Seabourn cruise discount

Take this magical journey, or give it to someone you love

BRIGHT ORANGE BIRDS OF PARADISE hovered silently around bouquets of daylilies. Candlelight danced in her eyes and on her earrings and scattered like diamonds over a table laid with white linen, real silver and hand-cut crystal. Chateauneuf du Pape glowed ruby red, the Cristal cool and golden. But none of it was more radiant than Susan. My wife's eyes sparkled like the champagne, and her smile lit up the room.

It was our seventh anniversary. Time had not stolen our passion for each other, but having stolen some time and made a clean getaway, we were happily humming along with a serenade only we two could hear: Aretha singing, Hey, Baby, let's get away. Let's go somewhere....

Our waiter slipped in and out so seamlessly we wondered if he'd really been there. But before us, as if conjured by our unspoken desire, was "caviar for the gentleman, linguini with truffles for the lady." We'd wanted to be pampered, and now, as plush carpet massaged away the miles from tired, grateful feet, we surrendered. We had set sail from Lisbon for Seville, Malaga and Barcelona aboard the sumptuous Seabourn Spirit.

Not Your Average Trip

More than 5 million people take cruise vacations each year, and Susan and I had been among them in years past. But we had never cruised quite like this. This is not the trip even veteran cruisers will embark on lightly, unless they've got Microsoft bank or Puff Daddy's benjamins. It's that once-in-a-lifetime, live-like-royalty cruise. Or that special gift the family gives to Mom and Dad that says merci beaucoup big-time.

The Spirit is one of three cruise ships in the exclusive Seabourn line, the other two being Seabourn's Pride and Legend. With a crew of 140 and only 200 guests onboard, it sometimes seemed as if a dozen or more elegantly attired staff members had been standing in line outside our cabin door, just waiting for us to put them to the test.

You want to dine in the privacy of your quarters this evening? No problem. Your waiter will attend you in the living-dining room of your suite. You want something that's not on the menu? No problem. The chef will prepare it specially for you. If the chef doesn't have just the right ingredient, he'll send someone out at the next port of call to find it.

So Much to Offer

You could easily be seduced into not leaving your suite at all. Ours--which was typical of 90 percent of Seabourn's cabins--featured teakwood decor with wall-to-wall carpeting, queen-size bed, television set and VCR (for the first-run movies available from the ship's library), bar (fully stocked with our favorite wine, crystal wineglasses, water and juices), marble bathroom with twin sinks, walk-in closet with private safe, and vanity desk stocked with personally monogrammed stationery. Late afternoons in the sitting area, we'd sink into the sofa and sip wine while the waves rolled and distant shores drifted by beyond our five-foot picture window.

But the ship has so much more to offer, including indoor and outdoor cafes, an exercise room and spa, massage therapists and a beauty salon. There's a swimming pool, three whirlpools, library, casino, nightclub and movie theater. And when the ship drops anchor off an uninhabited island, there are even private water taxis to whisk you ashore.

At every romantic port of call, Seabourn also offers optional tours by private coach that extend the ship's reach inland to exotic places like the palaces of the Moorish kings of Cordoba and Granada in Andalusia. And Seabourn's are the only ships small enough to cruise Spain's tranquil Guadalquiver, whose banks, dotted with small farms and fishing villages, appear nearly close enough to reach out and touch.

Stops Along the Way

In Seville, where North African rhythms inflame gypsy passions, a group of flamenco guitarists and dancers were brought aboard to perform on the ship's main stage--not a watered-down, cruiseship-style flamenco act fresh from Las Vegas, but the real thing.

En route to Barcelona, our last stop, Susan and I were on deck as the Spirit passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, where southern Spain leans close to kiss the Motherland. Leaning on a rail, listening to the whispers of the wind and waves, we breathed sighs in idle wonder, and our spirits were filled.

No More Worries

This is anxiety-free vacation travel: no airports, no airplane food, no limits on carry-on bags and no botched hotel reservations. But it ain't cheap. Prices start at $3,990 per person (double occupancy, air travel included) to cruise the Caribbean for ten days. Expect to pay about $5,990 per person to sail from Barcelona to Rome.

Seabourn offers an early-payment program that entitles you to a 10-percent discount. It's worth planning for--as a retirement or anniversary gift to your parents or even yourself. We were sure this was a once-in-a-lifetime cruise for us--until we discovered that the line also travels to Nosy Be, Madagascar and the Seychelles off the east coast of Africa. For more information on booking a Seabourn cruise, call (800) 929-9391.

Khephra Burns is an author living in New York City and the husband of Susan L. Taylor, editor-in-chief of ESSENCE magazine.