More choice and innovation ensure cruising is the travel industry's fastest growing sector, finds Megan Singleton.

Stephanie Maskery boards a clipper to cruise the Amalfi Coast.

Elisabeth Easther and her son enjoy the festive cheer on board a freighter ship in the Pacific.

Now's the time to think about a romantic snowy Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere. Ewan McDonald takes a Yuletide cruise on the Danube.

On a billion-dollar ship, Toby Manhire dodges the conga line and opts instead for several fine ales and a ride on the North Star.

River cruises are growing in popularity, particularly across Europe. Pamela Wade explains why.

Rod Emmerson looks at the nuts and bolts of a luxury cruise through the Greek Isles and Turkish Coast.

Sarah Marshall travels effortlessly from downtown Auckland to a world beyond Earth.

Those axe-wielding, marauding Norse ancients would be so envious of the comforts on today's ships, writes Catherine Masters.

Marty Silk is pleasantly surprised to have all his preconceptions quashed on an enjoyable, exciting and elegant cruise to Moreton Island.

Kiwis are well known as a cruisy lot and the big lines are offering ever more options to entice us on board.

Cruising Europe's rivers reminds Pamela Wade of having front row seats at a travel documentary.

A Mekong Sun jaunt is as much an educational cruise as one of relaxation, writes Patrick Horton.

Jane Jeffries tries to mind her manners while cooking a meal for her fellow cruise ship passengers in Fiji.

Tropical beaches, fine dining, cooking and dance lessons – Lynley Bilby finds her every whim is catered for on a Pacific island cruise.

Peter Hughes enjoys Champagne service as the Queen Victoria completes one leg of a majestic round-the-world voyage.

Land-based luxury is taking to the water, while some cruisers will soon be able to climb aboard the Millennium Falcon in a Jedi Training experience.

Elisabeth Easther and her son booked a passage on a freighter to explore the far-flung charms of French Polynesia’s Marquesas Islands.

New Zealanders will be able to travel to South America by cruise ship for the first time following the news that Princess Cruises will offer a circumnavigation of the region from Downunder in early 2017.

Paul Rush samples the simple pleasures of Robert Louis Stevenson's Samoa.

Bev Wood experiences the Italian capacity for both wild frenzy and languid indolence.

Budapest is one of the most elegant and charming of European capitals, and certainly one of the cheapest.

Taking to the mighty Danube River in luxury and style and a bed so comfortable that the memory of it brings a tear to your eye is a marvellous way to travel, writes Sophie Barclay.

In an azure and cobalt bay, gentle sea creatures welcome Phil Welch to the 'closest island to paradise'.

The marine animals and birdlife on the remote sub-Antarctic Islands captivate Isobel Marriner.

On the ship Orion, Jane Archer heads to Australia's Kimberley region to scale waterfalls, sample helicopter tours and spot man-eating beasts (from the safety of a rubber dinghy).

Autumnal riches stud the New England coastal route and, for Pamela Wade, come courtesy of small-ship luxury.

A freighter is no floating hotel. But, as Guy Needham found, it offers mind-freeing - and enlightening - time-out from everyday life.

Megan Singleton has the lowdown on the world's largest passenger liners.

The hunt for the man-eating Komodo, writes Rachel Williams, makes for one heart-stopping cruise excursion.