The next generation of Seabourn ships is quickly on its way as the luxury line takes delivery of its new Seabourn Encore and lays the keel for its Seabourn Ovation sister-ship to follow. The official handover and keel laying ceremonies both took place at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy, the former at Marghera and the latter at Sestri.

"We have been looking forward to this day for over two years. Seabourn Encore has become a stunning ship that will set a new standard in ultra-luxury cruising," said Richard Meadows, president of Seabourn. "I am very proud of our partnership with Fincantieri, and it has been a great pleasure to work together to transform raw materials into this incredible vessel that will make a great addition to the Seabourn fleet.”

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Slightly larger than the Odyssey-class Seabourn Quest before her, the 600-guest all-suite Seabourn Encore will measure in at 40,350 gross registered tons designed by Adam D. Tihany, "to feel more like a luxury yacht.” His new design is already in place on the Quest for The Grill by Thomas Keller, and next his designs will permeate all of the Encore, including the new Sushi restaurant and The Retreat private sanctuary, when it is christened by vocalist Sarah Brightman in Singapore on January 7, 2017.

Further delivering on such musical star power onboard will be a new exclusive production show titled “An Evening with Tim Rice” in association with Belinda King Creative Productions. Also, the partnership with Thomas Keller for cuisine will be in full swing as well as new Spa and Wellness with Dr. Andrew Weil’s mindful living program. Tim Rice and Dr. Weil will be aboard the inaugural 10-day Gems of the Java Sea cruise.

"The jewel we deliver today is the first built for Seabourn, and dry dock works for the second vessel of this new and prestigious client will start in the next few days in our shipyard in Sestri Ponente. I say this with a certain pride and a lot of satisfaction, because Seabourn represents the top range offer of the Carnival Group and Fincantieri is now identified as an absolute reference point from the market, able to offer tailor-made products to an ever wider range of customers," said Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri. "This gratifying result became possible thanks to the strategy stubbornly followed in the last years that has allowed us to be in the best conditions to seize the opportunities offered by the market."

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In fact, the keel for the second Seabourn Ovation sister-ship has now been laid as it prepares for its launch in the spring of 2018. With the two, Seabourn says it, “will have the youngest and most modern ultra-luxury fleet in the industry.”

"Between the keel laying of Seabourn Ovation and the delivery of Seabourn Encore, this has been a historic week for our company," said Richard Meadows, president of Seabourn. "I am very proud to see our fleet evolving with even more important milestones during the construction of Seabourn Ovation in the next year and a half."

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