Cigar Aficionado Magazine
February 1, 2000
Top-of-the-Line Cruise Ships

The moment you step on board one of the sleek 100- to 300-passenger
top-shelf cruise ships bound for some sultry Mediterranean port
or exotic island in the Far East, the pampering begins. A white-gloved
waiter offers a chilled glass of champagne from a silver tray as
a smiling steward escorts you to your ocean-view cabin suite, your
not-so-humble abode for the one- to three-week cruise. Not a cramped
cabin with a porthole as you may presume, but a roomy suite with
a bay window, plush couch and chairs, writing desk, walk-in closet,
and most likely a private verandah big enough for a pair of chaise
lounges and a small table. Elegantly dressed in rich Italian marble,
buttery leather, and soft pastel fabrics, the suite, while smaller
than your typical suite in a good hotel, is bright and well appointed.
In addition to the bottle of welcome bubbly chilling on ice, you'll
find a television, VCR, bathrobes, slippers, personalized stationery,
whirlpool bathtub, 24-hour complimentary room service, and a doting
room stewardess or steward who will waste no time asking you what
you'd like your minibar stocked with for the week. Poke around the
cabin a bit and you'll notice things like silky smooth Italian Frette
bed linens, goose down pillows, lace doilies lining the waste cans,
generous-sized Bulgari or Neutrogena shampoos and soaps in the bathroom,
heavy crystal scotch glasses and champagne flutes above the bar,
and an arrangement of fresh flowers on the marble-topped desk.

The rest of the ship is equally as chichi. Low-key and elegant like
a private yacht, you won't find a stitch of neon or any hulking
three-story statues spouting waterfalls, but instead a couple of
comfortable lounges with floor-to-ceiling windows, comfy chairs
and banquettes, low lighting, and a stash of cigars. Some ships
have clubby, wood-paneled cigar lounges with prominent humidors
and bars stocked with the best brandies, while others invite smokers
to light up outside on deck. But whether there's a dedicated cigar
bar or not, all of the best ships sell stogies on board and you
won't have much trouble getting a Cuban on many (the beauty of sailing
in international waters).

In case you haven't noticed, this isn't your typical two-bit party
tub carting 2,000 passengers to a string of over-touristed Caribbean
islands. You won't find the flip-flops and muscle-shirt crowd slamming
back cans of Bud by the pool or mobs of Jerry Springer fans rushing
the shrimp platter at the midnight buffet. Just as there are fine
wines, expensive cars, and five-star hotels, there is a slice of
the cruise market that's top-of-the line, fetching $500-plus per
person per day. Stylish and sophisticated, the high-end ships are
bound for the world's most intriguing locales, from Rio to Portofino,
Ho Chi Minh City to Haifa. Typical itineraries include visits to
the western coast of Turkey and the Greek isles, the French Riviera,
Egypt and Israel, Patagonia and southern Chile, the Seychelles islands,
Australia's Gold Coast, the Indonesia archipelago, Scandinavia,
the British Isles, and even remote and forlorn Easter Island. The
high-end ships do the Caribbean, too, but tend to visit the more
off-the-beaten-track islands, like St. Barts, Virgin Gorda, Jost
Van Dyke, Barbados and St. Lucia. Unlike the mass-market ships,
the high-end ones don't spend months on end in one region repeating
the same itinerary. Instead, practically each cruise is a different
combination of ports, as the ships continually move around the world,
to remote places often only accessible to small ships. You won't
feel like you're part of a herd of thousands pouring themselves
into some unsuspecting port town, but instead, like an intimate
group of well-mannered guests having a look around. Explore on your
own or sign up for the ship's organized sightseeing excursions --
walking and bus tours, even golf outings, are available in most
every port. These globe-trotting ships are the closest thing left
to the opulent first-class Titanic-era steamers that once ruled
the high seas, retaining vestiges of what defined luxury ocean travel
decades ago. Uniformed officers in command, a weekly cocktail party
hosted by the captain, and formal five-course dining set a traditional
tone, even amidst the modern amenities and more casual ambience
of today's most luxurious ships.

Formal dining rooms are gilded and gracious with chunky silver and
crystal settings twinkling on candle-lit tables as waistcoated waiters,
maitre d's in tuxedos and experienced sommeliers make their rounds.
Cuisine and service rival that in some of New York's finest restaurants,
with choices like grilled tournedos of beef with foie gras, roast
game hen with porcini stuffing, or breaded monkfish with crayfish
sauce from five-course menus offering at least three or four options
for each course each evening. Extensive wine lists offer dozens
of options from the world's best vineyards in France, Italy, Chile,
South Africa, Australia and California, from $25 a bottle to hundreds.


In keeping with the ambience, guests dress for dinner. There are
two formal nights on most weeklong cruises, where tuxedos for men
and sparkly gowns and little black dresses for women are the standard.
On the other nights, designated informal or casual, sports jackets
or collared shirts, dresses and pantsuits are expected. Instead
of being assigned a table and dinner companions as you would aboard
a big ship, on these small ones, you can stroll in whenever you
please between about 7 and 10pm and be seated alone or with friends.
If you'd rather skip the formal dining room one night, many ships
have recently opened alternative restaurants ñ they're smaller,
require reservations, and offer an intimate, bistro-like ambience.
Or order room service and have dinner served to you course by course
in your cabin. For buffet-style breakfast and lunch, there's a casual
indoor-outdoor cafe.

After-dinner entertainment is pretty mellow and a far cry from the
Vegas-style stuff the mass-market lines feature. Generally, there's
a quiet piano bar, a lounge for dancing with a live quartet and
maybe a late-night DJ, a casino with a couple of black jack tables,
roulette and a handful of slots, an outside bar by the pool, and
maybe a show lounge with a stage big enough for Broadway-style dancing
and singing revues. Of course, a romantic wind-swept stroll on deck
under a starry sky is appropriate and a reminder that you really
are at sea, miles from landfall.

By day, since a typical week-long cruise will include an entire
day or two at sea traveling between ports as well as port visits
that won't be much longer than four or five hours, there are activities
offered on board to keep those guests occupied who aren't content
with a chaise lounge and a good book. Things to do may include a
talk about foreign affairs, natural history or Hollywood, by a noted
author, academician, or celebrity specially sailing on board for
the week, as well as a wine tasting seminar, bridge tour, golf putting,
movies, and trivia games. The library, often well-stocked with best-sellers
as well as travel guides and history books, periodicals and videos
for passengers that tend to be well-traveled and well-read. While
the fitness rooms vary in size and scope, in the least they have
a couple of treadmills, stationary bikes and step machines along
with free weights. You'll find a beauty salon and a masseuse, if
not a bona fide spa offering everything from seaweed wraps to reflexology.
The outside top decks have a pool and at least one hot tub, and
plenty of space to laze on a deck chair.

If you like the idea of not having to continually open your wallet
on vacation, paying for dinners, drinks, entertainment, and who
knows what else, a cruise is undoubtedly convenient. Accommodations,
meals and entertainment are included in one rate; and some top lines
even throw in unlimited wines and spirits, gratuities, and port
charges in the deal. Guests sign for the extras and pay up at the
end of the cruise. Expect to spend at least $4,000 per person for
a week on a high-end ship; and even more for airfare, drinks and
tips if they're not included, day tours when in port, and of course
shopping (on board and in port).

Among the newest and swankiest in the high-end market, are the elegant
Silversea Cruises twins, the four-year-old 296-passenger Silver
Cloud and Silver Wind. These ships sail worldwide, from Semarang
to Silicy to Oahu and Maui. Most cabins have private verandahs.
Chat with new friends at high tea or browse for gold watches and
silk scarves in the ships' exclusive Bulgari boutique. Cabin bathrooms
are stocked with Bulgari's rich green-tea bath products. Overall,
service is superb and elegant dining in the delicately decorated
pale pink and gold main restaurant rivals that of Manhattan's best.
For a change of pace, the Terrace CafÈ, serving breakfast and lunch
buffet-style by day, is transformed into the cozy and candle-lit
reservations-only Cucina Italiana several nights a week. After-dinner
entertainment includes a piano bar, a nightclub for dancing and
drinks, and a two-story show lounge featuring musicals, magic shows,
and cabaret. You can have a cigar along with a glass of port or
a smooth cognac at the ships' weekly "Cigar Nights," held several
evenings per cruise poolside in warm weather or in the windowed
observation lounge during chillier nights. And, unlike most other
ships of this caliber, unlimited top-shelf liquors and wines are
included in the cruise price, as are all gratuities. Equally as
refined as the Silversea ships, the clubby Seabourn sisters are
smaller and even more highbrow. The 204-passenger Seabourn Pride
and Spirit, and the 212-passenger Legend, sail to the far corners
of the world including Africa's Seychelles islands, the French Riviera,
fjords of Norway, India, the Suez Canal, and less-touristed islands
of the Caribbean. For active pursuits there's a mini marina that
unfolds from the ships' aft belly allowing guests to get right into
the water for kayaking, windsurfing, sailing, and swimming. The
ships also have one of the best-positioned hot tubs at sea. Each
is located right at the bow on a stretch of isolated teak deck;
happily soaking with drink in hand, guests can watch a new port
unfold. In addition to the formal dining restaurant, casual dining
is offered in the Veranda CafÈ. There are no elaborate entertainment
productions, but instead quiet evenings conversing with new friends
and listening to music in the ocean-view observation lounge, an
ideal setting for an after-dinner single-malt and good smoke. Tipping
is not allowed and a selection of wine and spirits are included
in the cruise price. Cunard Line's yacht-like Sea Goddess I and
Sea Goddess II are hedonistic havens for the true Sybarite ñ and
small enough to feel like your needs and desires are the only ones
that matter. A staff of 89 caters to just 116 passengers. Champagne
and caviar are served all day long to passengers who demand the
best. After dinner, enjoy a cigar in the Main Salon, and hobnob
with your fellow shipmates, who undoubtedly are among the world's
movers and shakers. The ships have a retractable watersports marina
and there's a Bulgari boutique as well. Among its worldwide itineraries,
the Sea Goddesses visit the French and Italian Rivieras and the
Caribbean's off-the-beaten-track glam hideaways like St. Barts and
Virgin Gorda. A selection of wine and spirits are included and there
is a no-tipping policy.

Radisson's posh 350-passenger Radisson Diamond has a catamaran-like
twin-hull design, giving its passengers one of the most stable trips
at sea, and over half of its staterooms have private verandahs.
Among its features, the ship has a retractable watersports marina.
With its gilded chairs and burnished bronze and silver pillars,
the graceful Grand Dining Room is considered by many the most romantic
at sea. There's also a more casual, reservations-only Italian Trattoria
serving dinner as well. The Diamond spends half the year in Europe
and half in the Caribbean. Wine is complimentary with dinner, and
tipping is not accepted.

The sexy newcomer, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises' year-old 320-passenger
Paul Gauguin, has verandahs on half of its cabins, a chichi French
spa (Carita of Paris), and an exotic year-round itinerary that'll
carry you in sheer luxury from Tahiti to Bora Bora and the other
islands of French Polynesia. Luxurious, yes, but casual -- leave
the suits at home, there's a no-jackets-required policy throughout
the cruise. And, like the Radisson Diamond, the Paul Gauguin has
a retractable marina for watersports. With its prominent humidor,
chunky crystal ashtrays and extensive menu of cognacs, the classy
Connoisseur Club is the ship's cigar lounge, a wonderful room with
ocean views. The Club is conveniently connected to the intimate
80-seat, reservations-only La Veranda restaurant below via a spiral
staircase. There's a no-tipping policy and wine is complimentary
at lunch and dinner.

Pretend you're at the helm of your own private yacht when you sail
on one of Windstar Cruises' three 148-passenger, motorized sailing
ships, the Wind Star, Wind Spirit, and Wind Song. These sleek ships
are modern versions of classic sailing vessels, with towering masts
and yards of white sails that can be unfurled in minutes at the
touch of a button, as well as state-of-the-art touches like a retractable
watersports marina. Onboard, caramel-colored wood and leather, and
brass details lend a traditional nautical ambiance, and CD players
keep you from forgetting you're in the modern world. Passengers
can borrow from the ship's extensive library of music and movies.
Cruising the French Riviera, Greek Isles, British Virgin Islands,
and Costa Rica, these stylish ships are sporty and cool in that
Armani and martini sort of way. Like the Paul Gauguin, jackets are
not required at any time. After dinner on the open pool decks, unwind
with a cigar and cognac.

Crystal Cruises' 960-passenger Crystal Symphony and Crystal Harmony
are the biggest players in the high-end cruise ship league, and
have the space for a large casino, a show lounge plus several other
entertainment venues, two pools (one with a sliding glass roof for
inclement weather), paddle tennis court, and a large gym and spa.
In addition to a formal dining room, each ship also has two alternative
restaurants seating 50 to 70 guests. Both have an Italian restaurant,
Prego, and the Harmony has a Japanese restaurant, Kyoto, and the
Symphony, a Chinese, Jade. The ships circle the globe, visiting
far-flung places like Sydney and Auckland, Hong Kong and Singapore.
On each, before and after dinner, cigar smoking is welcomed in the
top-deck lounge, a plush place bathed in floor-to-ceiling windows
for panoramic views of the sea, and featuring a pianist or jazz
trio evenings. Choose from among the most extensive menu of cigars
at sea; some 50 brands sold on board. And not only are the smokes
top of the line, the cognacs are as well -- enjoy Remy Martin Louis
XIII or Reserve Lafite-Rothschild.

Cunard Line's Queen Elizabeth 2, better known as the QE2, is in
a class by itself. Built in 1969, the very British 1,500-passenger
grand dame envelops passengers in an old-world grace and charm,
with the long sweeping hull and tiered decks of a classic ocean
liner. The QE2 is the only ship that does an annual series of six-day
transatlantic crossings between New York City and Southampton, England,
and on these cruises, the tradition comes alive. There are five
dining rooms that passengers are assigned to according to their
cabin category. For passengers in the most expensive rooms, the
regal, and some say the best restaurant at sea, is the Queen's Grill.
Featuring tableside cooking and virtually unlimited choices, guests
can order whatever they want, even if it's not on the menu. The
Chart Room lounge and woody Golden Lion Pub welcome cigar lovers.
The QE2 is well known for its annual theme cruises, including programs
and on-board lectures focused on topics like classic cars, food
and wine, and nautical history.

For their size and mainstream appeal, Celebrity Cruises' 1,850-passenger
ships, the Century, Galaxy, and Mercury, are the most elegant mega-ships
at sea, and half the price of the high-end variety. Book yourself
into one of the 40 Royal Suites, or better yet the sprawling Penthouse,
and wallow in huge verandahs (the penthouse verandah even has a
whirlpool bath) and doting service by your personal butler, while
sailing the Caribbean or fjord-choked waterways of southeast Alaska.
The ships' interiors are dressed in an avant-garde modern art collection
featuring originals from Sol deWitt and Peter Halley. And, the spas
on these ships are by far the best at sea. The Galaxy's engages
a Japanese bathhouse design, with cool gray stone and bamboo, while
with hand-painted tile mosaics, the spa on the Mercury follows a
Moroccan motif. All three feature a 15,000-gallon Thalassotherapy
pool, a bubbling caldron of warm seawater with all manner of therapeutic
water jets to sooth aching bodies. The fitness centers are nearly
as impressive with the latest workout equipment, like virtual-reality
stationary bikes and a roller-blading machine. There's even a high-tech
golf simulator on board. So imagine all of this and a spacious,
elegantly-designed cigar lounge, called Michael's Club with thick
velvet or rich leather arm chairs, to retreat to after dinner -
or any time of the day. Each evening, a craftsman demonstrates the
art of hand rolling cigars, offering passengers the freshly-minted
varieties as well as a selection of popular brands.

While Holland America's entire fleet invites cigar smokers to gather
on deck after dinner, the line's new 1,316-passenger Rotterdam,
the sixth incarnation of the 125-year-old line's famed ocean liner,
offers the line's most elegant and pampered setting. Stay in one
of the Rotterdam's 40 suites and enjoy a special concierge service.
Avoid the bustling main dining room, and dine in the intimate, reservations-only
88-seat Odyssey restaurant, with its rich tapestry walls, marble
floors, and Venetian glass. Afterwards, rendezvous out on deck for
a smoke; officers mingle with guests as waiters in tuxedos serve
cognac and cordials. The ship has a large gym and aerobics room
with floor-to-ceiling windows, a movie theater, disco, and several
mellow lounges featuring piano, jazz, or big-band music. The Rotterdam
spends much of the year in Europe, cruising among the British Isles,
Scandinavia, Greek Isles, Turkey, and Italy, and winters in the
Caribbean.

No matter where you want to go, there's a cruise headed there. Take
a week or even more; most itineraries range from about seven to
20 days. And if you need to fly a great distance to start your journey
- like to Europe or Asia -- some of the top lines will include a
couple of nights in a high-end hotel before or after the cruise
to give you a chance to unwind. If not included in the price, all
lines sell a variety of hotel and sightseeing packages at either
end of the cruise. So, if the romance of the sea and exotic foreign
ports call out to you just as much as a carefree, luxurious vacation
does, look no further then these crËme de la creme of cruise ships.