This year I travelled on 12 cruises, courtesy of 11 cruise lines, clocking
up 77 days on water (plus one trip without a ship, doing all the shore
excursions in Fiji).
Each voyage was completely different, from luxury to family, small to
big, river to ocean, in every continent (except Antarctica – hopefully next
season!).
I also inspected another dozen ships, read thousands of press releases,
and pumped out more than 220 reviews and news articles for Cruise Weekly.
It’s been a big year for cruising – and not just for me. Australia saw
record numbers of people taking holidays at sea, four new ships homeporting
in Sydney and one in Brisbane, and bookings opened for next
year’s extravaganza of megaliners, circumnavigations and our most
modern ships ever.
The following selections are not necessarily the world’s best but were
simply my favourites, based on personal experience.
What were your favourites of 2011? And what would you like us to
check out in 2012? Email me at louise@new.cruiseweekly.com.au.
Crew
Butler: Sooria, Azamara Journey
Cabin steward: Johnson, P&O’s Pacific Pearl
Bartender: Simon, Sky Bar, Seabourn Sojourn
Waiter: Sven, Sea Cloud Cruises’ River Cloud II
Overall team: Uniworld’s River Beatrice
Bar & dining
Food: Silversea’s Silver Spirit (ocean); River Cloud II (river)
Specialty restaurant: Salt Grill on Pacific Pearl; Aqualina on Azamara Journey
Bar: Connoisseur’s Corner, Silver Spirit (ocean); Bar du Leopard,
Uniworld’s SS Antoinette (river)
Onboard
Most innovative: Uniworld’s SS Antoinette
Accommodation: Seabourn Sojourn (ocean); Avalon Panorama (river)
Day spa: Seabourn Sojourn
Shore
Port of call: Hobart Bay, Alaskan Dream Cruises (ocean); Amsterdam
(river)
Excursions: Carnival Cruise Lines’ Carnival Spirit in Fiji (ocean); APT’s
Amalotus on the Mekong (river)
Scenery: Alaska (ocean); Rhine (river)
Destination: Alaska (ocean); Mekong (river)
For Families
For families: Pacific Pearl (P&O)
For under 40s: Azamara Journey
For luxury: Seabourn Sojourn; Silver Spirit
For adventure: Alaskan Dream
For culture: Amalotus (APT)
For mingling: Antoinette (Uniworld)
For solo cruisers: Fred Olsen Cruises
Make sure you watch out for the first Cruise Weekly issue for 2012
arriving in your inboxes (Tuesday 10 January) for a full account of CW’s
adventure and expedition cruise columnist Rod Eime’s best and bravest
experiences of 2011.
