With itineraries appealing to almost everyone, no wonder some 10 million people set sail last year.
What our experts say
Cruises: Luxury
Luxury cruises
Crystal
Cruises
Crystal
Cruises currently operates
three ships: the Crystal
Harmony and Crystal Symphony
-- each accommodating 940
guests -- and the 1,080-guest
Crystal Serenity. The line
is owned by Nippon Yusen
Kaisha (NYK), of Tokyo,
the largest shipping company
in the world. Despite its
size, the fleet offers itineraries
in Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean,
Caribbean, Mexico, Canada,
South America, and the U.S.
Few
could argue with this 167-year-old
British line's claim to
having the most famous cruise
ships in the world. Even
though it has only two ships,
they are the Queen Mary
2 -- still the largest ocean
liner in the world -- and
the Queen Elizabeth 2. The
90,000-ton Queen Victoria
will join the fleet when
it makes its maiden voyage
in December 2007.
The
four medium-sized ships
of Regent Seven Seas Cruises
accommodate from 320 to
700 passengers on voyages
to more than 300 ports on
six continents, including
Antarctica. RSSC bills its
atmosphere onboard as "personal,
individual, accommodating
-- upscale but not uptight."
Two of the Regent ships
-- Seven Seas Mariner and
Seven Seas Voyager -- offer
all-suite, all-balcony lodging.
The
Yachts of Seabourn comprise
three identical ships, each
carrying just 208 guests
to pretty much anywhere
in the world, and they're
small enough to go places
most other cruise ships
cannot. Intimate and luxurious,
each vessel features all-suite
accommodations with virtually
one staff member for every
guest.
The
four ships of the Silversea
fleet -- two accommodating
296 guests and the other
two 382 guests -- provide
all-suite, all ocean-view
settings. The ultra-luxury
Silversea line aims at affluent
travelers and features all-inclusive
pricing.
Windstar's
three ships are actually
motored-sail-yachts with
unique, computerized controls
of the sails, which unfurl
in two minutes at the push
of a button. The four-mast
Wind Star and Wind Spirit
carry 148 passengers each,
while the five-mast Wind
Surf hosts up to 308 guests.
