The 12 Most Unforgettable Cruises in The World

An expedition by ice-strengthened ship across the Drake Passage to a continent of blue-white icebergs, breaching whales, and penguin rookeries numbering in the thousands.

Zodiac landings put passengers ashore on the peninsula itself, among seals hauled out on ice floes.

Days run on near-24-hour summer light, and the silence between engine shutdowns is near-total.

Few journeys anywhere feel as genuinely remote.

An overnight junk-boat cruise through thousands of limestone karsts rising from emerald water, one of Vietnam's defining landscapes.

Days include kayaking into hidden lagoons, cave visits, and swimming off the boat's stern, with meals fresh-cooked on board.

Traditional red-sailed junks still appear among the modern steel-hulled boats.

Karst silhouettes at sunrise and sunset are the reason most people book the trip in the first place.

A cruise through Norway's steepest fjords, where waterfalls drop hundreds of metres past cliffside farms into water so still it mirrors the mountains.

Geirangerfjord and Naeroyfjord, both UNESCO-listed, narrow to barely a ship's width in places.

Small villages like Flam and Geiranger appear suddenly at the fjord's end, framed by snow long into summer.

Midnight sun in June extends the scenery well past a normal evening.

The stretch of the Li River between Guilin and Yangshuo is lined with thousands of karst limestone peaks rising straight out of the water, scenery that has appeared on China's 20-yuan banknote and inspired centuries of Chinese landscape painting.

A slow cruise or bamboo raft ride down the river passes fishing villages, water buffalo, and cormorant fishermen, the peaks growing more dramatic the closer you get to Yangshuo.

A small-ship cruise through the Galapagos archipelago, landing daily by dinghy on islands where sea lions, marine iguanas, and blue-footed boobies show no fear of visitors.

Charles Darwin's living laboratory looks much as it did when he arrived, thanks to strict limits on visitor numbers and permitted routes.

Snorkeling brings penguins and hammerhead sharks within arm's reach.

Each island differs sharply from the last in wildlife and landscape.

A classic river cruise between Luxor and Aswan, tracing the same stretch of the Nile that carried travellers to Egypt's temples for millennia.

Days combine sailing with shore visits to Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, Edfu, Kom Ombo, and Philae, often timed for sunrise to beat the heat.

Traditional felucca sailboats still cross the river alongside the larger ships.

Palm-lined banks and desert cliffs frame the water throughout.

A week-long sail through Southeast Alaska's fjords, where tidewater glaciers calve into the sea and humpback whales breach beside the ship.

Ports like Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan mix gold-rush history with float-plane flightseeing over ice fields.

Bald eagles, sea otters, and porpoises are common sightings from the open deck.

Weather shifts fast, turning misty mornings into golden evening light on snow-capped peaks.

An island-hopping cruise from Piraeus through the Aegean, passing whitewashed clifftop villages, ancient ruins, and volcanic caldera views without repacking each night.

Santorini's caldera and Mykonos's windmills are the classic stops, though smaller ports add quieter beaches and tavernas.

Many sailings overnight at an island for sunset views from the water.

It's an easy, accessible way to see several Greek islands in a single week.

A boat trip up the Bosphorus is the easiest way to see how Istanbul straddles two continents, passing Ottoman waterfront palaces, fortified castles, and the suspension bridges linking Europe and Asia.

Ferries run the full length from the old city to the mouth of the Black Sea, or shorter tourist cruises loop back after a couple of hours — either way, it's a relaxed, scenic break from the city's crowded streets and hills.

A sailing cruise through 74 islands scattered across the Great Barrier Reef's inner waters, anchoring off Whitehaven Beach's swirling silica sand and turquoise shallows.

Days mix snorkelling on fringing reefs, a walk up to the Hill Inlet lookout, and sunset drinks at anchor.

Multi-day catamaran and yacht trips are the standard way to see the outer islands, since most are uninhabited.

Conditions stay calm and tropical almost year-round.

A slow river cruise from Iquitos into the Peruvian Amazon, where guided skiff excursions reveal pink river dolphins, caimans, and a canopy full of macaws.

Days follow the rainforest's rhythm: dawn birdwatching, midday heat, and night walks for nocturnal wildlife.

Small riverboats reach tributaries larger vessels can't, guided by locals from villages along the route.

It's a wildlife trip first, with river sunsets as a scenic bonus.

A river cruise from Porto into the terraced vineyards of the Douro Valley, Portugal's oldest wine region and a UNESCO World Heritage landscape.

The ship locks through a series of dams as the valley narrows, with port wine estates, or quintas, visible on the hillsides at every bend.

Stops usually include a quinta tour and tasting, and sometimes the historic town of Pinhao.

Autumn turns the vine terraces gold and copper along the whole route.