World cruise. Repeat: world cruise. Sounds exotic, right? At a time when many of us take frequent city breaks, when we no longer need the excuse of a honeymoon to visit the Maldives, and our holiday wish lists are effortlessly ticked, it is increasingly hard to find that little bit of "wow!" that gets the must-book-this pulse racing.
So, what exactly is a world cruise? Think of it as the ultimate gap year, squeezed into three months - a way of seeing multiple, exotic destinations in one solid chunk of time, with the added advantage of comfort.
If you did most of your travelling as a student or with a young family, here is your chance to put bells and whistles on your holiday experiences. Stay overnight in Hong Kong and dine in one of the city's memorable harbour-front restaurants. Soar over Sydney harbour on a float plane or take a helicopter flight over Iguazu Falls in South America.
A long cruise is a convenient and cost-effective way of capturing those experiences - as well as visiting destinations you may not yet have heard of.
Life on-board can be as luxurious as you make it. Some lines offer unlimited wifi and butler service, others pre-stock your mini-bar and throw in business-class flights.
What qualifies as a world cruise varies enormously, as do the routes taken, the cost, what is included, and the time each cruise takes - anything from 99 to 243 days.
In the cruises featured here, prices range from £89 (about R1,700) per day (Fred Olsen) to £388 (R7,300) a day (Regent Seven Seas).
We've rounded up the best cruises this year and through to 2020, taking into account budgets, durations, destinations, educational content and suitability for solo travellers.
IF YOU'RE ON A BUDGET: FRED OLSEN
If value for money is key - along with plenty of time at sea - then Fred Olsen can't be beaten: the company's 168-day 2019 world cruise aboard the 880-passenger Boudicca works out at about £89 (R1,677) a day.
The cruise offers an above-average number of overnights, and in destinations often ignored by other cruises such as Hobart, Melbourne, Bali, the Andaman Islands, Kochi (India) and Yangon (Myanmar).
Note, though, that this is not a full circumnavigation - the Americas and Pacific islands remain untouched. In a smart piece of programming, the ship will overnight in Sydney on New Year's Eve for the fireworks.
Countries visited: 29
Ports visited: 63
Islands visited: 13
Nights in port: 28
Cost: £14,999 (about R282,000), or £89 (R1,677) a day Departs: Dover on October 3 2019
More info: Fred Olsen Cruises
IF YOU WANT TO LEARN A LOT: CRYSTAL
High-end operator Crystal is sparing with its world cruises, but when it does them, it does them very well and often with a twist. It also places an emphasis on wide-ranging lectures, so if an educational element is important, consider the company's 25th world cruise in 2020.
The 105-day trip is aboard the 1,070-passenger Crystal Serenity on a voyage titled Epic Empires and Idyllic Isles. The trip, which is also available in seven sectors of 13-18 days, focuses on the Pacific and Australasia. The New Zealand component, especially around the fjords of South Island, is a highlight.
At the end, there's a dash for Rome - in 15 days from Mumbai via the Middle East and a handful of Mediterranean ports.
Countries visited: 23
Ports visited: 47
Islands visited: 11
Nights in port: 17
Cost: From £29,053 (R546,770), or £276 (R5,200) daily
Departs: Miami for Rome on January 6 2020
More info: Crystal Cruises, Thompsons
IF YOU LIKE THINGS INTIMATE: SILVERSEA
The 132-day Tale of Tales voyage from San Francisco to London is Silversea's most ambitious world cruise to date.
Why Tale of Tales? Because the trip will feature guest writers and other speakers, some little known, others, such as author Paul Theroux and photographer Steve McCurry, among the finest names in their field.
Beyond the lecture content, Silversea's pitch is intimacy: a small ship (the 382-passenger Silver Whisper) and a mix of smaller ports of call combined with the obvious set pieces in Asia, Australia and the Pacific (no India or Middle East, however).
This means visits to Praslin in the Seychelles, for example, along with Mamoudzou, off Madagascar, Banjul (Gambia) and Dakar (Senegal).
Countries visited: 31
Ports visited: 52
Islands visited: 13
Nights in port: 16
Cost: From £47,000 (R881,032), or £356 (R6,673) daily
Departs: San Francisco on January 6 2019
More info: Silver Sea
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THE WHOLE WORLD: P&O
Like Cruise & Maritime and Fred Olsen, P&O gives you a long time at sea without charging a king's ransom: its 99-night Western Circumnavigation in 2019 aboard the 2,094-passenger Arcadia works out at just over £100 (R1,900) nightly.
Port overnights (six) are few but include San Francisco, Sydney, Singapore, Shanghai and - unusually - a night in Dubai. There are also several "evenings in port", including in Colombo and Lisbon.
Countries visited: 23
Ports visited: 31
Islands visited: 6
Nights in port: 11
Cost: From £9,999 (R188,200) or just over £100 (R1,900) nightly
Departures: Southampton on January 6 2019
More info: PO Cruise
Good to know: P&O has made life especially easy for those who want to do sectors rather than the full itinerary, with 16 options. These include the popular UK-to-Australia leg (Southampton to Brisbane or Sydney) and segments such as Hong Kong-to-Southampton (35 nights from £3,799, or about R71,500; departing March 12 2019).
IF YOU WANT TO GO FOR THE LONGEST TIME: OCEANIA
The 2020 Around the World in 180 Days sailing aboard Insignia is one of Oceania's longest-ever cruises. You'll sail 18 seas, three oceans, travel 81,653km and access 67 world heritage sites.
The major ports you'd expect on four continents are visited, but the geographic scope of this cruise is more varied than Oceania's previous world voyages: Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and the Inside Passage are included for the first time, for example, along with a circumnavigation of South America that includes the Falkland Islands.
If that's not long enough at sea, add 10 or 15 days and conclude the trip in Miami or New York instead of San Francisco. Countries visited: 38
Ports visited: 70
Islands visited: 24
Nights in port: 17
Cost: From £33,459 (R630,000), or £185 (R3,500) daily
Departs: Miami on January 8 2020
More info: Oceania Cruises
AND EVEN LONGER THAN THAT: VIKING
Viking is a long-established luxury river-cruise operator but has now entered the world of ocean cruising - and entered with a bang.
It's with some justification that it calls its world cruise, aboard the 930-passenger Viking Sun, the Ultimate World Cruise, because at 243 days (eight months) it's the longest available in 2019.
The itinerary is especially strong in South America, with visits to the Amazon and Chilean fjords, and includes destinations such as Iceland and Greenland, ignored by most world cruises...