Seabourn ends its submarine program – the once in a lifetime experience that isn’t worth it?

• Seabourn has ended its submarine program on expedition voyages.
• Previously, guests on select expedition cruises could purchase a submarine journey into polar depths.
• Are submarine experiences all they’re cracked up to be?

Submarine excursions were sold as one of the prime attractions to a luxury expedition cruise with lines such as Seabourn or Scenic, but they might not have been as popular with guests as expected.

Seabourn has announced it will end its submarine program in March, citing limited guest interest as a key driver behind the decision. The line also mentioned difficulties in maintenance and recertification as reasons to stop offering the submarines.

The cruise line will rather look to “continue to focus on and elevate other aspects” of its expedition offerings. While the chance to get on a submarine sounds spectacular, for those who have undertaken the experience, they might not be surprised to hear about limited interest from guests.

The first barrier to the experience is that it’s very expensive. Even for those who can afford a luxury cruise, shelling out an extra US$1000 for a submarine adventure is a hefty add-on.

Furthermore, while getting on a submarine is certainly a unique experience, in terms of what you’ll actually see, the answer is very often, not much.

Cruise Passenger editor-in-chief Peter Lynch has enjoyed a submarine experience with Viking cruises, and while the experience was thrilling, it did require high amounts of preparation, many safety procedures and the only thing spotted was a fish. The experience afterwards of sitting in the expedition centre with the ships chief scientist was actually hailed as the highlight.

This is not to stay that the experience isn’t a special one, but given the price, the level of preparation involved and the limited range of what you’re likely to see, it isn’t a surprise that guests are leaning towards other expedition activities instead.

If you do want to live out the submarine experience, Viking and Scenic are the cruise lines still offering this experience.

Rob Coleman, Seabourn’s senior vice president of sales, said: “Our custom-built submarines have been a distinctive part of our expedition offering. However, guest participation was lower than anticipated, and the program required a high level of specialised expertise to maintain and recertify the submarines.

“In addition, evolving regulatory requirements in certain regions have increasingly limited where and how submarine operations can take place.”