The cruise business is booming and sometimes it’s hard to keep up.

So we’ve boxed and gift-wrapped all this week’s cruise news to make your life easier.

Chow down on this wrap of all the cruise goodness.

Options abound for Crystal guests

Crystal Yacht Cruises is charting new waters beginning with the maiden voyage of Crystal Esprit this winter. As Crystal’s latest venture embarks on 23 December 2015, luxury travellers can dive into the destinations with dozens of thrilling Crystal Adventures ashore, some of which are offered complimentary.

The yacht’s maiden voyage offers an inclusive post- and pre- cruise New Year’s Eve Extravaganza in Dubai, complete with three- or four-night accommodations at the extraordinary Dubai Taj Hotel and spectacular fireworks display.

Among the shore excursions are deep-sea fishing, river rafting, quad adventures and trekking. To celebrate the inauguration of Crystal Esprit, Crystal will be offering two inclusive land programmes for guest who would like to extend their holiday and even ring in the New Year with Crystal.

MSC sails from Rio to Shanghai

MSC Cruises has revealed plans of its first sailing to China, with the newly-renovated MSC Lirica calling in Shanghai on 1 May, 2016. The 65,000-GRT ship will make the Company’s maiden call after a 60-day Grand Voyage via Europe which departs on 3 March 2016 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Three different versions of the Grand Voyage, with Shanghai as its final destination, will soon be available to cruise lovers and eager travellers. MSC Cruises’ guests will have the opportunity to depart from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Genoa in Italy or Dubai in the UAE.

PONANT announces new itineraries

PONANT has released a 64-page brochure featuring a diverse range of itineraries exploring the Asia Pacific region during 2016 – 2017, which can be downloaded here.

The brochure features 23 cruises to seven countries in Asia, plus numerous South Pacific nations and island chain archipelagos are included, with no less than 15 ports-of-call listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Throughout the cruises, specialist lecturers will enhance the experience, while voyages designated Expeditions will also have a specialist expedition team headed by Australian award-winning wildlife photographer and adventurer Mick Fogg on hand to guide and inform.

Royal Caribbean goes ashore

Designed to meet every travel passion, Royal Caribbean International taps into what guests really want to do on their next holiday with an enhanced shore excursion program featuring exclusive new options.

From playing five-on-five soccer in Spain to exploring Buddhist temples in Bangkok, these new excursions allow guests to discover a destination through activities that appeal to their sense of adventure.

The excursions have been grouped into seven special interest categories designed based on guest’s interest and holiday needs: Active Adventures, Family Connections, Royal Tour Challenge, Culture and Sights, Culinary Delights, Caring Discoveries, and the Royal Premium Tour Collection.

Champagne flows for Emerald christenings

Evergreen Tours’ sister company Emerald Waterways held a dual christening event on Friday, August 21, in the Hungarian capital city of Budapest as it officially launched its two newest ‘Star Ships’ – the Emerald Sun and the Emerald Dawn –  with Godmothers from the UK and US travel industries, Julie Kendrick (Emerald Sun) and Kelly Bergin (Emerald Dawn).

Evergreen’s award-winning Emerald ‘Star Ship’ fleet now totals four, with a fifth ship, Emerald Belle due in 2016.

Adventure in an un-cruisy way

Adventure World has released its 2016 Un-Cruise Adventures brochure featuring  a range of discoveries across Alaska, including a new itinerary for 2016, Mexico’s Sea of Cortes, the Hawaiian Islands, Columbia and Snake River and the Pacific Northwest.

Offering a hands-on, small group experience to pave the way for up-close discoveries, Un-Cruise’s fleet consists of vessels limited to 22-88 guest capacities.

New in the 2016 programme is the seven-night Exploring Muir’s Wilderness adventure priced from A$6,650. It joins 10 existing itineraries including one of the most popular with Australian travellers the 12-night Famed Passages of Discovery which priced from A$4,950 per person.

Cruise Down Under brings big guns to conference

Cruise Down Under has confirmed Asia expert Dwain Wall as the latest keynote speaker at its 2015 Conference, adding to the already stellar line-up of presenters.

At the conference to be held in Darwin, Wall plans to share his knowledge of the Asian travel market with a presentation titled: “Asia, Australia’s next source market?” Wall will talk about the booking habits and trends of Asian cruisers, the key source markets for cruise sales growth from Asia and important steps for the Australian market to take in preparing to meet this demand.

With more than 30 years’ experience in the travel industry, Dwain Wall has held several senior positions with some of the world’s leading travel companies, including the CruiseOne/Cruises Inc. division of World Travel Holdings and as Senior Vice-President of Agency and Trade Relations for Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

The 2015 Cruise Down Under (CDU) Conference titled “Uniting Australia’s Cruise Future” will be held from 2-4 September at the Hilton Darwin. The conference program and online registration is available on the CDU website.

Silversea releases 2016 plans

Silversea has just released two new brochures detailing the luxury cruise line’s incredibly comprehensive collection of ocean and expedition cruises sailing in 2016, when its all-suite, eight-ship fleet will visit over 800 destinations on seven continents. Both print and digital versions of the brochures can be requested here.

An elegant new 192-page brochure details Silversea Cruise’s ocean-going voyages, while a separate 157-page brochure for Silversea Expeditions creatively showcases the line’s expedition cruises.

Both brochures feature new quick response (QR) barcodes that smartphone and tablet users may scan to access the Silversea website.

Azamara saving on luxury

There is just one week remaining for your clients to take advantage of the Azamara Club Cruises Double Upgrade offer. Ending 31 August 2015, the offer allows guests to enjoy the ever changing view from a private balcony in a Club Verandah Stateroom for the price of a Club Interior, leap-frogging the Oceanview category for double the luxury.

The stateroom category Double Upgrade offer is valid for new bookings on most Azamara Club Cruises’ worldwide voyages, for departures on Azamara Journey from 24 May 2016 and Azamara Quest from 18 November 2015. The promotion is applicable to new individual bookings which are named and deposited between now and 31 August 2015.