One Chic Ship: This travel advisor teamed up with Jeanne Beker to host a “fashion river cruise”

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Travel advisor Tara Turner remembers the time when Jeanne Beker – celebrated actress, journalist, editor, entrepreneur and host of TV’s Fashion Television, which aired for 27 years and had viewers in more than 130 countries – came to Halifax, Nova Scotia to speak at an event some twenty years ago.

Turner, who grew up watching Beker report from the trenches of the fashion world, from behind the scenes of runway shows to interviews with the world’s most influential designers, supermodels and celebrities, sums up that in-person encounter in three words: “I was gobsmacked.”

“She was so real,” says Turner, who is based in Bedford, N.S., recalling that experience long ago.

Fast-forward to today, and Turner, a senior travel advisor at Stewart Travel Group, is now producing a fashion event of her own, in a way that she knows best, with the one and only Jeanne Beker by her side: a one-of-a-kind “fashion river cruise” on the magical Seine River in Northern France.

In partnership with AmaWaterways, the “Seine-sational” cruise event, which Beker will host in 2023 from May 20-27, takes place on board the elegant AmaDante, and will include stops in Paris (arguably one of the most prominent fashion capitals of the world), Les Andelys, Le Havre, Rouen, Vernon and Conflans.

“This is something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Turner, who began building the stylish itinerary – with her fashion hero in mind – at The Travel Agent Next Door’s conference in Jamaica last November.

Designing personalized experiences that involve celebrated Canadians is a skill Turner has spent time perfecting ever since she started her travel career nearly twenty years ago.

Just last April, Turner and the Stewart Travel Group team welcomed guests on board the Avalon Tapestry II for a music-themed sailing on the Seine hosted by singer-songwriter Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo (with special guests Anne Lindsay, Devin Cuddy, and Sam Polley).

The “Seine-sational” fashion cruise takes place on board the AmaDante. (AmaWaterways)

Would legendary Jeanne Beker, who set a global standard for fashion TV journalism for three decades, and whose accomplishments include authoring five books and numerous columns, creating her own clothing and accessory lines, being appointed to the Order of Canada and receiving a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, agree to host a fashion-themed cruise?

Sometimes all you have to do is ask.

“Jeanne, immediately, was on board 100 per cent,” Turner told PAX. “She loved the idea.”

“Like stepping into a dream”

For Beker, the opportunity to return to Paris – a culture-rich city she used to visit at least four times a year to cover seasonal and couture fashion shows for Fashion Television – and visit other French regions, and share the experience with fashion lovers, was a “no-brainer.”

“Paris is the most magnificent city,” Beker told PAX. “If you really want to understand the colour grey, go to Paris. The shades of grey are so exquisite. It’s one of the most beautiful cities in the world – if not the most beautiful, in my mind.”

“It’s also a hotbed of creative inspiration – especially when it comes to fashion.”

Paris is a hotbed of creative inspiration – especially when it comes to fashion,” says Jeanne Beker.

Beker’s love affair with Paris dates back to the early 1970s when she moved there to study mime under famed French actor Étienne Decroux.

The Seine, which flows through Paris, remains a dreamy backdrop to some of Beker’s earliest memories when she, as an aspiring actress (and mime), would stroll along the river bank, passing book stalls, painters with easels and stylishly-dressed Parisians.

“It was everything I imagined it would be,” Beker explained, recalling those “romantic” early days. “It was like stepping into a dream.”

The people of Paris continue to inspire Beker to this day.

“They dress in the most casual way, but also exude a sense of style in the way they tie their scarves, or tip their hats, or in the way they mix clothes,” Beker said.

Exciting stories & special guests

Currently Style Editor of TSC—Today’s Shopping Choice (formerly The Shopping Channel)—Beker, today, hosts a regular TSC series “Style Matters with Jeanne Beker” and the podcast “Beyond Style Matters." 

(Stewart Travel Group also recently collaborated with TSC to give away a free cruise to celebrate their 35th anniversary – a prize, including airfare, worth $20,000). 

The cruise Beker is hosting with Stewart Travel Group next year – which is capped at just 130 guests – will mark her first time sailing the Seine (and cruising with AmaWaterways), adding to past cruises she has taken, as a passenger, through France’s wine-growing Bordeaux region and on the scenic Dordogne river. 

And Beker’s going from the runway, to the gangway, with a bag full of ideas – from onboard fashion talks and style workshops to a “red carpet gala” – designed for all generations, from son and/or daughter-mother (or father) duos to grandmothers to full-on fashionistas.   

Stewart Travel Group's fashion river cruise with AmaWaterways stops in Paris. (Shutterstock/saiko3p)

She’s also looking forward to chatting with guests and sharing tales from her career, which is made up of a “million, zillion, gazillion” fashion moments, including the times she interviewed industry greats like Jean Paul Gaultier and the late Alexander McQueen and Karl Lagerfeld.

“I’m an open book,” Beker said.

There’ll be special guests, too, including designer Ron White, who will host a trunk sale of shoes and handbags after guests spend a morning exploring Château Gaillard, the former stronghold of Richard the Lionheart, in Les Andelys on Day Two of the sailing.

Beyond the sights of Paris, Beker, for one, is also looking forward to seeing Normandy – a destination she has long admired, but has never had a chance to visit.

There’s a style angle (striped fisherman sweaters, for one) and an artistic legacy (Normandy was the setting for many of Monet’s paintings). 

But it’s also the site where brave Canadians came ashore on D-Day and saw action in the Battle of Normandy.

One of many excursions on the cruise involves “paying our respects to those who battled for our freedom,” Beker said.

“As a Canadian, this resonates with me big time.”

Normandy, France. (Shutterstock/Leonid Andronov)

After more than two years of pandemic-related lockdowns and restrictions, it’s intimate and exclusive itineraries – like a Jeanne Beker-hosted fashion cruise – that Turner believes are rekindling the market’s passion for travel.

“People are digging deeper for that unique experience,” Turner said. “We were cocooned for two years. Coming out of the pandemic, people are really soul searching for something different and are willing to spend the money.”

But what to wear?

Then there’s the million-dollar question. What does one pack for a fashion river cruise?

For starters, “a good attitude” is Beker’s number one must-have for all types of travel.

“You have to roll with the punches,” she said. “You never know which way the wind will blow.”

As for style pointers, Beker suggests guests dress in layers, wear comfortable shoes for the day and pack stilettos if they want to glam it up at night.

Though springtime brings pops of colours (France, notably, will be in full bloom during the cruise), Beker said she usually packs basic black garments for travel because she “gets more mileage” out of them, but also brings fun accessories with her so she can jazz things up.

Wrinkle-free clothes and easy-to-store necklaces, rings and bracelets can go a long way on a fashion river cruise, but “don’t think about it too much,” Beker advised.

“Make sure you’re comfortable and that you feel good,” she said. “That’s ultimately the best thing that fashion can do for us – make us feel good.”

For more info on Stewart Travel Group’s 2023 “Seine-Sational Fashion River Cruise hosted by Jeanne Beker,” click here.

A virtual info night about the fashion river cruise is taking place Monday night (May 30) at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Click here to register.