Seabourn Quietly Makes Some Improvements…And a Word of Caution

John Delaney, Seabourn Cruise’s senior vice president for sales and marketing, announced in Travel Weekly UK some things that I have and aware of, but have not been able to share with you until now.

The first exciting bit of is that Seabourn intends on having the Seabourn Sojourn spending a significant amount of time in the Amazon Basin during  the fall of 2013. This is something that John Delaney and I discussed during my time on the Seabourn Quest’s inaugural cruise this past June. I have told many of you that you will see some  new, and pretty exciting, itineraries starting in the second quarter of 2013 and this is just one example.

John also announced that Seabourn’s past guest program is going to be significantly revamped. It is not going to dilute the present program but, in fact, will focus on Tiffany jewelry and, importantly, lower milestones to gain benefits.

As you may know, Seabourn’s present program awards a free seven night cruise after 140 days of sailing or a free 14 night cruise after 250 days of sailing.  In today’s market, especially with six ships, most of Seabourn’s guests will sail on average 14 days or less per year, so a requirement of 10 years to receive any benefits no longer works. (To be sure, many of my clients sale for extended periods of 40+ days per year, but even then it takes years to reach a milestone… even merely receiving a 100 day pin.)

You should also be aware that with Seabourn’s combining with Holland America’s sales force, it is looking to increase its demand and, therefore, it’s pricing.  While I do not believe travel agents selling Holland America generally have a clue about Seabourn, as it’s mass-market travel agents are pitching luxury cruises, the fact is that there is a potential for Seabourn to raise its prices in anticipation of increased sales. Therefore I would urge anyone interested in booking a Seabourn cruise to do so sooner than later.

I would also like to remind you that the terms upon which the book your Seabourn Cruise are significantly more restrictive in the UK than book them through a US travel agent.

So you are interested Seabourn cruise I would suggest…strongly suggest…that you use a travel agent that truly knows the Seabourn product, provides you with excellent service, great pricing and the most flexible terms.  obviously, I believe Goldring Travel provide you with all of that…and more.

If you would like more information, or are interested in booking a Seabourn Cruise, please call me at (877) 2GO-LUXURY in the United States, 020 8133 3450 in the United Kingdom, (07) 3102 4685 in Australia or   +1 732 383 7398 elsewhere worldwide or email me at eric@goldringtravel.com.