IF YOU LIKE THINGS INTIMATE: Silversea

Countries visited: 31 Ports visited: 52 Islands visited: 13 Nights in port: 16

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 382passenger 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).

From £47,000, or £356 daily, departing San Francisco January 6 2019.

silversea.com