Now that I've had a chance to sail on Seabourn for the first time aboard the beautiful Seabourn Quest, I am especially excited for the new Seabourn Encore coming out at the end of this year. The Quest was the last to launch for the luxury line in 2011, and the Encore follows behind as a slightly larger version with a few modifications to look forward to.
Besides a capacity increase from 450 to 604 guests, the biggest difference is an additional deck of suites and public venues. From the outside, that architecturally translates to a slightly taller ship. The bow will be raised up one level, and the bridge appears to be situated farther forward for a better vantage point. This does interrupt the swooping lines of the forecastle just a bit, but for the sake of safe navigation, one can hardly complain.
[READMORE]READ MORE: First Look: Seabourn Encore's Handsome Observation Bar[/READMORE]
Otherwise, the exterior will remain very familiar to loyalists with only the addition of one lifeboat on other side of the length also being tacked on from the looks of the renderings. Also outside, the upper deck has been greatly expanded for The Retreat, an exclusive enclave of 15 private shaded cabanas and central elevated whirlpool that will be tended to by concierge as well as food and beverage services. And, of course, Seabourn's signature aft marina water sports platform will come along for the ride again.
As for suites, the layouts look mostly unchanged although they will be arranged throughout the Encore a little bit differently than on the Quest. The Restaurant remains on deck four, but no passenger suites will be positioned in front of it this time. The suites begin on deck five now, where The Club, casino and what looks to be a larger pool over the stern still reside. Meeting rooms have also moved from this deck to seven across from the shops. The forward elevators have also switched sides, from starboard to port.
Deck six will still feature the Grand Salon show lounge, which I have been told will exhibit an upgraded audio and visual package including an LED wall backdrop. Deck seven will now be the location of the bow deck and its whirlpool, and the Seabourn Square and Coffee Bar will be reprised in a slightly modified configuration. In fact, Adam D. Tihany, who was responsible for the interior design of The Grill by Thomas Keller, rolling out to the existing fleet, is the creative in charge for all of Seabourn Encore.
[READMORE]READ MORE: First Look: New Dining and New Designs Across Seabourn's Fleet[/READMORE]
Meanwhile, the card room from deck seven is moving up to deck eight, the added floor since Quest, and here The Grill by Thomas Keller will be expanded in size and more than doubled in capacity. Also, across the way will be an entirely new small dining venue for sushi. The pool deck has now shifted to nine, where the Patio Bar and The Patio grill have been offset from each other and the shade structure has become more sculptural. Now only The Colonnade buffet sits in the back and has wisely grown its interior seating all the way out to the edge of the ship.
Lastly, deck ten showcases a revised spa and salon facility layout that now has entirely foregone the lackluster Kneipp Walk Pool. And then on deck eleven, the Observation Bar appears to have elongated a bit with more interior as well as new exterior seating out over the pushed out navigation bridge. Suffice it to say, the Seabourn Encore will be a familiar ship with just enough changes to keep it exciting.
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