CLASSIC CRUISING
CABIN CHOICE
Cabins aboard Princess Daphne tend towards the large and expansive, filled with chunky, solid furniture with a 1950s chic. There is a lot of dark, delightful wood trim, and the bathrooms come with tiled floors. Because of the original quirky design of the ship, practically each one is as individual and distinctive as a human fingerprint. They are
uncommonly roomy, and a world apart from the often cookie-cutter equivalents on the mass-market ships. This just helps
to burnish the charm of this small, perfectly polished jewel of a ship and helps to mark her out as one of the most utterly distinctive sailing experiences at sea today.
“These ships all have a kind OF OLD-WORLD CHARM that has been NURTURED and allowed TO FLOURISH”
with revenues than any reverence for nostalgia. But for the intervention of Classic International Cruises, there is little doubt this lovely little ship would have long since vanished. CIC has assembled a whimsical pastiche of
unique vessels that would have been unloved else- where, all veterans of another age and time. What they have in common is a kind of old-world charm that has been nurtured and allowed to flourish again, to such an extent each ship is almost revered not so much for what it has, as for the very things they so obviously lack. You will find only a handful of balcony cabins and no rock climbing walls. If you cannot live with- out Broadway-style shows and round-the-clock food and entertainment, it might be best to stop reading now. There are no eight-storey atriums or casinos the size of a Zeppelin hangar. This is the experience of being at sea for its own sake. Stripped of neon, marble and glitter, it takes cruising back to a kind of pared down, elegant past. There are polished teak accents, real brass, and upper decks that curve upwards at stem and stern,
58 WORLD OF CRUISING I Spring 2012
like the edges of a smile. Those outer decks are all graceful curves and polished staircases leading to little, secluded nooks and crannies. You might find a small bit of veranda curving
outwards, with a pair of wicker chairs and a view straight down to the wake. Throw in the gentle throb- bing of the propellers, and you have a thing of won- der that has all but vanished elsewhere at sea today.
T
he aft upper deck has a vast amount of open deck space, with a small pool and a large number of umbrella-shaded tables looking
straight out over the sea. This small, perfectly sited lido café is ideal for breakfast, lunch or just a book and a glass of wine in the sun. Loudspeaker an- nouncements are virtually non-existent. Inside, the Daphne is comfortable, not luxurious; she does not pretend to be anything else. There is much use of mirrored surfaces to create the illusion of scale but, truth be told, those interiors are so intimate and warm they pretty much speak for themselves. There is one main dining room that stretches the full width of the ship. Full-length rows of floor-
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