Daily Pampering: ‘Suite’ ride on the Seabourn Sojourn world cruise

If you’re going to see the world, you might as well do it in style. The Yachts of Seabourn just unveiled its Seabourn Sojourn in London and is preparing the ship for a 2011 sail around the world.

The 110-day World Cruise from Los Angeles to London via the South Pacific, New Zealand, around Western Australia, Indonesia and Southeast Asia, India, Arabia and the Mediterranean will be beautiful from the Seabourn’s Grand Suite, which offers guests up to 534 square feet of space.

How much for the journey of a lifetime? The good news is that you don’t have to stay in the Grand Suite, in which case it will only cost you around $50,000 to sail the world. But, this column is about the ultimate in luxurious experiences and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t try to convince you to go around the world in the Grand Suite for $233,285.

If it helps, price of the cruise includes first class round-trip airfare, private transfers, 300 lbs of luggage shipping, and $1000 shipboard credit.

p.s. You’re totally worth it!

Want more? Get your daily dose of pampering right here.

I Live In A Box. So What? A Life Spent At Sea, Avidly Cruising

I sold my home in Asheville, North Carolina this week. With housing values gone to crap, who needs the burden of a mortgage anyway? After all, as a friend told me recently, “You never really own your home; the government does.”

Not mine. My home is a box. No more mortgage, no onerous property taxes, no lawn to mow. I put all of my stuff – the mountain of junk I had accumulated in my life – in boxes and put those boxes in a larger box, a container stored in a lot somewhere in Asheville. If I never see it again I won’t care.

I didn’t need a home or all that stuff anyway. For the past 20 years, I’ve spent my life on cruise ships and in destinations that cruise ships touch. I am the Avid Cruiser, not known to you perhaps but known within the cruise industry.

I live a life of luxury. As I write these words, I am in a suite on a luxury cruise ship, the owner’s suite no less. I was born to a poor family, but I adapted quickly to the cruising lifestyle. My arm instinctively knows just the right arc to align itself to grab a glass of champagne without breaking the rhythm of my stride. I could, if I desired, live on caviar and champagne, except I don’t like caviar.

I live the luckiest of lives in that I get paid to take vacations and write about them. Of course, I realize that this raises issues of credibility, but as I suspect you will soon see, I consider myself to be a consumer advocate and my goal is to provide people like you with the resources they need to make informed cruise vacation decisions.

I don’t want you to be confused, happy or ripped off. I am here, champagne in hand, to help you make the best decisions for you – and if it applies – for your family.

You should know that I engineered my life to cruise avidly. Long ago, I figured out that cruising can take you nearly anywhere on the globe. If a destination is without a shoreline, you can bet a cruise company offers what are called “overland” programs. Moreover, though you won’t get to know destinations intimately on a cruise, it is refreshing to be able to pack and unpack only once while visiting several destinations.

You should also know that not all cruises are for those seeking luxury. And champagne is offered free of charge on only the priciest of cruises. Cruise vacations, in fact, come in many flavors and for all ages. In coming posts, my goal is to help you understand the flavor that you may appreciate most.

Return here for some good advice from someone who is homeless – by choice.

Adrift At Sea, On Purpose. Gadling’s New Man At The Ship’s Helm

In the coming days, weeks and months, I’ll be filing stories from cruise ships and from destinations that cruise ships touch. I am the Avid Cruiser, someone who not only has purposely chosen to live a life at sea but also has been fortunate enough to fulfill that dream.

I haven’t always cruised. I began my journalistic career at the age of 32, following the conclusion of my “sabbatical decade” (read: loafing). From 1980 through 1990, I bicycled across America, pedaled through Europe and island-hopped the South Pacific.

After backpacking through Bali, bussing through Java, hopping a boat to Singapore and crossing Malaysia to Thailand, I flew into (then) Burma, tramped to Dhaka and endured a 32-hour train ride from calamitous Calcutta to bustling Bombay.

From there, I hopped a plane for Greece and traveled to Switzerland before returning home, where I settled, quite naturally, into a career of travel writing.

My work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Porthole Cruise Magazine and numerous other consumer magazines. The North American Travel Journalism Association, awarded my article, Ship Shape, which appeared in Hemispheres (United Airlines’ in-flight magazine), in the category of “Best Cruise Writing.”

I am the author of four books, including Remembering Charles Kuralt, a biography that Publisher’s Weekly called “a sweet and lovely homage, a welcome commemoration.”

I own and operate The Avid Cruiser website, a trusted resource for cruise reviews.

As you’ll read later on, I don’t have a real home. I do have a PO Box in Asheville, North Carolina, and I share an apartment in Helsingborg, Sweden, near Copenhagen, Denmark. But most of the time I am on ships and in destinations where ships are docked or anchored.

I enjoy mountain biking, hiking, lingering in coffee shops and spending time with my kids, little avid cruisers. I speak very little Swedish (how can you learn a language where seven is spelled sju?) but I understand quite a lot. So if you’re Swedish, be careful what you say around me.

But enough about wonderful me. My mission is to provide you with content that engages you and compels you to return often. I hope you will welcome me to this space. I look forward to making a home here with the many other fine writers at Gadling.

Plan a luxury safari in the US with American Safari Cruises

When most people think of a “safari” they think of hiking through the bush of South Africa or trekking through the jungles of Costa Rica in search of exotic animals native to the region.

But here in the US we have plenty of our own wild animals to see and going “on safari” here doesn’t have to mean doing one of those drive-though “wild animal” parks where non-native animals like zebras and giraffes flock to your car for the food they know you’re going to throw at them through your open window.

For a more upscale safari trip in the United States, check out American Safari Cruises, which offers small-group ultra-luxury all-inclusive sailings around North America. There’s aren’t your typical mega-cruises. The vessels are yatchs and are limited to 12, 22 or 36 guests. All meals, airport transfers, alcoholic drinks and shores excursions are included in the price. And according to the company’s website, they institute green and sustainable practices, and give back to the communities they visit on each safari.

Some of the safaris offered include spotting whales, black bears, grizzly bears, bald eagles, mountain goats and wolves in Alaska, birdwatching and snorkeling with sea turtles and exotic fish in Hawaii, and looking for whales, sea lions, seals, black bears and deer in the Pacific Northwest.

Cruises range from 7 to 14 nights and rates start at about $5000 per person.