£1 million for the most luxurious world cruise? I could save £940,000

Top marks to the cruise agents who garnered acres of free publicity today with reports of a £1 million cruise deal – a four-month trip costing £8,000 per day.
The 124-night cruise to 28 countries is on board Silver Whisper, a 28,000-ton ship once chartered by Vladimir Putin to accommodate guests at the 300th anniversary of St Petersburg.
The ship, operated by Silversea, carries 382 passengers and 302 crew.
For their money, one couple – the quoted price, unlike most cruise fares, is for two people – would travel in one of the ship’s two Royal Suites, each of which measures more than 1,300 sq ft, with two bedrooms, two living rooms and two balconies. Not to mention separate sitting and dining areas, and two bathrooms – one with a whirlpool tub.
The cruise departs from Los Angeles, and travels through the South Pacific to New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Mauritius, South Africa and the west coast of Africa before crossing the Atlantic to Barbados and on to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The extravagance would begin even before boarding the ship, starting with a helicopter transfer from home to the airport for a private charter jet flight from London and four nights in a suite at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Post-cruise, there’s a four-night stay in a private villa in Miami, and all travel in the US would be in a Rolls Royce Phantom.
If all that seems a trifle extravagant, it’s perhaps best not to think of the Beluga caviar and Dom Perignon champagne that would be provided even before the 10-course in-flight meal prepared by a Michelin-starred chef.
Mal Barritt, of Six Star Cruises, says: “We have listened to what some of our most discerning customers say they look for in a holiday and have created the most desirable cruise holiday in the world,” adding that it is “likely to be the most expensive cruise ever sold.”
For what it’s worth, my view is that it is likely to be the most expensive cruise never sold.
It is possible, of course, to do the same cruise for much less than a million. I contacted The Luxury Cruise Company who came up with a fare of £31,499 per person including business-class flights, and $3,500 on-board credit per suite. OK, it’s not the Royal Suite, and there’s no Rolls Royce thrown in, but it’s a net price of little more than £60,000 per couple – and you get invited to two exclusive world cruise events. Plus free laundry!
There you go, cruise with Captain Greybeard – I’ve just saved you £940,000.