If you have taken even one cruise, it is likely (at least the statistics say so) that you will take another one. Oddly, when we asked out 22-year-old son a few months ago about his vacation preferences, even he said that his very favorite vacations were cruises. So, evidently cruises are not just for the boomer-and-beyond crowd! So, as you contemplate booking that next cruise – whether you’ve been on one or ten – with respect, please permit us to give you a wee piece of advice.
If you are thinking of upgrading to a larger, nicer, better-located-and-with-more-amenities stateroom, consider the answer to this question before you do: Are you prepared to book this level of stateroom (or above) and pay the price for every cruise you will take in the future? If the answer is no, then step away from the upgrade. The fact is this: once you upgrade, you will never go back!
We know this because on our 20th wedding anniversary five years ago we decided to book a Royal Suite on a Celebrity ship to travel the Mediterranean for the first time. Since then, we have been on half a dozen cruises and we have never been able to convince ourselves that we’d enjoy anything less. Ouch, that can be expensive – but oh how you will enjoy your cruise! From the perspective of the discerning traveler who is judicious about that luxury spending, it his worth every penny. In our opinion, as we’ve mentioned before, bigger is not better when it comes to cruise ships – unless you’re referring to your suite!
Before we cruised only in suites, we didn’t know what we were missing. That was just fine. But we find now that the lines are using photos of their suites in much of their advertising. If you’re a bit curious about what a suite is really like, come inside our suite on a recent cruise aboard the Celebrity Century. In later posts we’ll take you aboard Regent and Silversea. Promise! Click on the photo to take you to the tour…
Unless you live under a rock, you probably get the message that the “Christmas experience” of choice is to go home for the holidays. “I’ll be home for Christmas.” “Driving home for Christmas.” “There’s no place like home for the holidays.” It’s kind of hard to miss. But for these discerning travelers, Christmas beside the hearth at home hasn’t been in the cards for many years – not since our then-eleven-year-old son spent his first Christmas away from home performing in the National Ballet of Canada’s Nutcracker – and Christmas has never been the same since.
Many hotel rooms have played host to us on Christmas morning – and this year will be no different as we head to the French Riviera to spend the season once again with now twenty-two year old Ian who is once again dancing through the holidays. But—one of the most memorable Christmases we spent as a little family was the year the three of us (almost) skipped Christmas. We boarded a Holland America cruise ship at Port Everglades in Florida and sailed away to the Caribbean for the festivities.
Christmas Eve on Half Moon Cay
From the beginning of the cruise it was clear that you couldn’t really “skip” Christmas by taking a cruise (despite what the Cranks might suggest!). We were just taking Christmas with us. I had a personal, long-standing wish to spend Christmas under a palm tree I used to say.
Well, on Christmas Eve we found ourselves on Half Moon Cay, Holland America’s private island in the Bahamas, enjoying the pristine almost unreal beach, palm trees swaying overhead and Santa Claus para-sailing. Yes, that’s right. In full Santa regalia, he soared back and forth across the tiny bay. We even have photos!
The Christmas present issue was one of the most fun. We had a family agreement: we would each buy one present for the other two. The catch was that the presents – and the wrapping – had to be procured on the ship. No cheating.
So, Christmas shopping took place on Christmas Eve as we all split up and sneaked around the shelves laden with the inevitable perfume, jewelry (both fine and other), T-shirts, cruise-line emblazoned mugs and all the rest of the bits and pieces that the boutiques sell. The wrapping was very interesting as we cajoled the shop people into parting with a few Christmas decorations to adorn the boxes. It was wonderful! Even sixteen-year-old Ian took his job seriously.
Ian didn't have to miss The Nutcracker after all!
Christmas day was one for the memory books as well. It started with a lazy breakfast in the specialty restaurant The Pinnacle (we were staying in a suite so this was our breakfast room). Later in the morning, after opening the presents under our table-top Christmas tree that we had arranged to have in the suite before boarding, we made our way to the grand foyer where passengers arranged themselves on three or four levels to imbibe eggnog and participate in a carol sing. Now, ordinarily carol sings are not our ‘thing,’ but on this occasion, we all took part happily, and when Santa arrived (via helicopter according to the captain), it was wonderful to see the children on board. Their excitement was contagious.
Later that day we decided that our Christmas day activity would be to count the Christmas trees on board. The public spaces were adorned at every corner it seemed with the most wonderful Christmas trees. So we toured the ship looking for trees and stopping for a drink here and there.
Then it was time to dress up – something we do love to do. Resplendent in format attire, we repaired to the dining rom and had our Christmas dinner.
The whole cruise was one to remember – and something that all three of us decided we’d do again sometime. Instead of skipping Christmas, we enriched the experience. Highly recommended!
A picture is worth a thousand words - The Silver Cloud (on the right!)
For many people, bigger is better. For us discerning travelers…not so much. When the ship Oasis of the Seas launched in 2009, we took one look at its specs (close to 6000 passengers) and knew immediately it wasn’t for us. The largest ship we’d been on at that time was just slightly over 2000 passengers, and we knew that was quite large enough. But we wanted to go smaller. So we looked to the self-described “six-star” experience.
It’s wonderful to be at that point in our lives (nudging ever closer to retirement and yet still with significant cash flow) so that we can travel in a way that allows us to be a bit more discerning than we used to be – because, self-described or not, the so-called six-star cruise lines cost. And for us, there is one place where bigger is better when it comes to getting on a cruise ship; that place is the size of the stateroom.
On the occasion of our twentieth wedding anniversary some years ago, we decided to treat ourselves to a Royal Suite on a Celebrity cruise ship and we’ve never been able to go back to a smaller stateroom. So, we are looking for value when we choose an experience. In the case of moving to smaller ships, we first tried Regent – first the Navigator (490 passengers) and then the Mariner (700 passengers)[1] – then ended up earlier this year on a Silversea ship, the Silver Cloud with all of 296 passengers. What an experience that was! Even if you can’t afford a Silversea cruise, or a Silver suite on board, come along with us and we’ll tell you what it’s like.
Art in the suite dining room
We boarded the Silver Cloud in Bridgetown, Barbados at the cruise terminal. We were greeted not by the usual line-ups and booths that face you when you go aboard a larger ship in places like Fort Lauderdale; rather there was a table with three of the ship’s personnel to greet us with our documents and a wave us to the pier. Once on board, with a glass of champagne in hand, we had our ID photos taken and were whisked to our suite.
What made the ship so different than previous experiences was that you could stand in the bar at one end of the ship and look down its one corridor and see to the other end. Then, as you walked along the corridors past occasionally open doors of suites (every stateroom aboard is at least a small suite) and see out both sides of the ship: there are no interior cabins; everyone has an outside suite and some 90% have verandahs.
Patty in the suite living room
The ship’s itinerary took us to several islands that we had never visited before either as an island vacation or as a cruise ship port. These included Dominica, Bequia and St. Bart’s. Some islands just don’t have the capability for one reason or another, to host the larger ships, so smaller is better when it comes to accessing them as ports.
We prefer just the two of us for dining companions on any given cruise ship. In fact, when ships have set dinner times and tables, if we can’t be guaranteed a table for two, we won’t book. We’ve been burned in the past by having to spend a meal or two in the company of loud wind-bags who like to hear themselves talk – not our idea of a relaxing meal. On these small ships you just arrive at the dining room any time during dining hours and ask to be seated. In our case, our requests each evening for a table-for-two were never a problem (unlike a previous experience on a Regent ship when the maître d’ simply could not seem to understand precisely what a table-for-two meant). Despite our preference for ‘twosomeness’ in dining, the ship is small enough that you would have to stay in your suite the entire cruise to not come in contact with just about everyone on board some time during the 10 days. The amazing thing was that we found ourselves in the company of some 250 like-minded people. These were people who could afford to travel well, but who were looking for an experience that assured them they had spent their money well. They were not disappointed in this experience, nor were we.
One aspect of travel aboard these six-star ships a traveler needs to know is that people dress. Some of the lines (Regent for example) have really moved away from truly formal evenings, however, every night on the Silver Cloud was like a cocktail party with cocktail attire expected – and you would certainly stick out if you chose not to dress up a bit.
Our invitation to dine with the Captain of the Silver Cloud
Of course, the food was wonderful and these are all-inclusive experiences. Not once does a bar tender ask you to sign a bill. There is no passing over your room key for anything to be added to your bill (except spa services and if you choose wines off the sommelier’s premium list). Wine, drinks, and gratuities – they are all included in the price.
The entertainment was fairly low-key and yet there was always something to keep us amused. We would not, however, like to have too many days at sea on such a small ship. This kind of a cruise where there are five or six lovely ports to explore is the ideal way in our view to experience all the perks of small-ship cruising.
We ended up sharing our van and driver with several passengers from another larger cruise ship who were stranded at a beach on the island of St. Kitts. When they asked us which ship we were from and we mentioned the Silver Cloud, one of them asked us what it was like on board such a small ship. “I heard that everything is included and you have a butler,” he said. We nodded. He sighed. “I’m going on one of those someday,” he said. “It looks like a private yacht.” Couldn’t have said it better ourselves!
If you have taken even one cruise, it is likely (at least the statistics say so) that you will take another one. Oddly, when we asked out 22-year-old son a few months ago about his vacation preferences, even he said that his very favorite vacations were cruises. So, evidently cruises are not just for the boomer-and-beyond crowd! So, as you contemplate booking that next cruise – whether you’ve been on one or ten – with respect, please permit us to give you a wee piece of advice.
The Discerning Travelers 
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