Travel Holiday
February 1, 2003
Cruise Special

BEST FOR CULTURE VULTURES

Can a cruise teach you about the ports you're visiting? These can.

CARIBBEAN: You can't get to know the Caribbean better than on a Windjammer Barefoot ship. Onboard, passengers dine on plantains and jerk chicken, best with rum punch or a Red Stripe. Cooking demos on theme cruises feature local spices and seafood; rum trips include visits to sugar plantations and tastings.

POLYNESIA: The scent of orchids and hibiscus fill the air on Radisson Seven Seas' Paul Gauguin, which cruises French Polynesia year-round. Locals board to teach passengers native dances and pareo-tying. Renowned anthropologists conduct lectures, then lead shore excursions to ancient temples.

UNITED KINGDOM: A crossing on Cunard's QE2 is the next best thing to being there already. High tea is formal, with scones and clotted cream; the Golden Lion Pub has Tetley Yorkshire and Caulder Creamy on tap.

GREECE: On Royal Olympic ships, most of the staff is Greek. On Greek Night, passengers can order papoutsakia, a baked eggplant stuffed with beef and tomatoes, then watch the crew perform classic Aegean dances.

WHAT'S THE MOST important thing to look for in a European cruise itinerary? Since you'll probably want to explore on your own for a few days, the embarkation and disembarkation cities become crucial here. In May, check out the seven-night Western Mediterranean trip (five nights onboard and two nights in a Barcelona hotel) on mid-price Orient Lines' 822-passenger Marco Polo, sailing round-trip out of Barcelona to Cadiz, Spain, and Lisbon and Oporto, Portugal. With excellent tapas, sangria, and paella, and some of the most interesting architecture in the world, Barcelona is a city worthy of a few extra days. Or consider the pricey 296-passenger Silver Cloud's eight night cruise from Athens to Monte Carlo. The world's most glam
high-rollers town is a great starting point for exploring the golden French Riviera.

DO'S & DON'TS INSIDE CABINS

DO: Go ahead and book an inside cabin on a Carnival, Celebrity, or Holland America ship‹you might as well save your money for something else. On these ships, inside cabins are the same 170 to 190 square feet, and have the same design and amenities as the more expensive cabins with windows. DON'T: No matter how low the price goes, don't even think about booking an inside cabin on Norwegian Cruise Line's oldest ships‹the Norway, Sea, and Majesty. At 88 to 100 square feet, you can barely walk around the bed. And they're not the only ones. On Royal Caribbean's nine oldest ships, the inside cabins average 120 to 140 square feet. As the ship's lounge comedian would say, These staterooms are so small, you'll have to go out into the hallway to change your mind.

BEST CAPTAIN

THIS ONE'S A TIE. Small-ship lines Star Clippers and Windjammer Barefoot both have friendly captains who offer access to the bridge, chart room, and navigational equipment. Their captains are often within sight and happy to chat. But the Windjammer Mandalay's Captain Matt Thomas goes a step further, working the wooden wheel on deck and welcoming passengers to try their
hand at steering. Sometimes, he even tags along on shore excursions. And Star Flyer's Captain Jurgen Muller? He'll dine with passengers whenever he's asked. Now don't expect to find that on a mega-ship.

SPLURGE VS. STEAL

ALASKA EXCURSIONS

SPLURGE: The best shore excursions will cost you hundreds, but you won't regret the investment in adrenaline friendly Alaska‹if you choose wisely. From Ketchikan, Celebrity's Misty Fjords Seaplane
trip ($204) takes small groups on 90-minute flights. If you get a sunny day, you'll see channels cutting through 3,000-foot granite fjords and snowcapped peaks looming in the background. The high point? Landing on a remote lake for a chance to get out on the plane's pontoons. Another option: Celebrity's Skagway dog-mushing
excursion ($389). You'll never forget sledding through the snow‹yes, there's snow here in the summer‹to a barking chorus. STEAL: Mount Roberts Tramway is right on Juneau's harbor. Ride the near-vertical
cable car 2,000 feet up the mountain, where you'll find spectacular views of the snowy Chilkat mountains and the Inside Passage (490 South Franklin St., Juneau; 888-461-8726; $21.95). Most lines sell advance tickets‹but if they charge extra, wait and buy your own.

TIP

SISTER SHIPS

MANY PEOPLE LOOK FOR the line's newest ship when they book a cruise. But it doesn't matter whether you cruise on Royal Caribbean's 2,100-passenger Radiance, Brilliance, or Serenade of the Seas. To save money, time, and effort, cruise lines take one set of blue prints and build identical ships. The small differences‹ color scheme, restaurant names ‹will not affect your cruise. So choose a ship based on itinerary, not which one came out of the shipyard last.

BEST

CHANNEL SURFING

MOST SHIPS BROADCAST the same movies over and over, plus infomercials about the ship's shops, services, and casino. Not
Crystal Cruises. Their stateroom TVs offer dozens of comedies and dramas, along with satellite feed of the History Channel, Discovery Channel, A&E Biography, CNN, ESPN, CNBC, and TNT. The runner up? Princess Cruises offers many of the same stations, plus HBO and reruns of popular shows like The West Wing, The Simpsons, and Friends. Just don't forget‹ they're reruns, so you'll still have to set your VCR at home!

FREEBIES

Gone are the days when cruise ships were floating all-inclusives. In this millennium, you'll pay for everything from soft drinks and cocktails to shore excursions and onboard activities. Here are a few lines that throw in some extras‹on the house‹the last of a dying breed. Call us old-fashioned, but we like it when someone buys us a drink!


HORS D'OEUVRES

CLIPPER
International bar food: spanikopita and Mexican spiced shrimp with cilantro

CRUISE WEST

American bar food: cheesy nachos and beef-and-cheese soft tacos

SEADREAM YACHT CLUB

Yacht cuisine: caviar on toast points and plump shrimp cocktail on ice

STAR CLIPPERS

American bar food: fresh vegetable with creamy dips; barbecued chicken wings

WINDJAMMER

Caribbean fare: crispy plantain chips and fresh, spicy mango and tomato salsa

DRINKS

RADISSON SEVEN SEAS

Unlimited wine, liquor, and soft drinks (the Song of Flower only)

SEABOURN

Unlimited wine, liquor, and soft drinks

SEADREAM YACHT CLUB

Unlimited wine, liquor, and soft drinks

SILVERSEA

Unlimited wine, liquor, and soft drinks

WINDJAMMER

Tangy Bloody Marys at breakfast; fruity (but strong) rum punch at happy hour


TOYS

SEABOURN

Banana boats, Sunfish sail boats, little two-person pedal boats, and waterskiing

SEADREAM YACHT CLUB

Jet Skis, mountain bikes, kayaks, Sunfish sail boats, waterskiing,banana boats, and Segway Human Transporters

STAR CLIPPERS

Banana boats, Sunfish sail boats, kayaks, and waterskiing

WINDSTAR

Banana boats, Sunfish sail boats, kayaks, waterskiing, and scenic motorboat rides

SHORE EXCURSIONS

CRUISEWEST

Group kayak excursions on cruises to the Sea of Cortez, Costa Rica, and the Panama Canal; guided Zodiac excursions to glaciers in Alaska

GLACIER BAY CRUISELINE

Kayak and Zodiac boat excursions, and guided nature walks along the shoreline in Alaska

SEADREAM YACHT CLUB

Unscheduled late-night stops at island bars for dancing to a calypso band; crew- and officer-led bicycle rides, group kayaking excursions, and shopping trips in the Caribbean and Mediterranean

BIRTHDAY CAKES

CARNIVAL CRUISES
CELEBRITY CRUISES
CLIPPER CRUISE LINE
DISNEY
HOLLAND AMERICA LINE
MSC ITALIAN LINES
NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE
PRINCESS CRUISES
RADISSON SEVEN SEAS
ROYAL CARIBBEAN
ROYAL OLYMPIC CRUISES
SEABOURN
SEADREAM YACHT CLUB
SILVERSEA
ANDMANYMORE

TIP

FREE AIRFARE!

DISCOUNTED RATES, onboard credit, and two-for-ones have been easy to come by for a while‹and now many lines are luring passengers to their most far-flung ports with free airfare. Your best bet? Cruises on luxury ships with distant itineraries, where the airfare can really add up. Radisson Seven Seas, for example, is offering free roundtrip air from the U.S. to Tahiti (Papeete) for seven-night French Polynesia cruises on their posh, 320-passenger Paul Gauguin (rates start at $2,835 per person); Seabourn is tossing in round-trip air for seven- and 14-night Mediterranean cruises on the decadent 208-passenger Seabourn Pride, Seabourn Spirit, and Seabourn Legend (rates start at $3,884 per person). And now the swanky champagneand- caviar ships aren't the only ones giving air away: Adventurefriendly Clipper Cruise Line is including round-trip air when you book an eight-night wildlife- watching trip to the rainforests of Costa Rica and Panama on the 138-passenger Yorktown Clipper (rates start at $2,850 per person). Book it, and
you'll be swinging from the jungle treetops in no time.