No giant water slides in sight: On board a luxury cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong
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No giant water slides in sight: On board a luxury cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong
The Seabourn Ovation belongs to a new generation of smaller, more luxurious vessels that are designed for a savvier demographic – specifically, an older, cashed-up set.
The next Seabourn Ovation departs Singapore in December 2019. (Photo: Seabourn Ovation)
eleven May 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 04 Jul 2022 04:37PM)
Mention an ocean cruise in a conversation, and the room instantly divides into two polarised camps faster than you tin say, "Then, where practise you stand on Donald Trump?" One group will furrow its collective brow and sniff, "I merely tin't imagine being stuck on a ship with a bunch of old people. I would exist so bored", while the other group will rave nigh it with the kind of unblinking fanaticism you commonly acquaintance with a Marie Kondo groupie.
Even before my contempo 14-night voyage from Singapore to Hong Kong on the Seabourn Ovation, I belonged firmly to the 2d campsite.
For me, a cruise is, hands down, one of the most underrated ways to travel and run across the world. Information technology's a floating hotel without all the hassle of packing and unpacking and airports every time you get in at a new destination.
Of course, at that place are monster cruises that are the size of five city blocks and 20-stories loftier, jammed with 6,000 passengers including entire schools of hypersonic children screaming downward a behemothic water slide. They're the ones that would probably scar me for life.
Launched last May, the Seabourn Ovation belongs to a new generation of smaller, more luxurious vessels that are designed for a savvier demographic – specifically, an older, cashed-up prepare that is considerably pickier near how it wants to travel, where it wants to travel, and with whom it wants to travel.
And what'south non to love? Like its sis ship, the Encore, which launched in January 2017, the 13-deck Ovation is a beauty. Stretching 690 anxiety and boasting a pinnacle cruising speed of 15 knots, it is all-white, voluptuous ocean-animate being.
Every one of its 300 rooms is a spacious swanky suite with 12 categories ranging in size from 251 to 1,306 sq. ft. of indoor space, plus an additional 68 to 906 sq. ft. of bounding main-facing verandahs. Each has a walk-in-wardrobe and a bathroom featuring double sinks, shower and – why not? – a bathtub.
The on-board stats are equally impressive: A two:3 staff-to-passenger ratio; seven lounges and bars, and six restaurants (one of which is operated by, ahem, Thomas Keller); two outdoor pond pools and six whirlpools; a minor casino; and a Dr Andrew Weil spa.
And in that location isn't a single waterslide or climbing wall in sight. Which can exist explained by the fact that given the price of the ticket (which incidentally, includes all onboard nutrient and beverages), families with immature children tend to steer clear of the Seabourn fleet, making each voyage a considerably calmer, more relaxed experience – a perfect option, I recall, for honeymooners, and couples looking to detox and retox.
Now, fourteen nights may seem similar a long time to spend on a transport, even one the size of the Ovation, only the days drifted by like a Pixar montage that was washed in sunshine and lined with endless horizons.
There were yoga and meditation classes at the gym; a daily dilemma of where to take lunch – sushi or buffet or fine dining, or in-room dining; and bridge classes and trivia games.
I read and occasionally checked emails in the mornings, napped in the afternoons, and showed up dutifully every day for afternoon tea of cucumber sandwiches and the best scones I've ever had. And afterward dinner, we popped in briefly at the Grand Salon for the evening's entertainment – sometimes a moving picture, sometimes song and dance, music and magic – whilst others headed to the Guild for late dark dancing.
With so many places to swallow and hang out in, in that location was never any sense that I was sharing space with 600 other passengers. Even more than and so on the days we docked into a port – our itinerary taking in Laem Chabang, Koh Kood, Sihanoukville, Ho Chi Minh Metropolis, Danang, and Ha Long Bay – and mean solar day-trippers set off leaving us with the whole ship to ourselves.
One day we dropped anchor at Koh Kood, an unheralded, gloriously green isle in the Gulf of Thailand with softly bending coconut palms and blinding soft white sand. The coiffure set upwardly a seafood barbeque on the beach, alongside massage beds and a dinky stand of local arts and craft.
Suddenly, a commotion. The person next to me sat upward in her lounge chair and squinted into the distance. "They're serving caviar and champagne on a surfboard!" she said. "Now that is way more interesting than yoga on a surfboard, lemme tell ya!" replied her companion.
And then, before nosotros knew it, reality came rushing back and Hong Kong loomed over the horizon, its skyscrapers bristling along Victoria Harbour – a shock to the senses after two weeks of bounding main-washed air and small towns. We envied the passengers who were staying on for the return voyage to Singapore, this time on a unlike course via the Philippines.
"Come dorsum again!" the staff at breakfast sang out every bit nosotros reluctantly dragged our luggage away. They couldn't have known that, somewhere in the Gulf of Thailand after nosotros'd sailed away from Koh Kood, I'd already booked another voyage.
The Seabourn Ovation is currently on its way to Europe. Information technology returns to Asia in December to sail once more on the 14-day Vietnam and Thailand voyages between Singapore and Hong Kong on Dec 21, 2019; and Jan 4, Feb i, February 15 and February 29, 2020. Rates start at US$7,499 (South$10,200) per person, based on double occupancy. Rates do not include taxes or airfare. www.seabourn.com
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