womantraveler

Luxury Cruising: Custom Travel

Luxury cruises allow for a customized experience built around ports, cuisine, room style, or entertainment. Not interested in a floating city, we opted for Silversea cruise's all-suite small ship experience, regularly voted "the world's best small ship cruise line." Onboard the Silver Whisper, a luxury floating hotel, we learned that Silversea's advertising slogan, "Nothing Excluded," is not hype. With 350 passengers and 270 crew, our wishes were literally their command.

Silversea's all-inclusive experience spared us the inelegance of costly add-ons (except the shore tours, which we avoided anyway). Silversea's "all-inclusive promise" means that all beverages are complimentary throughout the ship, including in-suite beverage cabinets and mini-frigs that are replenished with our preferences daily (some premium wines and spirits are available at an additional charge), as well as all on-board gratuities, in-suite movies and videos, twice daily suite service, personalized stationery, personal email address, and 24-hour room service. While some cruise lines have started the tacky daily automatic gratuity and nonrefundable service charges, Silversea has not, thankfully. Of course, the proper and genteel luxury cruise traveler still tips generously at the end of the experience.

Our suites were 701 square feet -- twice the size of all but the seven largest suites (and more than half the size of my condo). Most of the suites have private verandas (of teak), and Silversea staterooms have marble bathrooms with Jacuzzi tubs, walk-in closets, separate bedrooms, and two televisions. The public areas are sleek and modern with beautiful woods, tasteful textiles, and Venetian decor representative of an Italian-built, Italian-based cruise line. Such refined elegance results in a noticeable investment in glassware and mirrors, crystal and silverware, paintings and sculpture. The overall effect is that of a luxury chartered yacht.

Mornings and late afternoons on private verandas, individual tables at all meals, no grouped dinner "seatings," quiet well-stocked libraries, a computer center, genteel parlors, staff who call you by name. I took my morning coffee in the observation deck in the stern. One late afternoon on the private veranda with a glass of wine, I saw what appeared to be a whale diving into the sea. Later storms in the distance led up to a brilliant and edgy sunset.

You will be spoiled, so savor the magic. It arrives unexpectedly.

The Luxury Cruise: Do It Now!

A luxury cruise, like the Silversea Silver Whisper -- drop dead luxury. Do it once, do it now. And to get the most out of it, keep in mind that nothing is perfect, even luxury. So plan for that and you'll have the time of your life. In fact, once you get the hang of it, you can use these tips to turn an ordinary trip into a luxury experience.

Tip One: Luxury is affordable. Shop online or follow travel section ads and find a premier cruise for huge discounts off the rack rate, especially if you travel in the shoulder season -- just before or after high season, which is now. We chose the Silversea line because it is often referred to as the world's best small ship cruise line, offering stateroom suites with private teak verandas and a culinary Relais & Chateau affiliation. It didn't take much digging to find an advertised discount fare from Silversea for 50% off the published fare. In our case that amounted to $3247 a person rather than $6395 each. That's all-inclusive -- meals, most wines and beverages (including in-suite beverage cabinets stocked with our preferences), complimentary 24-hour room service, in-suite movies and CD player, and normal gratuities -- and, most importantly, an impeccably trained staff that does not (to a person) know how to say "no."

Luxury Cruise -- That's My Ship!

As we embark on the wonderful cruise season, here's a helpful list of the luxury cruise lines, which is, dears, the only way to travel. And, trust me, there are bargains to be found to allow us hoi polloi to travel in such high style. Check out Silversea cruises carefully right now. And stay tuned, because I've done it.

Cruises: More Land, Less Sea?

The new trend in cruising is to spend more time off the ship than on, but that's not working for all passengers, the Wall Street Journal reports. Cruise lines continue to beef up their land excursions, including some with overnight hotel stays, adding to costs for passengers and diluting the pleasure of the floating hotel for an all-encompassing vacation. Shore excursions appeal to younger and more active travelers, who enjoy the mix of land and sea, now that the average cruise age is age 50 (down from 60 a decade ago). But they also help cruise lines, who have had to reduce fees to build occupancy, make up the difference in their revenues, including partnerships with onshore tour operators.

Alternatively, you can guarantee staying onboard for trans-Atlantic crossings that transport ships back and forth for the fall and winter seasons -- and they are often great values, especially now.

Two things are for certain:

• Cruising is hot and the best variety and value are highly competitive among cruise lines.
• But beware, ports and excursions can be boring, deadly, and drain your wallet.

Stay tuned for my special cruising report later in the summer.

Ducking Hurricanes? Choose a Cruise

Cruising may be the best way to keep your vacation from being damaged by a hurricane this summer, which is expected to be another higher than average hurricane season. Typically 4 to 6 of these ill winds blow through the Southeast US, Bahamas, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and parts of the eastern Pacific between June 1 and Nov. 30 each year. In 2005, the official prediction is 7 to 9. Of course, these are odds -- the first tropical storm, Arlene, never grew into a hurricane. But if the past few years are any indication, it's a good idea to have some options.

That said, here is an inside tip to 8 dreamy but less well-known beaches in the tropics, according to Caribbean Travel & Life, and resources for the best diving in the Florida Keys, where marine scientists and environmentalists are working hard to preserve and restore over-dived and polluted reefs.