DEAR SEABOURN CLUB MEMBER,
Welcome to your mid-year edition of Seabourn Club Herald. Our Seabourn fleet of all-suite ships is making the most of the northern summer season’s extended days and starlit nights. Seabourn Odyssey is basking among the storied Aegean Isles and along the gorgeous Adriatic coast. Seabourn Sojourn is threading forested Alaskan fjords for wildlifewatching and exciting optional Ventures by Seabourn™ kayaking and Zodiac excursions. Seabourn Quest is cruising the unspoiled coasts of Iceland, Greenland and the less-visited British Isles. Seabourn Encore has been celebrating with the yachtsmen in the resorts and Rivieras of the Mediterranean, while Seabourn Ovation enjoys the famous white nights in St. Petersburg and Norway’s lingering midnight sun as she sails her inaugural season.
We have two exciting news stories from our ships for you in this issue: In “On the Horizon,” we are announcing Seabourn’s first World Cruise in six years, sailing from Miami in January 2020 on board Seabourn Sojourn. And in “Behind the Shield,” we offer a recap of the exclusive special events held during Seabourn Ovation’s recent Inaugural Voyage from Venice to Barcelona, including the gala Naming Ceremony in Malta’s Grand Harbour.
Our feature articles focus on some fabulous and far-flung destinations, from Ginger Dingus’ examination of the effusive and colorful Maori haka ceremony in New Zealand to a treatise on the streetwise monkeys of Mumbai, India, by Alex Darlington. Stephen Grasso explores the man-made maze of khlong canals surrounding the ornate temples and palaces along Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, and Mark Stevens reviews the surprising history of the UNESCO-inscribed Brimstone Hill Fortress on St. Kitts in the Caribbean’s Windward Islands.
As always, we also have illuminating insights into world cuisines, regional wines and other delectable diversions, as well another enlightening “Mindful Living” essay by Dr. Andrew Weil.
Wherever you find yourself this season, I hope that you and yours are well and happy, and that we may look forward to welcoming you back on board one of our ships soon.
Sincerely, Richard Meadows President