Finding your cruise...
Setting sail for a Caribbean adventure
To be on the deck of a cruise ship at sunrise is always a memorable occasion. What makes it an unforgettable experience is when, for those precious few minutes, the early sun paints the sails on the ship with a marvellous orange light and you lean over the bow watching the dolphins riding the wave.
The spirit of luxury
In the last 30 years, a new concept in cruising has been conceived: all-suite, all-inclusive, intimate ships carrying a relatively small number of passengers whose tastes are simple; they simply desire the best. First came the Sea Goddess duo of boutique ships that catered to the champagne and caviar set. These were followed in the
SEA-GOING JOIE DE VIVRE
Amongst the charivari of billionaire yachts in the impossibly scenic vieux port of Nice, three tall masts reigned supreme. These belonged to the ultra-sleek motor-yacht Le Ponant. And, whilst I was not a guest of an oligarch aboard the ostentatious, bling-brimming gin palaces, I climbed aboard this incredibly stylish yacht of Compagnie du Ponant with
PRINCE OF THE WILD FRONTIER
The destination for my expedition cruise wasn’t somewhere over the rainbow, but it may as well have been. As I flew towards my destination in Greenland, named by Eric the Red, I looked down on a continuum of white ice-cap that covers the vast majority of this, the birthplace of icebergs. To enhance this chromatic
BACK ON THE HIGH SEAS, SWAN STYLE
Fierce loyalty is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to discussing Swan Hellenic passengers, past and present. On a recent Swan cruise from Dover, fully 75 per cent were repeat passengers. And, after five Swan cruises myself on three different ships, I am right in the midst of the fray. Swan Hellenic
THE EQUINOX EFFECT
The current ‘must have’ for any major fashion label is without doubt an ‘it’ hotel. Ralph Lauren, Bvlgari, Missoni, Christian Lacroix and Versace now all have interior-designed hotels. Last year, a cruise ship appeared on the horizon boasting interiors that could easily have been conceived by the most en vogue of fashion-led designers. Less Art
MS DEUTSCHLAND IN GREENWICH
An extremely hot day in June saw the arrival in Greenwich, London, of the Peter Deilmann-operated MS Deutschland on the London leg of a tour around the British Isles. Its passengers were predominately from the ship’s home country of Germany and the majority had gone ashore for day visits that included shopping in London, tea
SEABOURN’S GAME-CHANGER
The inimitable setting of Venice played host to the christening of the first ultra-luxury vessel to debut in six years. In a break with tradition, all 450 inaugural passengers acted as godparents at a masked-ball celebration one evening in late June. It was a truly glittering affair held on board as Seabourn Odyssey was alongside
THE OCEANIA WAY
Not all cruises are holidays; some can be a penance, with their balloon-bursting competitions, their theme-nights with the idiosyncratic baked Alaska parade, their double sittings for dinner and their nightclubs dizzy with strobe lighting. They resemble a glitzy holiday camp, but with no prospect of escape. Fortunately for more fastidious voyagers, Oceania Cruises defy the
One HAL of a cruise
Sheltered gently within the Alexander Archipelago’s thousand-plus islands, Alaska’s Inside Passage is a cloistered haven of extreme beauty, punctuated by steep mountainous terrain, ice-blue glaciers and slick dorsal fins rising from its frigid waters, slipping silently away in their timeless, arching journey. Traversing 500 miles along Alaska’s southeastern coastline from Ketchikan to Skagway, the Inside
Expert guide to classic cruise holidays
With increasingly larger ships being introduced, many seasoned travellers are seeking a more traditional cruise experience aboard smaller ships. Not only do these carry fewer passengers, the whole cruise is more laid-back and less frenetic than the mega-ships. However, these vessels tend to be older and, with the introduction of new Safety of Life at
Small is beautiful
In my cruise travels, I frequently meet seasoned cruise aficionados who express the opinion they prefer smaller vessels, which offer more intimate cruise experiences. They claim to be turned off by the giant ships with thousands of passengers. Bigger may be better for some, but certainly not for everyone. Smaller vessels come in many shapes
The wind in your sail’s
“Nine months of anticipation and three months of disappointment,” is how our tourist guide, Galina, described St Petersburg’s weather, her nature far sunnier than the grey, gloomy skies which loomed overhead. When the sun did manage to peep through, the majestic city’s grand golden palaces and ornate onion-domed churches sparkled as brightly as bejewelled guests
The Ruby Evolution
There is always something grand and stirring about the introduction of a new ship, no matter if we think we’ve seen it all before and it is just the latest in a sequence of similar vessels. The ship in this instance, the Ruby Princess, is the latest evolutionary step from Princess Cruises, which began back
The buzz about Balmoral
As seasoned cruise travellers, we still get a buzz from trying out new ships and this summer we decided to take a family cruise to the Norwegian fjords on Balmoral – the fifth ship to join Fred.Olsen’s expanding fleet. Named in honour of the Scottish Royal estate, the vessel was originally built in 1973 as
A perfect 10 for Deutschland
Even for someone not especially attuned to classical music, it was a thrilling moment to hear the legendary Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra strike up the national anthems of Britain, Germany and the USA as Peter Deilmann’s flagship MS Deutschland swung smartly clear of her pier and stood proudly out for an unfeasibly warm mid-September Hamburg departure.
The rise and rise of MSC
December will mark a major step forward in the amazing growth story of MSC with the arrival of the fabulous new MSC Fantasia. The 133,500-ton ship will be far the largest in the fleet and, for the first time, will give this ambitious Italian company a bigger vessel than close rival Costa Cruises. It promises
A lagoon with a view
Carol Wright gets a real taste of La Dolce Vita with a cruise around the vibrant Venice Lagoon Venice once dominated the sea and is still fragilely poised on water, so the best way to see her – and to avoid the summer crowds – is to tour the Lagoon and Brenta river by small
SIlversea’s Baltic bliss
There is something particularly comforting in returning to a warm, well run ship. That thought ran quickly through my mind as I stared up at the elegant flank of the Silver Shadow as she lay alongside Copenhagen’s cruise terminal in late July. Though the sky was ominous and studded with gathering clouds, the welcome on
Unusual themed cruises
It used to be the case that your ‘themed’ activities at sea consisted of bridge classes, dance lessons and, occasionally, a semi-educational lecture or two. But the general demand for more interactive and experience-based holidays is now firmly a part of the cruise world, too. Instead of bridge, try painting; rather than going dancing, why