What cruising is like for the one per cent
Fancy a trip to the Galapagos with a luxury Bahamas holiday add-on for 10 nights? Yours for just £136,000. You’ll stay in the Owner’s Suite on a six-star Silversea cruise, with a separate suite thrown in should you need it. Travelling alone? Then how about two back-to-back ultra-luxe Seabourn cruises taking in Seattle and Sydney with a week touring New Zealand, an extended stay in Australia, a week in New York and a week in Dubai – all first class, of course. A snip at £215,000, since you’re asking.
These are just a couple of recent trips organised by David Walker from The Travel Snob (thetravelsnob.co.uk), which specialises in planning dream holidays for those with cash to splash. We’re talking lottery winners, HNW individuals and celebrities. And no, Walker won’t name names.
For cruise fans who appreciate the acres of space afforded by a big ship and have bonuses to blow and bucket lists to tick off, it’s all there for the taking. No more elbowing through the breakfast buffet to spear that last sausage or dicing with the grab-and-go grill that’s been festering on the sun deck all day; cruising for the 1 per cent means selecting the very best experience on offer and never glancing at the price tag. Don’t tend to bother packing your suitcase unless your cruise includes a galaxy of Michelin-starred chefs and enough Dom Pérignon to bathe in? You’re in luck.
Seven Seas Grandeur, the latest ship in the Regent Seven Seas fleet, boasts its Regent Suite, offering 412 square metres of unadulterated luxury with a wraparound veranda offering 270-degree views, unlimited in-suite spa services, in-house caviar service (maybe Twiglets if that’s more your thing), a personal butler and private car with a chauffeur in every port, plus unlimited shore excursions and included upgrades on just about anything you can upgrade. Even the sofa comfortably seats 10. A 14-night trip from Miami to Barcelona comes in at £65,804 – that’s per person, of course.
If you want to live like royalty, how about Cunard? After all, it was good enough for our late Queen, Winston Churchill, Coco Chanel and Hollywood legends such as Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe. The Grand Duplex Queen’s Grill Suite on Cunard’s brand new ship Queen Anne, launching in March 2024, is dubbed Your Private Residence at Sea. It features a sweeping staircase descending into a sumptuously appointed living room and 2,249 square feet of space (bigger than the average four-bedroomed house), a pillow concierge service, and private butler on speed-dial to serve your pre-dinner canapés. There’s a 12-night Northern Cape Discovery voyage setting sail next summer with your name on it – a steal at just £25,598 staying in the best suite.
Knowing that there’s a market out there for seriously pushing the boat out, several of the biggest cruise lines feature exclusive “ship within a ship” neighbourhoods. Book the bling-tinged Massive Suite on Virgin Voyages, for example, and you’re elevated to “rockstar status”, which unlocks access to Richard’s Rooftop, a members-only sundeck and more freebies than you can shake a 24-carat gold stick at. Or maybe you’d prefer to check in to the Iconic Suite, part of The Retreat on Celebrity Edge? You’ll enjoy 2,500 square feet of space, a quiet stunning private veranda (with a double day bed, obviously), cashmere bedding and Le Labo toiletries.
Some of the other cruise lines that usually attract families blowing the budget offer super-sized Owners’ suites and family accommodation, such as Disney Wish Tower Suite, inspired by the Oceania world of Moana featuring a double-height living room and four and a half bathrooms. Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate Family Suite on new ship Utopia of the Seas includes an in-suite cinema, karaoke station, giant tubular slide to connect all levels and a dedicated “royal genie” (aka butler) to grant your family’s every wish.
So that’s your accommodation sorted. Now to ensure you don’t get bored. Expedition cruises are the hottest ticket in cruising right now, offering passengers money-can’t-buy experiences (except it clearly can) and once-in-a-lifetime holidays. Superyacht Scenic Eclipse II has a submarine and two helicopters on board to ferry passengers to realise their dreams. Guests have access to previously inaccessible environments, meaning you can explore the undersea world of Antarctica over 900 feet down or hop on your heli for an eagle-eyed view of the Arctic Circle. Other excursions offered by the Scenic group include dinner under the stars at Unesco site Angkor Wat and kayaking around the Chilean fjords.
Meanwhile, thanks to their relatively compact size, the two SeaDream superyachts offer excursions that larger ships cannot, such as hiking on the Crispeen track on the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba, lunch in Mustique or sport fishing off the coast of Mayreau, the smallest inhabited island if the Grenadines. And then there are the curated pursuits and experiences from Explora Journeys – quite possibly the ultimate in luxury cruising. A one-to-one chat with a NASA astronaut, a private view of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, or learning to pilot a racing yacht in the Caribbean?
If you can dream it, you can be pretty sure that there’s a luxury cruise that can make it reality. Dust off your platinum card and take a deep breath…
