Asia, formerly rather overlooked in the cruise world, is experiencing a recent boom in passenger numbers and itinerary choices. Luxury expedition company Ponant has announced eight Asian cruises for its 2017-18 season in six Asian countries aboard L'Austral. Among them is a 12-night "From Vietnam to Myanmar" itinerary between Ho Chi Minh City and Yangon departing in late October 2017 which visits ports such as Singapore and Port Klang​ (for Kuala Lumpur). Meanwhile, a "From Indonesia to Australia" cruise between Bali and Cairns visits Komodo National Park, the Asmat region of New Guinea, and Lizard Island.

Phone 1300 737 178. See ponant.com

WINE WORLD

SeaDream Yacht Club has seven new wine voyages for the 2017 season. The seven- to 11-day sailings take in some of the Mediterranean's most picturesque ports and explore their wine, food and culture, with shore excursions including a visit to Sorrentino Winery and truffle hunting at Castello delle Regine​ in Italy, and paella-making and wine-pairing at Cartagena in Spain. On board, passengers will enjoy premium wine tastings and a winemaker's dinner. Among the itineraries is a Lisbon to Barcelona cruise in late April, a Nice to Malaga cruise in October, and round trips from Civitavecchia (Rome) in June 2017.

Phone 02 9958 4444. See seadream.com

SAILING SPAIN

Variety Cruises is launching an eight-day "Glories of Spain & Portugal" cruise on the 25-cabin Panorama II in May in its first foray to the region. There will be regular departures between May 13 and October 21, 2017 on the journey between Malaga and Lisbon (or the reverse), with shore excursions taking in many of the highlights of southern Spain, including Grenada and the Alhambra Palace, Ronda, Gibraltar and Seville. The cruise also visits Jerez de la Frontera, notable for its wines, horse breeding and flamenco music.

Phone 1800 623 267. See discovertheworld.com.au

STAR ATTRACTIONS

Tauck, perhaps best known in Australia as a river-cruise company, also conducts small-ship tours, and has announced a portfolio of 17 small-ship journeys for 2017 in places as diverse as the Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean and Baltic, Caribbean and Japan. Many of the packages use Ponant's luxury ships, but next year Tauck also introduces cruises on three Windstar sailing yachts (Star Pride, Star Breeze and Star Legend), each of which carries 212 passengers and a crew of 145. Tauck guests enjoy exclusive Tauck shore excursions and other special inclusions.

Phone 1300 732 300. See tauck.com.au

MEDITERRANEAN MARVELS

Talking of Windstar, the luxury sailing company has announced a new, eight-day "Quintessential Croatia" cruise next year on the 148-passenger Wind Star. There will be four northern summer departure dates round-trip from Venice, with visits to the famous rainbow lakes of Plitvice Lakes National Park, Dubrovnik, Opatija, Korcula, and Zadar in Croatia, as well as Piran in Slovenia. Also new is the 12-day "Marvels of the Croatian Coast & Greece" itinerary between Venice and Athens, which visits an impressive 11 World Heritage sites and sails into Kotor's dramatic fiord-like bay in Montenegro.

Phone 1300 857 43. See traveltheworld.com.au