‘A BUTLER? Yes, please!’
Karen Swayne lives a life of luxury on one of Regent Seven Seas Cruises ‘six-star’ ships
I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have someone anticipate my every waking need. To come home to find my bedroom magically cleaned and tidied; clothes washed, pressed and ready to wear. Well, a Regent cruise is as close as I’ve ever come to finding that nirvana, helped by our suite attendant Victor, a discreet, smiling presence who appears like a genie each time we leave to see if there’s anything else we need (we don’t). Oh, and he takes and returns all our laundry to be washed and ironed for free.
Boarding Seven Seas Splendor with my twentysomething son, the signs are good from the start. Spotting the bottle of Champagne chilling as we enter our suite, his eyes light up. ‘Shall we save it for lat…?’ I start to say, as the cork flies past my ear.
For my part, discovering the bathroom has two marble sinks (a long-held fantasy), shelves full of delicious-smelling L’occitane and Guerlain toiletries and a walk-in closet is equally thrilling. Our room, like all those on board, has its own private balcony, and as I sink on to the lounger to sip bubbly and watch the calming roll of the waves, I feel myself starting to unwind.
While it’s a cliché to say that a luxury cruise is like staying in a high-end floating hotel, three-year-old Splendor takes it up a notch. With a multi-million-pound art collection, more than 500 crystal chandeliers and over an acre of Italian marble, the elegant decor is stunning.
There’s also plenty of pampering to be had at the Serene Spa; as tranquil a spot as the name suggests. I book in for a 75-minute deep tissue massage (around £182), which eases the kinks out and leaves me feeling energised yet Zen – quite an achievement! My fitness-loving son becomes obsessed by the well-equipped gym, and with fewer than 750 guests per voyage, we tend to have these wellness spaces to ourselves. With almost as many crew, and a staff-to-guest ration of 1:1.35, you get highly personalised service from everyone, not just Victor.
The joy of a more compact ship is that it’s easier to find your way around (I’ve been on cruises where I was still getting lost on the last day!), and we soon find our go-to sunset cocktail spot – the Observation Lounge. Deciding where to eat is more challenging as, with seven restaurants, we’re spoilt for choice.
Star of the show is the pan-asian speciality restaurant Pacific Rim, with its dramatic giant metal dragon entrance. I could have dined on its delicious duck spring rolls and melt-in-themouth sashimi every day. After-dinner entertainment in the theatre – including a fun Broadway-style show, Divos And Divas – turns out to be better than I expected, too. We’d joined the Golden Circle Expedition cruise, taking us through the Baltic Sea, and when rough seas stop us docking, it turns into quite the old-fashioned holiday, with guests and crew bonding over lots of quizzes and parlour games.
Free unlimited shore excursions are available in every port and our favourite was in Klaipeda, Lithuania, where we spend a morning cycling through a pine forest on electric bikes.
But really, the ship was what made this holiday so unforgettable. My favourite spot was the Art Deco-inspired dark wood library. Curled up in a chair reading by the window became my happy place, and a memory to treasure when I returned home and realised that Victor was no longer around.