Sarah Brightman Named Godmother of Seabourn Encore

International recording artist and world's best-selling soprano, Sarah Brightman, will do honors as godmother of Seabourn's newest vessel, the intimate, all-suite Seabourn Encore, when the ship is named at the port of Singapore in January this year. Brightman will preside over a glittering evening ceremony and all-around festive occasion, attended by guests and crew departing on a 10-day maiden voyage bound for Indonesia.

"Sarah Brightman embodies the style and sophistication, the talent and innovation, the playfulness and inviting warmth that create the unique atmosphere guests enjoy on board every Seabourn vessel," said Richard Meadows, president of Seabourn. "We're so grateful to have her officially name Seabourn Encore."

Brightman launched her career with the British dance troupe Hot Gossip in the late 1970s. In 1981, she made her West End musical theatre debut in Cats, and went on to star in several West End and Broadway musicals, including originating the role of Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera. Brightman furthered her musical career as a classical crossover artist, a genre she is often credited with creating and has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Her 1996 duet with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli on "Time to Say Goodbye" became an international sensation and one of the best-selling singles of all time.

Brightman is the first artist to have been invited twice to perform the theme song at the Olympic Games: first at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where she sang "Amigos Para Siempre" with Spanish tenor José Carreras; and second at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, performing "You and Me" with Chinese singer Liu Huan. In 2012, Brightman accepted the UNESCO nomination for Artist for Peace, honoring her "commitment to humanitarian and charitable causes."

Seabourn Encore is the fourth of five luxury ships that will eventually be part of the Seabourn fleet. The next, Seabourn Ovation, will join the fleet in spring 2018. Seabourn Encore is ushering in a new ultra-luxury style for Seabourn, with modern interior design elements by hospitality icon Adam D. Tihany. 

Actor and Philanthropist Leonardo DiCaprio to Open Eco-resort in Belize

Actor extraordinaire and star of The Revenant and Wolf of Wall Street, Leonardo DiCaprio recently announced the construction of a luxury eco-resort on Blackadore Caye, an unpopulated, private 104-acre Belizean island. Purchased in 2005 for $1.75 million, the property is scheduled to open in 2018. The resort will have villas over the water, artificial reefs with fish shelters and a nursery growing marine grass.

“It was like heaven on earth,” DiCaprio told the New York Times of his visit to the island in 2005. “And almost immediately, I found this opportunity to purchase an island there.”

The 42-year-old DiCaprio plans to rehabilitate the area, which has been over-fished and suffers from sand erosion. He is working with the New York City developers Delos to build 68 resort villas and 48 private houses. It’s believed that the private houses will cost between $5 million and $15 million each.

As an environmental crusader, DiCaprio has shown himself to be quite the philanthropist and his goal is to improve the ecosystem of the entire island. His Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation is dedicated to the long-term health and well-being of all Earth’s inhabitants. Through collaborative partnerships that support innovative projects that protect vulnerable wildlife from extinction, while restoring balance to threatened ecosystems. His 2016 documentary, Before the Flood, presents a riveting account of the dramatic changes now occurring around the world due to climate change, as well as the actions we as individuals and as a society can take to prevent catastrophic disruption of life on our planet.