Ever wondered what a luxury cruise entails or why you should sail on one? While some cruises are aimed at setting sail to destinations across the world, luxury cruises pay attention to detailed and personalised service to ensure you feel at home on board your magnificent, modern cruise ship and to make your holiday a truly unforgettable experience. Luxury cruises are created for that special treatment to make you feel like the royalty you are with access to personal butlers, concierge, and 24-hour room service.
Pampering you with six-star service, high-end entertainment, and a magnificent and friendly environment, luxury cruises are the epitome of comfort and elegance. Most luxury ships are all-inclusive, meaning you don’t have to worry about spending on board (unless you intend to get top-shelf alcohol) as you already have complimentary access to most of the ship’s amenities, VIP staterooms, exquisite dining options, and exotic drinks.
Experience wonderful and diverse cultures and get to know the people whilst indulging in the scenery at each port of call. Luxury cruises are known for spending more days at visited ports, and due to the size of most luxury ships, the smallest, most remote, and less-visited destinations are accessible, offering a more unique journey than the larger ships.
We have compiled a list of luxury cruises for your next cruise holiday experience.
- Azamara
- Celebrity Cruises
- Holland America Line
- Cunard
- Seabourn Cruise Line
- Silversea Cruises
- Dream Cruises
Azamara
A subsidiary of the world’s second-largest cruise line operator Royal Caribbean International, Azamara prides itself on its all-inclusive service, impressive culture connoisseurs, and cultural immersions. Azamara’s fleet is designed like upscale boutiques for an intimate, comfortable, and personalised experience and sails to exotic destinations across the world, far-flung ends, and less-travelled small ports that bigger ships can’t reach. Cruising with Azamara includes local tours at designated ports, and should there be a delay with the tour, the ship will wait for you. Their motto “Stay longer, experience more” lives true to its name as its long stays in port on cruises longer than seven days allow guests to immerse themselves adequately in the culture at every port it visits.
AzAmazing Evenings, a specialty themed event by Azamara models to reflect the unique local culture of the region the ship visits. It ranges from costume parties, traditional and contemporary events to singing and dancing festivals. Some of the ship’s AzAmazing Evenings have seen a night out at the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and exhibitions of Maori Culture at the Tepapa Museum.
Celebrity Cruises
The cruise line of 2018, Celebrity Cruises is a premium cruise line with one of the most exotic holiday packages. With more than 25 years of sailing experience, Celebrity voyages travel across the international dateline to more than 300 destinations in 79 countries. With Celebrity, you can travel far and wide to pristine destinations – where you can snorkel, hike, surf, observe the local wildlife and biodiversity, awe-inspiring landscapes and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Be blown away by the luxurious international cuisines inspired by Michelin star chefs, the finest of bars and bartenders, lounges and clubs, the stylish and innovative accommodation. This cruise line ticks all the boxes of cruise connoisseurs. The ship is also packed with high-end leisure activities and entertainment. Explore the rooftop cinema under the stars, visit the casinos, and enjoy exclusive live music and drama performances.
The cruises are family-friendly and feature the only Camp at Sea programme for junior cruisers. Pamper yourself whilst at sea and choose from a mother-daughter paradise massage, father-son chill out massage, BIOTEC radiance renewal, or ELEMIS deep cleanse grooming treatment at the magnificent spa designed by a world-renowned designer.
Holland America Line
Travel in comfort across the seven continents with this timeless, traditional cruise line. Enjoy an exclusive daily afternoon tea and a variety of entertainment on board, including live band performances, piano bar sing-alongs, and night club activities in the late evenings. This cruise line features an exploration centre, where you can learn about cooking, wine tastings, and mixology. It also has themed trivia games, fitness classes and even offers digital workshop seminars. Holland America Line has an ongoing partnership with BBC Earth, offering voyagers several onboard activities, such as live musical concerts, an interactive quiz show, programmes for children, and photography classes.
Holland America Line offers you an “as you wish” dining experience, which gives you the flexibility to choose when and with whom you would like to eat.
If you are looking for a family-friendly cruise that accommodates your energetic toddlers and teenagers, Holland America Line has activities and features designed especially for them. Club HAL is designed to engage and entertain your children with professional staff available to supervise them whilst they enjoy scavenger hunts, arts and crafts, sports, video game competitions, volleyball tournaments, and themed parties. Club HAL staff are also trained to cater to children with special needs.
Cunard
If you want to be treated like British royalty whilst on a luxury cruise to various destinations around the world, then Cunard may be best suited for you. Cunard has been providing the British royalty experience for more than 177 years and prides itself on making voyagers feel “royal’’ in the old fashioned British way. While the ships are equipped with modern technology, they also feature a midnight blue hull, snow-white superstructures, and signature red and black chimneys that will take you back in time to earlier centuries of British elegance, splendour, and sophistication.
The first glimpse into the Cunard experience is the names of the cruise ships, from Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth to its latest ship Queen Mary 2, Cunard gives voyagers a truly unique experience through a serene ambience, on-voyage entertainment, and extraordinary cuisine.
Seabourn Cruise Line
Everyone likes extras. What if you were told you don’t have to pay any extra charge for cocktails, coffee, or fitness classes on your cruise? Well, those are actual perks you get with Seabourn Cruise Line. Seabourn has a reputation for providing the best small ship cruise experience, offering voyagers the chance to sail to smaller ports due to having smaller ships and, ultimately, a close-up look to its scenic destinations. Seabourn also provides easy accessibility cabins for people with special needs. Dining options are flexible, leaving voyagers the opportunity to choose when, where, and with whom they eat. The dining experience is further enhanced by the fact your onboard meals have a touch from the famous American chef Thomas Keller.
If you have always wanted to visit a few UNESCO heritage sites, Seabourn has a partnership with UNESCO to provide sustainable tourism to its passengers. You can contribute in your little way to the protection and promotion of unique cultural and natural heritage when you book a UNESCO discovery or heritage tour with Seabourn. Another unique item with this cruise line is the “Seabourn Conversations” – a curated onboard talk featuring speeches cutting across the arts, politics, sciences, and the humanities from fascinating speakers and experts. Speakers include entrepreneur and philanthropist Steve Wozniak, Aline Levine, Dean McFlicker, and astronaut & author Captain Scott Kelly.
Silversea Cruises
Should you be interested in exploring some of the most remote seafaring destinations available or giving expressions to your inner Jack Sparrow, Silversea Cruises has four ships dedicated to expedition journeys to several remote and rarely visited locations.
The most unique selling point of these cruise ships is the personalised service you receive. The cruise line prides itself on providing such personalised service to all its voyagers, boasting a 1:1 staff-to-guest ratio. From the moment you arrive on the ship, you cannot help but notice that special attention – it starts with your dedicated butler welcoming you to your suite, helping you unpack (if you would like) making your onboard reservations, and even arranging a fitness session if that is what you desire. Suites have windows facing the sea and balconies, providing you with a panoramic view of the ocean while you journey. With Silversea, you have very little to worry about, your butler has you covered at all times.
Dream Cruises
The Asian continent is the largest on earth, making it almost impossible to see and relish its diverse cultural beauty in one single holiday. With its amazing attention to detail, Dream Cruises makes you feel, taste, and enjoy the best of Asia right on board – from its delicious Asian cuisine, Baijiu, exquisite Zodiac Theatre (where you are guaranteed to experience the latest 3D and top-rated movies), signature themed events and shows to its Chinese reflexology and treatment. It is interesting to note that Dream Cruises has the largest Asian reflexology on board spanning over 1,000 square metres.
Dream Cruises is known to have one of the most spacious and dreamy cabins and duplex suites on the open sea. It also has diverse entertainment activities on board to provide you with that bespoke holiday experience. Its state-of-the-art virtual reality experience lets you sail over mountains or ride your favourite roller coaster. Sing along to your choice of songs in any of the five luxurious private karaoke rooms. The ship also features a dedicated photo area, where you can organise exclusive private photoshoots or capture interesting selfies in the selfie booths.
Another family-friendly cruise line, Dream Cruises has special shows, workshops, and competitions for the youngsters to keep them entertained and bursting with energy whilst they sail.
Travel on a standard cruise or travel in luxury and style? The ball is in your court! We’ve got a wide range of luxury cruise deals for people who want to travel in absolute elegance. Should you have any questions, reach out to our Australia-based team of cruise experts on 1300 857 345 or check out our selection of luxury cruises today.
