Our ship was the Seabourn Quest. She went into service in 2011. The ship is 198 m in length with a draft of 21 ft. She can carry 450 passengers with a crew of 335. The ship is beautiful inside and out. The cabin were very well appointed with a walk-in closet, granite countertops, a shower and a tub. We took a tour of the main galley one afternoon hosted by the Executive Chef. A lot of stainless steel. The ship had five galleys including one for the crew mess. Forty five chefs worked to keep passengers in high cuisine. Once an order is entered at the table using electronic pads and prints out in the galley, the appropriate chef has seven minutes to get the dish plated and ready for delivery to the table.

In 2013, the ship was drydocked for a month to prepare it for cruises to Antarctica. The Quest now carries ten zodiacs for landings in Antarctica. A change area was created where we put our boots on before landings and removed them for storage not in our cabins. Has increased retention capacity so it can go five days without having to discharge food waste. The ship has an ice class hull that is achieved by adding more ribs in the hull structure rather than thickening the outer skin. We reminded several times that the Quest is ice-hardened and is not an ice breaker.