Luxurious homeliness: Seabourn's new cruise ship Encore is like a private yacht

When one of the world's greatest hospitality interior designers took on the job of creating something special for Seabourn's new baby, he followed the cruise company's much lauded lead.

In designing the 600 passenger, all-verandah-suite Seabourn Encore, Adam D Tihany was primarily motivated by the fact that Seabourn's guests occupy the ship for at least a week, many for extended periods and many as repeat cruisers.

"I realised how much of Seabourn's overall product is dedicated to satisfying their guests' appetites for surprise," says Tihany. "With that in mind, I have designed a ship that is imbued with a sense of spontaneity and exhilaration, to elicit surprise and delight that will complement the rest of the guests' travel experiences."

Although the architecture of Seabourn Encore is not radically different from Seabourn's three other high end ships, Tihany's vision brings a new softness and curvaceousness, eliciting a sense of a private yacht. Lots of little details add the elements of surprise, and a sense of luxurious homeliness. A new feature, not yet on the sister ships, is The Retreat, where guests can enjoy spa treatments in private cabanas.

Encore also includes The Grill by Thomas Keller, the new signature restaurant from three-star Michelin chef Thomas Keller that was introduced on Seabourn Quest last year and will be expanded to the entire Seabourn fleet.

Encore also offers a new production show, An Evening with Tim Rice, created exclusively for Seabourn in association with Belinda King Creative Productions.

Seabourn Encore left Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera, Italy on November 30 to be christened in Singapore today (January 7) by Sarah Brightman, before setting sail for Australia.

The ship will arrive in Darwin on January 22 and cruise the Queensland coast before debuting in Sydney on February 2. It will depart Australia on March 17, returning for its second season here from December 2017 to February 2018.

See seabourn.com