Seabourn Encore Review

5.0 / 5.0
138 reviews

Marvelous cruise all around: Athens to Istanbul to Athens

Review for the Mediterranean Cruise on Seabourn Encore
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EmptyNesting
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Additional details

Sail Date: May 2022
Cabin: Veranda Suite

It was so nice to be back on board a ship and sailing once more. The Encore was nearly spotless, so the 2 year Covid lay up allowed for maintenance and it showed with a sparkling appearance. With fewer than 250 guests both weeks and more than 400 crew, shall we say we were pampered like never before? The dining venues were competing for our patronage! And the food was excellent and varied in all venues (we did not check out the sushi bar however). The entertainers were very good for a ship of this size. We were able to dance before and after dinner, a key highlight for our cruising adventures. The magician was excellent and the comedian was old school and hilarious, unless one was looking to be offended. The cabin hosts were exceptional and were looking out for us at every turn. One even shared her personal supply of SPF 50 samples when my wife grumbled about what we brought. How thoughtful and unselfish.

Once the passenger numbers go up (we were told by July the ship will be full), the ratios will probably not allow the exceptional, over-the-top service we experienced. Seabourn has always provided excellent service, this trip was even better.

For those of you wondering about covid testing, it happened before we got on the ship (comfortable port side station in Athens), was repeated before the transition day (we were on back to back 1 week cruises) and then the day before departure so we could fly back to the states with a test result. Well organized and efficient. We may have had other things to say if either of us had tested positive.

Cabin Review

Veranda Suite

Sparkling clean and outstanding cabin attendants. Fruit provided routinely and they even did a couple towel animals when we commented on how we missed them. Great job Rosie and Andrea!

Port Reviews

Istanbul

First time there and the major sites did not measure up to the hype. The rug factory tour is just high pressure sales.

Kusadasi

Ephesus is a must and the evening concert was special. The only down side was the rug factory tour and high pressure sales. This seems to be standard with such tours in Turkey and very annoying.

Mykonos

Went to Delos and found it fascinating. Too much time waiting for the ferry to Delos.

Patmos

Did this one on our own. Nice little port town.

Skiathos

Another nice little port town we did on our own.

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