Cruising on a sunday afternoon

Size isn't everything, at least when it comes to cruising. That's the view of Yachts of Seabourn, whose Seabourn Odyssey was dwarfed by the Queen Victoria at Melbourne's Station Pier this morning...

The Seabourn Odyssey, on its maiden voyage around the world (including stops in Melbourne, Sydney, Cairns and Darwin), looks small next to the Queen Victoria, which is almost three times its size.

But the Odyssey claims to be one of the most luxurious vessels afloat and its small size is a factor in that. Rather than cram in thousands of passengers like some of the mega-cruisers, the $US300 million Odyssey is limited to 450 passengers - with 335 crew on board to look after them. Similarly sized ships normally carry 800-900 passengers.

The Seabourn Odyssey claims to offer more space per guest than any other ship in the cruise industry.

Those passengers enjoying a round-the-world trip on the ship have paid at least $US53,745 ($A59,643) for the privilege, with the top suites on board costing about $1000 a night per person.

Unlike typical cruises, passengers on the Seabourn Odyssey are not locked into specific dining times or seating arrangements in the four on-board restaurants and alcoholic drinks are included in the price of the voyage.

Pamela Conover, Seabourn President and CEO, said the ship aims to give the passengers whatever they want, whenever they want it.

"If you want champagne and caviar for breakfast, you can have it," she says. "We have almost one member of staff per guest ... the crew will know what you like and be prepared to deliver it to you."

The ship's interior designs are stylishly understated - closer to a high-class hotel than the gaudy, 'floating-casino' feel of some larger ships. The ship's spa is one of the largest at sea, spread over two levels and covering 1060 square metres.

The ship is in Melbourne for one day only and will depart at 6pm for Sydney, where new passengers will board. From there it travels to Cairns, Darwin and then on to South East Asia, eventually finishing the voyage in Athens in late April.

Despite the economic crisis, Ms Conover said the ship was completely booked out.

"The affluent end of the market has continued to travel," she said. "But we have seen pricing come down to attractive levels - the pricing we've seen in recent months we haven't seen in years and I don't think we'll be seeing it again in the future.

Seabourn Odyssey:

Size: 32,000 tonnes (gross tonnage)

Length: 198 metres

Width: 25 metres

Decks: 11

Cruising speed: 19 knots

Source: www.theage.com.au