TOP 20 LUXURY CRUISES 2019
OCEAN
SILVERSEA
Silversea’s collection of nine luxury cruise and expedition ships are renowned for their elegant service: you’re welcomed on board by white-gloved staff and handed a flute of Champagne as you’re escorted to your suite. You can even pre-arrange a Bon Voyage Party to say goodbye to family or friends before you embark; and if you want to play golf anywhere on your voyage you just have to let the concierge know before your departure.
Suites all have ocean views, there are no inside cabins, and the fleet’s culinary excellence is highly regarded. Silver Muse, Silversea’s newest ship, takes just 596 guests and pushes the bar even higher with its main restaurant, Atlantide – where else can you eat blue lobster in the general dining room? It also has half a dozen complimentary speciality restaurants – everything is all-inclusive, including the bars – plus a decktop Grill. Sister ship Silver Moon will continue in a similarly luxurious style when it launches next summer [2020].
But Silversea is also known for its luxury expedition cruises and will make history with the first-ever expedition world cruise in 2021, sailing from Pole to Pole. Starting in Ushuaïa for the Antarctic, Silver Cloud will call at 30 countries over 167 days on its way to Tromsø and the Arctic Circle. Silver Cloud is the most spacious ice-class expedition ship in the world and among the most comfortable.
WOW FACTOR: Champagne on tap from the moment you board.
*A 13-day round-trip cruise from Tower Bridge in London to France, Copenhagen, Sweden and Norway, sailing on Silver Wind , starts from £6,200pp, based on two people sharing (0844 251 0837; silversea.com ).
PONANT
With a glass of Champagne never far away and an elegance that prevails from the Mediterranean to the North West Passage, Ponant is proud to be France’s only cruise line and manages to cover all the bases with its fleet of luxury ships, most with a pool, gym and spa.
Le Ponant, the smallest sailing ship with only 32 staterooms, specialises in Caribbean or Mediterranean hideaways. L’Austral, Le Boreal, Le Lyrial and Le Soléal are more conventional, but with just 244 to 264 passengers each they can take you on a gourmet cruise around the Antarctic Peninsula as effortlessly as a round trip of Japan. There are open bars and wine with meals.
Then there are its expedition vessels, with excursions often included. The newest, Le Lapérouse and Le Champlain, feature 92 spacious suites and the ground-breaking Blue Eye – a multi-sensorial underwater lounge that allows you to view the sea bed and listen to its marine life. Two portholes have non-obtrusive underwater lighting, while hydrophones in the keel transmit sounds to the Body Listening sofas. Le Lapérouse is the first of six Explorer class ships, with expected in 2021 for intense polar explorations.
