The Golden Age of Cruising
The world of ocean travel has never been more buoyant. Here’s how to pick the perfect trip, and experience the romance of the seas in authentic luxury.
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The exhausted cliché is that cruises are full of nauseating honeymooners taking selfies against a never-changing sea, and silver-haired couples with cashmere sweaters casually tied around their shoulders smugly clinking champagne glasses against a dazzling sunset.
According to the international Cruise Lines Industry Association, an estimated 36 million passengers will embark on cruises in 2024—and, of course, not all of them fit the time-worn stereotype. Some people love it so much they go multiple times; 85 percent of passengers who have cruised would do so again.
The industry will tell you there’s a cruise for every kind of person. And to a large degree, that’s true, unless you’re phobic about water or hate dining with strangers. Cruises can effectively be divided into four camps: mass-market, luxury, ultra-luxury, and meh. A voyage might be a family adventure on Royal Caribbean’s newly launched Icon of the Seas, which carries 7,600 passengers and looks like someone has sawn off a funfair from land and set it free on the ocean. Or it might be a week-long sail on Satori, a hand-crafted solid-mahogany-and-teak schooner with private chef and spa therapist on board that you’ve chartered with nine friends on a jaunt down the coast of Tuscany.
Somewhere in between there are over 300 ships and thousands of itineraries to choose from each year, sailing to every corner of the globe, with expedition cruises to the extremities—the North Pole and Antarctica—being the hot ticket right now.
You can cruise through the fjords of Norway and view the northern lights from Hurtigruten’s MS Roald Amundsen, watching the ice melt and crumble, knowing there most certainly won’t be the same amount next time you meander by. Or you can hop around the Mediterranean or down the Adriatic on Silversea’s Silver Ray, never without a finely crafted, locally inspired cocktail swooshing in your hand.
Then there are the river ships, which offer a slower kind of cruise, usually with fewer passengers. If you’re thinking of embarking on one of those this year, beware that many itineraries are elastic with the use of the word “luxury”.
Important stuff to know…
Small is beautiful. Ships carrying less than 1,000 or so passengers tread more lightly on destinations, not disgorging so many people onto the streets at once. There’s an emphasis on small-group land tours and travelling individually. Expedition ships have even fewer passengers and a higher price point. Cunard is the exception, as its 2,000-plus passenger ships have an upper class, the Princess or Queen’s Grills, with larger suites, dedicated butler service and exclusive use of facilities, isolating you from the guests downstairs.
Listen to the experts. On the superior cruises, expect talks and enrichment lectures from a range of interesting sorts (famous writers, respected journalists, esteemed historians etc), and performances by accomplished musicians. Silversea is particularly good at this. On its Silver Shadow vessel many years ago, I bonded with a group of Hollywood actors and writers who had been invited on board to give lectures —we ignored the shore excursions and hit the South American bars together.
Upskill while you chill. Perhaps you’d like to learn Italian or the finer points of wine appreciation?
Even the smallest cruise ships have a daily program of activities, the best of them stimulating, inventive and unforgettable. The smaller the ship, the more intimate and tailored the experience. Who knew that Estonia had a champion salmon-smoker who looked like a jolly gnome? I do now —I met him last year on a culinary excursion with the chef from Regent’s Seven Seas Splendor. And his smoky smoked salmon was the best I’d ever tasted.
Menus are stellar. The world’s top chefs oversee some very fine restaurants, such as The Grill by Michelin-starred chef Thomas Keller on Seabourn, or Umi Uma by Nobu Matsuhisa on Crystal Cruises’ Serenity and Symphony. And there’s no six-week wait for a table, as on land. Elsewhere, foodies praise Oceania Cruises for its cuisine, so you might think about a voyage on Oceania Vista, which has 12 dining options and a cooking school.
Everyone’s going wild. Most cruise lines do expedition sailings now, but some are just more immersed in the destination. For polar regions and other remote destinations, Aurora Expeditions, Lindblad Expeditions and 130-year-old Hurtigruten Expeditions have been doing this for a very long time—great if you like science-based and environmentally sensitive voyages. That said, for ultra- luxury it’s hard to beat Ponant’s PC2 Polar Class Le Commandant Charcot, built with new technology that allows it to go deeper into the polar regions. Done out in swank polar white, it features an Alain Ducasse restaurant and thermal baths.
It’s not all smooth sailing. Cruising under sail can be thrilling and there are some beautiful yachts at sea now. Ponant’s original vessel, Le Ponant, is a 32-passenger schooner interior-designed in nautical French chic—the first sailing ship to be granted the Relais & Châteaux label—that can be hailed in the Caribbean or Mediterranean. Last year, I sailed on it through the Kimberley with 10 passengers and 34 friendly sailors—what could be bad about that? Also try Windstar’s four- masted, recently refreshed sailing yachts, Wind Surf, Wind Star and Wind Spirit.
Style matters. Most ships look the same, give or take a chandelier, marble staircase or artwork or two. That is, except for Silversea’s new Nova-class ships, Silver Nova and Silver Ray, which have redesigned the classic layout to have the swimming pool along one side. Each ship is so chic, it feels like the Amalfi Coast on rudders. If you like sleek Scandi design, you might feel at home on Viking Vela, which comes with a Nordic spa and snow grotto.
There are floating hotels, literally. Not content with giving five- star service on land, luxury hotel chains are getting in on the act. Four Seasons is planning invitation-only cruises on a fleet of gorgeous new 95-suite motor yachts, first launching in 2025. In the meantime, Four Seasons Explorer, an exclusive- use catamaran, takes keen divers to the Micronesian island of Palau. By 2025, the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection will have three superyachts at sea, the newest being Luminara, with five restaurants, six bars and a wine vault for 452 guests.
Owner’s suites reign supreme. There exists a celestial level above mere suites and residences—owner’s suites and grand suites. Owner’s suites are often reserved for just that, the cruise lines’ owners or top executives, but are made available to guests when free. Expect enormous terraces, private whirlpools or plunge pools, dining rooms, saunas and treatment rooms, expensive beds, even a grand piano in some. A word to the wise—the top suites are always reserved first, sometimes years ahead, so don’t dally.
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