Life is full of compromises. You must choose one thing over another. If you do this, you can’t do that. There’s simply no way to have it all.

Or is there?

When it comes to planning the perfect holiday, you may find yourself having to choose between competing destinations, types of cuisine, the pace of travel, or even the “vibe” of the journey.

Do you want a laid-back break or a vacation on the go? Do you want to visit exotic beaches, sipping pina coladas on the pristine sand as the waves slowly lap the shore, or dive head-first into buzzing cities with famous sights to see, unmissable cultural attractions, and endless shopping opportunities?

Maybe you want to rug up and see polar bears (from a safe distance, of course) or you prefer trekking through the tropics or exploring the remains of ancient cities almost buried in the desert.

What if you could do a selection of those things in one trip?

When you take a cruise, you’re not poring over timetables for fear of missing a travel connection, or constantly packing and unpacking. You just go with the flow – literally.

Cruising is having a holiday on a floating resort, where you arrive at your ports of call relaxed and ready to make the most of what they have to offer.

The experience is available at many price points and there are ships that cater to all sorts of passengers – from family holidays to themed sailings for diverse groups like Elvis enthusiasts and history buffs.

From this writer’s perspective – 17 sailings so far – there’s no such thing as a bad cruise holiday.

But if you want to truly indulge yourself, perhaps you should consider a luxury cruise with a specialty line such as Silversea.

While cruises are renowned for their inclusions, with certain food, basic beverages, and some entertainment options covered by your initial fare, Silversea goes a step further with free-flowing premium wines and spirits, gourmet cuisine, and butler service for every suite.

All vessels in the Silversea fleet are small- to medium-sized, the biggest having just 364 suites. This means there is none of the onboard crush you can get with the mega-ships that are increasingly dominating the cruising sector.