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Pass the port please, I'm cruising in style

When a ship has so much to offer, it was no surprise we spent so much time on board.

November 18, 2010 17:17
Moored off a Greek island, Seabourn Odyssey opens its marina for sea-bathing and water sports

ByJan Shure, Jan Shure

4 min read

Sibling rivalry can be a painful business. One moment you are the focus of family attention: pretty, petite, gorgeously turned out and perpetually seen in all the most chi-chi spots. Then along comes a younger sister, more beautiful, better attired and with other enviable assets.

Thus it was for the three older Seabourn yachts - Pride, Legend and Spirit: beautiful, award-winning ships, suddenly surpassed in every respect by their new, younger but slightly more generously proportioned siblings; Sojourn (launched this June), Quest, currently being fitted in Italy ready for launch next June, and the 650-foot Odyssey, launched last year and my floating home for a week last month.

If you want ice rinks, rock walls, Olympic-size pools, avenues of shops, pizza parlours and 3,000 fellow passengers, Seabourn Odyssey is not for you. (Nor indeed, are Sojourn, Quest, Pride, Legend or Spirit). But what Odyssey lacks in "amenities", she more than compensates for in comfort and service. Even the smallest of her 225 suites offers 295 square feet of space. Every suite has full-length windows and an ocean view - except when you are in port, of course, when you might have a Venice or Vancouver view - and most have a veranda.

And, regardless of size, every suite has a separate bedroom and living area, the latter equipped with table, chairs and sofa, and a walk-in closet or dressing room. There are two flat-screen TVs, with hundreds of new and classic movies at the touch of a remote, daily bowls of fresh fruit, and a stock of soft drinks, wine and spirits which seems to be magically restocked by the wine fairy.