Seabourn Offers 40 New Shore Excursions in Asia In 2010

The Yachts of Seabourn has added 40 new tours in China, Korea, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, expanding the options for guests exploring the Far East on the company’s year-round 2010 schedule of Asia voyages aboard the Seabourn Pride.

Among Seabourn’s new offerings are culinary excursions allowing guests to taste a variety of Japanese delicacies, an introduction to the Chinese discipline of tai chi, and a monk-guided visit to a mountainside Buddhist temple in South Korea.

In Qingdao, China, guests can explore the former German colony and home to Tsingtao, China’s oldest beer brewery, built by Germans in 1903 and today popular throughout the world. They can visit the Olympic Sailing Center and taste freshly brewed beer directly from the production line. They also can choose to learn and practice the Chinese art of Tai Chi.

A tour from Incheon, South Korea, visits the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the 155-mile long frontline of the Korean Cold War. Participants can learn about the war at the DMZ Exhibition Hall, and see the North Korean “propaganda village” built within sight of the South inside the DMZ. They also can shop for Korean antiques, artwork, clothing, paper crafts and ceramics stores at Insadong, a center of Korean culture dating from 1392.

In Kagoshima, Japan, guests can taste some of Japan’s revered products including Kurozu, a traditional rice vinegar; Karukan, a popular sweet made from yams; Satsumaage, a fried fish cake; and sweets made from bean paste. They also will visit Hombo Sake Brewery to observe traditional ways of making distilled shochu liquor and sample matured sakes made not only from rice, but also yams, wheat and plums.

For a limited time, Seabourn is offering two-for-one cruise fares with included roundtrip air, or cruise-only fares featuring savings up to 65 percent. The promotion is valid for Asia voyages departing between June and August. Cruises of 10 to 14 days aboard Seabourn Pride start at $3,499 cruise-only and $5,400 with air. Inclusive air is available from 40 North American gateways.