Seabourn Odyssey begins maiden voyage

Source: Examiner.com

The luxury cruise ship Seabourn Odyssey makes its much-anticipated debut today (Wednesday), setting sail from Venice on a 14-day trip that will end in Istanbul.

The Odyssey features 225 suites, 90 percent of which have full-size verandas. The suites range from 295 to 1,682 square feet. Each has a walk-in closet and an elegant granite bathroom with twin sinks.

The first port of call for the Odyssey will be the historic walled city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. The ship also will pay a visit to Montenegro before making several stops in Greece.

Despite the global recession and fares that start at $16,000, the cruise is sold out.
Not all of the passengers will be getting off at Istanbul. Some will continue on as the ship sails into the Black Sea, visiting ports in Russia, Georgia, the Ukraine, and Bulgaria. Some passengers have paid a minimum of $40,000 for a 31-day trip that will end July 25th at Piraeus, Greece, the port for Athens.

The Seabourn Odyssey will make its American debut on Nov. 10, when it arrives in Fort Lauderdale at the conclusion of a 31-day cruise from Athens. It will sail in the Caribbean until January, when it will cruise through the Panama Canal en route to Los Angeles. From there, it will sail to the South Pacific, Australia, Hong Kong, and Dubai before completing its circumference of the globe on April 24 when it again docks in Piraeus.