CLASSIC CRUISING

The name Cunard is synonymous with elegant cruising, and the company has made a giant leap this year in introducing not one, but two excellent vessels for those who want a taste of the good time. The Vistafjord and Sagafjord [ITAL] have been totally refur bished into five-star craft. Our ship, the Vistafjord, is a gracious combination of modern technology and Old-World style--628 feet and 24,292 tons of steel, run by 379 crew members (a better than 2-to-one passenger to crew ratio) devoted to pleasure crui sing.

Cabins are appealingly furnished and equipped with refrigerators, safes, VCRs, and automatic wake-up and emergency systems. On board, workaholics will find a sophisticated telephone system and a business center with fax machines, word processors, and a C D-ROM reference library.

Scads of entertainment and leisure activities fill those long minutes between meals. Big as it is, the ballroom has great sight-lines and brand new audio and lighting systems. There are indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a spa with gym and sauna, a casin o, theater, and cocktail lounges, lectures, lessons, and a library.

One of the major attractions of any cruise is the dining experience. Wall-to-wall food gives one bragging rights on consumption when one returns home. The Vistafjord takes excess to excess. You can eat round the clock in your room--but then you'd miss th e breakfasts and lunches at the Lido Cafe, a craftily designed spot that melds its yacht-like exterior with the external pool.

Afternoon tea is taken amid the European elegance of the ballroom. Dinner is in the immense (it holds the entire ship at one sitting) but beautifully designed dining room. One of the army of serving help will guide you through the evening's specials, or you can explore the immense buffet loaded with various roasts, colorful vegetables, all sorts of desserts, salads, and fruits, even beer from sundry locales, all presided over by coolly sophisticated ice carvings and food transformed into display sculptur e.

And if this weren't enough, those seeking a getaway for a special evening can book into the Tivoli, an intimate dining room (seats but 40) located at the stern of the mighty ship with a rhapsodic view of stars and sea. Furnished in fine wood and grey sue de, the atmosphere is infused with the romance of the seas, live piano music, attentive service, and fine Italian cuisine.

With a luxury cruise ship, you may forget why you're on the water to begin with. To travel, of course. A good itinerary is essential, and at different times of year the Vistafjord and Sagafjord range the oceans of the world, from three-day hops to weeks- long sojourns, from the Caribbean to the Orient, from Alaska to the Amazon. We were on the 15-day tour of the Holy Land, calling into exotic ports around the Mediterranean: Greece, Crete, Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, Sicily, Italy. The cruise line gives you a s ubstantial tour book covering these areas, and the travel desk will make all your land arrangements.

My thumbnail notes tell me that the city of Rhodes has the most stunning seaport, with its old walled city and some of the world's best shopping within an easy walk of the ship. And if you like bargaining, Alexandria will help you flex your negotiating m uscles with the world's keenest deal-makers. They enjoy it, and so will you.

This short piece cannot do Vistafjord justice. I recommend you contact Cunard for their mouthwatering book describing her and her sister ship, the Sagafjord. Not only is it free, it will look great casually sitting on your coffee-table.