, and that includes the expedition staff who've worked on Seabourn's past expedition-style treks to Antarctica, the North Cape and Alaska.
'We have a network of well over 100 expedition Seabourn family members who've known each other long periods of time who want to work with people they've worked with before,' Leibowitz said. 'They also appreciate the attention to detail we're putting into this experience. This is their office. This is the nicest place to work in the world in this business.'
The crew to guest ratio is almost 1:1.
'This is going to be a Seabourn ship. So it's the service you have on Seabourn with expedition experiences layered on top of it: the guides, the knowledge, taking it deeper, taking it further, immersing you more than usual on a regular Seabourn cruise,' Mosslinger said.
Outdoor lounging space adjacent to Seabourn Square
Seabourn Moments in nature
Leibowitz promised lots of 'Seabourn Moments' will highlight the expedition experience. While those may still include things like a waiter producing a favorite dessert after overhearing someone's craving for chocolate cake, the expedition aspect will give opportunities for spontaneous Seabourn Moments out in nature. They may happen on a hike, or in a submarine.
Seabourn Venture is going to debut in the UK's northern isles and Norway, continuing to the Arctic for a series of Svalbard adventures.
'[Svalbard is] 700 miles south of the North Pole. You think it must be really cold. It's not cold. It's summer,' Leibowitz said. 'You'll see Arctic flowers. You'll see animals coming out that hibernate during the winter. You'll experience beautiful long summer days, 18-, 19-, 20-hour days. It's sort of an antidote to a super-hot summer.'
Panorama Suite
Greenland, Iceland and the Canadian Arctic are also in the charts for the inaugural season. Then Seabourn Venture heads south, on a very unusual 'Atlantic Migration' from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Barbados. After that, the ship transits the Panama Canal and skirts the Pacific Coast of South America to be in position for the 2022/23 Antarctica season starting in October.
Brazil and the Amazon follow in March/April 2023.
Seabourn Pursuit
Sister ship Seabourn Pursuit, due at around that time, will first explore 'Wild & Ancient Scotland & Iceland,' then Greenland, the North Cape, Svalbard and other Arctic realms. Meanwhile, Seabourn Venture crosses the Atlantic along the coast of Africa then heads north for its own Arctic program.
The alfresco Sky Bar
Eventually Pursuit strikes out for the Northwest Passage and Alaska, while Venture is planned to make a Northeast Passage and continue to the Kuril Islands, Japan, Micronesia, Australia and the South Pacific before departing from New Zealand via the Ross Sea to East Antarctica. One itinerary even combines East Antarctica with Australia and the Great Barrier Reef. Pursuit will make its way from Alaska down the Pacific Coast to Antarctica for the 2023/24 season.
Leibowitz said Seabourn travelers may never have heard of places like Scoresby Sound, Wrangel Island, the Kuril Islands, the Kimberley and other gems charted by itinerary guru Tim Littley working with Robin West and his expedition team and Seabourn's well-traveled captains. So brand loyalists and newcomers will able to stretch their horizons.
Active luxury
And imagine exploring the warm-weather destinations with all the expedition ships' open spaces, the Zodiacs, kayaks, submarines and more. Leibowitz called it 'active luxury, a whole other world of inspiration.'
Lots of expedition ships are being built but the Seabourn president noted all of them won't even equal the capacity of one big mainstrean cruise ship. This is a unique moment, he said, comparing expedition cruising's evolution with how the safari business developed, from rough and rugged to eventually more comfortable lodges and, ultimately, some fabulous ones.
Josh Leibowitz in a Seabourn Venture jacket
'We're building a category and Seabourn's position is at the very top,' he asserted. 'We are going to be the pinnacle experience, period.'
Based on the travelers who come back transformed, all expedition cruises are good, Leibowitz said.
'We're just different. We're combining the Seabourn experience with our incredible expedition team and we think that combination is going to deliver Seabourn Moments, a connection and an intimacy with these experiences that will be legendary.'
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