Seabourn’s luxury cruising experience puts an emphasis on personalized service, extraordinary experiences at sea and on land, and—in the words of famed Seabourn Ovation designer Adam Tihany—"design, design, design." So when it came time to envision how Seabourn’s newest ship, the Seabourn Ovation (sister ship to the Seabourn Encore) would look and feel, Tihany knew the ship had to be extraordinary. Launching in May 2018, we were among the first on board the newly-minted ship to get an insider’s look at what makes the Seabourn Ovation an ultra-luxury cruising experience.
The Differences Between Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation
While the Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation are near replicas, there are some slight differences that add more capacity in the ship’s most popular areas. The most notable change is Ovation’s Club Bar, which now features a more traditional bar setting than Seabourn Encore’s less-favored discreet bar. The atmospheric bar at The Grill by Thomas Keller (the cocktails, designed by celebrity mixologist Brian Van Flandern, are the best on the ship) is larger on the Ovation, as is the art collection—with more than 1,600 pieces by nearly 120 artists (curated by ArtLink), Ovation has nearly double that of the Encore (which has 974 pieces by 36 artists). The art on the ship surprises and enchants, with even the most remote halls adorned with intriguing photos and prints.