The good cruise guide
Deputy editor Emma Justice celebrates in style on a seven-night luxury Seabourn cruise around the Mediterranean
As a child, I loved birthdays. Cake, pass-the-parcel and jelly and ice cream made for the perfect party. But as I’ve got older, I’ve found organising any celebration a pain and having a fuss made of me embarrassing. So apart from ‘liking’ a few ‘Happy Birthday’ Facebook posts, I let birthdays slide by gracefully. That was until I sailed with Seabourn on my last one in May.
‘Happy Birthday, Ms Justice!’ trilled one of the friendly waiters at breakfast as he brought over a honeycomb waffle smothered in cream and lit with a candle. Usually, I cringe and turn red if strangers sing Happy Birthday to me, but when the sun is shining, you’re moored at Palma de Mallorca, and the entire restaurant is warbling enthusiastically, it’s impossible not to smile and enjoy the moment.
Returning to our room after lunch, I was delighted to find that our suite attendants, Taku and Janet, had festooned it with balloons and left a card, Champagne and rose petals in the bath (our en suite had a full-size one, as well as a shower and Molton Brown toiletries with an exclusive Seabourn scent). ‘I could get used to this,’ I thought. The final surprise came after a decadent dinner (lobster thermidor, yes please!) at The Grill by Thomas Keller. Best known for running The French Laundry in California’s Napa Valley, Keller is one of the world’s most celebrated chefs and his signature American classics can be enjoyed (at no extra cost) on all five of Seabourn’s ocean ships. Dessert was a massive chocolate cake decorated with my name and, as the restaurant clapped and sung, I fell in love with birthdays all over again. Why should five-year-olds have all the fun?
The sleek Seabourn Ovation looks more like an elegant yacht than a cruise ship – even more so when you board in the billionaire’s playground of Monaco. With only 300 fellow guests (it can carry just over 600), the experience was intimate and the crew so friendly they felt like family by the end. It’s this special ‘Seabourn’ atmosphere that brings guests back year after year, many, unsurprisingly, to celebrate birthdays or special anniversaries.
On board, almost eve
