Hold the buffet. It’s possible to be healthy on a cruise
Cruises are famously indulgent, but with a little perseverance they can be calibrated to make you feel healthier and happier. Travel + Luxury tested the idea on a chicly equipped Ritz-Carlton ship.
The historic harbour of Valletta, Malta’s capital, is the gateway to the small, fortified city that appears to be carved out of one enormous block of golden limestone. When I first sighted Evrima, the inaugural ship of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, it seemed right at home in this stately setting. With eight passenger decks painted navy and white and a streamlined contemporary design, it resembled a superyacht rather than a cruise ship. Staff members in dapper uniforms, including the captain, welcomed guests as they arrived on the fourth floor, a large public space that felt like the lobby of a modern five-star hotel.
Hotel manager Fabio D’Agosta escorted me to my Grand Suite on the eighth floor there are 149 staterooms in total). The door opened into a hallway with a long built-in side table to the right, a working desk and a bar area complete with a small fridge, espresso machine and a bottle of Moët & Chandon on ice. We turned the corner into a dining area and lounge with a large-screen television and fronted by a sizeable balcony outfitted with a table and chairs as well as a chaise longue. The bedroom, anchored by a king bed with Frette sheets, had a generous ensuite bathroom with deep bathtub and marble tiles.
It felt both cosy and cultivated, a place I could happily hole up in for the 10 days of our Mediterranean sailing. After settling in, and arranging my clothes in the pair of walk-in closets, I went down to The Pool House, a light-filled restaurant leading out to the pool deck, for welcome drinks. While there were several elderly couples in their ’70s – nattily dressed in suits and resort wear – the rest of the crowd was a mix of ages: 30-something couples with young children, middle-aged couples with teenagers, and other couples who might have been on their honeymoon. The mood was festive, upbeat music was playing, and the vibe was akin to a private members’ club.
That night for dinner I asked Kimi, my “suite ambassador” (who, along with her assistant, Bhavesh, predicted my every need and cleaned and prepared the room twice a day), to make a reservation for me at Talaat Nam. One of five dining venues on Evrima, the pan-Asian restaurant is sleek with polished black tiles, a small sushi counter and several outdoor tables on the deck. I ordered a spicy bao with crab meat, followed by chilli crab, which came with Mediterranean lobster. Both dishes were smartly plated and served in small portions. I left feeling completely satisfied but not too full.
Later, French restaurant manager, Choaib Bouridah, confirmed that everything was made to order with the freshest of ingredients and that they would rather have a guest order two of the same dish rather than serve too much and be left with uneaten food. “By making reservations at the various restaurants and cooking à la minute, we can track consumption and limit the waste,” he said. “And just as importantly, consistently serve the most delicious cuisine.” He added that often the chefs pick up specific special ingredients at various ports to add to the menu or serve spontaneously to guests, like Sicilian pastries passed out during an on-board afternoon violin concert.
One morning at breakfast I chatted with John Tsoucalas, a 50-something Australian tech and currency consultant from Hope Island on the Gold Coast, who was on board with his wife. This was their first cruise, and he was as pleasantly surprised as I was. “I had read that the Ritz-Carlton yacht was like a hotel on water,” he said. “That is what we want. We don’t want to do water aerobics or be on a ship with 3000 people.” He and his wife, both food-lovers, were especially impressed by the culinary experience, and by the fact they often felt as though they had the ship to themselves. “Why spend $170,000 a week when you can have the same experience here for $150,000 less?”
I was already acclimatising comfortably to the Evrima routine, starting the day with a power circuit class and ending it on my private balcony with a glass of Moët & Chandon (described as “Ritz water” by one of the staff), blissfully gazing at the undulating watery horizon as the sun set, turning the sky into an ever-changing palette of pastel hues. There was something about the sea view and the gentle pace of the boat that brought on a welcome state of detachment and calm.
The only slightly unnerving issue was that I was one of few solo travellers on board; everyone else was there with a group or family or partner. Very quickly, though, I – a working mother of three – decided to embrace this extremely rare alone-time and transform my days on board into a wellness retreat. This ended up being easy enough – the ship’s spa, almost an entire floor on the ninth deck and sensually designed with glass, black marble and mirrored surfaces, was manned by the most helpful team of professionals, led by the stylish South African manager Jared Holt. He signed me up to several treatments, including an excellent deep-tissue massage, a Black Diamond facial using the excellent 111Skin products from London and a session with the ship’s personal trainer, Raúl Quintero. I told Quintero I was determined not to gain weight on the cruise – a common setback given the constant grazing. A body-composition test revealed that I had some extra fat around my middle that I needed to lose.
My metabolic age was calculated at 50, two years younger than my actual age, so that helped maintain some self-respect. “You need to replace fat with muscle,” Quintero said as he looked over the results, giving me a plan for the week. The ever-optimistic 32-year-old Spaniard never stopped smiling, so even when he was telling me something discomfiting, I couldn’t help but smile eagerly back. Although this floating health retreat of mine would only end up being eight days, he was still encouraging. “Even the smallest change in a week’s time is a win,” he said.
Over the next few days I switched up visits to the spa, taking Quintero’s classes, trying out treatments, as well as going on several excursions, often solo, when we docked at small, charming ports like Otranto in Puglia and Parga in Greece. I made friends with three other people on the ship who regularly signed up for archaeological-related adventures that involved long drives. (The highlight was visiting the Unesco-listed site of Meteora in mainland Greece with its multiple centuries-old monasteries that appeared to be carved from the tops of the region’s dramatic rock formations.)
I regularly cheated on my health routine by searching out the best ice-cream. But aside from the occasional flute of Champagne, I mostly avoided alcohol. I enjoyed reading for the first time in months. I’d go up to the 10th-level Observation Lounge and find I was the only one there. “We designed the ship so every guest would have an estimated 100 square feet of space,” explained Andrew Kim, the genial general manager. I had lively conversations with my friends in the spa as they slowly but surely improved my middle-aged mum appearance (Australian hair stylist Tracy Campbell gave me a glamorous blowout and South African Sarah Edmonds gave me a pedicure that allowed me to proudly wear open-toed sandals).
Admittedly, I had a lavish six-course-meal at Sea, the ship’s intimate fine-diner overseen by acclaimed German chef Sven Elverfeld, but it was worth the indulgence – it was a Willy Wonka-esque experience that ended with a cart filled with multicoloured handmade pralines wheeled tableside. Over the course of the sailing, I tried the ship’s restaurants at least twice, each time impressed with the impeccable quality of the meals. Seafood dishes were standouts, including lobster pasta at the Mediterranean-themed Mistral, and a delicious spicy laksa at Talaat Nam. I was also taken by the friendliness and efficiency of the staff, who could read my mind. “We have fresh churros!” announced one waiter as I almost denied myself dessert.
Evrima, which debuted in 2022 as the hotel brand’s launch in the cruising category, was described to me as a “floating Ritz resort”. And it was true that its legendary service and pampering had been replicated on the high seas. According to a spokesperson, the company was surprised to find that at least half its passengers were first-time cruisers. On the last afternoon before we docked in Athens, I was invited to meet the captain on the bridge; there’s no old-school captain’s table on Evrima. “Our guests like to organise their own social life,” said the cheerful Scottish captain, Keith Falconer, who also explained all the energy-saving designs of the ship.
At this point, my energy levels were peaking, not least because I had been able to customise my routine. Earlier that same day, Quintero had put me through another body-composition test to determine whether I’d made any progress. We were both surprised: I had lost some fat and gained some muscle, and my metabolic age was now 49. In 10 days on Evrima, I’d become a year younger. That was the minute I started planning my next cruise. I’ll be getting even younger this summer on the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s new Ilma, which boasts an even larger spa and circumnavigates Iceland.
The writer was a guest of the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. The company is offering 10 new itineraries in the Asia-Pacific region on Luminara, its third vessel, sailing from July 2025; ritzcarltonyachtcollection.com
This story is from the February issue of Travel + Luxury magazine.
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