The Quest of the Seabourn Sojourn – The Inaugural & Maiden Voyage Travelogue – Part II

I just returned from Newport, Rhode Island and the American Superyacht Forum.  While it was, as always, good for business and good for a bit of fun, it was also rather depressing because of the state of the industry.  There was significant discussion about yacht chartering and, truth be told, I was quite consistent in discussing The Yachts of Seabourn in relation to product delivery, marketing and potential client base. 

A room full of skeptical (and a few jaded) yachties eventually…slowly…started to get it.  Then a well known yacht broker brought up SeaDream Yacht Club in relation to the charter market.  And that, in turn, lead to some talk between professionals about the differences between Seabourn and SeaDream…and the overall impressive nature of the Seabourn product.

But then the skeptics were more of the “Goldring can’t be a yacht lawyer, because he is a travel agent!” mindset…right up until I explained who I would be dining with on the Seabourn Sojourn during the Inaugural events.  You will have to wait to hear who it is 🙂   Instant credibility…Well, I actually already had that.  Better:  silence of the skeptics!

So today, in typical Seabourn fashion, my Cruise Documents were waiting for me as were the confirmations for my  private transfer and day room at the Four Seasons Canary Wharf, the schedule of events, etc. And the confirmations for my private adventures in Iceland were also delivered.  Icelandic horseback riding, a boat tour to observe the puffins, flight back to the mainland from Heimay Island, a stay at Radison Blu 1919, dinner reservations at Sjavarkjallarinn (The Seafood Cellar) and more also arrived.

This caused me to reflect back to yesterday when I was at Derecktor Shipyard in Connecticut, where I toured M/Y Cakewalk, a 281 foot superyacht being built there and, while nice, actually doesn’t have the style of the Seabourn Sojourn or Odyssey.  While the design has nothing to do with the shipyard, but rather then owner’s designer, the design did make me think about how “brown” the Silversea Silver Spirit is. 

In short, the superyacht made me look forward to the maiden voyage of the Seabourn Sojourn and to be even more impressed with Seabourn’s focus on style and detail…detail that exceeds that found on a 281 foot superyacht….a very nice 281 foot superyacht.