The luxury liner the Seabourn Spirit docked in Fethiye today. With a draft of only 5.2 meters the liner it is able to dock in the shallow harbour of Fethiye unlike the mega liners which can only go to Marmaris, Bodrum or Rhodes.

The small Norwegian run ship offers exclusive cruises for up to 204 guests at a time, and with nearly one staff member per guest, little can touch them for service.

In fact the capabilities of the small crew have extended beyond the normal realms of luxury cruising. In 2005 the crew successfully fought off an attack by pirates in speedboats off the coast of Africa (Somalia). The liner destroyed one speedboat by running over it and repelled the other by using a ‘sonic gun’.  Unfortunately for the pirates they didn’t know that the ships crew included an ex Gurkha. Two of crew were given awards by the Queen for their bravery.

The liner has also been featured in Paul Theroux book 'The Pillars of Hercules' as part of his grand tour of the Mediterranean (1995: ISBN 0-140-24533-2). Paul describes in detail the experience of the amazing food, service and rooms (not cabins) on the liner.

The Seabourne Spirit will call back into Fethiye on 5 November and head for Kusadasi that evening.

In the meantime if you would like to go on a cruise with them prices start from around 6,000 USD rising to 11,000 USD per person.