The Reluctant Cruiser
By Jenny Piper for Cruise Weekly

The thought of spending my holiday with a thousand other people has never really appealed. But earlier this year I was given the chance to have a 'taste' of luxury cruising on board Crystal Serenity.

She was on her Asian leg of the 2009 World Cruise, and we were joining her for a 4 day sojourn from Sydney to Adelaide.

On boarding and being taken to our beautiful penthouse suite, the welcoming bottle of champagne was the first sign that this cruising caper may not be so bad after all.

As we left Sydney we sat on our balcony and sipped as we watched the city and harbour disappear behind us. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Our personal butler very soon introduced himself and informed us he was at our disposal for whatever we might need. Alex was Russian, so insisted we have caviar with pre dinner drinks, served on our balcony, as we were eating at the late dinner seating.

The Serenity offers a myriad of dining experiences, but for our first night we were having dinner at the 'Silk Road' - serving the delicious cuisine of world-renowned master chef Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa.

A tasting menu gave us a chance to sample Nobu's signature dishes. The delightful staff explained what we were being served and thoroughly looked after us.

I was beginning to like cruising!

After breakfast - again served on our balcony by our wonderful butler with full linen tablecloth and silverware, the decision needed to be made what to do. The ship offers a 'Creative Learning Institute' where you can learn piano, another language, art, computer skills , appreciation of wine plus loads more. Or there is a library on board with a wide range of books, CD's and DVD's for borrowing.

I was wanting to have a relaxing holiday, but with all the food that looked like being consumed, time needed to be spent working out.

The well equipped fitness centre allows you to burn off a few kilojoules while watching the majestic ocean. Or there is the option of the daily walkathon with the sports director. The full promenade deck allows for walking or jogging (1 lap = about 500m), while paddle tennis or swimming are just a few of the options for exercise.

Our days on board were spent rather decadently. There was a lot of eating from the range of dining options included the specialist Italian restaurant - 'Prego' and the traditional Crystal Dining room. Breakfast at the Lido café on the top deck, or lunch at the 'Bar & Grill' by the pools, followed by ice cream from the 'Scoops' ice cream bar, kept us pretty busy.

The rest of our days were spent exercising to burn off what we'd eaten, or reading or catching up on all our favourite DVD's. We visited the on-board cinema several times and had some great paddle tennis matches.

And of course a luxury break would not be complete without a relaxing massage from the 'Crystal Spa'.

We ended up on board for an extra day due to rough seas in the Tasman, but this did not dampen the enjoyment of the luxury cruising experience. We enjoyed so much about the voyage.

A highlight was the opening ceremony of the 'World Cruise Games', a feature of the Serenity World Cruise.

The entertainment was great, the quality of the cabins was superb - no detail had been missed. I even bought home my own personalised stationery from 'Penthouse 11053'!

It was hard to believe that there were over 800 passengers on board, as well as crew, as the ship is so vast that you are not on top of one another. It was nice to greet our neighbours on the dance floor or see them in the distance at 'High Tea'.

It was a great time away, and I think I will have to say that I am no longer the reluctant cruiser.