Two highly respected travel companies are joining forces in an exclusive multi-year luxury expedition partnership, setting sail in Northern Europe, the Arctic, the Kimberley and Antarctica in 2025-26. Read on for your background briefing.
VIPs from APT, Australia’s long-standing luxury tour and cruise operator, and ultra-luxe cruise line Seabourn announced their new partnership onboard Seabourn Odyssey when the ship was in Sydney last week.
Starting in 2025, APT will charter Seabourn’s state-of-the art expedition vessels, Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit, for voyages to destinations including the British Isles, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, the Kimberley and Antarctica.
APT Travel Group’s Chief Executive Officer, David Cox, said, “We are excited to embark on this journey with Seabourn. This collaboration represents a significant milestone for both companies as we elevate the luxury experience for our guests in partnership with Seabourn.”
Seabourn’s President, Natalya Leahy, agreed. “We are delighted to join forces with APT, a trusted name in the travel industry renowned for its commitment to excellence. Seabourn is known for offering the pinnacle of ultra-luxury experiences, and we look forward to sharing this with APT guests.”
Seabourn’s ultra-luxe expedition ships
The 264-guest Seabourn Venture launched in 2022, followed by her nearly identical sister Seabourn Pursuit a year later.
Both are built to PC6 Polar Class standards and the only differences lie in the (extremely elegant) interior décor. Pursuit has a more tropical theme, in keeping with her warm-climate itineraries, although like Venture, she also sails in the Arctic and Antarctica.
Both ships carry two seven-person-submarines, 24 zodiacs, kayaks, diving and snorkelling gear, and both have a 24-member expert expedition team onboard. Both feature eight world-class dining venues, all-balcony suites, Seabourn’s signature spa, a Discovery Center and the spectacular Bow Lounge.
This year, Pursuit is heading to the South Pacific for the first time. She will undertake a series of expedition voyages in Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, Guam, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the Kimberley, where she will sail six 10-day itineraries between June and August.
The demand for Pursuit’s Kimberley 2024 cruises has been huge – several are already sold out. But next year she will be back, operating cruises for both Seabourn and APT between May and August.
Best advice: book now.
About Seabourn
Owned by the giant Carnival Corporation, Seabourn is the group’s only luxury line and was established in 1988. Natalya Leahy took on the role of President in March 2023 after a long association with the Holland America Group.
During her first year as Seabourn’s President, Leahy has overseen the launch of Seabourn Pursuit and is now preparing to farewell 2009’s Seabourn Odyssey. She says there are no immediate plans to build any new ships and the line is focusing on what it does best: incredible personalised service, increasingly customised experiences onboard and onshore, and voyages to highly desirable destinations across the globe.
When Odyssey moves to Japanese company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) in September, the Seabourn fleet will consist of four highly acclaimed ‘classic’ ships and two luxury expedition ships. Seabourn Sojourn and Seabourn Quest are Odyssey-class ships, launched in 2010 and 2011; both accommodate up to 450 guests and have exceptionally high crew-to-guest ratios.
The next identical pair are Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation, launched in 2016 and 2018. They are larger than their Odyssey-class sisters, with 12 decks rather than 11, and up to 600 guests are very well looked after by 400-plus crew.
World-renowned ultra-luxury hotel designer Adam D. Tihany created the striking interiors of Encore and Ovation and he was brought back to design the expedition ships, Venture and Pursuit.
Tihany has said this was a “dream project” – the results speak for themselves.
About APT
Australia’s largest family-owned tour and cruise company has been operating for nearly 100 years. Dedicated travellers will know that Bill McGeary started the business in 1927 with one bus in Melbourne, gradually built it up and that his son Geoff McGeary took over in the 1950s.
Geoff led the company, now known as APT Travel Group (ATG), through six decades of extroardinary growth. His many achievements include pioneering wilderness adventures in the Kimberley in the 1960s and launching European river cruising holidays in partnership with AmaWaterways in 2005.
Today, ATG is in the hands of Geoff’s children, Robert McGeary and Louise Tandy, and David Cox is the group’s CEO. Brands under the ATG umbrella include APT, Travelmarvel, TravelGlo, Botanica World Discoveries and Captain’s Choice.
As the 18-year partnership with AmaWaterways comes to an end later this year, APT is taking delivery of two new 154-guest riverships in 2025: APT Solara and APT Ostara. APT’s MS Estrela is set to embark on Portugal’s Douro River in June this year and APT Mekong Serenity set sail in Vietnam and Cambodia in 2023.
2025 APT/Seabourn luxury expedition cruises on sale now
The 11-day Scotland, Faroe Islands and Iceland voyage onboard Seabourn Venture departs Greenwich in London for Reykjavik on 3 July 2025. Destinations include Scotland’s Orkney and Shetland islands, the remote Danish Faroe Islands and spectacular Icelandic islands.
Seabourn Venture’s 14-day Arctic Explorer Reykjavik round-trip, departing 13 July 2025, explores the coastlines of Iceland and Greenland, giving an in-depth view of the landscapes and culture in this region.
Combining the two itineraries, the 24-day Scotland, Iceland and Arctic Explorer voyage departs from London on 3 July and arrives in Reykjavik on 26 July.
From May to August 2025, Seabourn Pursuit will sail the 10-day Kimberley Coastal Expedition itinerary, visiting the region’s majestic natural wonders including King George Falls, Bigge Island, Mitchell Falls, Montgomery Reef, Horizontal Falls, and more.
For more information and special offers, visit aptouring.com.au or seabourn.com