Odyssey, Yachtsman's Caribbean & Atlantic Sunsets ex Phlipsburg to Lisbon

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18 Night cruise sailing from Philipsburg to Lisbon onboard Seabourn Odyssey.

18 Night cruise sailing from Philipsburg to Lisbon onboard Seabourn Odyssey.

Seabourn Odyssey was built by the Italian company T. Mariotti S.p.A., located in Genoa, Italy and named in Venice in June of 2009. On that occasion, the guests on board for the maiden voyage were all honored as the ship’s godparents, and a plaque with their names was permanently mounted on a wall inside the ship. Seabourn Odyssey was designed by the same architectural team, Petr Yran and Bjorn Storbraaten, who designed the original Seabourn ships. Seabourn Odyssey’s 229 ocean-view suites are divided into 13 categories, with interior measurements from 295 to over 1,200 square feet. Ninety percent have private verandas, which add from 65 to over 350 square feet of additional private living space.

Highlights in accommodations are the exceptional Wintergarden Suites, which have a private glassed-in Solarium with a soaking tub and a lounging bed. This suite also features a veranda that is bowed out, giving wonderful views along the side of the ship. The Signature Suites, located all the way forward on Deck 7, have over 900 square feet of inside space and a spectacular wrap-around veranda of 353 square feet. In addition to more larger suites, Seabourn Odyssey’s additional size is utilized to create more open deck space, and a variety of public rooms and dining venues.

Highlights of this cruise:

PHILIPSBURG, SINT MAARTEN
Since 2010, Sint Maarten has been a constituent country within the kingdom of The Netherlands. It comprises the “Dutch Side” of the island of Saint-Martin, the other half being a French overseas territory. Philipsburg is its capital and a busy deep-water port city. It is a popular port for cruise ships, and consequently boasts a thriving duty-free shopping community, a range of resorts and villas, and numerous leisure and sightseeing activities, as well as a well-served airport.

GUSTAVIA, SAINT BARTHELEMY
Tiny St. Barts, as it is commonly called, lies 125 miles northwest of the French island of Guadeloupe, of which it is a dependency. Its geographic features include steep, green, once-active volcano hills, deep valleys, and beautiful beaches. Founded by the French, ceded to Sweden then returned to France, the toy-scaled capital of Gustavia is built around the harbor on the island's southwest coast. Many of the island's inhabitants are descendants of settlers from Brittany, Normandy and Sweden. Today they operate small inns, cafes, restaurants and boutiques that are housed in old buildings of Swedish colonial and French Creole architecture. Too small for most cruise ships, Gustavia's harbor is a favorite layover for sailing yachts, and with prices well beyond the means of the masses, visits are mostly limited to a few hours of day-trippers from nearby St. Martin/St. Maarten. The majority of visitors staying on the island still come from among the privileged who treasure the laid-back atmosphere and small-gem perfection of St. Barts.

BASSETERRE, ST KITTS AND NEVIS
"The Beautiful Sisters," St. Kitts and Nevis are separated by a two-mile-wide strait but joined together as an independent island nation. Known and loved for their sleepy pace, these islands are awakening to become an "in" place among well traveled North Americans and Europeans. A small, green volcanic speck in the blue Caribbean, St. Kitts offers quiet beaches, remnants of the old British plantocracy, and dreamy days under silk-cotton trees, soothed by the scents of flamboyants and frangipani. The native Arawak and Carib Indians called St. Kitts the fertile isle, and until as recently as 2005, the island was still dependent upon sugar for a large segment of its economy.

TERRE-DE-HAUT, ILES DES SAINTES, GUADELOUPE
The Iles des Saintes, a tiny cluster of islets off the southern coast of Guadeloupe is what the doctor ordered, if he ordered an unspoiled Caribbean experience. No franchise duty free, no big hotels, no casinos. It is what much of the Caribbean used to be like. Stroll around the little town of Bourg de Saintes. Shop for real French cosmetics from the sidewalk vendors. Grab a seat and a beer and revel in the weather and the pace of the past.

CASTRIES, SAINT LUCIA
St. Lucia is the sort of island that travelers to the Caribbean dream about--a small, lush tropical gem that is still relatively unknown. The Atlantic Ocean kisses its eastern shore, while the beaches of the west coast owe their beauty to the calm Caribbean Sea. St. Lucia seems like an island plucked from the South Pacific and set down in the Caribbean. Its dramatic twin coastal peaks, the Pitons, soar 2,500 feet up from the sea, sheltering magnificent rain forests where wild orchids, giant ferns, and birds of paradise flourish. Brilliantly-plumed tropical birds abound, including endangered species like the indigenous St. Lucia parrot.

SALINE BAY, MAYREAU, ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
At this idyllic islet in the Tobago Cays, we sometimes anchor and indulge in a water sports Marina Day.

BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS
Barbados has retained many of the trappings of its British colonial heritage. Judges and barristers wear proper robes and wigs, police don helmets styled after London bobbies and cricket remains a national passion. Barbados also has all the sporting appeal of the rest of the Caribbean, with pristine beaches, powerful surf and crystal clear waters. Brightly colored homes and hibiscus flowers mingle with mahogany trees and English churches dating back to the 17th century.

FUNCHAL (MADEIRA), PORTUGAL
The Madeira Archipelago, consisting of the islands Madeira, Porto Santo and Desertas, is situated in the Atlantic, about 400 miles from the African coast and 560 miles from Lisbon. Discovered by the Portuguese in 1419, Madeira, the largest of the islands, became of great importance to Portugal for its sugar production and later on for the cultivation of wine. The unusually temperate oceanic climate and extraordinary scenery had Northern Europeans flocking to Madeira as early as the 18th century to spend the winter months. The winning combination of high, rocky peaks, steep green ravines and waterfalls in the interior, with the flowering charm of Funchal still attracts nearly half a million visitors each year.

PORTO SANTO, PORTO SANTO ISLAND, PORTUGAL
Located 27 miles northeast of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean, Porto Santo enjoys the same climate of eternal springtime. However, the small 9-mile by 5-mile island also boasts an extensive strand of wide, soft sand beach, which its larger neighbor lacks. The northern end of the island is tall and rugged, showing off the columnar basalt formations and tortured geological evidence of is volcanic origins. The southern end is flat and mostly low, ringed by the beach. The main town of Vila Baleira is centered around a triangular plaza, the Largo de Pelhourinho, shaded by date palms and Dragon Trees. Here you will find the Old Town Hall and the Nossa Senhora da Piedade church, rebuilt in the 17th century on the site of a 16th century original. The Via Cristovão Columbo leads to the small house where it is supposed Columbus lived for some years after his marriage. Back up north, the village of Camacha holds a small Cardina museum created by a local man who crafted small-scale models of many of the island’s water fountains (fresh water was always a scarcity) and gathered traditional farming implements and other historic artifacts. The Fonte de Areia is a geologic oddity, an endless cascade of sand resulting from erosion of the soft sandstone cliffs. For golfers, the island has a new 18-hole course designed by Spanish champion Seve Ballestreros.

Relax in Vila Baleira’s triangular Largo de Pelhourinho plaza, travel north to the pioneer Cardina Museum and rugged volcanic peaks, or bask on Port Santo’s golden sand beach.

LISBON, PORTUGAL
The great period of "the Discoveries" accounted for phenomenal wealth brought back from India, Africa and Brazil by the great Portuguese navigators. Gold, jewels, ivory, porcelain and spices helped finance grand new buildings and impressive monuments in Lisbon, the country's capital city. As you sail up the Tagus River, be on deck to admire Lisbon's panorama and see some of the great monuments lining the river. Lisbon is one of Europe's smallest capital cities but considered by many visitors to be one of the most likeable. Spread over a string of seven hills, the city offers a variety of faces, including a refreshing no-frills simplicity reflected in the people as they go unhurriedly through their day enjoying a hearty and delicious cuisine accompanied by the country's excellent wines.