Seabourn Ovation

Long Summers in the Mediterranean, Winters in Barbados

From spring to autumn Seabourn Ovation sails the Mediterranean, and most of her voyages there are long one-way passages rather than week-long loops. She leaves Athens (Piraeus) for 15, 16 or 21 nights, ending in Barcelona, Rome or Lisbon, and Barcelona for 21 nights to Athens, with some of those Barcelona departures carrying on to Barbados. Longer still are her voyages of 24 to 37 nights from Athens or Barcelona, finishing in ports such as Istanbul, Venice, Lisbon or Rome. Stops change from one departure to the next, but Kotor, Valletta, Taormina and Calvi turn up often.

Her seven-night sailings run one way from Athens to Istanbul, Venice or Dubrovnik, with Mykonos, Monemvasia and Kuşadası for Ephesus typical of the calls, and from Rome to Barcelona or Monte Carlo, where you might stop at Portofino, Stromboli or Olbia. Wherever she sails from, we book the flights, the hotel either side and the transfers with the cruise as one holiday, so a three-week passage from Athens arrives as a single, finished plan.

From November to March she is based in Bridgetown, Barbados, running 13- and 14-night round trips and seven-night one-ways that end in Saint Martin. Ports vary, but Antigua, Jost Van Dyke, Carambola Beach on St Kitts and Trois Ilets in Martinique are among them. Some departures pair the cruise with a hotel stay on Barbados, and our Seabourn Caribbean cruise-and-stay holidays bring those together.

Her Encore Class fleetmates include Seabourn Encore; the rest of the line, including the expedition ships Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit and the Odyssey Class Seabourn Quest, is on our Seabourn Cruise Line page.

Open-Seating Dinners, Wood-Fired Pizza and Sushi

Dining on Seabourn Ovation runs from open-seating dinners in The Restaurant, where you arrive when you like and sit with whom you like, to pizza from the wood-fired oven at The Patio. The Patio is the alfresco choice beside the pool: luncheon buffets and grilled specialities by day, then a full dinner menu in the open air. At Sushi, chefs prepare nigiri, rolls and specialities to order, while The Colonnade pairs breakfast and lunch from an open kitchen with table-served, regionally inspired bistro dishes in the evening. And at any hour you can dine in private, from the round-the-clock in-suite menu or with The Restaurant’s à la carte dishes brought to you course by course.

Evenings in The Club, Days in the Grand Salon

The Club is her social hub after dark, with live music and dancing before and after dinner and a DJ keeping things going late. Step out onto the adjoining Sun Terrace for the Sky Bar and two whirlpool spas, and the sushi chefs will send plates over to go with your evening. The Grand Salon works two shifts: lectures, cooking demonstrations and films by day; production shows, cabaret, comedy and classical recitals at night, with The Seabourn Six troupe on stage, all included in the fare.

Beside the Grand Salon, the Casino is free to enter, with slots, blackjack and poker, though wagers are your own. The Seabourn All-Inclusive fare adds a welcome bottle of champagne, a pre-stocked in-suite bar and complimentary caviar. Quieter hours belong to the Card Room and the pool’s sundeck, where live music plays from the poolside stage on select afternoons, while the ocean-view fitness centre and the Motion Studio, with classes from yoga to TRX, are included; spa treatments carry a charge.

Seabourn Ovation Cabins and Deck Plans

Every stateroom on Seabourn Ovation is a suite, and The Retreat, an exclusive pool and whirlpool area, is kept for its own suite guests. Her cabins and deck plans map every suite.

Cruise1st’s real cruise experts are on the phone before you book to talk her voyages through. When you have a shape in mind, start with Seabourn’s Mediterranean cruises.