Luxury Cruise Report

We’re intrigued by any cruise line that offers you the gift of forever being touched by the world, and SILVERSEA- with a breathtaking exotic array of global destinations–delivers on its promise, with memorable trips that include Africa and the Indian Ocean, Alaska and the Pacific, South America and the Amazon, and Northern Europe and the Baltic. The scenery is magnificent (featuring exclusive onshore cultural events); the staff, with a crew-to-guest ratio of nearly one to one, cannot do enough for you; and the cuisine is creative in ways small and large, be it afternoon canapes or Relais & Chateaux signature dishes. As for shipboard cultural highlights, SILVERSEA”s enrichment programming has lined up eminent schaolars and cultural experts for 2009. Our favorites include actor Christopher Cazenove (July 4 on Silver Cloud), whose many TV credits include Dynasty and Masterpiece Theatre; and stage, film and TV actor-director Terry Hughes (September 15 on Silver Wind). Hughes’ best behind-the-scenes anecdotes may touch on the many episodes he directed for The Golden Girls and 3rd Rock from the Sun. Looking ahead to 2010, SILVERSEA’s newest ultra-luxury ship, Silver Spirit, is slated to include John Cleese- yes, that John Cleese of Monty Python lore!- on the Buenos Aires to Santiago leg (Feb. 20) during its 91-day Grand Inaugural Voyage , departing Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 21 and ultimately reaching new York City.

OCEANIA

“Impeccable service comes naturally” courtesy of a staff that exudes a zest for pleasing others. It’s remembering the small details that make for a big impression,” as the brochure points out, such as adding a lemon twist to your favorite cocktail, or your propensity for a chilled hand towel while lying poolside. Everything aboard these intimate and luxurious ships spells style and sophistication, but it’s the “warm hospitality and impassioned service (that) are distinguishing traits” of the OCEANIA staffs. That being said, if you ask us to single out those can pamper to absolute perfection, we’d have to say- the butler did it! Specifically, the private butlers who care for guests in the Owner’s, Vista and Penthouse Suites.

Cunard’s impeccable White Star Service will make an intriguing east-west world voyage aboard the Queen Mary 2 starting January 2011, the fourth world cruise for the line’s flagship. Cunard’s 2011 world cruises — on the magnificent QM2 as well as the newer Queen Elizabeth — go on sale next week, and Cunard is offering some significant early-booking incentives.

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The new Queen Elizabeth will make her maiden world cruise for Cunard in 2011. Cunard’s 2011 world cruises — on the Queen Elizabeth as well as the flagship Queen Mary 2 — go on sale next week, and Cunard is offering some significant early-booking incentives.

For her first world voyage, Queen Elizabeth will offer a complete 103-day circumnavigation of the globe from her home port of Southampton, crossing the Atlantic en route to New York. U.S. and Canadian guests may choose to join the cruise in New York, Fort Lauderdale or – after the ship transits the Panama Canal - Los Angeles.

From the west coast, Queen Elizabeth will continue her westward journey to the ever-popular city of Sydney, where she will be docked overnight, and then the South Pacific and New Zealand. From there, it’s on to the exotic ports of Asia, including Singapore, Bali, Vietnam and Thailand as well as another overnight stay in Hong Kong. Then the ship sails on to Malaysia and India before calling on Dubai, also an overnight, followed by a visit to Oman for a Suez Canal transit. This will be followed by visits to the wonders and antiquities of Egypt, Greece, Italy and Portugal en-route back to Southampton. From Southampton, North American guests can rendezvous with the Queen Mary 2 and take in a legendary Transatlantic crossing to complete their personal circumnavigation of the globe.

Segment voyages of 12 to 25 days are also available if it seems too difficult spending more than three months living in luxury on a gleaming, new ocean liner. Of course, these segments can also be combined.

Eat, Drink & Explore

There’s an open-seating restaurant with gourmet, prepared-to-order cuisine created by celebrity chef Charlie Palmer, open bar throughout the ship and an ever-attentive (and then some) staff who know how to indulge your every whim. Even before you ask, they’ll likely as you first. Another glass of chilled champagne? Or if you’re feeling chilled, how about the gourmet hot chocolate? One of the special nights is a sumptuous barbecue dinner under the stars with live music and dancing. Be it there, the bistro-style Veranda Cafe’ or the Sky Bar Grill, wherever you dine, enjoy complimentary wines, spirits and French champagne from the House of Heidsieck.

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They are Queens for not only a day but many a memorable night—Queen Victoria (celebrating her first birthday),Queen Mary 2 and, coming in autumn 2010, Queen Elizabeth.
That “distinctive British heritage of service and hospitality” is part of the CUNARD mystique, whether it’s Afternoon Tea in the glorious Queens Room where white-gloved servers pour you a Wedgwood china cup full of steaming tea while a string quartet provides the perfect soundtrack or regal meals—may we recommend in particular the spectacular Mediterranean cuisine created by Boston’s renowned chef Todd English—in stately dining rooms. The entertainment is varied and unfailingly classy, exemplified by Transatlantic Crossing that featured two performances from James Taylor. The very first world cruise was on a CUNARD liner, the Laconia, nearly a century ago, and this is “the new golden age of ocean travel” for this famed line.

Booking directly with a cruise line can sometimes be enough to send out a distress signal; it’s a time-consuming process with a maddening lack of what really matters in luxury cruising–personalized attention. The iconic CUNARD, however, showers you with unrivaled help and priceless information even before you take a step aboard their spectacular vessels by assigning a Cruise Vacation Planner “to provide personalized assistance with travel plans.” Yes, yes, we know, some other lines have a similar service, but the regal concierge-like help offered by enthusiastic personnel for CUNARD’s self-described (and well-earned) “most famous ocean liners in the world” make you feel like the most important vacation cruiser in the world.

World cruises, once thought of as being beyond the reach of ordinary people, are becoming a lifestyle for a select group of savvy travelers who realize they can cruise the world for less than it would cost them to buy and maintain a second home.

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Windstar already provides a luxury cruise vacation that is at least partially organic, if you consider the wind power that fills the ships’ sails organic. Now, Windstar has a spa partner providing certified-organic products and treatments.

OnboardSpa Co. is a new partner with Windstar Cruises, providing a full menu of products and services through the spas, salons and fitness centers aboard the Windstar ships.

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The debut of the Seabourn Odyssey, the first of three new ships rolling out over the next two years for the Yachts of Seabourn, is just a few weeks away, and as with any debut of a new ship, we are eager see and learn more about what promises to be a gorgeous addition to the luxury market.

I’ll be on board a July 25-August 1 sailing, so please mark your calenders to visit this space then.

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