SAIL IN GRAND STYLE!
Money no object? Here’s our pick of the world’s most luxurious cruises — and you could win one with next Saturday’s Mail
BEST FOR FAMILIES
SChOOL summer holidays are prime time for Alaska. Besides the children having on-board fun, there’s educational merit, too, from awe-inspiring natural sights (glaciers, whales, bears, bald eagles, seals) and historic towns (Skagway, gateway for the Klondike gold rushers; Sitka, the former capital of Russian America).
Crystal Serenity is a luxury cruise line geared up for children, with banded clubs (three to seven, eight to 12 and 13 to 17) offering activities from cookie baking to water polo, and twister to late-night pool parties for teens.
TOP TIP: Learn how to gold pan in Last Chance Basin, Alaska.
DETAILS: On Crystal Serenity’s ten-day Alaskan cruise, which begins and ends in Vancouver, parents can roost in a penthouse suite (£6,391pp) while their offspring inhabit an interconnecting stateroom (£4,512 pp), making a total for the cruise (drinks and gratuities included, flights extra) of £21,806 (020 7399 7601, crystalcruises.co.uk).
BEST FOR BEACHES
In WInteR, the Caribbean is hard to beat for sun, sea and powdery sand.
If you don’t know which island to visit (don’t worry, Columbus recorded the same dilemma in his ship’s log), go to several.
Seven Seas navigator is one of the most elegant ships hopping around the region with a passenger-to-crew ratio akin to upstairs Downstairs at Downton Abbey.
You could, for example, sail from Miami on December 27 and spend warm, balmy days in the turks & Caicos Islands, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, Gustavia, St Barts, tortola in the British Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic and nassau. TOP TIP: Brush up on your gambling skills at the ship’s casino in time for your arrival at Atlantis in the Bahamas. DETAILS: ten nights in a master suite, including shore excursions and gratuities, costs £11,289pp with Regent Seven Seas (02380 682280, rssc.com).
BEST FOR CULTURE LOVERS
On A river cruise, the water’s always calm, there’s scenery on both beams and sightseeing is the big draw. As well as europe’s major arteries (the Danube, Rhine, Rhone, Seine and elbe), rivers can help you explore exotic corners of the globe.
One of the most magical journeys is along the Burmese Irrawaddy aboard Belmond’s (ex-Orient express) newest luxury river boat Orcaella, cruising from Yangon for a week through jungle-clad gorges and the 3,000 temple ruins spread across the great plain of Bagan, with nights ashore in Mandalay, Yangon and beside Inle Lake. TOP TIP: Pack a copy of George Orwell’s Burmese Days. Pith helmet optional. DETAILS: Ampersand travel’s (020 7818 9770, ampersandtravel. com) 15-day itinerary costs from £6,175pp based on state cabin occupancy on board Orcaella, including flights and some meals.
BEST FOR FOODIES
‘DeLICIOuS Diversity’ is the promise from hapag Lloyd’s europa 2, a claim backed up by seven different onboard restaurants including a French brasserie, Japanese sushi, an Italian trattoria and Asian with Chinese and Indian dishes.
As to the quality of the eats, it’s as high as you’d expect from a ship that’s officially ranked the very best in the world.
Caviar anyone? Well, that’s included, too. TOP TIP: Book a place on europa’s Miele cookery school. DETAILS: europa 2’s 21-day Fire and Ice cruise (the ‘ice’ referring to stops in Iceland and the west coast of Greenland; the ‘fire’ being the glorious autumn colours of nova Scotia and Quebec) starts in hamburg on August 28 and finishes in Montreal. A classy penthouse suite costs £16,700 pp, flights are extra (0800 0513 829, hlcruises.com).
BEST FOR ADVENTURERS
In OuR winter, head south to Antarctica, the great white continent (the one with the penguins, plus seals and whales, icebergs and glaciers).
Quark expeditions operates a choice of cruises aboard three different expedition ships, each with a hull strengthened to elbow aside the pack ice and equipped with Zodiacs for nipping ashore.
the top of the range expedition includes flights across Drake Passage, and visits the Falklands and South Georgia. TOP TIP: Join the cross-country ski expedition (£378) and glide across Antarctica’s pristine snow. Or sign up for one or more of the optional activities including kayaking and hot air ballooning. DETAILS: 17 days costs £13,400 pp (shorter cruises from £4,000), excluding flights, with Quark expeditions (0203 514 2712, quarkexpeditions.com).
BEST FOR ROMANCE
WIth their pearl white beaches, thick matting of vegetation and seas in every shade of blue from pale peppermint to deepest indigo, the South Sea islands come closest to our dreams of tropical paradise.
Follow in the wake of painter Paul Gauguin by cruising French Polynesia on a ten-night voyage aboard the Paul Gauguin to the
Marquesas, Tuamotus and the wonderfully named Society Islands of French Polynesia. TOP TIP: Couples can enjoy a Polynesian blessing ceremony, where they are wrapped in a ceremonial blanket, crowned with a wreath of tiare (orchid) and serenaded with a Tahitian love song. DETAILS: From around £10,500pp for a top cabin, departing April 15, including flights from LA and a night in the city, drinks and gratuities (020 7399 7691, pgcruises.com).
BEST FOR WANNABE OLIGARCHS
WHY pick a region when the world can be your oyster? Step aboard Silversea’s 2016 World Cruise, a 115-day voyage on Silver Whisper, a luxurious boutique hotel that just happens to be a ship once chartered by President Putin.
It will be casting off from Fort Lauderdale in Florida on January 5 and will visit 31 countries in South America, Australasia, Asia, the Middle East and along the shores
of the Mediterranean before a final stop in Venice. TOP TIP: Hit the gym or after Silversea’s hard-to-resist culinary indulgences, they might have to crane you off in Venice. DETAILS: Push the boat out and book the owner’s suite, more like a swanky apartment, at £114,850pp, fully inclusive except for flights. Or slum it in a humbler roost at £37,950. Flights extra (0844 251 0837, silversea.com).
BEST FOR WILDLIFE
THE Galapagos, Darwin’s ‘living laboratory’, ranks high on most people’s bucket list.
Since the wildlife, free from fear and inhibitions, varies between islands, a cruise is the obvious approach. But as you’re going all that way, it’s worth routing via Peru and visiting such iconic sites as Machu Picchu and Cusco.
On Journey Latin America’s luxury two-week private tour you’ll stay in the finest hotels in Peru before joining the MV Eclipse, one of the top of the range boats operating in the Galapagos, with expert guides among the crew. TOP TIP: Look out for the endangered Galapagos hawk — there are only 200 pairs left of the islands’ top predator. DETAILS: The 15-day trip excluding flights but with full board on the Eclipse starts at £7,154 pp (020 8747 8315, journeylatinamerica.co.uk).
BEST FOR ESCAPISTS
YOu won’t see all the 17,000 islands that make up Indonesia, but edited highlights aboard Tiger Blue, depending on your itinerary, could include Komodo and its resident dragons, the Spice Islands of Banda and West Papua, home to countless birds of paradise.
The boat, a 111 ft traditional teak yacht with red sails, sleeps up to 12 plus two children.
Diving with manta rays, kayaking over coral gardens and bonfires on the beach under the constellations are all possible. TOP TIP: Consider becoming a certified diver before the trip. DETAILS: A private charter of Tiger Blue costs £65,000 for 12 nights, including flights for eight people via Bali, where you spend a night before and after the cruise, and meals, drinks, laundry and activities on board, with The ultimate Travel Company (020 3051 8098, the ultimatetravelcompany.co.uk).