Travel Jets

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Media Coverage of Yachts of Seabourn's New Seabourn Sojourn

While I was in Venice last week boarding Silversea's Silver Spirit, the Yachts of Seabourn was busy launching its newest vessel, Seabourn Sojourn, on the River Thames in London. All accounts of the inauguration agree that the cruise line put together an amazing celebration.

The event, which took place on a fantastic summer day, included an appearance by Sojourn's godmother, supermodel Twiggy and was capped off with an extravagant fireworks display.

The ship is the second of a trio of 450-passenger mega-yachts. Like its predecessor Odyssey, Sojourn is sure to draw both existing Seabourn fans as well as new cruisers.

Here are a few "don't miss" accounts of the naming ceremony and details about the ship in general:

Avid Cruiser's Excellent YouTube Video Tour of Seabourn Sojourn

USA Today's Seabourn Sojourn Photo Essay

A Travel Agent's Take on Seabourn Sojourn—This Is My Yacht Blog

—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxuryCruiseBible.com

Regent Seven Seas Cruises to Raise Fares on July 1, 2010

Regent Seven Seas Cruises has announced that it will raise cruise fares on many voyages as of July 1, 2010. Complimentary shore excursions will still be included in the fare for all cruises along with free roundtrip air on certain itineraries.

Book 2-for-1 fares before the end of June and you can realize solid savings on several dozen itineraries. Especially good fares include...

September 15, 2010 aboard Seven Seas Navigator
18-night
Seward, Alaska–Beijing, China
$8,775 per person ($487 per diem)

November 20, 2010 aboard Seven Seas Mariner
13-night voyage
Mahe, Seychelles–Cape Town, South Africa
$8,499 per person ($653 per diem)

November 30, 2010 aboard Seven Seas Voyager
7-night voyage
Fort Lauderdale–Fort Lauderdale
$3,865 per person ($552 per diem)

To learn more about Regent's rate increase, talk with your travel agent or contact Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxuryCruiseBible.com

Photo of Navigator courtesy of Regent Seven Seas

Friday, June 11, 2010

Hvar, Croatia Highlights Aboard Silversea Silver Spirit

The island of Hvar, Croatia was our favorite port on this Eastern Mediterranean cruise with Silversea's Silver Spirit. The little villages were so quaint and the landscape was resplendent with wildflowers, lavender fields, and olives groves. The bumble bee and butterfly population was also impressive!

We took Silversea's Hvar Off-Road Tour and loved it. Three vehicles holding four passengers and a driver each spent four hours exploring the island.

There were many photo stops and the guide gave us a solid primer of Croatian history. Here are some of the points of interest we visited...

—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxuryCruiseBible.com

Photos © Leonard Hospidor

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Silversea Silver Spirit Visits Trieste, Italy

On Monday, Silversea Silver Spirit called on Trieste, Italy. This lovely little town retains much of its Austrian heritage while incorporating everything that is wonderful about Italy. The ship docked within walking distance of many historic buildings, restaurants, and shops, but we opted to take a tour.

Silversea's "Castles, Gardens, and Wines" was a five-hour excursion that took us to the village of Duino for a walk-through of Duino Castle. The castle—dating from the 16th century—boasts a vantage point high above the Gulf of Trieste.

From here we drove on to Spessa Castle, which dates back to 1200 and has views of the rolling hills of Capriva del Fruiuli. This castle is now a hotel and vineyard that has been producing wine since the 16th century. Following a somewhat commercial film about Spessa Castle, you're invited to view the wine cellar and then sample three wines in the gardens.

This is a nice, low-impact tour (although there is a flight of 76 stairs to reach the wine cellar). The tour is excellent for shutterbugs.

—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxuryCruiseBible.com

Venice Highlights Aboard Silversea Silver Spirit

This is Day Five of our seven-night Eastern Mediterranean cruise aboard Silversea's Silver Spirit. Today we're in Corfu, Greece, but I wanted to backtrack a bit and show you a few of the highlights of our overnight stay in Venice, Italy.