By ANIS RAMLI

A holiday experience that's totally your own. ANIS RAMLI finds out that when you sail on luxury cruise schooner Raja Laut, you can do exactly what you please and go where your sense of adventure takes you.

YOU can plan a getaway or you can indulge in the ultimate vacation. What's true is that today's iPod-generation is not likely to plan the same holidays that their parents did.

Today's families, couples and solo travellers prefer to avoid shopping off the rack when it comes to escaping the daily grind. They look for trips that meet their needs and, the more individualised it is, the better.

The travel industry is quick to respond to these new demands. One only has to look up 'bespoke travel' on the Internet and a whole list of options is displayed - from culinary tours in the south of France to pottery in Delft in Holland. In short, vacationers just want an authentic and unique adventure, something that goes beyond the Vegas holidays and Disneyland escapades.

King Of The Seas

This new trend in vacationing creates the perfect opportunity to experience Raja Laut, a luxury cruise schooner that rekindles the splendour of sea journeys of the past. Not only will you be able to decide upon your destinations, but regardless of whether you've been there before, a sailing vacation gives you a different perspective and lets you a new take on the whole experience.

On Raja Laut, you'll be waited on by a multi-racial crew that designs everything - from your menu preferences to your holiday destination. There is no set itinerary, so you can voyage to the Andaman Sea for diving one day then find yourself trekking deep in the 550-million-year-old rainforests of Langkawi Island the next.

Your home away from home, for however long you charter Raja Laut, includes six cabins with ensuite bathrooms that have hot showers. Dining is at the charmingly classic dining room while pre-dinner drinks can be enjoyed at its adjacent saloon, equipped with modern-day accoutrements, including a music and video system.

Alternatively, Raja Laut's spacious deck makes it the perfect spot to enjoy dinner under the open sky, as you breathe in the sweet, salty air of the night. And in case you're wondering, there is satellite phone and Internet onboard.

In so far as Raja Laut provides the ultimate vacation, the schooner is more than that. Built by local craftsmen using Borneo woods, the Raja Laut (which literally means 'King of the Seas') captures the romance of maritime travel of yesteryear where travelling was more about the journey than the destination.

While the interior boasts tasteful decor, as a gaff-topsail schooner, the design of the hull and rigging was inspired by traditional schooner yachts and trading vessels of the 19th Century, a design much loved by classic boat enthusiasts all over the world.

Private Charter

As far as bespoke vacations go, sailing on the Raja Laut provides superb privacy, pampered attention and the flexibility to do and go wherever you please. It's a great method of escape and so long as you can afford it, the charters can also be packaged with add-ons.

The charter company can link up long haul flights from your home country with its Gulfstream jets and, for shorter distances, with its Falcon. You also have its World War II Catalina seaplane at your disposal should you want to venture to far away and inaccessible places.

The same applies to hotels. For example, the company can link you up with the Four Seasons in Bali, fly you by seaplane to Komodo where you can meet with Raja Laut and do a few days of diving.

You can easily private charter Raja Laut (it accommodates 12 pax) or enquire of any ongoing trips you can join. Until February next year, Raja Laut will be based in One 15 Marina in Sentosa Cove, Singapore.

She continues to chart to Langkawi, Phuket, the Andaman islands, and to the East of Singapore, and is also available for charter throughout Indonesia.

For more information, log on to www.rajalaut.com