Richard Twynam, managing director UK and Ireland said the line would release a brochure dedicated to the sailings, with 12 voyages planned for next year.

Countries visited will include Italy, Spain, Norway, New Zealand, Croatia and Australia.

Twynam added that more country intensive voyages would be added in 2019, including a voyage around Japan. “Some of our guests love the fact they can see five countries in one go, and they will still be able to do that with many of our sailings,” he told TTG. “But people also want to spend 18 nights sailing around Norway too.”

He acknowledged that the new offering could appeal to the new to cruise market, with a number of would be cruisers often citing the lack of time in a destination as a reason not to cruise.

“I think there is an opportunity there,” he said, but he insisted: “That’s not our main target. Our customers want this too. We have a very loyal base and we spoke to people onboard and to our crew, who also speak with the guests. We’re very confident that this is what the guests want.”

The sailings are part of Azamara’s new focus on “destination immersion”, under its new brand positioning Stay Longer, Experience More.

As part of this, the line has added a number of offerings to its Cruise Global, Connect Local promise, including Taste Local, where guests will be offered excursions to restaurants offering local cuisine; Eco Local with “immersive” trips into rainforests, jungles and woodlands; and Celebrate Local, featuring visits to world events such as the Cannes Film Festival or Monaco Grand Prix.

There will also be a number of other “Local” experiences, including Golf Local; Bike Local; and View Local, among others.

“We’re shifting from enabling our guests to immerse themselves in the destination, to delivering over one thousand new and existing destination experiences for guest to select from in more than 70 countries,” said Larry Pimentel, president and chief executive of Azamara said.

“Our on-land product will be curated to ensure guests get to connect in a personalised and unique way with the people in the destinations they visit.”