Seabourn Encore Opens 2026 Alaska Season With Vancouver Debut

Seabourn Encore made its maiden call in Vancouver on May 14, opening Seabourn’s 2026 Alaska season and beginning the ship’s first deployment in the region. Seattle-based Seabourn plans 17 voyages between Vancouver and Juneau, with itineraries ranging from seven to 14 days.

The deployment brings the 2016-built, 40,350-ton ship into Seabourn’s Alaska program, adding a 600-guest vessel to a season built around expedition-led shore options and a new Alaska-focused food and beverage program.

Vancouver-Juneau voyages add expedition programming

“The arrival of Seabourn Encore in Alaska is an important milestone for Seabourn,” said Mark Tamis, president of Seabourn. “The ship is exceptionally well suited for this destination with her size and design.”

An onboard Expedition Team of naturalists, historians and wilderness specialists will deliver lectures during the season. Guests also can book optional Ventures by Seabourn excursions, the line’s expedition-style program introduced in 2013 for select cruises, with activities such as Zodiac rides, kayaking and hiking led by specialist staff or contractors.

Seabourn said the 2026 Alaska sailings can be combined into longer 14- or 15-day voyages.

Alaska menus extend the onboard program

Seabourn is also using Encore’s first Alaska season to introduce a regionally inspired culinary program across The Restaurant and The Colonnade. The line said the menus use locally sourced seafood and foraged ingredients, with Alaska king crab, salmon, halibut, black cod, mushrooms and regional beverages among the featured items.

“Seabourn Encore’s Alaska season gave us the opportunity to bring the destination into focus in a more intentional way,” Tamis said. He said the program is intended to reflect the region “from the first evening onboard through the final days of the voyage.”

At The Colonnade, the program includes a Surf & Sear Sailaway dinner on the first night of voyages departing Vancouver or Juneau, an Alaskan Seafood Boil built around King crab legs, salmon, mussels, scallops and shrimp, and a Fisherman’s Table timed on select itineraries near Sitka and Misty Fjords. The venue will also offer an Alaska version of Earth & Ocean on two evenings per voyage.

The Restaurant’s Alaska offerings include a Midnight Sun Dinner with dishes such as Alaska King Crab Salad, olive oil-poached black cod and Baked Alaska, along with an Alaskan brunch once per cruise and an Alaskan fish-and-chips lunch paired with local beers. The beverage program includes five specialty cocktails for the season, with Glacier & Fir and Inside Passage Punch using Alaska glacial ice.

The season is scheduled to continue through September.