The world is divided into two groups of people, those who have never been on a cruise and cannot hide their horror at the idea and those who have actually been on one. More than 80% of people who have been on a cruise intend to do it again. These are remarkable figures. I first went on a cruise some 20 years ago, with my son Charlie. My main memory of it was of 1,000 people singing Tom Jones’s Delilah as they entered the main restaurant. It was a truly remarkable sight — people swayed on tabletops, clutching at their cocktails and new best friends. I decided, at the time, that it was not something I should write about for Country Life because I wasn’t sure it would appeal to the readers — but I couldn’t deny that all the guests were having a wonderful time.
What the cruise critics need to understand is that there is a type of cruise for everyone. To deny one is like saying that you would never go anywhere ever in Spain because the Costa Blanca didn’t appeal. This time around, my trip was from Rome to Monaco, on Evrima, part of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. Evrima has 149 suites and accommodates only 298 guests. She was dwarfed by other yachts when we were in port, but seemed big to us, with a lift to 10 different floors.
'We slid out of port so gently that we didn’t realise that we had left'
The size provided spaciousness and a relaxed sophistication, with both a good spa and a well-stocked cigar humidor on board — you can take your pleasure in many different ways. The food was of remarkably high standard, especially in SEA, designed by three-Michelin-starred chef Sven Elverfeld. My wife, Rachel, and I both agreed it was one of the best dinners that we had had anywhere — on land or at sea. Better still, there are no buffets among the yacht’s four other restaurants.
After boarding Evrima on our first afternoon, we slid out of port so gently that we didn’t realise that we had left — it was like being in The King’s Rolls-Royce leaving Royal Ascot after a day at the races — and headed to the Italian island of Elba. By the morning, we had arrived and caught a tender to the shore. It was at this moment that I ‘got’ cruising.
What it does, at its best, is take you to places that you wouldn’t normally go to, but have always sort of wanted to. The sort of places that you only need a half day or a whole day to explore so, therefore, never plan a whole holiday around. The smaller the yacht, the smaller the place you can visit. I knew Elba from my history teacher at Summer Fields, who delighted in a palindrome attributed to Napoleon who was exiled there for 200 days: ‘Able was I ere I saw Elba’, which reads exactly the same forwards and backwards. Elba is a sleepy place; men play cards outside cafés, little fishing boats dot the harbour and, above, the land folds into green hills.
We were taken by car — our excursions were created just for the two of us, with a guide — to Tenuta delle Ripalte, a winery on the east coast of the island where they make the famous Aleatico Passito dell’Elba, a ruby-red dessert wine that is quintessential to the island. From here, we could see the flat island of Pianosa, known as the Alcatraz of the Tyrrhenian Sea, where top-ranking Mafia bosses were once held, and the Toblerone-shaped island of Montecristo that inspired Alexandre Dumas’s classic adventure novel of counts and hidden treasure.
Our next sunrise was in Bastia, Corsica, on the day the French were celebrating the end of the Second World War in Europe. This is a place with a remarkable history, from Genoese rule and Napoleon’s birth to, most interestingly, its role as a laboratory for Enlightenment under the inspirational Pasquale Paoli. He established one of the world’s first modern democratic constitutions in the 18th century that included early female suffrage. This golden age inspired everyone from Rousseau to Voltaire.
Onwards to Florence, about 60 miles from the ugly port of Livorno. Florence doesn’t need any further gloss from me, except to say that through the guides we were able to visit an ancient mosaic workshop still practising the skills that Michelangelo drew upon so wonderfully in the Cappelle Medicee, as well as the Giardino Torrigiani. The latter is an almost unknown 17-acre, English-style garden within the city walls, steeped in Masonic symbolism, with ancient statues, a large Gothic tower and an escape tunnel for if you needed to get away from the Medicis in a hurry.
Then we had a bit of luck — that night, the wind got up and it was decided that we couldn’t stop at Portofino, and would have to head for Genoa instead. I had never been before, but I would now arm wrestle anyone who disagreed that Genoa is the most underrated city in Europe. Without being on a cruise (and having the fortunate storm), I would never have seen The Caruggi, the vast maze of medieval alleyways, visited the black-and-white cathedral or strolled down Strada Nuova, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed street filled with 16th-century aristocratic palazzi to rival its great enemy, Venice. This is the birthplace of pesto, focaccia and trofie pasta — the food is the rival of anywhere in Italy and there are very few tourists. Go Genoa.
After Genoa, Cannes was a disappointing traffic jam of people attending the film festival, from which we retreated to the sanctity of Evrima and then finally along the coast to Monaco, where our trip ended.
Would I go on a cruise again? Yes, but on a boat such as Evrima. A smaller craft that can go to smaller places. The whole point of cruising, to me, is to discover places you don’t know much about. You will get what you pay for, but luxury onboard is important. Plan your shore visits; be adventurous; make sure you do what you are interested in and tell your guide what that is.
A similar, seven-night journey with Ritz-Carlton, from Rome to Monaco, starts from £9,900) per person per suite, based on double occupancy. The fare includes a private terrace, dining, beverages, access to water-sports equipment and a suite ambassador service to help with tasks such as unpacking, garment pressing and in-suite dining.