Inaugural Cruise - Seabourn Encore

[DuncanK]

I have asked Admin to add Encore, but do we really need to remove Pride? And soon, Spirit. If there are no more cruises they will drop off naturally.

[Emperor Norton]

Until an Admin removes them the roll calls for Pride/Spirit/Legend will remain there. Though I think they can wait a few weeks for the Spirit and Legend.;)

[CruiserKit]

Seattle, March 3, 2015 - Seabourn has opened for sale today the maiden season itineraries for Seabourn Encore, the newest addition to join the ultra-luxury, small ship cruise line. Between December 2016 and April 2017, the ship will sail on a variety of voyages exploring the exotic coasts of Arabia and India, the gilded temples and tropical isles of Southeast Asia, and the incredible natural splendors and vibrant, friendly cities of Australia and New Zealand.

"We're excited to offer a diverse range of itineraries for the maiden season of Seabourn Encore and provide our guests with the opportunities to visit some of the most charming and sought-after destinations in Asia, Australia and New Zealand on the world's newest and most beautiful ultra-luxury ship," said Seabourn President Richard Meadows. "Seabourn Encore will set a new standard of ultra-luxury cruising that can only be found on Seabourn, and we can't wait to share her with our guests."

Following the ship's delivery in December 2016, Seabourn Encore will offer two pre-inaugural cruises, providing travelers with a preview of the vessel before its official maiden voyage. On December 4, 2016, Seabourn Encore will sail on a 16-day pre-inaugural cruise from Athens bound for Dubai, visiting various exotic ports including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel; Petra, Jordan; and Muscat, Oman. The voyage will be followed by an 18-day pre-inaugural holiday voyage departing Dubai on December 20, 2016, sailing to Arabia, India and Southeast Asia before arriving at Singapore.

On January 7, 2017, Seabourn Encore will make its official debut with a gala naming ceremony in the vibrant Asian city-state of Singapore. Following the naming, the vessel will embark on its 10-day official inaugural voyage to Bali, including stops in Surabaya, Java; Celukan Bawang, Bali; and Slawi Bay, Komodo, Indonesia. Seabourn Encore will go on to spend its maiden season operating a series of 16-day voyages cruising the Pacific Rim in Australia and New Zealand, calling at the metropolitan cities of Sydney and Melbourne and exploring both islands of New Zealand. The ship will visit popular ports, such as Auckland and Wellington, while exploring other picturesque towns, including New Zealand's southernmost city, Oban on Stewart Island, and the charming port of Picton, the gateway to the stunning scenery of Marlborough Sound.

In April 2017, Seabourn Encore will return to Europe with two 16- and 18-day Arabia and India voyages. The ship will spend the summer in the waters of the eastern Mediterranean with a series of seven-day voyages.

NEW SEABOURN ENCORE MAIDEN SEASON

NOW OPEN FOR SALE

Maiden Season Includes Voyages to the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and Arabia & India

[wripro]

The preview cruises are much more interesting than the maiden.

[2SailingNomads]

Totally agree.

[Aussie Cruise Nuts]

We are totally underwhelmed by this itinerary and disappointed in the manner Seabourn has handled the maiden voyage of Encore.

As regular committed Seabourn cruisers (gold level) we happily paid our $400 wait list deposit many months ago and very early after announcement of the new Z ship. With Encore coming out of an Italian shipyard (initially advised of a mid 2016 launch) our expectations were for a maiden voyage in the Med. Delays pushed back launch date to late 2016 but we still anticipated a southern Med perhaps Suez Canal maiden voyage to warmer waters after the shakedown cruise. Encore's FIRST cruise is in line with our thinking - Piraeus to Dubai (16 days, then Dubai to Singapore (18 days) AND THEN the so called Maiden Voyage on 7 Jan 2017 - Singapore to Benoa That's two cruises and 34 days gone before the maiden voyage. Very misleading in my view.

 

We received our maiden voyage wait list offer yesterday and have quickly rejected it. I googled "maiden voyage" to see if my expectations were unreasonable-

 

WIKIPEDIA. "The maiden voyage of a ship is the first journey made by the craft after the shakedown"

 

DICTIONARY.COM. "The first voyage of a ship after its acceptance by the owners from the builders".

 

I consider Seabourn has redefined the true meaning of maiden voyage and I am disappointed in the misleading and deceptive labelling of Encore's maiden voyage.

 

Perhaps Seabourn accepted far too many $400 wait list deposits and are trying to maximise sales by spreading the wait listers over more than the actual maiden voyage. I note Markham received his maiden voyage offer for Dubai to Sydney. It will be interesting to see what cruise offers other $400 wait listers received for their "maiden voyage".

 

My values may be too old fashioned for today's world of marketing, but I can't help but feel badly let down by Seabourn over the maiden voyage of Encore.

[Joc123]

We are platinum level with only a few more nights to diamond and we have not had any contact from Seabourn or TA. After our experience on Quest maiden voyage we were one of the first to pay our $400 for the new build. As soon as we heard it was going to be late 2016 we started to worry if we were going to make it - it is Christmas and our summer holiday season and we always spend that time with family. Then when the itinerary was announced, no way would we do it. Really disappointed. Can't imagine what special events they will hold other than fireworks in Singapore. On Quest we were treated to a wonderful evening in Monte Carlo. Really can't imagine why they are so slow off the mark with this. They have known for ages that they would be 3 ships down and precious staff would leave but nothing was organised. Such a shame.

[secoma4]

The format of the "initial" Encore cruises is similar to that for the Quest, which we joined for the "Inaugural" after it had done 2 "pre-inaugural" legs in the Med. As I suggested at the outset, it seems Seabourn's expectations as to the delivery date for Encore have not been met, leaving them in a position where they had to either reposition to Asia (HK, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam etc) or Australia/NZ for the European winter season. They have chosen the latter.

This has meant the pre-inaugural legs, which are used to bed the ship down, are Athens to Dubai and Dubai to Singapore - itineraries which are regularly done in getting ships to and from Asia/ Australia. .

We have done these itineraries but like others, would not consider the leg which spans Xmas/New Year. There are probably many who would find this time suits them.

Like others we paid our $400 and received advice of the pending offer for the Inaugural cruise which was received over a week ago. At that time Seabourn advised that the pre and post itineraries would follow. We decided to book the Inaugural cruise (Singapore to Bali), notwithstanding the poor itinerary, on the basis of what was provided on the inaugural Quest cruise.

And today further itineraries and pricing have been released. So we have also booked the next leg.

It will be interesting to see how bookings go for the various itineraries.

[Mr Luxury]

True Maiden voyages are best avoided as there are always problems.

 

Pre Maiden voyages are a good thing so that the ship can bed in for the guests as well as the crew.

 

I have been on several Maiden voyages and to be honest I would rather not take another one and would be happy to wait until things are sorted around the ship.

Edited March 4, 2015 by Mr Luxury

[cruising kirby]

I am not sure I like the sound of 7 night voyages in the Med in summer. Sounds like it could encourage the "all night party people", or even corporate groups, looking to make the most of their short cruise!! After my experience last year on a 10 night Seabourn cruise with a large group on an incentive trip, I won't book anything less than 14 nights in the future (the cruise I was on was 2 x 10 night cruises back to back and the experience was "chalk and cheese" on the two sectors). I guess there are no guarantees with that either, but 7 days sounds like it could attract the corporate bookings. Nothing wrong with all night party ships, but please...............not on Seabourn!!!!

Edited March 4, 2015 by cruising kirby

[markham]

What Cruising Kirby says makes sense. Who knows what type of "party people" and/or incentive groups will comprise the summer 2017 Encore one weekers?

 

Of course, Seabourn also wants to introduce the ship to as many people as possible. But for my money the one week timeframe throws up red flags since summers also include small children occasionally and those, as mentioned above, who may not respect the product as I do as shown by their loud, pushy and selfish behavior, not to mention their lack of interest in anything like a dress code. So why not mention it... Have you seen the singlets, sweatbands and shorts in the Observation Bar after 18:00 in the beautiful Observation Bar of late?

 

Anyway, why doesn't Seabourn do one weekers (if that's what they want to do) specifically for families with children and multiple incentive groups and thereby get the idea out of their system? Segmenting the market is always smart as a way of finding out what type of passenger suits the line and vice versa. And while Seabourn is at it, how about stricter enforcement of a dress code after 18:00 - as in no bar service if you insist on dressing like a slob?

 

Just sayin'.

 

Happy cruising!

[Emperor Norton]

I've always wondered if Seabourn has tracked the incentive group passengers to see if they return to the line sans group or if they're only there because it's "free". In which case, why cater to that crowd more than necessary as they won't be back.

[CraftyEC]

According to Facebook all inaugural Encore sailing are sold out, and it on the Seabourn site they all seem to be so, being listed as 'call for availability' in all categories.

[rols]

According to Facebook all inaugural Encore sailing are sold out, and it on the Seabourn site they all seem to be so, being listed as 'call for availability' in all categories.

 

Looking on the Seabourn site today the only cruise I see totally "Call For Availability" is the actual 10-day one dubbed the 'Inaugural', the two before and those after are still available in Veranda category at least.

 

What's odd however is that the 28-day cruise starting 20th December which ends with that 10-day 'inaugural' segment, plus the 28-day cruise starting 7th Jan which starts with that 10-day 'inaugural' segment, also both have availability, so clearly there's still room on that ship if anyone wants to go .. just need to go as part of a slightly longer leg (with a rather better itinerary).

Edited March 8, 2015 by rols

[Masonic Phantom]

Looking on the Seabourn site today the only cruise I see totally "Call For Availability" is the actual 10-day one dubbed the 'Inaugural', the two before and those after are still available in Veranda category at least.

 

What's odd however is that the 28-day cruise starting 20th December which ends with that 10-day 'inaugural' segment, plus the 28-day cruise starting 7th Jan which starts with that 10-day 'inaugural' segment, also both have availability, so clearly there's still room on that ship if anyone wants to go .. just need to go as part of a slightly longer leg (with a rather better itinerary).

 

I rang Seabourn today & was put on wait list for the 10-day 'inaugural' segment..... they said it was fully booked....$1000 deposit.

[rols]

[quote name='Masonic Phantom']I rang Seabourn today & was put on wait list for the 10-day 'inaugural' segment..... they said it was fully booked....$1000 deposit.[/QUOTE]

Indeed the site updated yesterday and now shows all cruises which even include the 10-day inaugural segment as 'Call for Availability', so that makes sense.

we're still tempted by the first cruise, from Piraeus to Dubai, or even all the way from Greece home to Singapore again. Those are still listed. You don't get your name on the plaque but you do get to experience all the teething troubles of a new ship. :P