Shipping beauty

It is hard to not like the bliss of a luxury cruise vacation; luxury living, magnificient sea line, lip smacking cuisine, exotic destinations and above all, magnificent service for you and your family and most importantly, privacy. With the luxury cruise industry waiting to provide all these services to you at your beck and call, all you need is to get ready to sail.

Regent’s Seven Seas Explorer spews exuberance, through its design, space, art board; etc with one of the highest ratios of space to passengers in the history of luxury cruising. “The floor of the ship embezzles with intricate stone patterns and the guest hallways have Czech crystal and glass chandeliers. More than half of the ship’s area is adorned with Canara marble, equivalent to the size of a football field,” explains Ian Banerjee, Director of Global Anchor Cruises, the official organisers for Regent Cruise trips in India. Passengers can book the most exclusive Regent Suite for $64,198 or around Rs.43 lakh for a 7-day excursion, for a couple. In this 3,850 square feet suite, users can enjoy customised and personal menus for bath amenities, pillows, linen and even aroma diffusers. The suite also has a spacious living room, a private vista garden, in-suite spa, marble floored bathrooms, two separate balconies and a personalised butler to attend to your beck and call, making it one of the most memorable trips of your life, adds Banerjee. 

If you are scouting for variety without compromising on privacy, Seabourn should be your perfect choice.  With a maximum of 450 passengers and a choice of more than 250 ultra luxury cruise adventures, the cruise can take you to exclusive islands in Europe where large ships cannot go. Passengers can book the Wintergarden suite for $15000 or around Rs.10 lakh on a double sharing basis. The suites have beautiful ocean views and many verandahs. Asked about the cruise’s exclusivity, Richa Goyal-Sikri, Director, Group Business Development, STIC Travels, an official organiser of Seabourn cruise trips in India, says, “Seabourn’s guest to crew ratio is almost 1:1 which ensures a more personalised service on board with water sports marinas on select sailings.” The guests in these upper suites are pampered with complimentary private car transfers between airport and ship, she adds.

Destination-bound

If you value the destination more than the journey, Azamara Club Cruises is what you need. “On every Azamara voyage, guests can take advantage of longer stays and more overnights in port so they can tour in the night and join in the authentic experience of a destination,” explains Ratna Chadha, Chief Executive of TIRUN, India’s official representator of Royal Caribean Cruises, that is the second largest cruise line operator with Azamara Club Cruises. Additionally, passengers can choose between different suites like Club Interiors, Club Ocean view, Club Veranda, Club Continent Suite and Club World Owner, that go up to $10,000 along with port taxes or around Rs.700,000 per person for a 14-day excursion. Crystal Cruises goes a step ahead with on-board pampering. It has onboard services like sushi bars, huge wine cellars, paddle tennis, expansive Computer University at Sea labs and one of the best enrichment programmes in cruising, all for $5000 or Rs.3,40,000 per person for a seven-day excursion. However, what steals the limelight is its customised themes, explains Nikhil Thakurdas, Director of CruiseBay, one of India’s exclusive cruise-trip planners. “The number of on theme cruises (including wine and culinary cruises) is the highest with Crystal,” he adds.

Still just dreaming of the blue waves dancing around? It is now time to say arrivederci to the shore.