Ultra-luxury vacation company The Yachts of Seabourn announced that it achieved record bookings during the three months ended March 31, 2009. The award-winning, small-ship line attributed its success to a surge in both first-time guests and first-time travel agents who responded to its Yachting Collection Savings program for 2009 voyages.
The number of first-time Seabourn guests soared by 67% in the first three months of 2009 versus the first quarter of 2008. At the same time, the number of travel agents who booked clients on Seabourn for the first time rose by 36%.
Pamela C. Conover, Seabourn’s president and CEO, said, “Our Yachting Collection Savings promotion is working because travel agents know the quality of a Seabourn vacation, and they know that these savings offer tremendous value to their clients. The key is that it’s simple and easy to understand, both for our new guests and for our travel agent partners,” continued Conover.
Seabourn has implemented promotional pricing throughout all of 2009 and through the spring of 2010, offering savings of up to 65% off its standard brochure fares. Prices for a 7-night European cruise start at $2,499 per person. Prices for Caribbean cruises start at $1,599 per person. Seabourn cruises comprise one of the most all-inclusive vacations in the world. Its fares include all-suite accommodations, gourmet dining, all beverages including wines and spirits, entertainment, water sports and even gratuities for its renowned service staff.
Ginny Wilson-Gordon, of Travel Group, Inc. in Greenville, SC, reported that, “With this promotion I have been able to market itineraries on Seabourn to my 5-star clients that they wouldn’t have considered in the past, and now I am making final payments totaling $60,000. The first-time guests are very enthusiastic,” she continued. “We have had no attrition on any of these bookings.”
Seabourn also attributed its record booking performance to the introduction of its new yacht, Seabourn Odyssey, which begins its Maiden Voyage from Venice on June 24, 2009. Bookings for the first new ultra-luxury vessel to debut in six years helped propel Seabourn bookings from both first-time Seabourn guests and the line’s avid loyalists who have sailed with the company many times.
Seabourn Odyssey is the first of three new yachts the company will introduce between 2009 and 2011. All three will feature the most exclusive all-suite accommodation available at sea, with 225 ocean-view suites in total, 90% of which have private verandas. Top of the range suites include Wintergarden Suites with private solariums and verandas, and Signature Suites with sweeping curved verandas and unrivalled views facing forward. All suites feature comfortable seating/dining areas and queen-size or twin beds, walk-in closets, writing desks with personalized stationery, flat-screen TVs with music and movies, iPod docking stations and spacious granite bathrooms with separate bath and shower and twin sinks. Higher categories have separate bedrooms, guest baths and whirlpool bathtubs.
The two-deck, indoor/outdoor Spa at Seabourn is the largest on any luxury cruise vessel, and features a fully-equipped gymnasium, a Fitness Studio with a Kinesis Wall and Spa Villas which can be reserved for hours of pure indulgence and relaxation. The new vessels will offer four dining venues, including a spacious open-seating Restaurant capable of seating all guests, in addition to five bars and lounges.
