THE ROYAL TREATMENT

Few are born into royalty, but anyone can enjoy the royal treatment when they’re on a cruise.

The cruise line members of the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) treat guests to special touches designed to make each and every passenger feel like the most important person in the world.

Whether in an inside stateroom or the top-of-the-line suite, guests can dine in elegant surroundings on fine china, relax at a full-service spa, have a midnight snack delivered to their cabins and rest on fine linens, all while visiting the world’s most desirable places.

“Since the first ocean liners crossed the Atlantic, luxury and pampering have been the standard in cruise travel,” says Terry L. Dale, president and CEO of CLIA, the non-profit marketing and training association representing the North American cruise industry and nearly 16,000 travel agencies. “Today’s travelers have high expectations when they take a cruise and the lines are consistently striving to not only meet but surpass those expectations.”

For those seeking luxury at its highest level, some lines offer additional special luxuries, such as butler service, waiters serving caviar in the surf, frosty towels poolside, personalized statio “Cruise guests receive a level of attention and luxury that is unparalleled in the travel industry, easily surpassing that found at land-based resorts,” says Dale.

Following are some of the special touches the CLIA member lines offer to make guests feel like royalty:

In addition to Carnival Cruise Lines’ attentive stateroom stewards and friendly assistance in the line’s many lounges, bars and restaurants, guests can enjoy soothing European-style treatments available in Spa Carnival, the line’s fleetwide health and fitness centers. From seaweed wraps and facials to mud packs and slimming treatments, these “floating health clubs” rival the best spas on land.

Celebrity Cruises’ “Celebrity ConciergeClass” features chilled champagne, fresh flowers and fruits in the stateroom; afternoon canapés; personalized stationery; tension-absorbing pillow-top mattresses and plush duvets; a pillow menu; and special room service breakfast menu. Other special touches include priority service for luggage delivery, dining preferences and shore excursion bookings as well as early embarkation and debarkation. Poolside, all guests can enjoy frosty towels and sorbet service.

Suites on Costa Cruises’ ships feature spacious marble bathrooms with whirlpool tubs. Suite guests receive such special amenities as VIP check-in and disembarkation; fresh flowers, sparkling wine and cold canapés upon arrival; personalized butler service; a fresh fruit basket each day; full-course in-suite dining; and terry cloth robes, plush slippers and toiletries.

Crystal Cruises’ guests enjoy 24-hour butler service and such luxuries as Reidel crystal wine glasses; Aveda bathroom products; Villery & Boch dinner china; Wedgewood bone china for tea service; Frette linens in the restaurants and dining rooms; Frette bathrobes; Egyptian cotton sheets; and Scandinavian comforters and goose down pillows.

Suites and junior suites aboard Cunard Line’s new Queen Mary 2 feature Frette linens, Microsoft Xbox entertainment systems, marble bathrooms, personalized stationery, bathrobes and slippers and a staffed concierge lounge. Passengers in Queens Grill suites have additional amenities, including a personal butler, restricted-access sundeck and private cocktail lounge.

Disney Cruise Line’s onboard concierge host/hostess works with concierge guests to create individualized itineraries that include spa treatments, dining reservations, shore excursions, and baby-sitting. The full-service restaurant menus are available as room service. Concierge level rooms feature a queen-size bed, whirlpool tub, wet bar, private verandah and robe and slippers to use during the cruise.

Holland American Line’s Signature of Excellence includes such luxurious appointments as plush Euro-Top mattresses, high quality cotton bed linens, large fluffy towels and complimentary fruit baskets – in every cabin. Other features include premium massage showerheads, 100 percent Egyptian cotton towels and deluxe bathrobes for the guests’ use.

MSC Cruises has built its reputation upon Italian-style ambiance and service. The attentive, courteous staff assures every guest experiences a taste of Italy while onboard, and the state-of-the-art spa offers the latest in massage and aroma therapies for that final touch of relaxation.

All Norwegian Cruise Line ships offer the services of Mandara Spa, which emphasizes wellness, relaxation and pampering. Among the features are luxurious private hydrotherapy baths incorporating milk and honey, mineral salts or black moor, simultaneous in-spa treatments for couples, in-stateroom spa treatments, poolside and on-deck massages during port days, and massage and de-stress treatments on secluded beaches during private island visits in the Caribbean and South Pacific.

Oceania Cruises’ vessels offer the Tranquility Bed, complete with pillow-top mattresses, plus silk-cut duvets, fluffy goose-down pillows and 350-thread count Egyptian cotton linens. Butler service is available in the suites and penthouses. A concierge staff is onboard each vessel to attend to guests’ needs, such as packing and unpacking luggage and arranging restaurant reservations.

Princess Cruises’ new computerized reservation system known as Princess Concierge Service enables passengers to easily plan dining choices through a special telephone number or in person at each dining venue. Princess’ new in-house Lotus Spa® aboard Caribbean Princess and Sapphire Princess features an array of treatments, including special services for men, teen offerings and the “rasul experience,” an Eastern combination of healing muds, steam and dry heat in a private sauna and steam suite for couples.

Radisson Seven Seas Cruises serves complimentary wine with dinner (and lunch on the Paul Gauguin), as well as an in-stateroom/suite bar set-up. All soft drinks, juice, mineral water and specialty coffees are included. Butler service is available in the top suites, and bathrobes are provided for every guest.

Guests on Royal Caribbean International’s vessels receive complimentary room service onboard any time of day or night. Guests staying in suites receive concierge service which includes a welcome bottle of champagne, evening hors d’oeuvres, fluffy duvet covers and bathrobes, fresh fruit and flowers in the room, early debarkation, as well as priority seating for dining.

Seabourn Cruise Line boasts a ratio of nearly one staff member per guest. French champagne, fresh flowers and fruit await guests in their staterooms, along with soaps from Hermes, Bijan, Bronnley and Chanel; a selection of Pure Pampering health and beauty aids from Molton Brown, London; an in-suite bar stocked with complimentary wines, spirits, soft drinks and bottled waters; and Frette linens.

Because Silversea Cruises believes the most precious luxury is time, an emphasis is placed on flexibility and convenience. With Personalized Voyages, guests can decide when and where they will embark and disembark, so they can customize their vacation experience to fit their own needs. Also, a flexible embarkation and debarkation program allows guests to check in and out with ease.

Passengers aboard Swan Hellenic’s Minerva II can reward themselves with indulgence in the new Spa and Beauty Salon. The menu includes aromatherapy, therapeutic body massage and wraps, facial, manicure, hairdressing and a full range of health and beauty treatments designed to pamper from head to toe. Guests can also visit the Fitness Center or enjoy a peaceful afternoon lounging in the sun or enjoying a dip in the blue water pools and bubbling Jacuzzis.

Windstar Cruises’ crew takes pride in learning guests’ names and preferences. Guests find a bowl of fresh fruit and plush white bathrobes in their stateroom. Room service features a variety of items 24 hours a day. All guests receive a Windstar tote bag. In Wind Surf’s WindSpa, a full range of pampering and luxurious treatments are available, including a Latherapie Facial and Aroma Spa Ocean Wrap.