Not quite a cruise, more of a charter, but here you can book a motor or sailing yacht with it's own staff and crew, set your own itinerary and you'll have the freedom to sail to any country, port or island of your choice. Needless to say this is not going to be a cheap option but it looks simply wonderful

With P & O you can cruise just about anywhere in the World on their luxury liners Oceana, Arcadia, Artemis, Aurora and Oriana and choose from total relaxation to something much more energetic. There are clear descriptions of everywhere they go to plus full details of the ships and activities on their extremely well laid out website, plus an easy to use online booking facility.

Sunsail is one of the world's largest and most successful sailing and watersports holidays company, offering the biggest choice of water based holidays in the world. They cater for beginners on the water through to seasoned sailors, with 6 Watersports Beach Clubs in the Mediterranean and an award winning Club in the Caribbean, as well as sailing bases in 23 countries worldwide.

If you’re interested cruising down the Nile, trekking through the foothills of the Himalayas or white-water rafting on the river Seti then this may well be the company to use, as they specialise in groups and tailor-made trips to countries such as Egypt, Nepal, Thailand and Tibet. They’re happy to arrange everything for you exactly as you want, have local representatives in many of the places where they offer tours and there's a meet and greet service as well. If you’re adventurous but don’t want to go it totally alone, take a good look here.