Cruising ‘89/90

Recalling a 1929 voyage he made from Egypt to Malta aboard a P&0 liner, Evelyn Waugh once observed: “I rather wish that I had gone first-class.”

Now, 60 years later, passenger ships are almost a thing of the past. The great heyday of liners such as the United States and the Ile de France, the Queen Mary and the Southern Cross are a fond but fading memory.

Sea travel, however, remains very much alive. The difference now is that it is done for pleasure. The passenger liners of yesterday have been replaced by the cruise ships of today.

And their numbers appear to be on the increase. Each season sees new ships docking at the vacation ports of the world, and 1989-90 will be no exception. Then, too, more people than ever are discovering the pleasures of cruising, whether it is just a short trip down the Mexican Riviera, an extended cruise through the Caribbean or Mediterranean or an adventurous voyage to Alaska or the Antarctic.

Choosing which cruise to take can be an enjoyable exercise. Choosing which ship to take requires a little homework so that, unlike Waugh, you later will not be forced to wish you had gone first-class.

As author-lecturer John Maxtone-Graham wrote a few years ago, “There are ships for tourist-class passengers and there are ships for first-class passengers.” This is not to imply that some ships are better than others, only different. Planning a cruise, therefore, needs some forethought.

Passengers who want to recapture the sense of first-class travel by sea should look for ships that offer single meal sittings, longer cruises, a variety of itineraries, more spacious public areas, larger staterooms and a crew-to-passenger ratio of at least two-to-one. You can expect to pay higher per-person, per-day prices--$250 and up--on ships that provide these luxuries, such as those of the Royal Viking Line and Cunard’s Sagafjord, Vistafjord and the Queen Elizabeth 2.

These days you will find the light-hearted fun and informality that used to characterize tourist-class passenger crossings on, for example, ships of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruise Lines. You’ll find two meal sittings, more self-service buffets, smaller cabins, shorter cruises, a lower ratio of service personnel to passengers, more sunbathers and more late-night activity. Prices are a bit lower, ranging from $150 to $250 per person a day.

At the very top of the line, above even the first-class ships, are the small, deluxe vessels of Seabourn and Sea Goddess that make you feel as if you’re aboard a private yacht with a select group of guests. You can expect suites in lieu of cabins, restaurant-style food and service, and the freedom to dine where, when and with whom you wish rather than at an assigned table.

All tips are included and, on the Sea Goddess ships, bar drinks and wines are, too. Fellow passengers are generally younger than those aboard the larger first-class vessels. Not surprisingly, the costs for such cruises run from $300 to $600 a day.

Be wary of cruise lines that purport to be all things to all people. Specialization has come to the cruise industry. Some companies--for example, Royal Cruise Line--concentrate on keeping their over-50 clientele happy by having male hosts on board to dance with single women; health-conscious, low-fat, low-cholesterol dishes as a menu alternative at all meals and a New Beginnings program that counsels middle-aged couples, as well as the recently divorced or widowed, on fitness, life-style options and mental and physical health.

Aiming at a different but equally specific market--families with children--Premier Cruise Lines began in 1984 with one ship and year-round, seven-day family packages that combined a cruise to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral, Fla., with a stay at Disney World. The price was right and the package included hotel room, rental car and unlimited admission to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Now Premier has three ships, one offering alternative Bahamas destinations in the Abaco Islands, and all providing the Disney World package.

Other companies are following suit. Royal Caribbean, for example, will add optional Orlando/Disney World pre- and post-cruise packages starting Jan. 3, while Carnival has announced plans to position its Carnivale in Port Canaveral for three- and four-day Bahamas cruises, with Disney World packages and air fare included, beginning Feb. 11.

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The parade of new ships that began about five years ago shows no sign of decreasing. Between now and the end of 1990, more than a dozen new vessels will come into service, while several others undergo major renovation.

First to arrive will be Seabourn Cruise Line’s Seabourn Spirit, twin to last year’s Seabourn Pride. The Seabourn Spirit is due to debut Nov. 28 with a 10-day maiden voyage from Ft. Lauderdale to the Caribbean islands of Dominica, St. Barts, St. John, St. Thomas and the Dominican Republic. After a winter season in the Caribbean and South America, the Seabourn Spirit will head for the Mediterranean.

Carnival’s new Fantasy, the first of three 2,600-passenger ships, is due to debut Jan. 12 in the Caribbean from Miami on three- and four-day sailings. The vessel will have a giant spa, a jogging track and a six-deck atrium where computer-controlled luminous neon strips will gradually change colors and, presumably, the mood of the passenger. Sister ships Ecstasy and Sensation are due out later.

Renaissance I, the first of eight deluxe, all-suites vessels from Ft. Lauderdale-based Renaissance Cruises, is scheduled to make its maiden voyage from Singapore to Bali on Jan. 27. Renaissance II makes its first cruise March 31 from Rome to Barcelona, while Renaissance III is scheduled to begin 14-day Mediterranean sailings July 10. The first Caribbean sailings will be Nov. 10, 1990, aboard the Renaissance II from St. Thomas. Each vessel will carry 100 passengers.

Club Med’s 450-passenger computerized sailing ship, the Club Med I, is expected to debut in the Mediterranean late next spring or early summer, with its first scheduled season in the Caribbean being the winter of 1990-91.

Royal Caribbean’s Nordic Empress is due to debut on May 14, and will make three- and four-day cruises from Miami to the Bahamas.

Also expected next May is the new 1,400-passenger Chandris Horizon. A $35-million renovation of the line’s present Galileo, to be renamed the Meridian, will begin Caribbean cruises from Ft. Lauderdale on Jan. 28. The Horizon and Meridian will form Chandris Celebrity Cruises.

July 24 is the date set for the maiden voyage of Crystal Cruises’ 960-passenger Crystal Harmony, sailing from San Francisco to Alaska and Canada on a summer series of 12-day round-trip voyages. More than half of the ship’s staterooms have private verandas; all will contain mini-refrigerators, TV and VCR, hair dryers and full-size tubs. Crystal Harmony will cruise the Panama Canal between Acapulco and San Juan during its first winter season.

The most innovative exterior design in the new fleet of ships is that of the Crown Princess, Princess Cruises’ ninth ship, due in the summer of 1990. The 1,562-passenger vessel will make all-year, seven-day Caribbean cruises out of its home port of Ft. Lauderdale. The 214 cabins and suites are expected to have private balconies, color TV, safes, refrigerators and twin beds that convert to queen size.

Costa’s new 1,000-passenger CostaMarina, a conversion of a Swedish container vessel, will enter service in July in the Mediterranean out of Genoa, while Crown Cruise Line’s Crown Monarch, under construction in Spain, is expected to arrive late next summer or fall.

The Frontier Spirit, the first new expedition vessel to appear in more than a decade, is due to begin service in November, 1990. Frontier Cruises, a joint venture of Salen Lindblad, NYK Line, Mitsubishi and Hapag-Lloyd, will operate it in out-of-the-way places around the world. An ice-class rating will enable the vessel to cruise the Arctic and Antarctic; it will also have a helipad, 12 Zodiacs (motorized landing craft) and scuba and snorkel facilities. The 82 staterooms, all outsides, will have sitting areas, TV sets and mini-refrigerators; some will offer verandas.

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The Caribbean remains the most popular cruise destination in the world, with five and six vessels unloading thousands of day-trippers on any given date in ports such as St. Thomas, Nassau and San Juan. But a lot of frequent cruisers are weary of the same old places and want to see some new island ports.

As a result, Seabourn ships this season will makes calls at Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Francis Bay on St. John, Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands and Ponce in Puerto Rico. The sailing yacht Sea Cloud, under charter to Salen Lindblad for an eight-day cruise departing Antigua on Feb. 10, will visit such offbeat islands as Saba, Nevis and Montserrat.

South America appears to be the second-most popular cruising area for next winter; it will be visited by 15 cruise ships and the Ivaran Line’s passenger/cargo vessel Americana, which sails to South America’s east coast all year. Sun Line’s Stella Solaris returns with two Carnival in Rio sailings in February plus South American cities itinerary in March and Amazon River cruises.

Ocean Cruise Lines’ 460-passenger Ocean Princess cruises between Buenos Aires and Manaus on the Amazon in January and again in March, with two special cruises to Rio de Janeiro during February. Epirotiki has 15- and 20-day voyages that include the Amazon as well as the Caribbean aboard the 536-passenger World Renaissance.

Holland America’s Rotterdam, having completed a $10-million renovation, will offer its first long cruise in several years, a 47-day Grand Circle South America cruise in the fall of 1990, departing Los Angeles Oct. 17.

The Cunard Princess will reposition to Spain and the Canary Islands for warm-weather winter cruises beginning Nov. 4.

Royal Caribbean’s Sun Viking will head for Europe in April, 1990, for a series of Mediterranean and Northern Europe cruises. The ship will return to the Caribbean in November.

The 140-passenger Illiria will be cruising from Istanbul along the Turkish Coast and into the Greek Islands beginning April 16 for the New York-based Classical Cruises. Call toll-free (800) 252-7745 for a brochure.

To give its passengers a fresh vantage point on Antarctica, Society Expeditions this winter will offer cruises to some of Australia’s and New Zealand’s Antarctic islands, as well as to McMurdo Sound, 730 nautical miles from the South Pole, as far south as any ship can sail.

Meanwhile, Carnival’s Tropicale is scheduled to be replaced in its Los Angeles home port by the 1,500-passenger Jubilee. The last Mexican Riviera sailing on the Tropicale will depart Dec. 31. The Jubilee will begin service on the same itinerary April 8.

The Royal Viking Star is offering shorter, less expensive cruises with an eye to attracting more younger passengers. From Nov. 11 to March 27 the ship will sail from Ft. Lauderdale to Barbados and the eastern Caribbean on 10- and 11-day itineraries, with per-person, per-day costs of about $185, including round-trip air fare from major gateways.

Salen Lindblad’s West Africa cruise aboard the 250-passenger Adriana calls at Senegal, Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire (former Ivory Coast), Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Ghana. The 15-day cruise departs Nov. 1.

The American Canadian Line’s 80-passenger Caribbean Prince will explore the reefs of Belize and the jungle rivers of Guatemala next winter. Life aboard this U.S.-flag vessel is casual and the scenery spectacular. Per-person, per-day costs average about $100, with departures scheduled from Dec. 15 through April 6.

Many first-time cruisers are being attracted by special-interest and theme cruises. For example, Smithsonian Associates Travel Program (1100 Jefferson Drive S.W., Washington, D.C. 20560, 202-357-4700) provides naturalists and archeologists for special sailings aboard smaller vessels such as the sailing yacht Sea Cloud in the Aegean or Special Expeditions’ Sea Lion on the Columbia and Snake rivers. New Creation Worldwide Cruises (800-554-5454) books Christian cruise vacations on various ships for groups of 40 to 75 people who participate in their own shipboard programs and their own escorted tours.

Exprinter Cruises features an annual series of music and theater theme cruises on various ships. Classical music fans can book one or more of six back-to-back music programs aboard Cunard’s 736-passenger Vistafjord, beginning with a 16-day Caribbean and trans-canal cruise to Los Angeles, departing New York Jan. 7 and featuring soprano Anna Moffo and pianist Alexander Slonodyanik, among others.

About 60 noted artists are scheduled during the series, which continues through April 23. The company has also scheduled the Theater Guild’s annual Theatre at Sea cruise for May 12 and an English Heritage cruise on July 21. For details, call Exprinter toll-free at (800) 221-1666.