Luxury cruise lines
major luxury players market to North Americans, including:
Oceania Cruises
Many world cruises depart in January and sail in the 100- to 140-day range, mostly wrapping up by April or May. Oceania’s 180-day world cruises last until midsummer, and are often “true” around-the-world sailings, ending in the same port they first embarked from.
Oceania’s 2025 Global Horizons sailing lasts a whopping 196 days onboard Insignia, roundtrip from Miami. The sailing includes several destinations in the Eastern Caribbean, and—extraordinary for a world voyage—a week of scenic cruising along the Amazon River. The voyage continues in South America before crossing the Atlantic to the remote islands of Tristan de Cunha, a British Overseas Territory, before making landfall again in Namibia, tracing the African coast through South Africa, Mozambique, and the French department of Mayotte (another rare stop for a cruise), island-hopping in the Indian Ocean before calling in India.
The sailing covers a lot of ground in Asia—Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, China, Japan, the Philippines, Brunei, and Indonesia—before cruising the west and south coasts of Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, French Polynesia, and Hawaii. Crossing the Pacific to San Diego the ship then hops down the coasts of Mexico and Central America through the Panama Canal before returning to Miami in mid-July.
Oceania’s 2026 Around the World in 180 Days sailing is also roundtrip from Miami. Sailing westbound, the itinerary covers the east and west coasts of South America, the South Pacific, Australia, Southeast Asia, and much of the Middle East before transiting the Mediterranean to spend significant time in northwestern Europe and the Baltic Sea before crossing the far north Atlantic via Iceland and Canada before returning to Miami.
Starting fares for each of the world voyages currently range from $48,799 to to $57,999, including a number of value-adds like roundtrip airfare and airport transfers, plus a number of added onboard amenities.
Regent Seven Seas
Regent Seven Seas Cruises has already opened their 2027 world cruise for booking—and they have a tendency to sell out quickly. It will be the first year a larger Explorer Class ship, the Seven Seas Splendor, will undertake the world voyage, calling at 71 ports en route from Miami to New York in January 2027.
The routing will take the ship from the Caribbean to the Pacific coast of Mexico via the Panama Canal, Hawaii, several ports in French Polynesia (calling twice at both Moorea and Bora Bora), Australia, Southeast Asia, India, the Persian Gulf, the Eastern and Western Mediterranean, and Bermuda before arriving in New York.
Early bookers will get a long list of added amenities, including first class airfare, a pre-cruise gala in Miami, exclusive shoreside experiences in Panama City, Colombo, and Málaga, unlimited shore excursions, unlimited beverages, gratuities, transfers, door-to-door luggage service, and unlimited laundry, dry cleaning, and pressing. Fares start at $91,449 per passenger and go up to $839,999 per passenger for the ship’s most luxurious suite.
Crystal
Crystal’s land partnerships with parent company Abercrombie & Kent are front and center during their 2025 World Cruise, a 123-night sailing departing from Fort Lauderdale on January 7 onboard the Crystal Serenity—fresh off a complete refurbishment that reduced the total number of cabins, which now all offer butler service in every room or suite category.
With port calls in South America, Africa, India, the Middle East, and Europe, Crystal will offer guests a number of overland packages in partnership with Abercrombie & Kent—think multi-night side trips to the Galápagos Islands, Machu Picchu, the Serengeti, Taj Mahal, or Karnak Temple.
Guests booking Crystal's full World Cruise will have included Business Class airfare, $1,500 shipboard credit, luggage valet, and airport transfers. Fares start at $66,500 per passenger based on double occupancy in an Ocean View Deluxe stateroom.
Princess Cruises
Most world cruises departing from North America head to sea in January, but in 2026 Princess Cruises will be offering 114-day World Cruises during the northern summer. Departing in early May from Auckland, New Zealand; or Sydney or Brisbane, Australia (mid-autumn in the Southern Hemisphere), the sailings are timed to arrive in Western and Northern Europe during the peak of summer, promising endless sunny days.
The sailing also has a number of long stretches of sea days for cruisers who like time to unwind and enjoy the amenities of the ship, Crown Princess. Some of the longer ocean crossings, like Brisbane to Bali and Colombo, Sri Lanka to Aqaba, Jordan will take a week or longer, while three other ocean crossings are at least four days.
Inside cabins start at $15,588 per passenger or from $22,248 for Princess Plus fares, which includes beverages, WiFi, and onboard gratuities.
Silversea
Silversea’s 136-day sailing onboard their newest ship, Silver Dawn, will embark in Tokyo in January 2025. Called Controtempo, the cruise will sail in the opposite direction and season of many world cruises, taking in Japan and China in January before heading to Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Seychelles in February. The ship will spend the spring making its way up Africa’s Atlantic Coast—arriving in the Baltic Sea before cruising to Iceland and Greenland (an uncommon call for World Cruises), then tracing Newfoundland and New England to New York
Fares start at $77,560 “Port-to-Port” or $79,060 “Door-to-Door,” which includes business class airfare and transfers—including pickups and drop-offs in the traveler’s home city.
Booking tips for around-the-world cruises
How much is a cruise to go around the world?
World cruises, which may not actually circumnavigate the globe entirely, but are generally in a category that covers at least three continents and lasts from 90 to 150 days, generally start around $140 per passenger per night based on double occupancy. All in all, the cost of 100-plus day world cruise can range from $16,000 to over $800,000 per person, depending on the line and cabin type.
Is an around the world cruise worth it?
That’s certainly subjective, but travelers already accustomed to cruising—who appreciate the amenities of a ship and the lifestyle of a new port to view through the window every few days—will likely consider world cruises good value.
How much does a 180-day cruise around the world cost?
The longest world voyages we found generally lasted up to 140 to 150 days at their upper limits, although Oceania Cruises world cruises can be 180 days or more, starting at $48,799 per passenger.
Advice from frequent world cruisers
Roger Foenander and his partner David Mutton—loyalists to Viking Cruises—note the lack of pressure to see and do things within a tight timeframe on longer journeys, which provides plenty of freedom to relax. That might mean attending onboard enrichment lectures, spending the afternoon playing cards with fellow passengers, or dipping into the onboard spa and sauna before cocktail hour.
Linda Wiseman, who has traveled with Cunard, suggests new faces can help get ahead of any monotony: “In the dining room, we tell the maître d’ not to seat us with another couple who is sailing the whole thing—that way, our seat mates switch every few weeks, and we can meet different people.”
New Orleans-based philanthropist and veteran world cruiser Phyllis Taylor observes that these sailings are a class set apart, without the frenzied pace of shorter itineraries: “The difference between a short cruise and a world cruise is night and day, storm and calm, fleeting thought and thoughtfulness. I enter the bar in the evening, in no time my favorite song is being played, my favorite drinks sit before me. I go to dinner and my favorite table is waiting for me, and my waiter has already served the iced water with lemon just as I like it."
But the real value of a world cruise, Taylor says, is the chance to fully immerse in and savor the experience: “With an extended cruise you absorb the lifestyle of life at sea; with the great advantage of having a crew and staff that treats you like royalty.”
The best around-the-world cruise itineraries
An around-the-world cruise is often thought of as the pinnacle of a sailing vacation. Some cruisers treat these multi-month journeys as once-in-a-lifetime trips; others are frequent guests, a world cruise but one piece of their annual travel plans. There are also the enduring tales of older travelers who elect for extended world voyages as an unconventional retirement plan. (Though as onboard WiFi becomes more reliable, it's now possible to work remote from many cruise ships, as well.)
Whatever the reason, the allure of this mode of travel is strong. Why not unpack once, enjoying fairy godmother-like service, exemplary amenities, and always-changing views for months on end? Plenty of cruisers with time and money on their hands do exactly that, choosing an extended at-sea lifestyle for at least a portion of the year. Around-the-world cruises often run from early January through March or April, although new off-season itineraries are being introduced.
If an epic voyage across multiple oceans and continents fits into your future, be prepared to plan the trip far in advance. World cruises have a strong following among cruisers—many of the sailings can sell out up to a year before departure. Travelers can also book shorter “segments” joining the ship for only a portion of the journey, but cruise lines often add significant value-adds to those booking the entire voyage—everything from free business class airfare to other exclusives like special parties and invite-only shore excursions.
Here's everything travelers need to know about taking an around-the-world cruise, including tricks from veteran world cruisers, booking tips, and some of the best itineraries in 2025 and beyond.
