If you need a holiday over the festive season, last minute cruise deals around Australia, New Zealand and the surrounding region, will come as a welcome escape. Not only will you and your family be transported to tropical islands and sandy beaches, there are a fantastic variety of destinations to choose from.

For a quick injection of pre-Christmas cheer, you can go on a three-night, food and wine cruise on Pacific Eden which leaves Sydney on 15 December for as little as $466 per person. Package includes accommodation, meals, entertainment with special guest entertainers and fully supervised children’s programs from the ages of 3 to 17.  You also get up to $50 onboard credit per cabin. You will return home on 18 December, feeling so much more refreshed and ready to tackle the Christmas festivities.

If you do not want to worry about cooking the Christmas turkey and prefer to be served rather than serve, then, pack your bags for a 10-night Melanesian discovery cruise on the Pacific Explorer which leaves Sydney on 17 December calling at Isle of Pines, Loyalty Island, Port Vila and Mystery Island. It will cost you a bargain price of $235 a night which includes accommodation, all meals and entertainment. The cruise will cost you $2357 per person for  a twin share cabin where you will be spoilt silly during the festivities with no washing-up to do.

For those who need a holiday after the Christmas and New Year festivities, you can’t go past the 13-night across the ditch cruise on Holland America Line’s Maasdam from Auckland to Sydney on 5 January next year. Summer is a good time to visit New Zealand. The itinerary covers Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Dunedin, Stewart Island, Burnie, Melbourne and Sydney. You will also receive up to $100 onboard credit per cabin. Twin share cabin starts from $1441 per person.

If you prefer a shorter break, you can set sail on an eight-night South Pacific cruise on board Celebrity Solstice on 14 January and return in time for the start of the new school term. The cruise from Sydney will  call at Noumea, Loyalty Island (Lifou) and Isle of Pines and cost you only $1348 per person for a twin share cabin.

To celebrate Easter in style, there’s a 14-night cruise on Celebrity Millennium which will cover three Asian countries – China, Japan and South Korea.  The Millennium will set sail from Shanghai on Easter Sunday, April 1 to Incheon, Tianjin, Jeju, Kobe, Shimizu and Yokohama where you disembark on April 15. An inside cabin will cost you $2461 per person twin share. But if you upgrade to an oceanview cabin or higher, you will get a classic beverage package, unlimited WiFi or $300 onboard credit.

If there are four people travelling, then pick a quad cabin and it will cost you only $1967 per person. It will be a different experience to celebrate Easter in Shanghai followed by a cruise holiday.