CLASSIC CRUISING
Fabulous Lisbon: the Belem Tower and (above) the 25th of April Bridge
of a spare propeller were chained down. This would prove fortuitous when we came to cross Biscay in the last few days of our journey. One of the highlights was our ap-
PRINCESS DAPHNE FACTFILE
Built: 1954; rebuilt 1976, refurbished 2008 Tonnage: 16,000 Length: 536ft Beam: 66ft Draft: 24ft
Speed: 16 knots Passengers: 479 Crew: 250
Passenger decks: 7 Registry: Portuguese
ITINERARIES: spring, Mediterranean; summer, N Europe and British Isles; autumn, Mediterranean; winter, Canaries, Brazil and Caribbean (on charter to Berlin-based Kreuzfahrten).
MORE INFO: in the UK, call 0208 324 3115 or visit
www.uk.cic-cruises.com.
60 WORLD OF CRUISING I Spring 2012
proach up the Tagus into Lisbon. Princess Daphne moved upstream on a river as still as polished glass, awash in the glow of the rising sun as we came level with the fabulous Belem Tower, that diminutive little pepper-pot built by the city fathers to welcome back mariners in the old days of exploration by sail.
lay a day just wandering round the mean- dering warren of streets on the waterfront of one of Europe’s most delightful and under-rated capitals. And we got to repeat the same eye-popping pageant on our way downstream in the afternoon. The weather worsened after our depar- ture from Lisbon, with glowering skies and rising, gunmetal crests that eventually mu- tated into a full-blown howler of a storm as we punched into the Bay of Biscay. For several hours, Daphne fought her way north in some pretty nasty conditions. I have seen nastier storms here, but this one seemed unending. Yet our vessel rode
C
ars barrelled along above us as we nudged under the soaring expanse of the 25th
of April Bridge. Ahead
it out like a swan. At the height of it, both sittings for dinner were more or less full, and I made a point of checking. The sharp bow, full cruiser stern and
the ship’s deep draft made her a better bet than almost anything else afloat in such conditions. These had mercifully abated by the time our captain pirouetted the ship as gracefully as a ballerina to moor her smartly between two buoys in gorgeous sunlit Saint Malo. This was our last full day, before noon
next day saw us within sight of the wel- coming White Cliffs and the somewhat less joyous journey back home by rail. But nine days afloat in the Daphne had left me feeling so calm, mellow and sanguine I was able to contemplate even that with equanimity.
In modern terms, this is almost the anti-cruise experience. Gimmickry and excess is purposely eschewed in favour of something more graceful; a ship with a soul that comes through in every bit of creaking woodwork, etched into every steel plate like the statuary in some stun- ning cathedral. All things considered, a rich, life-affirming and uniquely satisfying experience.
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