She was born in 1986, a big baby in her time, with nine passenger decks and the capacity to take just under 2,000 guests on a fun vacation they would, hopefully, never forget.
She sailed happily for many years and, oh, the stories she could tell. She was the Carnival Jubilee, and many of you have booked her, and some of you have sailed her.
In 2004, she was transferred to P&O Australia, attracting a local audience of young and old Aussies hell-bent on fun at sea. The Jubilee was nothing if not fun.
The ship still looks quite modern. The Carnival winglets were removed, and she somehow looks slimmer and more up to date.
But the old Jubilee is now a rock star on a totally new stage, and I imagine that as she ages despite several face-lifts, she will appeal to a more mature audience than she did in her "Fun Ship" days.
After the Jubilee was sent to Singapore for some major surgery, cosmetic and internal, she emerged this April as the Henna, China's first ever "luxury cruise ship."
She will be sailing from the resort island of Hainan, enabling her to do short cruises that touch ports in Vietnam.
The Chinese see this as the infancy of a cruise industry that will someday rival our own. Last year, 262 cruise ships called at Chinese ports, which was a growth spurt of more than 17%.
You have to look at the development of the cruise industry in China and the symbolic importance of the Henna in a different context than we normally might use when discussing industry statistics. You see, the growth of the cruise industry is not left to chance. China's cabinet, known as the State Council, has mandated the growth of the cruise industry in China as part of the 12th Five-Year Plan, the one that is in effect until 2015.
The Henna is off and running. After Vietnam, she will embark on a series of cruises that take in Korea.
Like any newborn, there are some developmental issues. Changes had to be made to make the ship appeal to its target market: a predominantly 20-to-40-year-old demographic. There are now electric kettles in each cabin, the ship has a brand-new mahjong room, and the menus are geared to various regions of China.
Operations have not been left to chance. The Chinese turned to Star Cruises to handle management of the onboard product.
Prices for two- or three-day voyages have been between $250 and $2,500 depending on cabin category.
The development of the Chinese cruise industry that began this year is not without some elements of controversy. While Hong Kong works to build a state-of-the-art cruise terminal, activists such as Friends of the Earth based in the city charge that emissions from berthed ships are now considered the No. 1 contributor to Hong Kong's severe pollution problems. The organization claims that cruise and cargo ship emissions in Hong Kong Harbor now produce more pollution than power plants and cars.
None of this will deter the Henna, which is carrying lots of happy passengers, just as she once did for the Carnival brand. The first-born of China's new luxury cruise segment will, slowly, spread her bow thrusters to do longer cruises exploring ports beyond the immediate horizon.
And when she does, she might pass in the night another ship on a different, more subdued mission.
The World, perhaps the top-rated ship afloat, and its company ResidenSea continue to sail in a never-repeated pattern of worldwide itineraries.
This beautiful, 644-foot ship has 165 private residences, making it the planet's largest privately owned yacht. The ship's condo association (my term, not theirs) purchased the vessel, and the ship sails routes determined by its owners.
I've been fortunate to sail this vessel, and several years ago I brought 30 clients on a voyage. The ship is never full; in fact, it normally sails less than half full. Yet, it is technically sold out since every suite and apartment sold out years ago.
On our group voyage, I was placed in a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment with a fully equipped kitchen. You see, on this ship, one can dine in world-class onboard restaurants, but you can also have the chef turn up in your home to cook a meal if you're not in a mood to socialize.
During our cruise, there was an obvious favoritism shown to owners as opposed to "renters," those who booked through the dozen or so travel consultants with whom ResidenSea has a relationship. But I felt that was natural; the crew knew who was buttering their bread.
We evaluate ships on a regular basis and post ratings for consumers that identify the "World's Top Ten Cruise Lines" on our website. The World has been the top-rated ship until last week.
When we were contacted by a client interested in sailing the ship, we called ResidenSea for availability. The people we had been working with were gone. In their place were new people and a new, owner-mandated policy. The World, we were informed, now requires "minimum assets of $10 million and a clear intention of interest to purchase" before an "application" to sail would be approved.
In other words, the World, the best ship on the planet, is no longer open to cruisers. It is open exclusively to those who can prove the financial pedigree to be a purchaser of a unit for sale.
We still list ResidenSea, but it is not among the World's Top Ten Cruise Lines. It is now an asterisk, a special category.
I think of the Middle Eastern man I met aboard, who had purchased one of the prime three-bedroom apartments and then bought the one next door to it so his deck would not be too noisy.
I picture him sailing the World, looking out at the sea from his spacious wrap-around balcony. At some point in time, the Henna and the World will find themselves sharing the same sea lane in Asia, and they might pass one another in the light of day or in the dark of night.
I wonder if he will wave as the two ships pass.
Contributing editor Richard Turen owns Churchill and Turen, a vacation-planning firm that has been named to Conde Nast Traveler's list of the World's Top Travel Specialists since the list began. Contact him at rturen@travelweekly.com.