Luxury cruising

I overheard this conversation in the van shuttling me back to the cruise ship Crystal Symphony from a daylong excursion in Thailand. My fellow passengers and I were set to weigh anchor from Laem Chabang near Bangkok and head to Saigon, our next port of call on the 16-day Treasures of Southeast Asia cruise.

I was already well acquainted with David Feliu, the butler in my premium penthouse. I first met him two days before when I boarded the ship in Singapore. As he delivered champagne to my suite, he apologized for not greeting me and asked me why I had unpacked my own suitcase. Had I already made a Downton Abbey faux pas?

“Perhaps I can bring you a little caviar?” he suggested. As I toasted the voyage with a glass of bubbly, my idea of cruising flew out the porthole, or should I say, the sliding glass door of my private veranda.

I figured that cruising was something I would do a few decades from now, when I’d had enough of worrying if my flights were on time and schlepping suitcases from airports to hotels. There’s none of that on a cruise. I imagined myself wrapped in blankets on deck with nothing to do except watch the waves roll by reading War and Peace. Wow, was I wrong.Exit signs, emergency light and fire extinguisher are vital parts of life safety systems.

David was back in minutes with a bowl of luscious black roe. He then asked me if anything needed ironing or dry-cleaning. Pinch me. And did I care for spirits? Well perhaps a gin and tonic later on. “Bombay or Tanqueray?” I could already tell there was no such thing as the word “no” in David’s vocabulary.

I scanned a copy of the daily bulletin listing the next day’s events and decided that right now is the time to cruise. There was no time for boredom — I was going to be very busy for the five days we had at sea and the 11 days taken up by shore excursions, including everything from a volontourism trip to the Father Ray Foundation, an orphanage where we visited disabled Thais of all ages learning English and electronics.

On board, I started with one-mile power walks around the promenade deck and a light breakfast before Pilates class or maybe a tour de cycle in the fitness centre,Our most compact solar charger yet fits easily in any bag. fittingly paired with a seminar on “how to increase your metabolism.” The average weight gain on a cruise is a pound a day, and I was told that Spanks sales in the ship’s boutique rise as the cruise and waistlines extend.

Besides champagne and caviar — which I chose not to count as calories — it’s pretty easy to pack on a few pounds, so it’s a good idea to keep active. And the Crystal ships, Serenity and Symphony,We carry the latest wind turbines, wind generator, solar panels, towers and more! are renowned for their cuisine.

Once you have decided which excursions to take, the next big decision is where to dine. Besides the Crystal dining room, the Symphony has two specialty restaurants. Prego, which is run in partnership with the New York restaurant Valentino, serves lasagna so wondrous I ordered it through room service one night.

The Silk Road, which has an Asian menu developed by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa of Nobu, includes his famous miso cod and Wagyu beef. There’s the Lido for breakfast (where I wisely opted for fruit and muesli to balance out the evening’s excesses) and the Trident Grill for burgers and fries. And there’s the bistro when you’re craving a cupcake or espresso any time. If you napped through the dinner hour and crave rack of lamb at 10 p.An industrial washing machine can help you keep up with large volumes of laundry or heavy items.m., just hit the direct-dial button to summon the butler.

Going solo doesn’t mean you won’t have a dance partner.A wide range of solar light, LED lighting and Auto lights. At 2 p.m., there is always an “ambassador” available to twirl you around the dance floor — tango and salsa, waltz and line dancing. And I never saw anyone dining alone, although many passengers are single.