‘A posh gap year at sea’: Everything you need to know about booking a world cruise

World cruises are so expensive: is everything included?

World cruises with mainstream lines can actually be very affordable on a daily basis.

With Cruise Maritime Voyages (cruiseandmaritime.com), a 120-night round trip from Tilbury departing January 2021 works out at £75pp per day, based on two sharing the cheapest type of cabin. With Fred Olsen (fredolsencruises.com) and PO, lead-in daily rates are under £110pp.

But with most cruise lines there will be significant extra costs to consider that can mount up on long voyages – most notably for shore excursions, but also for Wi-Fi and laundry services.

There are exceptions, however. Viking includes a free excursion in each port, free Wi-Fi, and, like some other cruise lines, a self-service launderette. And while Regent’s all-inclusive fares are very expensive, they do include a wide selection of excursions at every stop, as well as Wi-Fi, laundry services and much else besides.