Seabourn Pride: A Transatlantic Passage From Ft. Lauderdale to Lisbon

By Roger J. Ritchie

The fortuitous timing of the Seabourn Pride’s repositioning voyage made it possible for me to (finally) try the promised pleasures of this special style of cruise ship. I have crossed the Atlantic with some frequency on these “voyages-of-necessity” so the Pride was a welcome addition to my list of trans-Atlantic experiences. The month was March as Pride joined the flotilla of seasonal migrants to European waters.
The Yachts of Seabourn is the marketing banner flying over the small cruise liners operated by the niche luxury brand of the Carnival Cruise Line. The three close-to-identical ships are mature, as cruise ships go, and the Seabourn Pride being the oldest has a 20th anniversary coming up soon. The promise of “intimate luxury” is fulfilled by the ship itself (referring to my trip on the Pride) and in the consistent efforts of a staff with excellent credentials and attitude. The “intimate’ translates to a small passenger count—only 208 maximum guests, and the “luxury” is delivered by a competent staff of 164.
Seabourn’s “yacht” nomenclature is derived from the ships’ gross tonnage of only 10,000 tons and an overall length of 439 feet. These dimensions are the minimum considered, at the time of the design suitable for the packaging of all the features and conveniences of a truly luxurious cruise experience. And, while much has changed in the cruising world, the Seabourn configuration still delivers the gold standard of ocean cruising. The original design of Pride and her two sisters has matured without blemish and provides the staff with an environment for delivering truly superior passenger service.
The Pride is a diesel-electric ship with four diesel generators driving twin, variable pitch
propellers. The ship has double rudders and bow thrusters for self-maneuvering. While the ship’s motive system is traditional, the navigation bridge is right up-to-the-moment on guidance and situational awareness. The bridge is open to visitors, a pleasant conviviality impossible on larger ships.

Eastward to Portugal . . .
I traveled from Fort Lauderdale to Europe on the Seabourn Pride and comment on the
journey and the qualities of the ship and its staff. Bearing in mind the placement of the
Seabourn brand at the upper reaches of the cruise-price scale and the high expectations of
the line’s customers, Seabourn’s regulars anticipate a standard of service, elevated to match their investment in sea-going luxury. There’s no doubt that the line has a fine reputation to defend when receiving its new customers, such as myself. Happily I found that a Seabourn crossing this year was convenient for my travel plans.
Trans-oceanic travel particularly on a small ship is not to the taste of many. So, the Atlantic passenger list consists only those travelers with a penchant for lazy days at sea and (on this cruise) little enthusiasm for port collecting.
The Pride’s passengers on my voyage consisted to no less than 73 percent experienced Seabourn guests. The possibility of lively seas was somewhat fulfilled with a modest degree of ship movement throughout the voyage. The ship is stabilized, but the sea conditions would have been much less consequential on a larger, mega-cruiser. Only a few hours out of the 11-night journey to Madeira—the only call on the transatlantic transit—could be of any concern to the sea-queasy passengers on board. Another condition of any ocean crossing is the frequent strong breeze, reducing deck strolling and frequently suggesting a stay in the sheltered areas of the outside decks for any lolling-around in deck chairs.
Temperatures were cool and fresh throughout my Pride crossing. However, colorful tartan blankets were on hand at these breezy times to ward off the wind chill. The Pride’s marina platform at the stern. of course, was not used on the Atlantic crossing and
the swimming pool also went unused on these cool but consistently sunny days. The Sky
Bar’s evening outdoor-dining option also was not offered for the same (breezy) reason. But the outdoor luncheon was attractive and very popular.

Choice, Choice, Choice . . .
Luxury—in its definition—must include generous opportunities for choice, and ever more choice. The Seabourn policy follows this particular principal in just about every activity in the what to do and where to do it areas. There were always plenty of options abroad the Pride.
The choice starts with the offering, from your welcoming cabin stewardess at embarkation, of a selection of six soap brands, in a wicker basket, for your bath-time pleasure!
Dining choices—when and where you please and at any reasonable time. Drinks are at no additional charge and are always the best brands. The cuisine selections on any one evening are varied and unconfined with special orders quickly executed.
To allow a leisurely exercising of one’s culinary choice, the following day’s dinner menus are thoughtfully included with the daily program when it is placed on your turned-down bed each evening.

Compact Ship Comfort -and Convenience . . .
The Pride is equipped with all the big-ship facilities layered on her six passenger decks. The passenger staterooms (Seabourn calls all of them “suites”) are all outside on decks  four, five, and six with the smallest staterooms quite generously sized at 277 square feet. The suite layout is spacious with a couch, two tub chairs and two desk chairs. The rooms are certainly suitable for the offered convenience of in-room dining—another element of choice—and the decor is the classic light-wood trim and muted color palette. The space may be divided by a curtain to separate the sitting area form the sleeping zone.
The marble-trimmed bathrooms are similar throughout the ship with two washbasins and a tub equipped with shower. The Moulton Brown toiletries are in mini-packs along with plenty of pure white towels. Lighting is good and the mirrors plentiful. Similarly the dressing table with its hairdryer-in-a-drawer provides good lighting. And the suite’s minibar includes some complimentary bottles of liquor and a selection of soft drinks.
The staterooms on the Pride are provided with WiFi computer-access but the air-time is purchased at the Purser’s office. The flat-panel TV offers ship channels and the international news feeds from the satellite. The on-board lectures are taped for replay on the network and the movies selected for the voyage were very suitable. Who doesn’t want to see Casablanca again? The library offers DVD’s on loan for in-cabin playing on the TV-connected disc player.
The rooms grow (400 to 575 square feet) and change in configuration in the real “suite”
category, but all retain the calmly tasteful yacht-ish decor. Thirty-six of the staterooms with “mini-balconies” actually offer the more frequently termed “French” balconies, where tall windows open inward to provide a private ship’s rail for leaning on and sea air. The balcony is just a narrow sliver of actual outdoor space without any sitting room. Four large suites are offered and four staterooms have a layout that permits their combination into a double stateroom cabin-configuration, if required.

Never too far to go . . .
The Pride’s public rooms are stacked at the stern, ascending from the Magellan Lounge (the show room) on Deck 5, to The Club (with its mini-casino) on Deck 6 up to the Verandah Cafe/ Restaurant2 on Deck 7. Toward the bow one deck up is the Constellation Lounge on Deck 8 (the top deck). The popular Sky Bar is also on Deck 8 looking aft over the sheltered sun deck below and the small (but deep) swim-pool on Deck 7.
All the public rooms avoid any decorative drama with their cheerful colors and pleasant
atmosphere.
Getting around the Pride is easy as the handsome suspended spiral staircase connects all
decks at the stern and a midship staircase does the same job further forward. The elevators are two at the main stairwell and one at the mid-ship location.
The Dining Room is on the lowest passenger level—Deck 3—at the foot of the main stairs. The mid-ship elevator serves all levels up to Deck 8 with the forward-looking Constellation Lounge and the outdoor Sky Bar.
The ship’s foyer is on Deck 5 along with the Business Center/Computer Room with its four terminals. The adjacent Card Room houses the daily bridge program, which was stimulated by a couple bridge professionals on my transatlantic voyage. There’s a small library up on Deck 6 with a good selection of reading matter. The Purser’s office, is off the Deck 5 lobby and the Boutique in one level up in the Deck 6 lobby.

The Spa . . .
Small but complete, the Pride’s exercise facilities include a well-equipped gym, with more machines than I would expect for the number of passengers, and separate ladies and men's sauna and steam rooms. The beauty salon and massage/treatment rooms
complete the not-so-mini Spa-at-Seabourn.

Food, Food, Food . . .
Never a dull moment as always there are the luxury-driven decisions to be made. To lunch in one of three locations—outdoor poolside, outdoor or indoors, overlooking the stern, or in the Dining Room. At dinnertime—a wide time-span on the Pride—there’s the charms of the Dining Room on Deck 3; the exquisite cuisine of Restaurant 2 on Deck 7; or (on tranquil evenings) even an outdoor repast on Deck 8 by the Sky Bar. The Pride’s attentive wine waiters are quick to provide the complimentary libations of one’s choice wherever one chooses to sit.
The scale of the Seabourn ship lends itself to the preparation of more carefully crafted dishes and fresher ideas on the menus. Other than the usual problems of the beef steak-eaters with their sometimes up and sometimes down satisfaction with their viands, the cuisine is consistently elegant and well prepared. A typical evening’s menu includes a contemporary selection of imaginative first courses which might include an avocado, artichoke, orange with bitter greens salad served with a tangerine vinaigrette; and pepper seared beef tataki with truffled tagliatelle among the seven starters.
The main course selections always included the fish, fowl and viands selections along with delicious accompaniments. In addition to the six main course offerings on our sample evening; crab spring rolls with papaya and coriander was one of three seafood items. Incidentally, the spring rolls were one of the dishes included in the Chef’s cooking demonstration during the voyage.
All the selections are notably engaging in their presentation and imaginative in their
construction. Throughout the ship—from tasty hors d’oeuvres to imaginative main
dishes—the food matches the standards of the best of international name restaurants. I
also give high marks to the remarkable Restaurant 2 (the candle-lighted, evening guise for the Verandah Cafe at the stern) with its highly creative and varied offerings to a maximum of 36 guests each evening. This is the location for the Chef’s excursions into Asian fusion and a variety of themed, fixed menu (but many courses) repasts. An “Indian Spice Market” evening or a “Trattoria” or “Bistro” menu might tempt one away from the delights of the main Dining Room. There’s no additional charge for Restaurant 2 dinner reservations and the dinner wines are also of nice quality—complimentary and generously poured.
The Seabourn Prides’s kitchen is versatile and the dinnertime experience rivals that of visiting a fine restaurant in London or New York. The atmosphere encourages diners to request variations and/or embellishments to the already tempting menu(s). The salad presentations are quite au courant in the greenery department and the cheese offerings invite an occasional swing from the smart desert offerings. The table service is also of the standard that one expects when investing in a fine-dining experience in New York.
Cocktail-time on Pride brings waiters with elegant hors d‘oeuvres into the gathering places, where, as there are no bar-bills to sign, there’s an easy social circulation that creates a relaxed atmosphere. Small, all-inclusive cruise vessels offer a particularly pleasant social environment, not frequently duplicated in this busy world of high speed travel experiences.
Restaurant 2 deserves special mention as it is one of the finest (but informally low-key)
alternative dining spots on the high seas. The nightly menu changes and the variety of
offerings create a sense of “crafted” cooking that brings well deserved notes of praise into Executive Chef Markus Gerbers’s mailbox. (See Profile)

Diversions . . .
The evenings on the Pride almost always include an entertainment or diversion of some sort. A musical soloist, a magician and a comedian were included in the line-up of 10 pm shows on the Atlantic crossing. The energetic cruise staff of three also doubled as entertainers on several evenings. In fact, in my opinion, the ship sometimes tries perhaps a bit too hard to “rev-up” the evenings - when the atmosphere is already at a charming level.
The late evening on the Pride requires no additional sounds than the nicely attenuated music of the ship’s quartet. The Magellan Lounge accommodates all the passengers for the evening show or other events. The solo performances on the Atlantic crossing, most particularly the fine flautist were nicely tuned to the intimacy of the space and the attention of the postprandial crowd. All of the talent was of international cabaret standard. On other evenings, the talented (and hard working) cruise staff revealed, perhaps too many of their talents, with their own shows that ranged to pop-song fests to strolls down Broadway. The ship’s quartet did good work whenever some background or dance music seemed appropriate.
Daytime diversions included an interesting lecture series by two distinguished gentlemen and the card-room leadership of a couple of Bridge experts. And, of course, the hotly contested Team Trivia Challenge created the daily buzz up in the Constellation Lounge each noon.

Service, Service, Service . . .
The Seabourn service ethic suggests that the guest sits—or settles—in whatever location is chosen and the service will come to them. The staff feels that a guest should never have to seek service as it will be offered and any request promptly fulfilled.
Seabourn’s personal attention is only possible with a policy of staffing with European hotel/restaurant personnel. With enough staff to provide attentive service throughout the ship, the roster calls for over two crew members for every three passengers.
Wherever one settles on the ship for a few moments, a staff member will appear with
a refreshment (Champagne sorbet, for example) or ask if anything is desired. Cocktail-time drinks are always complimented by a selection of tasty canapés delivered to your chair-side.

Who am I? . . .
The Pride’s name-recognition training is amazingly successful. The staff—mostly Euro-males with proper manners—pride themselves on addressing their guests by name. There’s nothing quite so convincing that your wellbeing is of concern to the staff than the trouble they take to know your name!
The genial captain of the Seabourn Pride sets the tone for his crew of professionals. Captain Eric Anderssen is an enthusiastic participant in creating the ship’s aura of hospitality. The ship’s “house party” quality is evidently reinforced by the Captain’s keen
participation in the Seabourn concept of elegant hospitality.

Requesting the pleasure of your company . . .
Seabourn Pride hospitality ethos includes a “dinner party” custom that brings guests together over dinner with the officers, lecturers and cruise staff assembled at the dinner table each evening. With the skill of an embassy hostess, the Purser’s office issues dinner invitations and sees to the correct placement of guests around the table with place cards properly organized!

An Outstanding Choice  . . .
The Seabourn Pride (and I have every confidence the rest of the fleet) offers a satisfying value-for-money option in the expanding world of luxury ships and cruises. The Pride creates a level of physical luxury—delivered as promised—that is complemented with service of a superior standard. The Seabourn company is evidently careful that, guest by guest, it maintains its excellent reputation—which I found on my voyage, it clearly deserves.

--Roger J. Ritchie is a Contributing Editor to ShipsandCruises.com

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Profile: Chef Marcus Gerber

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