Encore, An Australian Autumn ex Sydney Return

Details

14 Night Cruise sailing from Sydney roundtrip aboard Seabourn Encore.

14 Night Cruise sailing from Sydney roundtrip aboard Seabourn Encore.

Seabourn has officially debuted Seabourn Encore. The new ship is as strikingly beautiful and as excitingly innovative as any Seabourn has ever debuted. It will crown a fleet that is already the newest, most modern and most acclaimed in the ultra-luxury segment. Modeled on the award-winning trio of ships introduced with Seabourn Odyssey in 2009, Seabourn Encore represents another welcome stage in the evolution of small-ship cruising, which Seabourn pioneered and has consistently expanded and enriched. An additional sister-ship, Seabourn Ovation, is scheduled for delivery in 2018. Both sisters will deliver a wealth of new concepts, a fresh vision and a host of illuminating ideas to delight the world’s most discerning travelers.

Highlights of this cruise:

Sydney
Sydney is a cosmopolitan, multicultural city surrounded by golden sand beaches, World Heritage areas, lush national parks and acclaimed wine regions. Sydney owes much of its splendor to its magnificent harbor. Arriving by ship provides an unequaled impression, showing off the city's famous landmarks: the dramatic white sails of the iconic Opera House and the celebrated Harbor Bridge, looming over the skyline.

Hobart
The city’s candid, friendly character today belies its history as a penal colony. It also enjoyed a heyday as a whaling center in the 1830s. Today the wharfside warehouses of Salamanca Place are filled with shops and restaurants, and the settlers’ cottages in battery park are lovingly restored by proud owners. Tasmania maintains a lot of agricultural heritage, and enjoys a slightly sedate pace of life. See the dazzling new Museum of Old and New Art, which opened in January of 2011.

Eden
This picturesque town near the border of New South Wales and Victoria was the site of a thriving shore-based whaling industry that depended on the cooperation of orcas, which herded baleen whales into Twofold Bay. Learn about it at the small but informative Killer Whale Museum. The Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre concentrates on smaller sea-life. Ben Boyd’s Tower looms over Disaster Bay in the scenic national park named after the eccentric 19th-century magnate. The town’s name is unrelated to the biblical garden. It was named for George Eden, first Earl of Auckland.

Kangaroo Island
Australia’s third-largest sea island, after Tasmania and Melville Island, is a haven for wildlife and a popular escape for nature-loving mainlanders from Adelaide and Melbourne. Seabourn Sojourn’s call will occur during the annual birthing season of the New Zealand sea lion and Australian fur seal colonies on the nearby beach conservation areas. Marine tours seek the playful porpoises and dolphins offshore, while land-based excursions visit preserves for koalas and wallabies, as well as the popular local wineries.

Phillip Island
Located southeast of Melbourne on the coast of Victoria state, Phillip Island is a favorite place for nature lovers. Aside from beaches, the island also offers The Nobbies, a rugged headland graced with boardwalks for viewing the Bass Strait waters, slopes where seabirds nest and, at Seal Rocks offshore, the largest breeding colony of Southern Fur Seals in Australia. Another daytime attraction is the Koala Conservation Centre, where visitors can view these amiable marsupials at tree-top level on a skywalk, or stroll the bush among wallabies, possums, echidnas and other wildlife. A highlight is the sunset “Parade of Penguins” when Little Penguins, the world’s smallest breed, waddle up from the sea to overnight in their nests among the dunes.