Is this the world's longest cruise? Seven ships, seven continents, and 357 days

For most of us, a world cruise is a once-in-a-lifetime experience – a voyage lasting three months or so that might travel around the world but will visit only a fraction of it.

But if you think you’ve “been there, done that” until there’s nothing left, get ready for the “World of Travel” cruise, a 357-day marathon that goes further than anything before.

Visiting all seven continents, and combining voyages on seven different ships, this voyage brings together visits to Machu Picchu, Table Mountain, Angkor Wat, the Panama Canal and the Great Barrier Reef all in one package.

Ticking off must-visit cities from their bucket lists, passengers will call at Rio de Janeiro, Athens, St Petersburg, Vancouver, San Francisco, Dubai, Port Stanley, Sydney, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

A couple would need to budget about £250,000 for the fares, and they’d have to clear their diaries from January 2017 through to April 2018. They might want to think about stocking up on memory cards for their cameras as well.

Angkor Wat

Put together by Mundy Cruising, the itinerary includes some of the finest ships in the world, and it also gives participants to pause and catch their breath between each leg of the adventure.

South America: The journey begins with a business-class flight to Miami to join Crystal Serenity on January 10 for a circumnavigation of South America. The ship will cruise the Amazon into the heart of the Brazilian rainforest, and there will be excursions to Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines in Peru.
Europe: The second leg begins in Athens in May, for a veritable odyssey on board Oceania Cruises’ Nautica. Sailing through the Mediterranean and eventually to Southampton, the ship takes the scenic route via the Baltic Sea and Greenland.
North America: There’s a brief respite before the journey begins again, this time in Vancouver on Regent’s Seven Seas Mariner. The route takes in the wilderness of Alaska, the bustle of San Francisco and the jungles of Costa Rica before transiting the Panama Canal, turning left, and working its way up the eastern seaboard to Quebec.
Australia: Time to take another break before flying to Sydney in October to join Holland America’s Maasdam for the circumnavigation of Australia. The journey also includes Indonesia and Bali.
Africa and the Indian Ocean: The beginning of December will see passengers boarding Silversea’s Silver Spirit in Dubai, for a voyage to Cape Town that includes Madagascar, the Maldives and the Seychelles.
Antarctica: Next there’s a long flight to Ushuaia (above), on the southern tip of South America, to join Ponant’s boutique yacht Le Soleal at the end of January. This part of the journey calls at the Falklands and South Georgia before negotiating the ice of the Antarctic Peninsula, where colonies of penguins will be waiting to entertain the guests.
Asia: The final leg of the journey combines cruising on Seabourn Sojourn from Singapore to Kobe, Japan, and an extended land excursion to the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. In between, there are visits to Thailand, Hong Kong, Shanghai, the Philippines, and the Indonesian archipelago.