Sea Cloud Cruises will again offer a variety of themes during its 2022 sailing season. This year, in addition to music, culture and culinary delights, the historic Grand Prix in Monaco is also on the sailing program. The new Sea Cloud Spirit will celebrate its premiere musical cruise in cooperation with Steinway.
Since 1979 Sea Cloud Cruises has been one of the world’s top names in cruises. The 90 year-old four-masted barque Sea Cloud, her younger sister Sea Cloud II and the new Sea Cloud Spirit combine the experience of traditional seamanship with the ambience and luxurious charm of classically elegant private yachts.
Sea Cloud Spirit premiere musical cruise
Germany’s youngest windjammer, Sea Cloud Spirit, will set course for Hamburg for the first time. Sailing from London, the new yacht will moor in the center of the Hanseatic city at around 6 p.m. on June 16. The 138-meter, three-masted full-rigged cruise ship is Sea Cloud Cruises’ third luxury tall ship. In the evening guests will experience a classical music concert in Hamburg’s world-class concert hall, the Elbphilharmonie.
For Sea Cloud Spirit’s first voyage to the Elbe metropolis, the Hamburg based shipping company has put together a program that combines the sailing experience on a traditional windjammer with classical cultural enjoyment.
The premiere voyage will take the three-master from London via Cowes/Isle of Wight, Ostend and Antwerp. During the voyage, the lounge of the tall ship will be transformed into a concert hall. In cooperation with the grand piano manufacturer Steinway & Sons, pianists Arash Rokni and Cunmo Yin, two outstanding artists from the Steinway Prize Winner Concerts Network, will give performances on board.
The most impressive harbor entrance from on board
After an extended day of sailing on the North Sea, the impressive journey upstream to Hamburg begins in the Elbe estuary off Cuxhaven on the morning of June 16th. The last stretch up the stream into the city of Hamburg is considered one of the most beautiful harbor entrances in the world.
While a fireboat, harbor ships and numerous pleasure boats accompany the newcomer, guests can enjoy the unique perspective from the deck with a glass of champagne in hand.
Guests on the premiere voyage will then be invited to an evening of concerts in the Great Hall of the Elbphilharmonie. Under the direction of its conductor Herbert Blomstedt the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra will perform works by Mozart and Bruckner.
After the first call, Sea Cloud Spirit will sail four extended Baltic Sea voyages featuring the Nordic capitals. She will then depart from Hamburg for two shorter cruises on the North Sea and to Sylt. The return voyage from Hamburg to the Mediterranean begins on August 22.
Promoting culture and young talents
For several years, Sea Cloud Cruises has combined exceptional cultural programs with the promotion of promising musical talents. In keeping with the five-star character of the sailing ships, the concerts on board are of the highest standards – which is why the shipping company is once again focusing on the Steinway Prize Winner Concerts Network in its cooperation with the grand piano manufacturer Steinway & Sons. This year’s ‘Steinway Voyage’ (August 6 to 14, 2022) will take Sea Cloud Spirit from Travemünde/Hamburg via Copenhagen, Aalborg and the island of Sylt to Hamburg. Special features include an exclusive event at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation’s new concert hall in Copenhagen with the Trio con Brio Copenhagen.
Sea Cloud II also follows the course of promoting culture and young talent on its voyages through the Mediterranean. For the voyage from Genoa to Valencia, the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre is sending four top-class talents on board. Aditi Smeets (soprano), Megumi Korado (piano), Álvaro Botanás (piano) and Daniel Varias (violoncello) will give evening concerts in the lounge of the tall ship. But it doesn’t always have to be classical music. In keeping with the stay in the French port city of Sète – where the chansonnier Georges Brassens was born 100 years ago – there will be a musical evening dedicated to chanson as a special event.
Special culinary highlights
Other special offers from Sea Cloud Cruises include culinary journeys. During the ‘Wine Journey’ around the Canary Islands and Madeira (April 10 to 20, 2022) a wine sommelier and champagne expert will accompany the guests on Sea Cloud Spirit. In addition, on the same sailing, an astrophysicist will introduce travelers to the world of astronomy and the secrets of the astronavigation under the incomparable starry sky of the Canary Islands.
On other culinary journeys Germany’s joungest 2-star chef at the time will board the Sea Cloud Spirit (Málaga – Nice, April 28 to May 6, 2022). On the return journey from Hamburg to Bilbao (August 22 to September 1, 2022) another young chef will spoil the guests.
VIP seats for Sea Cloud and Sea Cloud II guests at the Grand Prix Historique Monaco
The diverse theme trips also include sailing trips such as the meeting of Sea Cloud and Sea Cloud II at the Grand Prix Historique Monaco (May 11 to 18, 2022). This event, in cooperation with the Automobile Club Monaco, includes VIP tickets allowing guests to enjoy exclusive catering on both race days and the ability to follow the action up close. During the race breaks there is also the possibility to visit the pit lane.