Destinations

It was my lucky day to be chosen to go on board the Queen Victoria while it was docked in San Francisco. I only had a brief time on board, but during that time I imagined what it would be like to experience an around the world cruise and I came to the conclusion that on the Queen Victoria it would be a dream of a lifetime. As I entered the ship the first thing I noticed was the ships excellent condition. An Italian designer who chose soft elegant colors designed the interior. The atmosphere is retro but with an updated elegant feel. It looked as though the carpet and all of the interior walls were just installed that morning.

We strolled around the ship looking at various sites including:

The Winter Garden, a lovely, light-filled indoor/outdoor poolside setting with a retractable glass ceiling was lovely.  I could only imagine sitting in the Winter Garden with a good book in hand and having a glass of champagne.  There are two swimming pools on board. One of the pools is located in the back of the ship perfect for sunbathing and enjoying a view of the ocean. Queens and Princess Grill dining.  The restaurants are identical.  Elegant surroundings, lovely ocean views, expansive decks and a private lounge for cocktails and meeting friends.   A courtyard connects both restaurants. Queen and Princess Grill passengers can mingle with each other and enjoy el fresco dining in the lovely Tuscan-inspired setting of The Courtyard. The Queens Room (ballroom) is elegantly appointed and is the perfect setting for the Royal Nights themed balls. Hemispheres with its 270-degree ocean view and circular skylight for stargazing was beautiful.  There is a special designated area for around the world passengers to meet and socialize. I’ve seen photos of the Library but it is even better then portrayed in the photos.  Two storeys of rich polished woods linked with the spiral staircase.  We were told that there are nearly 6,000 titles available to the passengers. The Royal Spa has a large hydro-pool and heated lounge chairs. The fitness center is located at the front of the ship and all of the treadmills face out to the sea. The Royal Court TheatrePassengers can reserve a box for $25.00 per person evokes the grand theatres of London’s West End, and offers the first private boxes of any theatre at sea and unobstructed sightlines.  Thirty minutes prior to the production there is a private lounge where they will be served champagne and dessert. A few minutes before Showtime a Cunard White Star escort takes them to their private box where they will enjoy champagne, truffles and an entertaining production.  This special event cannot be reserved until the passengers are on board.  Best to reserve as soon as you get on the ship. It is a popular event. I had lunch in Britannia Restaurant.  The food was quite good and the service excellent.  It is a two-storey venue and has an elegant and intimate atmosphere.  We had a peek at Todd English’s restaurant and I would feel confident to recommend it for a special evening. Cost for Todd English is $20.00pp for lunch and $30.00pp for dinner. A lunch at the Golden Lion Pub of fish and chips is complimentary ConneXions Internet Centre had an adequate amount of computers setup in private cubicles.  2 hours is $47.95, 4 hours is $89.95 and 8 hours is $167.95.

The very best way to end a busy year is to take stock while stopping over in various Caribbean ports of call.  This year I chose to spend the time on a five-day fabulous SeaDream II sailing.  She is one of two small yacht-cruise vessels holding a maximum of 98 pampered guests .  We coupled this with stopovers in St Thomas prior to boarding the ship and in San Juan Puerto Rico at the end making a balanced relaxing holiday.To say that service, food, water- and land-based activities abounded is to be severely understating the quality of this fine cruise.

This is The Cruise for the person who wishes low profile albeit attentive service.  By the time you have returned from breakfast topside cabins were remade, fresh Bulgari amenities replacing used ones, fresh ice in the ice bucket, and specially requested juices and sodas replenished in the mini-fridge.  Our cabin was completely ready and renewed for the day.  The ship has 3 cabin decks with ample outdoor space for walking or lounging, a small casino bar area downstairs and ample bar services topside, poolside and inside, a watersports deck in back and ample area to be either quiet or busier with others on board.  Up top are the famed lounging sunbeds.  These fabulously comfortable deep-cushioned deck beds can be made up at night for sleeping under the limitless star-filled skies!!!  Dining is just that — taken either in the lovely dining salon or up top on the varied deck dining areas with tables for two, four or more depending on your personal choice.  You can just enjoy the company of your traveling companion or with new-found shipboard friends.  There are no set dining start times so you dine as you wish and times you desire.  Everything on board SeaDream is meant to let you enjoy your time in your own fashion.  The wonderful Thai spa services are simply fabulous.  And if you must work out, there is a gym and even golf simulator room for your use.  This could not have been a more perfect five days of total enjoyment.

Ports-of-call:  Gustavia, St Barts was amazing with a long Swedish history and city design and a harbor full of some of the largest private yachts I have ever seen.  Our 4,333 ton SeaDream II seemed almost part of the family of private yacht cruisers anchored in the larger outer harbor area.  Dockside in town various private yachts were lined up side by side.  I had always heard that the air landing on the island was an heart-thumping arrival experience.  I climbed the saddle of the two hills behind town to find a small prop plane arriving just over my head and diving down to land expertly on the small strip.  French and Swedish traditions live side by side.  The liquor outlet advertised itself in both French & Swedish.  French is the language of St Barts today.   We also cruised over to spend time in the British Virgin Islands — lovely and unspoiled Virgin Gorda, Norman Island with its amazing cove and water, and finished our short cruise with the famed “beach lunch and champagne/caviar splash” on impeccable Joost van Dyke.  Yes, the Dutch were here, too!!!  Bathing suits on, we waded into the water where a surfboard manned by our ship’s chef and maitre d’hôtel and several of our waiters attired in slightly wet clothes served glasses of champagne along with caviar and all its accompaniments to applause and the clicking of camera lens as we waded in.  Great fun!

St Thomas proved once again that history trumps modernity.  The roots of this busy island keep cropping up in street names (Toldboldgade which is Danish), in left-side driving (England left her imprint here), in the variety of religious houses of worship (Lutheran founded by the Danes; Jewish in the 2nd oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere, as well as Catholic, Protestant and other declarative Christian houses of worship).  As a former free port as well as long time European entrepôt and former slave trading community, today’s population reflects the diversity of peoples who came here to live.  Island living means graciousness and hospitality to others.  Once outside the most densely visited sites of the busy cruise port restaurant-shops-souvenir warehouse district (itself fun and historical) you can feel the inherent grace of the island.  Waters are azure, aqua and green blue; palms and bougainvilleas sway and rustle in the tropical breezes, and fabulous iguanas are found along warmed walls and rocks, some green in their new lives - some more rusty/gray as they age.  Ah, island life.

Spend 12 days aboard the luxurious Crown Princess as it shuttles you to a wide range of dream ports in England, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland. I’ve just returned from the last of its 2009 British cruises, but there are four more scheduled for the Crown Princess in 2010, beginning in June.

The trip is a blend of the present and the past. For Titanic buffs, it’s history relived. The Crown Princess sails out of Southampton, England, where the Titanic set sail with a shipload of passengers and crew for a fateful encounter with an iceberg. The Titanic’s second and what turned out to be her last port of call was at Cobh, Ireland, where Titanic memorabilia now abounds. It also was our port call but hardly our last. We docked at the same pier where the Titanic docked so many years before. Later in our voyage, we called at Belfast, in Northern Ireland, where the Titanic was built. Side trips from the Crown Princess took us to the Titanic’s shipyard and dry dock, still standing frozen in time. To top it off, there’s a Thai restaurant in Belfast, where you can dine and toast the ship. It’s called The Thaitanic.

The cruise offered a great deal more than Titanic memories. In Liverpool, we were overwhelmed with present-day tributes to the Beatles. The shadows of John, Paul, George and Ringo are everywhere. Liverpool reeks with Fab Four Beatlemania. You travel around this city to an ever-increasing Beatle beat. Songs of the Beatles enjoy a huge following, but it’s a matter of taste. My taste in music leans more toward the unforgettable words and music of Cole Porter. The ship gave us a gourmet musical treat on this score. A Cole Porter Review featuring a nonstop medley of Porter’s music was nothing short of fabulous. It was a super production in the ship’s theater featuring the ship’s orchestra and 17 singers and dancers multi-costumed in front of elaborate stage sets on a nonstop visit to Porterville.

This cruise has a different kind of taste to savor for lovers of fine Irish and Scotch liquor. During our port visit at Cobh-Cork, we toured Ireland’s famed Jameson’s Distillery for an educational introduction to the intricate process in making Irish whiskey. In Glasgow, Scotland, we had a parallel experience at a distillery for Scotch.

Back aboard the Crown Princess, it’s the plush life at whatever speed you want to travel. Passengers do it at their own pace, gambling in the casino, relaxing on deck or in one of the many bars and lounges. Some of them are with entertainment and some without. The ship’s theater has nightly shows on a grander scale. A Princess cruise specializes in catering to many different passenger tastes. Dining can be at a scheduled time or at your own pace with “Anytime Dining.” Two of the four large dining rooms are for those who desire elastic dining times.  It’s true on all 18 Princess cruise ships, making numerous fans of the Princess approach to freestyle dining. Around the world, there are 7½ million passengers in the Princess Captain’s Circle, indicating they have done multiple cruises on the line.

All told, we stopped at four ports in Britain, two in Ireland and three in Scotland. Our final port was supposed to have been at Le Havre, France, but it didn’t happen. Gale winds in the North Sea and English Channel made that leg of the trip impossible. It was a disappointment for passengers who had booked tours to Paris, or to the Normandy D-Day beaches.  The English captain of the Crown Princess, Nick Nash, put it succinctly. “The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority, and we have found it necessary to cancel our call at Le Havre. We regret any passenger disappointment. But I have no other choice. The weather simply has beaten me.”