This summer Seabourn has planned an exciting program of exhilarating adventures and immersive experiences in Alaska and British Columbia. Seabourn Odyssey is scheduled to sail on a series of newly-revised, seven-day voyages between Juneau, Alaska and Vancouver, British Columbia, taking travelers to explore the vast wilderness and awe-inspiring beauty of the “The Great Land” in a way that is different from the mainstream.
With its intimate size, highly social atmosphere and award-winning amenities, Seabourn is the best way to explore America’s Last Frontier for travelers looking to book a luxury vacation for next summer. The size and maneuverability of Seabourn Odyssey, which carries just 458 guests, all in spacious oceanfront suites, ensures a privileged view of this great and gorgeous land.
Seabourn Odyssey’s itineraries are unique in the marketplace, combining marquee ports such as Sitka and Ketchikan in Alaska with rarely visited gems like the Inian Islands and Alert Bay, a small First Nation village on Cormorant Island in the traditional Kwakwaka’wakw territory of British Columbia. Each voyage will include spectacular glacier experiences in places like Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier or Tracy/Endicott Arm, and will also offer the popular Ventures by Seabourn program of expedition-style experiences led by the onboard expedition team.
Depending on the itinerary, wildlife spotting opportunities are plentiful, both on the ship and off. Destinations such as Cross Sound are one of the main gateways for humpback whales to enter the sheltered waters of Alaska, where guests can get close enough to see everything in this incredibly beautiful environment inhabited by Steller sea lions, sea otters, harbor seals, bald eagles and myriad avian species beyond.
Natural wonders are a key experience planned into every Seabourn itinerary, with Alaska and British Columbia having plenty of craggy mountains, long waterfalls, and stunning vistas, so guests have many choices to consider. The North and South Sawyer Glaciers and Dawes Glacier are extremely active, calving frequently and filling their fjords with icebergs while the vast 650,000-acre-plus wilderness around them is home to brown and black bears, wolves, deer, mountain goats, seals and many seabirds. Misty Fjords, which early explorer John Muir declared one of the most beautiful places he’d seen, offer guided experiences via kayak and scenic Zodiac excursions at the very end of the fjord to take travelers to an area of inspiring beauty too narrow for the ship to enter, with vertical granite cliffs rising 3,000-feet above sea level and descending another 1,000-feet below. Glacier Bay, a U.S. National Park and Preserve, unreachable by automobile, is part of a 25 million-acre UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park is dotted with vast waterways, dynamic glaciers, emerald rainforests, wild coastlines, deep sheltered fjords, and snow-capped mountains topped by 15,300-foot Mount Fairweather.
All 2021 voyages in Alaska and British Columbia will offer optional Ventures by Seabourn expedition-style tours, featuring guided Zodiac and kayak excursions launched directly from the ship, as well as hiking and wildlife viewing. These excursions will be led by Seabourn Odyssey’s expedition team of naturalists, scientists, and wildlife and historical experts. They will also interact with guests throughout each sailing, including complimentary formal presentations as part of the Seabourn Conversations program, and on deck, pointing out, interpreting, and enhancing desirable locations as well as in more casual conversations over meals or at leisure. The expedition team also spends time on deck with Swarovski Optik binoculars, some of the finest available and highly coveted by wildlife enthusiasts around the world. Guests who can’t get enough can get more insights through team chronicles and photos shared via Seabourn’s Voyage Tracker.
In addition to Ventures by Seabourn, the line will offer a number of exciting, optional shore excursions for guests to explore the destinations, from whale watching outings and nature walks to helicopter and seaplane adventures. One of the offerings is the line’s popular “Enjoy Your Catch” experience, an exclusive culinary excursion available at select ports where guests can spend time fishing in the fresh air, then taking their personal catch of the day back to the ship to be prepared by the onboard culinary team.
Guests can extend their time in Alaska and British Columbia with Seabourn Journeys, pre- and/or post-vacation packages featuring destinations and experiences in treasured locations that cannot be accessed on single-day excursions from Seabourn Odyssey. These include a visit to Banff National Park, a designated UNESCO World Heritage site, aboard the Rocky Mountaineer luxury train.