You could be sitting in a comfortable deck chair soaking in the sun and sipping a drink (perhaps champagne) as your private luxury cruiser takes you over the serene waters of the Great Barrier Reef on your Sydney Harbour cruise. Across the waters you see in the distance liners, ships, cruisers that cater to the holiday dreams of the ordinary and the rich.

If you board a cruiser and it has just a five or six-member crew, you can fulfill your heart’s desires—whether it means lolling on the deck or biting into a gelato or grilled fish or relaxing in a spa. All this holiday means for you is rest. And lots and lots of relaxation.

But that’s not all. Between all your rest and relaxation, you’re sure to do some sightseeing too—your captain will make sure you see Port Douglas, the Whitsunday Islands, Cairns, Lizard Island and Michaelmas Cay.

In summer in Sydney, you could go on a voyage through the Coral Sea with breathtaking sights for stopovers in New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Torres Strait, the Solomon Islands and the Islands of Eastern New Guine and then return through the outer Great Barrier Reef from Cape York to Hamilton Island.

However, if you wake up early, you could savor a breakfast buffet and the five-star amenities of your state room and then go on to enjoy freshly baked pastries and more over a large brunch. Then, after fighting off much laziness, you’ll perhaps sit down on a deck chair with a pair of sun glasses and sunscreen and you’ll look far into the ocean length and enjoy the blueness of the waters.

But if you are sporty, you could go in for some windsurfing, snorkeling or scuba diving and enter the marine world. You could fish too and eat your catch for dinner. Or just go swimming—what could be better than that?

For lunch and dinner, enter the bar and dining rooms and while you watch the view of the water from there while you tuck into delicious Japanese, Moroccan and Indonesian cuisines—all under a star filled sky.

You’d be extra fortunate to board a cruiser around New Year’s Eve because of the fantastic fireworks display which begins at midnight for the

New year’s Eve Sydney Harbour. This usually begins at 9 p.m. and is followed by the Harbour Light parade. East and West of the Harbour Bridge you’ll find a fleet of vessels beautifully decorated with dazzling lights, sailing on a 15 km circuit, from Clarke Island to Cockatoo Island. This is undoubtedly the most sought-after sight here with people milling around to get a glimpse of the action. Once this parade is over, the fleet of vessels goes back to a viewing area from where they can see the fireworks.

And lastly, the piece de resistance—the 12 minutes of color and sound that transform the Harbour with light and sound. Millions of people—natives and tourists—throng to catch the sound and light show that will perhaps stay in their minds all through the year, until the next year rolls along.

So much for your few days on a Sydney Harbour cruise. Will you come aboard again? Who knows—perhaps yes.