May 2006

Has cruising become cool? Has a century of dressing for cocktails, dining with the captain and seducing an heiress, of diamonds chokers, old school cufflinks, cold buffets and sozzled buffers ("I've made this crossing 37 times, you know,") really made way for a hip new generation of aquatic travellers?

Frankly, no. The rise of "cool cruising" was always a piece of marketing piffle, a desperate grab for the chic pound, which disguised the true revolution in this holiday option. Because while you won't find Armani-clad hipsters on modern cruise ships, you will find just about everybody else. What cruising has definitely become – what cruising had to become, to match the wild variety of adventures and activities now available to us all on land – is fantastically, bountifully diverse.

Best for romantics
The Star Clippers are authentic tall ships with full traditional rigging. No fancy cabins, leggy shows, casinos and kids' clubs; here, shipboard entertainment amounts to loafing in the "widows' net" – a vast hammock slung beneath the tree-trunk bowsprit – and lounging on deck watching the mast trace slow arcs across the starry heavens. There are three ships, which ply the Med in summer, then make for either the Caribbean or the Far East in winter. The longer pre-season sails between regions are great fun for serious salts.