Seabourn Spirit 

Veteran of an intense pirate attack off Somalia, the Seabourn Spirit is luxury on the high seas that packs a punch. 

History

Seabourn Cruises was started as a high-end subsidiary of Kloster Group (Norwegian Cruise Line) in 1986. The initial order was for 3 ships with the first being the Seabourn Pride in 1988 followed by the second, Seabourn Spirit in 1989. The eldest sister was supposed to be delivered in 1990 but due to financial constraints by Kloster (NCL), she was postponed. Around the same time, in the late eighties, NCL had acquired Royal Viking Line. When the third ship was finally delivered in 1992, she was allocated to the Royal Viking division as the Royal Viking Queen. However, it would be another 4 years before the three sisters would finally be reunited and operate as originally planned.

This story becomes complex due to Kloster's bankruptcy in 1994. Through strategic investments, Seabourn was eventually taken over by Carnival Corporation in 1996 and merged underneath their Cunard brand. In that same year, the Royal Viking Queen which had been renamed the Queen Odyssey, was purchased by Carnival and added to the Seabourn fleet under Cunard. The third sister took the name Seabourn Legend and completed the trifecta.

The Cunard franchise was searching for an identity and purpose through the late nineties. The fleet was a kaleidoscope of ships that had been premium at one time or another but quite honestly, most of them were way past their prime. When Carnival finally landed on a strategy, it was to drive the Cunard brand towards a more mainstream mass market product. Further reinforcing this mass market direction, the management of Cunard was parked under Carnival's Princess Cruises subsidiary. To ensure that the quality of the Seabourn product was not polluted by the economies of scale driven by Princess, Seabourn was spun off to become the true high-end luxury brand of Carnival Corporation.  

On the 5th of November 2005, the Seabourn Spirit became a media sensation when she was involved in a daring pirate attack off of Somalia. This attack first brought the seriousness of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden into the public eye. In a story that could have been written in Hollywood, the Spirit was racked with AK-47 bullets and hit by several RPG (rocket propelled grenade) rounds. One of the RPG rounds actually became lodged in the side of the ship when it malfunctioned and did not explode. Ironically, her sister, the Seabourn Legend was the co-star of the 1997 movie, Speed 2: Cruise Control, alongside Sandra Bullock where the ship was hijacked by terrorists.

In the photo below, a clear warning to all ships that distance is a mandatory requirement. No doubt the crew has the means to make their point should any stray craft decide to test their resolve. In the 2005 attack, to repel the pirates, the crew of the Spirit used an LRAD (long range acoustic device). 

An LRAD is a disc about 1m (3 ft) in diameter that creates a focused sonic wave at would-be intruders. At 300 meters or less, the invisible sonic beam is deafening and is similar in sound to that of a wailing, high-pitched smoke detector but phenomenally more powerful. Although designed as a non-lethal weapon the effects increase in relationship to the proximity of the target. Used properly, the LARD can cause permanent hearing damage and temporary loss of vision. In the photograph below, the LARD can be identified as the white disc above the stern running light and just to the left of flag pole's base.

Design

The ships of Seabourn have been designed to be yacht-like in nature. The ships are small, luxurious and contain all the amenities expected on a large cruise ship but are intimately shared with a mere 200 other select guests. The Spirit, like her running mates, has gone through several upgrades during her years of services. Most notably, her cabins on Decks 5 & 6 have received "French Balconies". In order to preserve the external profile of the ship, notches were created in the hull with each large panoramic window being removed and a sliding glass door installed. The catch is, there really isn't any balcony. The sliding glass doors open to the sea to provide a ledge barely large enough for someone to stand. This novel feature does give some passengers access to fresh air from their stateroom but certainly not the expansive feature that is common to modern ships.

Smaller ships that promote themselves as being yacht-like, tend to have smaller cabins. The smallest cabin on board the Spirit is 277 square feet. Even by today's standards, that is still a good sized suite aboard a ship. When compared to the Silver Cloud, a similar type ship from Seabourn's main competition Silversea Cruises built 5 years later, the Spirit still wins on cabin size by almost 40 square feet. 

In addition to cosmetic changes to the ship itself, the external paint scheme was recently revised. The photograph above shows the Seabourn Spirit in her old Cornflower Blue livery. The superstructure has 2 blue bands that run across passenger cabins on Deck 5 & 6 in addition to a Cornflower Blue hull stripe. The photograph below, shows the Spirit after her dry-dock in 2008 where she now sports a Gold and Black livery. The wide blue hull stripes on Deck 5 & 6 have been eliminated and overall, the ship has a more sophisticated feel with its new image.

Vital Statistics

In the close up photograph above and below, the color change can be more clearly seen. The photograph above shows the Cornflower Blue Seabourn badge and funnel caps. The photograph below shows the revised color scheme with Gold Seabourn badge and Black funnel caps. 

Current & Future

Seabourn is receiving their first newbuilds since the original 2 sisters were delivered in 1988 and 89. Seabourn Odyssey has almost single handedly doubled the capacity of the fleet. Once the other two ships in the series are delivered, one can only guess that the original three will be moved out of the Seabourn line. No doubt there is still high demand for luxury small ships but their fate remains unforseen. The hour glass is running fast for the three little sisters.