Your Luxury Cruise Begins Here

For centuries, dhows docked at Dubai to unload their treasure of glinting pearls, coveted silks and exotic spices. Such merchandise can still be found in Bur Dubai where the spice and gold souks are the Arabia of Lawrence, Sinbad, and the thousand and one nights all rolled into one. Latter-day pursuits include camel racing and dune-buggying.

Nestling around its magnificent harbour, Sydney is the southern hemisphere’s most spectacular port. Arriving here is breathtaking: after navigating past the narrow, rocky ‘Heads’, cruise ships - surrounded by a flotilla of welcoming yachts - berth at the Ocean Terminal in the shadow of the iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

At the bottom of the globe lies the frozen continent of Antarctica encircled by pack-ice and covered by an ice-sheet several miles deep. The scene is set as cruises sail through the narrow Lemaire Channel, known as ‘Kodak Gap’ due to its delphinium-blue glaciers.

While Norway’s rugged western coastline offers a potpourri of natural splendour, it’s the serene fjords that are Instagram gold. Created during a succession of ice ages, when glaciers carved out deep chasms, these most spectacular geological formations are long, narrow inlets that reach far into the surrounding mountains.

Alaska may be America’s ‘Last Frontier’, but when it comes to untamed natural beauty its first without equal. The coast of Alaska is littered with amazing glaciers – none more breathtaking than the Mendenhall Glacier reached by helicopters which land on the ice field. Float planes also fly over the Norris and mighty Taku Glaciers offering an eagle-eye perspective of these ice-floes with deep crevasses, and sapphire-blue meltwater pools.

Trading ships from as far back as the 12th century have plied Oriental waters. Revelling in their cultural diversity, Asian nations share a history of commerce due to their proximity. Herein lies the magic for latter-day visitors - for this mosaic is perfect for a seaborne odyssey.

Nowhere wakes up with a greater sense of optimism than South Africa. Some say it is the light, as if the sky has just been peeled back to reveal an unblemished eternity, others cite the unmistakable fruitfulness of hot, red soil after the rain.

South America is a continent of contrasts, one that has long enchanted travellers by virtue of its natural and cultural wonders. Cruises follow in the footsteps of Drake and Magellan around one of the most captivating regions of the world.

For many, the word Caribbean is synonymous with cruising. A collection of 7,000 differing islands set in azure seas, each with their own culture and style and perfect for those who want abundant activities during their cruise; as well as honeymooners and those celebrating wedding anniversaries.

The world’s largest inland sea, enclosed by three continents, stretches more than 2,200 miles from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Black Sea. Offering a seductive mix of cultures, geography and history, the Mediterranean could be said to be the world in microcosm.