From Alaska to Hong Kong, Travelers Have a World of Options

If you can swing a weekend in Palm Springs or Las Vegas, you can afford a cruise.

You can cruise the Caribbean for as little as $50 a day, the Mexican Riviera for $80 a day and the Pacific and Canadian coast for as low as $83. That’s almost as cheap as staying home.

And you can still tan by the pool, the casinos are lively until late, there’s a main stage show and a cabaret or piano bar, and the all-you-can-eat buffet is open often and included in the cost.

On the other hand, if your ship has already come in, you can go for the gold and sign up for the most luxurious cruises on the seven seas.

Champagne ‘n’ Caviar

The glamorous Cunard Sea Goddess ships represent the supreme luxury these days, like cruising on your own yacht at a trifling $620 or so a day per person, double occupancy. For that, you get lots of champagne and the very best caviar and anything else you’d like to order to eat or drink.

Your stateroom-suite will have its bar stocked with the brands you request, and pretty blonde Scandinavian stewardesses are ready to serve a candlelight dinner to the two of you if you want an evening alone, along with your VCR and a couple of recent movies. Couples love it, but singles can get very lonely around all the togetherness.

For around $400 a day you can go to extremes, to the wildest, the wettest, the hottest and the coldest places on earth aboard a fantasy expedition ship like the 135-passenger World Discoverer.

Author Irving Stone and his wife Jean will be heading for Rangoon on April 2 to sail as lecturers aboard the Oriental Passage from Burma to Saudi Arabia and on to Nice.

Amazon or Antarctic

Next fall, cruises up the Amazon will be featured, followed by Antarctic sailings through icebergs. You’ll meet plenty of singles and couples, most of them over 50 and most making their 3rd, 5th or 10th Society Expedition cruise.

You may hear Tahiti calling you for only $342 a day on the computerized sail/cruise ship Wind Song from Windstar Sail Cruises, debuting in early July for year-round French Polynesian island cruises. Only 150 passengers make the rounds from Tahiti to Raiatea and Taha’a and on to Bora Bora, Huahine and Moorea before returning to Tahiti seven days later.

This romantic ship is an ideal getaway for two-income couples who want some time together snorkeling in South Pacific lagoons and sunbathing on golden-sand beaches. Casual elegance is the dress code, chic Paris decor the style.

QE2 Due in April

For around $340 a day (more if you book the posh suites) you can cross the Atlantic aboard the QE2, due back from a $130-million makeover at the end of April. The QE2 is good for couples, singles and families of all ages.

At an average of $333 a day the sporty little Explorer Starship from Exploration Cruise Lines hauls its own Baby Starship to land passengers on remote island beaches and at obscure Alaska ports such as Haines. The explorers heading for a close look at Alaska’s Hubbard Glacier somehow don’t seem to mind those sleek pastel interiors with deluxe cabins, the color TV sets with VCRs, built-in hair dryers and stocked mini-bars.

Princess Cruises’ Royal Princess is in Asia for the first time, scheduled for 14-night China cruises between Hong Kong and Kobe in April and early May. For $309 a day you can book an outside twin (for $454 you can get a veranda as well) that includes round-trip air fare and all shore excursions.

Just $300 or so a day buys a nice outside cabin with bathtub on the Royal Viking Sea for a South American cruise next fall ($833 if you want to revel in the penthouse suite, complete with its own veranda and butler).

Sail from Rio de Janeiro on Nov. 12 for the Strait of Magellan cruise, Nov. 29 for the Amazon. The prices include air fare and a two-day stopover in Rio on this prestigious ship. Most passengers will be singles and couples who have reached a very secure level in life.

Budget-Buy Bargains

Those are the dream boats for $300 a day and up. As for budget buys, several good ones are right here in our own backyard, Admiral’s Azure Seas and Stardancer, for instance, and Carnival’s Tropicale, all based in Los Angeles for most or all the year.

Most of the others are small, one-ship Caribbean lines such as Dolphin Cruises and Commodore; companies only a few years old such as Regency Cruises and Premier Cruise Lines, and big Mediterranean cruise lines that are deploying more ships than ever in this hemisphere, lines such as Epirotiki and Chandris.

The budget prices quoted above are bottom-line figures for minimum cabin spaces on off-season sailings. Bermuda Star Line’s Veracruz, not a fancy ship but relaxed and friendly, has the distinction of being probably the least expensive major cruise ship in the world. Its two-day Caribbean party sailings from Tampa are $99 for an inside cabin with two beds on the lowest passenger deck; five-day spring sailings to Cozumel and Cancun cost a minimum of $69 a day per person double occupancy, plus modestly priced air add-ons.

Departing Los Angeles

Admiral’s Azure Seas makes round trip three- and four-day sailings from Los Angeles to Ensenada on Mondays and Fridays. The four-day sailings are as low as $80 a day per person, double occupancy. This mid-size ship is comfortable and recently refurbished; the accent is on night life, casino and socializing.

Larger sister ship Stardancer offers a four-night cruise from Los Angeles to Victoria, B.C., on May 8 for $83 a day per person double occupancy; return air fare is extra. Raise the ante to $115 a day and you can add a seven-day Alaska sailing from Victoria around by Juneau, Glacier Bay, Sitka and Ketchikan and back to Vancouver.

But minimum-priced cabins are in limited supply, and unless you book early, you can’t be sure of getting one.

All cruise lines quote the lowest figure and say prices range from there, but an optimistic passenger often interprets it as the price he’ll pay. It’s more realistic to take the price of a comfortable mid-range outside cabin (one with a porthole or window) with two lower beds and use that as the average, which is what we’ve done on these good buys.

And it’s possible to get lower-than-minimum prices on specific cruises if they have been discounted for any reason or are bought through a standby ticket agency.

Stardancer sails from Los Angeles to Mexico in the winter, to Alaska in the summer, and boasts a vehicle-carrying capacity, clean-lined Scandinavian decor, extensive spa facilities and top-deck jogging track. A medium per diem of $178.

Bermuda’s Star Trio

Bermuda Star Line has three mid-size ships, the stalwart Veracruz and a pair of sister ships that used to be Holland America’s Veendam and Volendam, now Bermuda Star and Canada Star.

Bermuda Star will sail from New York to Bermuda this summer, while Canada Star will feature Montreal and the St. Lawrence River. The Veracruz average per diem is $89, Bermuda Star and Canada Star $163, a good value.

Much-publicized Carnival Cruise Lines makes year-round three-, four- and seven-day sailings into the Caribbean out of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and San Juan, and seven-day sailings to the Mexican Riviera from Los Angeles.

The big, glitzy new superships Celebration (which debuted this month), Jubilee and Holiday, along with Tropicale, Mardi Gras, Carnivale and Festivale share a glittering, party-time atmosphere with big casinos, Vegas-style shows and plenty of bars and discos. They’re ideal for singles or couples who enjoy night life, gambling and fun and games. Passengers are young to middle-aged, primarily from the East and Midwest. The average per diem of $185 includes air fare.

Chandris Fantasy Cruises owns seven Greek and Panamanian registry ships, including the newly acquired Azur, formerly with Paquet. These friendly, budget-priced older vessels could stand some gussying up, but their average per diem is a low $135.

Commodore Cruises has become a one-ship line. The Caribe sails year-round into the Caribbean out of Miami for a modest $158 average per diem, including air.

Roman Toga Nights

“Cruising Italian Style” is the theme at Costa Cruises, with Roman toga nights, strolling Neapolitan tenors, Italian-label clothing in the shops--and plenty of pasta, a pizzeria, espresso bar and ice cream carts. The casinos and discos may still be going strong at 4 a.m.

The mid-size Daphne and the large CarlaCosta have been refurbished to reflect the design of the flagship CostaRiviera. This summer the line’s ships will be sailing Alaska, the Caribbean and Mediterranean with an average per diem of $199.

The Cunard Princess and Cunard Countess have been redecorated and look much sharper. A pricing structure in which the first passenger pays one rate, the second a somewhat lower one works out to about $190 per person a day. These ships sail in Alaska, the Panama Canal and the Caribbean, and attract couples of all ages who frequently buy a cruise/resort package for an additional week at one of Cunard’s Caribbean hotels.

Dolphin Line operates the mid-size Dolphin IV out of Miami into the Bahamas on three- and four-night cruises for an average of $160 a day. Younger singles especially enjoy the party-time atmosphere.

Yacht-Size Fun

Epirotiki Lines presents some good itineraries on the yacht-size Jason and World Renaissance. The ships, small and friendly, not fancy but fun, cruise the Galapagos Islands in spring and fall, the “Caribazon”--a combined Caribbean and Amazon cruise--in winter and Alaska in summer; the per diem of $190 includes some air fare.

The distinctive bright red hulls of Premier Cruise Lines’ Royale and Oceanic include Disney World and Epcot in their combined Bahamas cruise and Florida sightseeing packages out of Port Canaveral. Popular with families, the average per diem for the seven-day package is $198 per person for two, plus a small additional fee for one or two children sharing a cabin with the adults.

The Regent Star enters Caribbean service with Regency Cruises on May 3, and will sail year-round from Montego Bay, Jamaica, into the Panama Canal, Costa Rica, Colombia and Aruba, a fresh itinerary.

The Regent Sea returns to Alaska this summer and then begins Eastern Caribbean sailings from Tampa in November. The per diem of $199 includes some free air fares and low-cost add-ons; both ships sparkle with a nice blend of sophistication and warmth.

Culturally Minded

World Explorer Cruises’ Universe, a sort of floating university in winter, makes intensive 14-day Alaska cruises in summer that appeal especially to culture-minded folks on a budget. Lots of retired teachers and professors enjoy the classical music, daily lectures and 11,000-volume library on this mid-size ship.

At least 75% of its passengers are over 55; the relaxed ambiance and low-key decor call for casual clothing. The average per diem is $171, and some single cabins are available at that price.