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Soon to be Live from the Encore


ab21au
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Leaving on the Encore tomorrow from Barcelona.

 

This post is to say thanks to Flamin_june for the tip on the Hotel 1898 and the terrace rooms. Have been here for 6 nights and it has been perfect. You wouldn't believe it could be so central on La Rambla and yet so quiet.

 

 

Barcelona is a fabulous city but now looking forward to the Encore for 20 days.

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Have a great cruise ab21au. I agree Hotel 1898 is a lovely quiet hotel.

It's going be a bit different at the port tomorrow with Norwegian Epic and Freedom of the Seas (around 9,000 pax capacity combined) along with Encore and Odyssey.

Although the Seabourn two are at the World Trade Centre wharf, I believe.

This was Cruise Mapper at 2 am Barcelona time, with the 4 ships heading in2ae62bd1232e386056e2e24468da8c12.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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Thanks for the great photos. I see from Cruisemapper that the SB ships are both at the in-town dock, at the World Trade Centre. Great stuff.

 

I agree that the hotel 1898 is lovely - it has in the past (and hopefully in the future) been used by Seabourn for lunch or a dayroom, if your Seabourn flight is after 3 or 6 p.m.

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We are also on board Encore. Nice to see Odyssey and hope to see some of the wonderful staff and crew about. I have been writing a review/travelogue and will post soon. Thus far we are enjoying the cruise immensley, more detail to come.

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Have a great cruise ab21au. I agree Hotel 1898 is a lovely quiet hotel.

It's going be a bit different at the port tomorrow with Norwegian Epic and Freedom of the Seas (around 9,000 pax capacity combined) along with Encore and Odyssey.

Although the Seabourn two are at the World Trade Centre wharf, I believe.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Yes, the SB ships are at the World TC. I took a photo of the other ships at the adjacent port, they are huge.

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First impressions ..... WOW

 

So far, I know it is early days, but WOW.

 

The cabin is fabulous. So much brighter than the O ships. The carpet is light, the bathroom lighter and to contrast the timber is dark. IMHO just perfect. I like the fact the cabin is longer and slightly narrower, in my opinion it gives an aspect of more room.

 

Checkin was smoother and quicker than I have had before, perhaps less new guests. The Colonnade was lovely and the food better than I had experienced before.

 

Spent sail away in the Observation deck and the in the OB. The pianist/singer Joe is unreal and I look forward to many nights listening to him.

 

More to come ...

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We really enjoyed our time on board when it launched last year. Styling details around the ship keep revealing themselves throughout the cruise. If you like fish make sure you give Sushi a try one evening, a lighter dining experience and the girls serving in there were great fun. I don't know if you've had a TK Grill before, for me the prawn cocktail starter and rib eye take some beating although the lamb rack gives it a good run for it's money. Pre-dinner or aprés dinner drinks in TK is another alternative to the more traditional Observation lounge.

 

The hot tub area on the bow has improved sun lounging compared to the O class ships as well.

 

Anyway, thanks for taking the hit for your Cruise Critic troops :)

 

Henry :)

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We really enjoyed our time on board when it launched last year. Styling details around the ship keep revealing themselves throughout the cruise. If you like fish make sure you give Sushi a try one evening, a lighter dining experience and the girls serving in there were great fun. I don't know if you've had a TK Grill before, for me the prawn cocktail starter and rib eye take some beating although the lamb rack gives it a good run for it's money. Pre-dinner or aprés dinner drinks in TK is another alternative to the more traditional Observation lounge.

 

The hot tub area on the bow has improved sun lounging compared to the O class ships as well.

 

Anyway, thanks for taking the hit for your Cruise Critic troops :)

 

Henry :)

 

There is a plaque on the wall with the names of all on the inaugural cruise but at the time only got to browse.

 

Yes we want to do the Sushi (we like sushi) but the MDR has been very good and tonight is formal night so won't get to sushi tonight. Rachel, Brandon and others in the section of the MDR we have been in have been very nice, the food has been "to die for". Last night there was 3 menus to choose from, the TK, Inspiration and the Classic and I could have chosen 5 sets of meals and loved them all.

 

Haven't been to TK bar as Joe and Megan (I think it is) in the Observation Lounge have been excellent, love there style of music. And probably because everyone is in the TK bar, it has not been crowded as on other cruises.

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The hot tub area on the bow has improved sun lounging compared to the O class ships as well.

 

Anyway, thanks for taking the hit for your Cruise Critic troops :)

 

Henry :)

 

Taking a hit for the team is a pleasure ....

 

Sunrise in Menorca.

 

35864255441_37d3e06d26_b.jpg

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On the of July 2017 we embarked Seabourn Encore at the port of Citavecchia Rome Italy. Boarding was pleasant and with efficiency, no more than a few minutes.

 

Once aboard we were greeted with a warm Seabourn welcome. Our eyes taking in "the new girl's beauty" , she is, most beautiful. The familiarity is recognisable with the beloved "O" ships.

 

"Encore's" style is evident . Her quality fittings and luxurious decor are very becoming. Although she is bigger she exudes a warm ambiance. Fine furnishing please the eye through out the vessel.The use of beautiful rich toned curved wood, marble, rich textures plus a pleasing balance of tones for soft furnishing fabrics complete the picture. Lowered ceilings enhance the ambiance and lower noise levels in larger spaces, particularly in the main dining room.The general planning means amenities sit exactly as on the "O" ships . Seabourn has cleverly made us feel immediately at home once over the gangway.

 

 

Service has been spot on, as usual, professional, courteous, warm and friendly. The multi national team have melded well and bring an essence of harmony and co-operation. There is a respect and regard for guests that we would wish to see more often in our everyday world. Unforturtanely a distorted sense of privelage by some guests is giving an incorrect value of the wonderful staff. Our delight at being greeted by familiar faces by staff previously met on Seabourn cruises was a nice surprise. Greetings with sincerity are heart warming. We were very happy to see that deserved promotions and recognition for service excellence for some staff has been fast tracked with the introduction of a new ship.

 

 

Our cabin is most comfortable. Seabourn standard amenties are all as expected and more. The cabin being slightly narrower is negligible to comfort. The bathroom has all the same amenities, the decor predominantly crisp white marble , with the darker marble vanity gives the bathroom a luxurious modern feel.

 

As the cabin flows, the walk in robe has plenty of hanging space and drawers. The safe is quite big as hospitality standards go with an interior light. We were able to stand inside the robe with ease.

 

The bedroom area has a very comfortable bed dressed in quality white linen. The foot runner on the bed has a regal purple silk border with Seabourn swirl patten of gold and navy being the main portion.

 

Bedding is very comfortable and is crowned with a full white leather bed head and stylish bed lamps.

 

The living area is longer and accomodates a very long winged lounge. Perfect for a siesta after a long lunch. A stylish new table of clear glass with a cross bar stand (legs) and comfortable low line leather chairs of cream and blue are accompanied by the round footrest in blue leather. The bar is as on the "O"ships . More than adequate to house our requirements for our afternoon Pastis on the verandah or a G&T etc. The refridgerator is very cold for tonic water and all other cool beverages.A large TV sits on the entertainment unit with a good range of viewing, music etc available.

 

This cabin is on deck five and has a deeper verandah which is perfect for breakfast, it has a lower metal portion with clear glass above but does not restrict the view.

 

There are a lot of small decoration details that make the cabin stylishly understated. This is the Seabourn stamp, we appreciate .

 

As several days have passed I can make an informed judgement on some of the Cuisine.

 

Breakfast: The Colonnade is our preferance on the outside deck. There is something for everyone , great choices from the buffet, menu and specials.The variety of fruit is amazing, we have even had, mangosteen, papaya and dragon fruit. As it is summer in Europe many delicious juicy stone fruit and berries.

 

The Dining Room, a good choice and variety, personally this is one meal I prefer not to be served.

 

Lunch: The Colonnade, everyday has great salads , a good buffet hot food selection including a roast. A classic menu anndat least three specials to order each day.

 

Dinner

 

The dining room : Although the choices on the menu seem to have been reduced, the quality of ingredients and high standard of the Executive Chef's team bring to your plate cuisine that is delicious. We found many dishes that surprised and delighted our taste buds from the menu with their perfect balance of tastes and blended seasoning.

 

The Colonnade: we have only attended the theme nights, French and Spanish both were very good.

 

Chef Kurt passed on much information regarding the cooking formulae during the Chef's Shopping tour in Palamos Spain. Much of the fresh ingredients for the menu's are bought in Port from local markets. Especially fish, cheese , fruit and vegetables.

 

Afternoon tea in the observation lounge is the usual Seabourn fare and choices of fine tea.

 

Tapas pre dinner in the Observation bar is a very nice change from the usual finger food.

 

The Observation bar on Encore is most relaxing and cosy and the music makes it a perfect place to be pre or post dinner.

 

Keller does not inspire us, there are dishes served occasionally in the dining room from his menu. We did try a few dishes but were very disappointed.

 

Housekeeping : the best yet in our three 20 day Seabourn Cruises on Legend, Odyssey and Encore

 

Intuative, delightful and a can do attitude from Stephanie is all you can ask for. We are easy to care for with ample storage everything is tucked away.

 

 

 

 

Sent from Samsung tablet.

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Apologies for the long prologue ab21au this being your thread. There have been many amazing highlights. I will pass on in shorter form. Just to say we are having a lovely warm sunny day today in pretty Ciutadella.

 

Please don't apologize you have filled in all the many gaps I didn't have time or was too lazy to type.

 

I agree re the suite, IMO it is much nicer than the O ships and the slightly narrower but longer suite does not bother us, in fact I prefer it. The units at the end of the bed are quite useful. There is so much storage in a suite that the unit at the end of the bed could remain empty and we still wouldn't fill the remaining storage.

 

The crew I have met on this ship have been all wonderful. At breakfast in the Colonnade, even though I think it is unnecessary to be carrying plates for me and I understand there are others who need this service, on this cruise I have had my plate carried by SB dining staff more than I could count. The staff, all round, are very attentive to what is going on around them, more than I have experienced before.

 

Our stewardess is invisible but highly efficient which is fine by us. She informed us if we needed anything to call housekeeping and they would let her know. This we have done a couple of times and things were attended to promptly. Very happy with that.

 

Early days for us, have not tried TK Grill or Sushi but are looking forward trying these over the next week.

 

ps. The coffee (and more) we have had from SB Square has been very good (and we love our coffee).

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The past 2 nights we have been to the shows by the SB singers, Cloe, Derek, Brian and Laura. The first show was on deck Classics Under the Stars and last night was the Sir Tim Rice. Both shows were fabulous and we will certainly be lining up for future shows involving the singers.

 

I wasn't expecting the sound on deck to be as good as it was, but they seem to have got that sorted as it was very good.

 

Classics Under the Stars on deck ...

35172027404_1cb641496f_b.jpg

 

An Evening with Sir Tim Rice ...

35210617473_3cf32266db_b.jpg

 

35210594613_b22e82972d_b.jpg

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