The week of September 10, Lindblad Expeditions launched the National Geographic Venture. The new expedition cruise ship took to the sea for the first time from Nichols Brothers in Freeland, Washington.
According to the company website, the ship is larger than the Sea Bird and Sea Lion, each of which have a capacity of over 60 guests, but with the same shallow draft depth, so the crew can the same destinations visited by the two smaller vessels. The new ship's landing platforms allow passengers to get on and off the ship to see wildlife.
The ship's six-day inaugural voyage will kick off December 2 with company CEO Sven Lindblad, National Geographic Partners President and CEO Gary Knell and Natural Habitat Adventures Founder and Director Ben Bressler as the new ship checks out wildlife away from California’s cities. There is also a companion inaugural voyage on the 13-day December 7 departure from Los Angeles, California, to La Paz, Mexico.
The inaugural departures are:
- Coastal California By Sea; six days; from $3800-6500; $350 air credit.
- From Southern California to Baja: Sailing the Pacific Coast; 13 days; $9,120-16,070
The ship has 50 cabins and a capacity of 100 guests. The launch celebrations occurred in San Francisco. As the sister ship of National Geographic Quest, which launched in 2017, this vessel is the second new build for the line.
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