‘Floating seven-star resort’: Ultra-luxury cruise ship makes Miami home
The Seabourn Ovation, part of Carnival Corp.’s ultra luxury cruise brand, has a new home in Miami for the winter cruise season.
It’s the first time the high-end cruise ship, where suites average at $1,000 a night, has sailed out of Miami. The ship was completed in May 2018 with the intention of being based out of Australia during the winter months. But the pandemic changed that.
“With Australia and most of Asia still closed, we decided to base the ship in Miami for this winter — this is, after all, the cruise capital of the world,” said Josh Leibowitz, the president of Seabourn.
The Seabourn Ovation travels to far corners like Patagonia, the Baltic states, the Arctic and up the Amazon River, but is opting for two routes in North America, as many international travel restrictions are still in place. The ship’s winter cruise routes include a one-way cruise to Los Angeles, going through the Panama Canal, and a Caribbean route starting and ending in Miami.
For a standard “veranda” suite, prices range from $4,929 for the 11-day Caribbean cruise to $17,000 for the Caribbean and Mexico cruise through the Panama Canal.
The 690-foot ship has just 300 suites for 600 passengers, making it one of the highest space-per-guest ratios in cruising. Each suite has a private veranda, with standard suites measuring at 251square feet and penthouse suites up to 539 square feet, plus a veranda of up to 200 square feet with amenities like a bathtub and a walk-in closet. The largest suite onboard offers 1,306 square-feet of indoor space.
“This is a floating sevenstar resort. We have almost one crew member per guest,” Leibowitz said, adding that Seabourn Ovation is the first ultra-luxury cruise brand to restart since the pandemic, drawing customers who sailed with other brands.
The ship brews its own coffee and has a homemade gelato parlor. There’s a grill with a menu from famed chef Thomas Keller, who is also behind the Surf Club in Surfside
agencies can go beyond filling potholes,” said Philippe Houdard, co-chair of the DDA’s enterprise committee and CEO of Pipeline Workspaces. “It’s about leaning into the future and creating job opportunities.”
The funding comes as the DDA and other local government officials look for ways to beef up Miami’s local talent pipeline.
“We want to make sure we’re making training and education available in a specific technology that’s driving so much change,” Houdard continued. “We want to make that development available broadly so more can participate with what’s going on in Miami, and make sure we have the people and talent to make sure companies here can grow.”
The college, which is already building an artificial intelligence center at its North Campus, plans to announce the details of its new, school-wide AI effort in 2022.
RABOIS-LED OPENSTORE RAISES $75M
OpenStore, the Miamibased company co-founded
by Founders Fund’s Keith Rabois and Atomic’s Jack Abraham, announced it had raised $75 million in a Series B round led by General Catalyst. OpenStore buys and sells e-commerce businesses, with a focus on Shopify sites.
Asked about its local hiring plans, co-founder and president Michael Rubenstein said in an email:
“Recruiting locally in Miami is an important part of the OpenStore talent strategy. We want to tap into the amazing talent that is already based here, in addition to relocating talent from out of state. We regularly host meetups and participate and sponsor community events. Just last month, we partnered with Women in Miami Tech to host an incredible networking event on our rooftop. We also work with local recruiting agencies like StevenDouglas, partner with job boards like Refresh Miami, and maintain relationships with local press to keep people updated.”
SOFTBANK INVESTS IN LOCAL GIFT-GIVING APP
Goody, a new gift-giving app from Miami-based founder Edward Lando — a co-founder, along with Jon
Oringer, of the new Pareto Holdings company building group — has raised $15 million from SoftBank’s Latin America fund.
EMERGE AMERICAS DEAL WITH TAMPA GROUP
eMerge Americas announced a strategic partnership with Synapse Florida, a nonprofit group that connects Florida’s innovation communities, to strengthen the connections among Florida’s major tech ecosystems. The groups are coordinating a year-round calendar of innovation events across the state, including Synapse Summit (Feb 17, 2022, in Tampa), the global eMerge Americas conference (April 18-19, 2022, in Miami), and Synapse Orlando (Oct. 2022).
AI CONTENT MODERATION PLATFORM MOVES TO MIAMI
Spectrum Labs, which uses artificial intelligence to moderate content on digital platforms, is moving its headquarters to Miami, though it will remain a remote-first operation. Spectrum says it hopes to access “a diverse and skilled talent pool.”
Rob Wile: 305-376-3203, @rjwile