Seabourn Encore Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We chose this cruise as we had always wanted to see Australia and New Zealand and this seemed the ideal opportunity to do so on board the new Seabourn flagship, Encore.
The embarkation process was very efficient and first impressions of her were very positive. The public areas, the dining rooms and bars and the facilities on board looked great.
However, and this is a big one, there is NO guest laundry on board this ship. As we had arrived in Sydney 5 days prior to boarding, we had hoped to use this facility which is available on the Odyssey class vessels. As Silver Members, we had one free bag of laundry which was stuffed to the very limit. After that, it would be $50 for each full bag of laundry. Needless to say, we did not use this facility. I would not like to have been on board for any greater length of time.
Cabin Review
Veranda Suite
The suite was beautifully appointed and there were some innovative features such as low level lighting in the bathroom for use at night. The bathroom facilities were excellent although there did seem to be a cut-back on the provision of luxury toilet items, compared with previous cruises.
There was ample storage space for all of our clothes etc.Our suite stewardess was very helpful and attentive and nothing was too much trouble for her.
The catalogue states that you will be offered a choice of pillows bt our stewardess had to hunt high and low for orthopedic pillows despite this being requested prior to embarkation.
However, there is no longer the docking facility for your IPod which is available on the Odyssey class ships. Also, unless it was an open address from the bridge, you could not tune into bridge announcements on the tv as is possible on the other ships. To have to open your suite door to hear what is being said is not good enough!
Port Reviews
Melbourne
Excellent private tour with my wife and our driver.
Dunedin
Tour of the city and its environs and a tour of the coast.
Wellington
Excellent tour of the city with our guide Tim, my wife and myself.
Picton
A lovely little town easily accessible on foot and to independent exploration
Tauranga
Worthwhile to see but not in the same league as Iceland.
Sydney (Australia)
We had 4 days in Sydney prior to embarkation to explore the city independently.