Star of the Seas promises everything you need for a holiday, from incredible food, amazing itineraries and outstanding on-board entertainment

Even by the standards of an emirate that shows all the constructional restraint of a toddler with a trunk of Lego, Dubai is in turbocharge mode. Eminent hotel groups are flooding in as superhotels spring up on man-made islands. Yet for all Dubai’s veneration of the new, decades of innovation have left a legacy of eye-catching and, in some cases, surprisingly affordable sanctuaries in which to bed down, whether you’re based in Burj Khalifa-dominated Downtown, the buzzing Marina or amid the sugary sands of Jumeirah Beach and the Palm. Throughout it all, the hospitality ecosystem seems to hum with a customer-is-king efficiency.

SAIL THROUGH THE HEART OF VENICE WITH ONE OF THE ONLY LUXURY CRUISE LINES PERMITTED INSIDE, AND ENJOY AFTER-HOURS ACCESS TO ICONIC LANDMARKS

Steam rises in plumes, roaring from fissures in rocks, while around me, pools of mud bubble. The hillsides are rusted with iron ore, and dark storm clouds echo the colours of the dark-coloured earth.

THE CARIBBEAN ISLAND OF PUERTO RICO IS A PLACE OF BOUNTY — WITH SEAS THAT GLOW IN THE DARK, BEACHES THAT HIDE PIRATE LOOT AND SACRED MOUNTAINS THAT BURST WITH FLORA

Climate change is altering the way we live and think and that includes the way we spend our leisure time. A few years back, most of us thought nothing of jumping on a jumbo jet and heading to sun-soak