Seabourn has announced the cancellation of voyages for three cruise ships in its fleet as a part of its pause in global ship operations. Seabourn Ovation, Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Quest each now has a new “effective through” date.
Specific details are as follows:
Seabourn Ovation: with its operations pause effective through January 3, 2021
Seabourn Encore: with its operations pause effective through January 6, 2021
Seabourn Quest: with its operations pause effective through May 10, 2021.
Seabourn is also announcing a revised delivery date for its new ultra-luxury purpose-built expedition ship, Seabourn Venture, which is now scheduled for December 1, 2021. The delay is because of shipyard closures at T. Mariotti earlier this year as part of responses to COVID-19, which resulted in disruptions to the overall construction and finishing process for the ship.
Seabourn Quest will operate the line’s 2021-2022 award-winning Antarctica experience. Seabourn Venture will debut in December 2021 with a series of first-ever “Norwegian Winter” voyages where they may be able to see the Northern Lights. Guests will be able to place a future cruise deposit on the new Northern Lights itineraries.
Details about the revised inaugural season for Seabourn Venture are currently being finalised and will be announced in October 2020. The brand has opened a wait list for guests interested in the voyages from December 2021 to April 2022. Guests currently booked on the inaugural voyage for Seabourn Venture will be offered the opportunity to sail on the new inaugural itinerary on a priority basis before it is open for sale to the general public. Additional details on rebooking for other affected Seabourn Venture voyages will be shared with booked guests and travel advisors in mid-October.
Due to the redeployment of Seabourn Quest to Antarctica, the line is cancelling Seabourn Quest’s Panama Canal voyages scheduled for November 7 – December 19, 2021.
Seabourn is continuing to assess the timing to resume operations on Seabourn Odyssey in the Caribbean. As a courtesy to guests booked on December sailings aboard Seabourn Odyssey, final payment will now be due 60 days prior to departure.
“Our utmost priority is the health, safety and well-being of our guests, crew and the people in destinations. We recognize the long lead time for planning an ultra-luxury Seabourn experience and with that in mind, we proactively announce the cancellation of these additional voyages,” said Josh Leibowitz, president of Seabourn. “We are working very closely with science and medical advisors as well as our source and destination markets to develop protocols for the ultimate return to operations.”
Seabourn will be communicating changes for voyages scheduled to depart in the extension timeframe with all booked guests and their travel advisors.
Guests who are currently confirmed on one of the affected voyages on Seabourn Quest’s Antarctica, Amazon, Panama Canal, South America and Transatlantic cruises scheduled between November 7, 2020 and April 25, 2021, will automatically be re-accommodated in the same suite on the same voyage during Seabourn Quest’s 2021-2022 season, at rate paid, within 30 days, as well as receive a shipboard credit that is calculated based upon voyage length. The shipboard credit is $300 per suite for voyages up to 20 days in length and $500 per suite for voyages of 21 days or more.
Guests booked on impacted cruises on Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation will automatically be cancelled and all guests will receive Future Cruise Credits. They can also request a full refund of monies paid to Seabourn. Specific details are as follows:
Paid in Full: those guests paid in full will receive 125% Future Cruise Credit of the base cruise fare paid to Seabourn. Guests can also request a full refund of the monies paid to Seabourn.
Deposited bookings: those guests with deposited bookings will receive a Future Cruise Credit valued at 125% of the deposit amount paid, up to the base cruise fare paid to Seabourn. Guests can also request a full refund of the monies paid to Seabourn.
The Future Cruise Credit is valid for 12 months from the date of issue and may be used to book sailings departing through Dec. 31, 2022. The amount of non-cruise fare purchases may be transferred to a new booking. Alternatively, guests may request a refund of the monies paid to Seabourn, which will be reimbursed to the original form of payment.
Guests and their travel advisors will be sent specific details applicable to their booking. Seabourn asks guests and travel advisors to use the online resources available on its website first rather than calling the Reservation Call Centre for information about the cancellations due to the possibility of high call volumes and the potential of long on-hold wait times.
IMAGE: Seabourn Venture render
