Seabourn Ovation was delivered today at the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri (Genoa), Italy. TravelPulse will be among the first to set foot on the ship when her invitation-only preview cruise begins this weekend.

Seabourn Ovation is the second vessel built by Fincantieri for Seabourn.

Carnival Corporation Chairman, Micky Arison and Seabourn Cruise Line President Richard D. Meadows attended today’s ceremony, along with shipyard executives.

Seabourn Ovation is the sister ship to Seabourn Encore, which debuted in 2016. The 600-passenger vessel features 300 all-oceanfront suites with private verandas.

“We are pleased to take delivery of Seabourn Ovation, offering yet another reason for luxury travelers to choose us for their next holiday. It has been an incredible journey to see the ship come to life, and the Fincantieri team has done a fantastic job in the construction of the ship. The combination of Adam Tihany’s design vision and Fincantieri’s fine craftsmanship have resulted in yet another stunning creation. We are very proud to welcome her to the Seabourn family,” said Meadows.

Fincantieri’s CEO Giuseppe Bono noted that his company has been particularly busy of late.

"Completing such a ship with this level of luxury and complexity is not always an assuming result, and therefore we are very proud of it. Furthermore, for us it is an even more remarkable industrial achievement if we consider that it is the second delivery within a few weeks and that other two units will take the sea from our yards in the coming two months. Four cruise ships belonging to different kind of market segments, for three different ship owners: no other shipbuilding group can provide such references and our goal is to further grow and improve".

Seabourn Ovation’s first revenue cruise takes place on May 5. The 11-day voyage sails from Venice to Barcelona. The official christening ceremony is set for May 11 in Valletta, Malta.

TravelPulse readers will get a “sneak peek” of the ship next week, during the VIP preview sailing.