I’m on the deck of Seven Seas Explorer, embraced in Thailand’s humidity but compensated by beer in a glass cold with condensation. Up here by the swimming pool, waiters shake cocktails. Down below on the quay, dock workers cast off ropes. This is a moment I love: the shudder of a ship’s engine, the drift away from the quay, a new adventure ahead.
I’ve boarded Seven Seas Explorer in Bangkok’s work-a-day port, Laem Chabang. No hint, amid its shipping containers, of the beauty to come on a cruise that will take me across Southeast Asia to Tokyo. But the next day, as we anchor off tiny Thai island Koh Koot-Kood, beautiful tropical clichés beckon with coconut palms, icing-soft sand and turquoise waters sparking with colourful fish.
The magic of cruising is that travel’s nitty-gritty is left behind. Everything is organised. I’ll face no airport queues or train schedules, and yet enjoy far-flung journeys. I don’t have to worry whether my next hotel or meal will be up to scratch. And I’m not just another passing tourist. Aboard Seven Seas Explorer, housekeepers and waiters soon remember my name, how I like my martini shaken, and how I prefer my steak cooked.
Cruising is variety without effort. Next day I fling back my suite curtains to find myself in Nha Trang in Vietnam, apartment blocks sticking up like teeth beyond the gums of golden beaches. I’m soon on an excursion to admire gaudy Long Son, Vietnam’s largest pagoda, and 1000-year-old Po Nagar Cham Towers, in which goddesses smile from shadowy altars. Then I’m off for a quick plunge into both the market and the ocean.
Time to explore
Next day, as we sail across the South China Sea towards the Philippines, an extravagant buffet lunch is served in Compass Rose main dining room: grilled mahi-mahi with beurre blanc, Black Angus prime rib, salade nicoise with seared tuna loin, crème brûlée, pineapple tarts, a towering croquet-en-bouche cascading toffee.
It’s hard to fault Compass Rose, but Seven Seas Explorer’s speciality restaurants raise dining another notch: French fine dining at chic Chartreuse, Italian at Sette Mari, premium beef and seafood at Prime 7. As we approach the Philippine coast next morning, I sit on La Veranda deck with a properly made coffee and fluffy omelette as I admire humped islands fringed with palm trees and skirted by waters in every shade of blue. With a whole day to explore at Coron, I’m off to hike up to Kayangan Lake and later snorkel in Siete Pecados, a marine park studded with huge coral heads and kaleidoscopic with tropical fish.
In between, lunch is served on Dicantuman Beach, framed in cliffs and facing a shallow bay where I only have to wade in up to my knees to admire more improbably coloured creatures.
Luxury at sea
Next day another wonderful contrast: Manila, with its big-city energy, crowds and interesting Spanish-era and Chinese-immigrant history. Then it’s onward to Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan. The ship squeezes through a narrow port entrance flanked by an old fort and lighthouse to dock at a startling cruise terminal inspired by a whale’s tail.
Kaohsiung is an enjoyable discovery: a laidback, mid-sized city of good food and arty pleasures, with promenades that lead along the Love River, former harbour warehouses occupied by art galleries and cafés, and several good museums.
Returning to the ship is always a pleasure. Seven Seas Explorer is a haven in the humidity and hum of Asia. The 746-guest ultra-luxury ship is tranquil and lovely with artworks, inlaid marble floors, giant potted orchids, extravagant flower arrangements and even more extravagant contemporary chandeliers. There’s no stuffiness amid the luxe, though, and days at sea are relaxed and informal on this floating palace. I lie by the pool, attend lectures on Taiwanese and Japanese culture, enjoy the entertainment, and join fellow guests for sunset cocktails.
Ancient treasures
Keelung in northern Taiwan is a raucous working port packed with noodle shops and stores selling car parts and kitchen pots. Soon I’m off to nearby Taipei on an excursion to the National Palace Museum, which houses the world’s greatest collection of Chinese art. It’s filled with 5000 years of bronze, jade and porcelain and hung with scroll paintings and calligraphy.
Kagoshima in Japan is next. I’ve been to this agreeable city before and am happy to be back. Samurai-era Sengan-en villa and its gardens are the chief sight, but this time I take a ferry to Sakurakima, the volcano that rumbles across the harbour from the city and regularly scatters it with ash. Villages are, alarmingly, squeezed against the flank of the volcano and, as we walk through bamboo and pine trees further up the slopes, ash is gritty underfoot.
Gourmet dining
Seven Seas Explorer’s Pacific Rim restaurant is the place to celebrate my arrival in Japan: although the menu is pan-Asian, Japanese influences are to the fore. This is my favourite restaurant, elegant in shades of green and black, with low lighting and graceful service. Gyoza, crab tempura with wasabi mayonnaise, duck confit spring rolls, sashimi, sushi platters and beef tataki rolls are among the tempting dishes, although my top picks are the black miso cod, and Peking duck and watermelon salad. Kochi – samurai castle, fine botanic gardens, covered shopping streets – and historic trading port Kobe are two more stops as we sail north. Our last port Shimizu is also all about a volcano, this time Mt Fuji, whose snow-topped cone looms behind the town.
We set off to Fujisan Sengen Taisha, the most important Shinto shrines dedicated to the mountain, then return to the coast at Miho no Matsubara. Its gravel beach and backing of pine trees are famous across Japan for their much-painted view of Mt Fuji, and a fittingly impressive end to a grand journey.
