The Avid Cruiser

More than most travel experiences, a world cruise is an exposure to the exotic and the wondrous.

Even for those who call themselves seasoned travelers, world cruises invariably will open the window to new destinations, new cultures or a new way of looking at the world.

Holland America Line's Rotterdam in Monte Carlo

Consider the extended call that Holland America Line’s Rotterdam makes at Victoria, Seychelles. Victoria, a small city on Ile Mahe, one of the 115 Seychelles Is- lands. This is the Hawaii of the Indian Ocean, an absolute paradise. Something of a colonial football, tossed back and forth by the French and the British, Victoria is relatively unknown to Americans, but a couple of months into a world cruise, it will surely surprise and delight.

Or if you are looking at making a Grand Circumnavigation on Regent’s Seven Seas Voyager, you might be interested in an excursion from Shanghai to the Great Wall of China. This visit also includes time in Beijing, including an exclusive visit arranged by Regent to the Jinqui Study in the inner court of the Forbidden City.

These moments occur regularly on a world cruise as the ships call on the great wonders of the world and other destinations that are off the path that American travelers typically follow. A world cruise will provide access to exotic cultures, enchanting islands and jaw-dropping natural wonders.

Australia and New Zealand are excellent examples of these juxtapositions of culture and nature that one finds on a world cruise. The welcoming nature of these destinations are well known, but what a stark contrast they offer: Their cast open spaces and dramatic landscapes are populated by curious wildlife, and yet their cities are clean and modern, surging with an upbeat spirit and some world class attractions.

Unless you are so well read and so well traveled that there can be nothing new under the sun, a world cruise is sure to deliver you to new experiences, people and places – a trip to be savored and remembered.

A world cruise. At first, the idea seems viscerally decadent, conjuring images of bejeweled formal nights, exceedingly long sessions of bridge, day following day at sea, one gourmet meal blurring lazily into the other — and not to mention, super expensive for a luxurious journey of up to four months.

But as with so much about cruising, the image of world cruising is far removed from the reality.

For starters, world cruises are becoming much more affordable. For example: Book an inside cabin on Holland America Line’s 2009 world cruise for $24,508. Think of it: a full world cruise that circumnavigates the globe, visiting 39 ports on five continents, for less than $200 per day. You’d pay more than that for a stay at a resort — that doesn’t move.

Continue Reading »

Click here to read the summer issue of Avid Cruiser magazine in digital format.

The digital issue is GREEN, immediate, up-to-date, portable, features embedded video, spans 100 pages and has no international borders. Anyone, anywhere, can read it, print it, pass it along and archive it for future reference.

To get the most from your experience, just click on this link, flip through the magazine or use the “toolbar” at the top of the page to navigate the magazine or print articles you want to read at your leisure.

Archives: allows you to access past issues of Avid Cruiser digital edition.

Thumbs: displays small icons of each page in the digital issue so that you can quickly find the article you want to read. Just click on the thumbnail to get to that page.

Print: possibly the most useful feature, allowing you to print the pages you want so that you can curl up on your couch and read.

To garner passenger input for its first newbuild ship order in eight years, Regent Seven Seas Cruises went beyond the typical comment card. The luxury cruise line offered customers a 10-night, Caribbean cruise on the Seven Seas Mariner with a “Build Your Ship” theme that included a town hall session with Regent’s top executive team and 16 subsequent one-hour brainstorming sessions during which guests were asked what they would and would not like to see on a new Regent ship.

Regent president Mark Conroy presided over the panel, held on the first Sunday morning in the ship’s main theater. He promised additional alternative restaurants, more spacious staterooms, and better spa and fitness facilities.

But improved bathrooms were what most guests were concerned with, telling the panel that the bath-tubs on Mariner were difficult to get in and out of, that the showers were too short, and while some passengers said they liked the tubs in the rooms, others felt they’d rather have just shower stalls.

Some Like It As It Is
The town hall meeting showed just how opinionated and connected a line’s most loyal customers can be. Almost 200 passengers signed up for the mid-March cruise with the intention to be part of the ship design process. A hundred guests participated in the focus groups throughout the week, and nearly 200 submitted written surveys about the newbuild.

Continue Reading »

Cruise lines keep cruisers connected

March 15, 2 p.m., Caribbean Sea — Clad in a purple swimsuit, broad-rimmed hat and polarized sunglasses, Raelyn Lucklow is enjoying yet another sunny day at sea. One of 700 passengers on Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ Mariner, the Dana Point, California, resident appears totally at ease. But something is amiss. Instead of reaching for sunscreen or a tropical cocktail, Lucklow reaches for her laptop. “If I knew the ship didn’t have internet, I wouldn’t go,” says the design consultant for Preserved Treescapes International. “I can only take time off if I can continue to work through my computer. There’s no one who can take my place. There’s no one who does what I do. So if I’m down for a week it’s basically horrible.”

Continue Reading »

At current exchange rates, US$800 would bring only 515 Euros, but Regent Seven Seas Cruises is offering a 1:1 exchange rate to guests on its 28-night Autumn Sojourn in The Mediterranean voyage slated to depart from Istanbul on October 18. 

Guests who opt for the full 28-night voyage on the 700-guest Seven Seas Voyager receive two-for-one pricing, free Business Class air (or $3,000 cruise credit), special shipboard events, and a commemorative gift.

These guests will also have the option to purchase up to 800 Euros per suite from Regent Seven Seas at a 1:1 exchange rate.  Per-person prices for the 28-night voyage range from $14,495 to $44,543.