Good afternoon from Doha, Qatar. We’ve been on board the beautiful Seabourn Encore for a little over 24 hours as I type to you. We landed in Doha this morning around 8:00 AM and will be setting sail at about 5:00 PM and tomorrow will be our first (of nine) sea day(s). More about Doha in my next blog entry but, first, I thought I’d show you the ship.

Embarkation yesterday was easy as pie. Seabourn had provided us with a private transfer from our hotel in Dubai to the dock. Due to a little scheduling snafu, our car and driver showed up about 45 minutes early! Good think we were ready to rumble, so we just got on the road a bit earlier.

AAC, CPA about to embark Encore

Within 15 minutes of arriving at the pier to check-in, we were aboard. There was something akin to a receiving line at the gangplank – lots of Seabourn crew, introducing themselves and welcoming us aboard. It was extremely nice.

We were onboard at about 12:45 PM and were told that our cabin would, most likely, not be ready until around 2:00 PM, but that we were invited to visit the Colonnade for a lunch buffet.

A little ship tip: we’re often told that the cabin isn’t ready, although many times it is! Because we were carrying valuables and wanted to get them into our safe, we decided to take a look-see. Wouldn’t you know: the cabin was, indeed, awaiting us. However, we walked in on an Australian couple, traipsing about and taking pictures of our suite. We caught them red-handed, which was pretty hilarious. They told us that there were just having a look around, as they wanted to see what the suite was like. That was fine by us, and they made a quick exit, embarrassed by their pluck. We loaded up the safe, dropped off our carry-ons, and made a hasty retreat.

Funnily enough, as we were leaving our cabin, we ran into our stewardess, Simone, introduced ourselves, and warned her not to be alarmed, should she find our stuff in our closet. She took it all in stride.

On the way to the Colonnade, we made a stop at Seabourn Square, the central hub of the ship that provides, reception, concierge, computer and excursion services, as well as a barista and light snacks, pastries and gelato service.

We met with William, as we wanted to get our wi-fi accounts up and running. Then we wanted to see if we could make additional reservations at the Thomas Keller Grill, the only dining venue on the ship that requires advance planning. (Actually, the Colonnade has “special nights” that require reservations, too, but that’s another story.) Done and done and with a smile, if you please.

Then we really did make our way to the Colonnade, aft on deck 9 for some lunch. It was a lovely setup with lots of delicious food and sommeliers wondering around pouring complimentary wine and champagne, if you were in the mood to imbibe.

By the time we finished eating, our cabin was “officially” ready. Our luggage had been delivered so we got settled in. We’re lucky that our cabin has a walk-in closet with plenty of storage, as well as additional nooks and crannies in the living room.

I know what you’re really interested in is our cabin, right?

Take a gander and tell me what you think:

Entry to our cabin

The living room

Dining area

Bar setup

Bedroom

Master bath (with jacuzzi, separate WC and walk-in shower)

Walk-in closet

AAC, CPA on our wraparound terrace. It’s so big!

More terrace!

So that’s our home away from home for the 19-day cruise. Nice, right?

Once we were unpacked and had changed out of our traveling clothes, it was time to go exploring. In a word, the ship is gorgeous. Designer Adam Tihany’s concept is that Encore should feel more like a yacht than a passenger ship. And that’s how it feels. Nothing is too large but feels intimate and just right – inevitable, in fact.

Check it out for yourselves:

The famed atrium – extending 6 or 7 decks

Seabourn Square – aft on Deck 7; gelato a-go-go

The Restaurant (main dining venue), aft on Deck 4

Another view of The Restaurant

The card room (for duplicate bridge on sea days)

Thomas Keller Grill – by reservation only – aft on Deck 8

AAC, CPA checking out the bar at Thomas Keller Grill – see and be seen!

The Retreat – rent a private cabaña for the day ($349!!)

So that’ll give you a bit of an idea about Encore. Our sailaway was scheduled for about 5:00 PM, so we came back to the cabin and hung out on our immense terrace. Just when the ship started to move, we popped the cork on our complimentary bottle of champagne and toasted the voyage and each other.

AAC, CPA is ready to go sailing

We’re moving now with the sun reflected in our cabin window

As we sailed out to open sea, we passed by an important piece of maritime history. Following its illustrious career as one of the last true ocean liners, Cunard’s QE2 was sold, in 2007, to an investment company in Dubai, whose plan it was to convert the famed liner into a floating hotel. Alas, the plan was never realized. Due to the 2008 financial crisis, and a string of bad luck, the liner sits in disrepair in Port Rashid. We snapped this photo as we passed by her while Encore sailed out to sea. In my opinion, the captain should have sounded the ship’s whistle as a sign of respect to a former beauty.

 
A former beauty, QE2, destined to sit abandoned in Port Rashid

Oh well, on to happier thoughts.

As we passed into open waters, we sailed into another glorious sunset.

They certainly have amazing sunsets in this part of the world

More tomorrow, when I’ll tell you about our 1st dinner aboard and the short visit we made today in Doha Qatar.