The best unusual cruises

Strand Voyages (020 7953 7607; strandtravelltd.co.uk) offers seven-night
Patricia Voyages, sailing from and calling at various ports in England and
Wales. Departures from April to October 2014 (limited availability for this
year, until October 2). From around £1,495 per person including meals.

The South Pacific

Explore the most remote archipelago in the world on board Aranui 3, a
cargo-cum-passenger ship that delivers everything from brake pads to
bulldozers to the Marquesas Islands. Highlights of the 14-night, 2,200-mile
cruise from Papeete in Tahiti include the volcanic pinnacles of the Ua Pou
mountains; the spectacular bay at Nuku Hiva, with its towering cliffs and
waterfalls; and Hiva Oa, final resting place of the Impressionist painter
Paul Gauguin.

Passengers can enjoy jungle treks to ancient ruins, riding and snorkelling.
The 86-cabin ship has an outdoor pool and gym and there is a programme of
lectures on Marquesan history, art and culture.

The Cruise People (020 7723 2450; cruisepeople.co.uk) offers 14-night round
trips on Aranui 3 from Papeete, with monthly departures year-round. From
£3,125 per person including meals and excursions, but excluding flights.

West coast Canada

British Columbia’s Inside Passage is best known as the scenic waterway plied
by large
cruise ships heading for Alaska. But there is a more intimate way to
experience its dramatic fjords bordered by snow-capped mountains, glaciers
and evergreen forests – on board a 12-passenger tugboat. Watch whales and
porpoises playing in the bow waves of the Forties-built MV Parry as it heads
from Vancouver to British Columbia’s most northerly seaport, Prince Rupert.

The boat has a cosy feel, with two-berth cabins, an open fire in the lounge
and a galley kitchen serving hearty meals including plenty of seafood. Every
day is an adventure, with excursions including wilderness hikes,
clam-digging and beachcombing, and a good chance of spotting a bear.

Westwind Tugboat Adventures (tugboatcruise.com)
offers six-night Inside Passage cruises, with departures from May 2014. From
£2,666 (CAD$4,195) per person, including meals and excursions but excluding
flights.

North Pole

Watch a nuclear-powered icebreaker negotiate its way through 10ft-thick ice
fields during this 13-night Arctic adventure. After two nights in Helsinki
followed by a flight to Murmansk, you will set sail for the North Pole on
board the icebreaker 50 Years of Victory.

The 128-passenger ship has an indoor pool, sauna and gym and offers an
insightful programme of Arctic-themed lectures. When you reach the Pole,
join your fellow passengers for the ceremonial “walk around the world” and
enjoy a polar barbecue or brave a dip in the ocean. There are also
helicopter rides to spot polar bears, Arctic birds and walruses, and trips
to explore the lunar-like landscape of the Russian Franz Josef Land
archipelago.

Poseidon Expeditions (0870 068 9142; northpolevoyages.com)
offers a 13-night Icebreaker Cruise, round trip from Helsinki, with
departures in June and July 2014. From £15,855 (US$23,995) per person
including meals, excursions and two nights in Helsinki, but excluding
flights. Charter flights between Murmansk and Helsinki cost from £1,116
($1,690) per person.

Venice Lagoon

Discover the regional wines and gastronomy of the Venetian Lagoon and Po
Valley on this intimate river cruise. After
a night moored in Venice you’ll visit the lagoon island of Sant’Erasmo,
famed for its artichokes and home to the Orto di Venezia vineyard, where
you’ll sample three local wines complemented by home-made antipasti. There
will also be visits to the busy fish market at Chioggia, and dinner at a
renowned risotto rice mill at Trevenzuolo. On board La Bella Vita it’s very
much a house-party atmosphere, with 10 en-suite cabins and an informal bar
with louvred doors opening to a viewing platform where you can admire the
colourful fishing boats, brightly painted houses and small churches lining
the waterways.

Arblaster and Clarke (01730 263111; winetours.co.uk)
offers a six-night Food and Wine of the Venetian Lagoon and Po River cruise,
departing on September 8. From £3,150 per person including transfers and
meals but not flights.

Australia

A voyage on a container ship is ideal for those who love being at sea but
dislike the frenetic pace and crowds of a traditional cruise ship (there are
usually a maximum of 12 paying passengers). And you needn’t skimp on
luxuries as most of the ships are well equipped, with spacious en-suite
cabins and a pool and gym.

Dine with the officers, relax on deck with a book or tour the engine room and
bridge. There are plenty of sightseeing opportunities, though stopovers are
generally for a few hours rather than a whole day and can be at night
depending on arrival time. The six-week voyage from Tilbury to Australia
is particularly popular.

The next available sailing is in April 2014, with ports of call including New
York, Jamaica, the Panama Canal and Tahiti. There is a choice of French or
German container ship.

Take a voyage on a container ship to Sydney

Strand Voyages (020 7953 7607; strandtravelltd.co.uk)
offers a 43-night voyage from London Tilbury to Sydney. From around £4,780
per person excluding return flight. Timetables are provisional with
availability on request.

Sweden

The 19th-century steamship MV Juno plies the waters of the 120-mile Göta
Canal between Stockholm and Gothenburg. With no television or internet
(and use of mobile phones in the saloons frowned upon) there will be few
distractions from the tranquil scenery of wooded islands, meadows, forests
and lakes.

Visit Vadstena on the shores of Lake Vättern (Sweden’s cleanest lake), with
its 15th-century abbey, impressive castle and picturesque fishing village of
Trosa. Outside cabins are compact, similar to those found on luxury trains,
and with shared showers and lavatories. Burn off your three-course dinner
with a brisk walk along the towpath as the ship negotiates one of the
numerous flights of locks seen en route.

eWaterways (0808 168 1458; waterways.co.uk)
offers a four-day Classic Canal cruise, with departures until August 31.
From £1,175 per person full board but excluding flights.

The Indonesian archipelago

See Komodo dragons (or monitors), the world’s largest lizards, in their
natural habitat on the island of Komodo during a five-night cruise
through the Indonesian archipelago. Escorted by rangers through the
Komodo National Park, a Unesco World Heritage site, you’ll also have the
chance to spot deer, buffalo and wild horses and dive or snorkel in the
clear waters around the Nusa Tenggara islands.

The custom-built, 100ft Amanikan, which resembles a spice trading vessel, has
three above-deck en-suite cabins and sleek modern interiors decked out in
teak and rattan. An extra two nights at the Amanwana luxury tented camp on
East Bali’s Moyo Island, where you can go on jungle treks or relax in the
spa, is added at the beginning or end of the trip.

Aman Resorts (0800 2255 2626; amanresorts.com)
offers a seven-night Komodo Expedition cruise, with departures until October
and recommencing in March 2014. From £9,193 (US$13,970) per person including
meals and dives.

Italian antiquity

Picnic among the ruins of Pompeii after marvelling at some of its treasures in
Naples’ archaeological museum during a week-long luxury gulet cruise along the
Neapolitan Riviera. Visit lesser-known Roman sites, including the ruins
of Baia and the frescoes of the Villa Oplontis, and sightsee in idyllic
ports including Amalfi and Positano. There are also plenty of opportunities
for sunbathing, swimming and kayaking along the grotto-riddled coastline.
Sleeping 10 people in five elegant but compact en-suite cabins, the
stylishly refitted Turkish gulet also has a chef who rustles up delicious
antipasti and seafood dishes.

A gulet cruise on the Amalfi Coast

Peter Sommer Travels (01600 888220; petersommer.com)
offers a seven-night Cruising the Amalfi Coast voyage, departing on
September 14. From £3,595 per person including transfers, meals, excursions
and guiding.