What Are Some of the Cruise Destinations?

The Caribbean, Bermuda, and The Bahamas
Mexico, Panama, Central America
Europe, West and North
Mediterranean
Alaska, Western Canada
New England, Canada
South America, Antarctica
Hawaii, South Pacific
Southeast Asia and the Orient
Indian Ocean, East Africa

Region by region, the Earth unfolds with fabulous sights, romance and adventure for today’s voyagers. From CLIA by Georgia Hesse 

As a deep purple twilight drapes the Mediterranean hills, a sleek cruise ship slips out to sea while a band on board sends a familiar tune into a soft breeze. Cocktail glasses clink and passengers on deck hum along; then the ship’s whistle blows its melancholy farewell. That lump in your throat is predictable. 
The excitements of cruising are as deep as the oceans: faraway places with strange-sounding names (Hiva Oa in French Polynesia or Moroni off the east coast of Africa); young cultures and ancient civilizations (Egyptians and Phoenicians in the Mediterranean); scenery that
stuns the senses; antique arts and new music (new to you, that is); the romance of history (Cleopatra barged along right over there).
Where do ships sail? On all the waters of the Earth, to more than 1,800 ports of call from Alaska to Zanzibar. How long are their voyages?
Three days, a week, three months or more. The choice is YOURS.

The Caribbean, Bermuda, and The Bahamas
Many travelers elect to get their feet wet on cruises in the Caribbean, Bermuda and The Bahamas. In waters so limpid that fish seem to swim in air, you’ll find vessels of all varieties: small, stylish craft as pampering as a palace hotel; sailing ships and liners that laze among islands, and “floating cities” that bustle smartly from town to town like moving resorts. 
The Mediterranean of the New World, some have called the Caribbean-a small, sea-circled United Nations. The Union Jack still blows over outcrops of England (Anguilla and the British Virgins). Citizens of France amble or bike home to lunch bearing fresh baguettes under their arms in the French West Indies (Guadeloupe, St. Barts, Martinique). 
In the Netherlands Antilles, pastel Dutch-style houses parade along the streets of Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire. The Stars and Stripes waves above the sands of the U.S. Virgins (St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas). The Dominican Republic and Haiti share the isle of
Hispaniola, and one small gem sparkles under two names: St. Martin (France) and Saint Maarten (Holland). 
Other landfalls, most formerly British, fly their own flags: Antigua, the Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Lucia of the lofty peaks, Trinidad. 
What unites these diverse dots is beauty, the kind that makes you giddy: mountains buried in lush jungle, feathery forests where hummingbirds and parrots play, waters in a kaleidoscope of blues, greens and violets. 
So who cruises the Caribbean, you may wonder? Young lovers and senior citizens, adventurers and families with children, those who shop till they drop or search for ghosts long gone: pirates, spice merchants, rumrunners, revolutionaries, Columbus or Blackbeard or Alexander Hamilton (born on Nevis). 

Mexico, Panama, Central America
Mexico is a myth you can’t really explain. The spirit of the place wafts in the air, turning otherwise serious travelers into party animals. It takes only two Mexicans to create a fiesta, and they do it from Cabo San Lucas to Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco on the west coast; from Cozumel to Cancun to Isla del Carmen in the east.
All is not madness, however. Puerto Vallarta, setting for Hollywood’s The Night of the Iguana, is so civilized with its bougainvillea-draped villas and cobbled courtyards, it’s becoming known as the San Francisco of the South. 
And in a slender strip of Central America, the still- modern marvel of the Panama Canal invites you to travel with history, lock-by-lock, from one ocean to another. 

Europe, West and North
Not all sea lanes lead to the sun, sand and coral strands. Some take you back in time, to cities sheltered within ancient walls, into the drama of castles and cathedrals, to lands where the ghosts of King Arthur and Macbeth and the Celts still walk.
Many long passages from Portugal and Spain, up the coast to France, around Great Britain, then across the North Sea to the Baltic and north to the great Norwegian fjords are sold in cruise segments, starting in Lisbon or London, say, or Rouen or Copenhagen. 
Some ships round the British Isles or prowl the fjord-fringed Norwegian coast or cruise the Baltic from Scandinavia to St. Petersburg in Russia. 
Go back centuries to mysterious Stonehenge. Laugh at comic puffins in the uninhabited Orkney Islands. Remember, on Iona in the Hebrides, Saint Columba and the Irish saints who preserved civilization in Europe’s Dark Ages. 
The lands you explore speak to you in a bewildering number of tones and voices. You may need a cultural translator and there will likely be one: a scientist, a naturalist, a geographer, a historian. Your outward odyssey may result in an inner one. 

Mediterranean
From Patmos to the Pillars of Hercules, the Mediterranean is the Helen of seas. Desired by all who eye her, she has sung a siren song to sailors from Odysseus to Onassis.
The grandeur that was Greece, the glory that was Rome, and myriad visions of Arabian Nights linger around the sinuous shores. Like bells of the watch, the ports of call toll in our imaginations: Santorini, Venice and Elba, Rhodes and Naples, Monaco and M?laga.
In Wedgwood twilight when the French Riviera shimmers in a scrim of blues-sea, sky, and the horizon hills-you will stand on deck intoxicated by a perfumed breeze and know you’re living the good life on the eve of the 21st century.
Today’s traveler will be awed by the richness of it all. There is so much to know and see: from Istanbul on the Bosporus to Spain and Morocco and the Rock of Gibraltar. In a lifetime, in a thousand, no one will completely know the Latins’ Mare Nostrum (Our Sea). Sigh with acceptance and settle into a sidewalk caf? from time to time when the mind whirls with images and the legs feel weary. After all, you’re coming back.

Alaska, Western Canada
Chances are you can name more Greek gods than Native American tribes along the Canadian and Alaskan Pacific coasts. Perhaps it's time to learn their lore and legends: the Tlingit, Tsimshian, Haida, Kwakiutl and Athabaskan. In the awesome near-wilderness of the Inside Passage, Glacier Bay, Misty Fjords and Prince William Sound, ancient totems, longhouses and canoes stand witness to centuries of creativity. In small towns, inheritors of old cultures perform ancestral dances and work in traditional arts and crafts.
Mountains climb from fjords with the majesty of their cousins in Norway. In Tracy Arm, glaciered peaks soar above a snow-melt creek, mountain goats pose on dizzying cliffs, and harbor seals snore lazily atop ice floes.
In Misty Fjords, orcas and humpback whales blow and sound; off the Sawyer Glacier, ice blocks the size of a building "calve" and splash into the sea. Geologists on board teach you to scan the granite mountains.
Spare settlements out of an Old West tale or a miner's romance sit, cramped, at seaside, their names seductive as the call of the Yukon: Prince Rupert, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Sitka, Juneau, Skagway, Seward.

New England, Canada
When was the last time you considered Montreal and Quebec City as cruise ports competing with Ft. Lauderdale or Miami or St. Thomas? Something doesn't suit: no sun-drenched beaches, few bikinis, a noticeable absence of palm trees.
Instead, in the midst of autumn, with sugar maples turning crimson all around, you embark in one of the earth's largest French-speaking cities, sail to another that suggests 17th-century Europe and debark, often in New York, a wonderful town. In between, you descend the gangway to places you never considered going: Baddeck, Nova Scotia, for instance, home to one of the most intriguing museums anywhere, the summer retreat of Alexander Graham Bell. In Bar Harbor, Maine, in bygone days, industrial magnates built stylish "camps" for summer holidays to keep their children off the streets. In Newport, Rhode Island, they erected opulent "cottages" where high society could hide out with itself.
Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Boston: At the end, you'll look at the U. S. of A. with new eyes.

South America, Antarctica
South America stirs the soul: vastness, mountains unclimbed, jungles unpenetrated, peoples of a wonderful strangeness and animals nobody knows.
From the mouth of Belém, Brazil, the Amazon transports you on a 2,000-mile journey into the unfamiliar. Dorothy, you're not in Kansas anymore.
Brazilians say God made most of the world in six days and devoted the seventh to Rio de Janeiro. Buenos Aires, Argentina, greets you with European sophistication, while Salvador (Bahia), Brazil, is brightest Africa.
South of Buenos Aires, along the route of ancient mariners, Mother Nature goes wild: the thundering magnificence of Iguaçú Falls, the empty high deserts of Patagonia, Cape Horn. From Ushuaia, southernmost town on Earth, all sea roads lead to the Antarctic via the Falkland Islands, perhaps South Georgia and the South Orkneys. And you haven't even tackled the Pacific coast yet: Puerto Montt and Valparaiso, Chile; Callao (for Lima), Peru; Guayaquil, Ecuador, and the fabled Galapágos.

Hawaii, South Pacific
Is Bora Bora the most gorgeous island on earth? Possibly. But you can't tell till you've checked out Kauai and Tahiti, Pitcairn and Upolu and Bali. The Pacific islands call up all the clichés: palm-fringed, soft-sand beaches; crystal-clear waters in pristine bays. And they're all true.
New Zealand occupies two major islands and Australia is an island continent, surely the world's most unusual.
All this watery expanse asks for action. Snorkel or scuba; go sport-fishing or mountain climbing; ride a horse or a motorbike; sail a yacht, parasail, water-ski or windsurf.
Perhaps you prefer less strenuous pastimes such as watching basket-making and other crafts; sitting in a café as pretty girls in pareos go by; studying flower arranging; touring historic mansions; admiring botanical gardens, cuddling a koala. Go for it.
While the isles just below the equator almost always enjoy weather that suggests an Earthly paradise (as do those of Hawaii in the North Pacific), seasons in New Zealand and Australia are the reverse of those in North America. Keep that in mind and pack accordingly.

Southeast Asia and the Orient
"Somewhere east of Eden/Where the best is like the worst . . ." Rudyard Kipling made it his mission to reveal to westerners the enigmas of the Orient. "Mad dogs and Englishmen/Go out in the midday sun," sang Noel Coward, ridiculing the follies of his compatriots. So much we think we know of Southeast Asia, the Orient, the Lands Below the Wind, is seen only in translation, coming from footloose writers and painters who fell in love with the inscrutable East.
Travel is the best translator. Western eyes and words sail with you-those of Robert Louis Stevenson, of Captain James Cook, of Nordhoff and Hall, of James Michener-but you begin to look with new eyes.
From Thailand to Vietnam and the countries of the South China Sea (an inexplicably romantic name), north to China and Japan, a cruise is a continental surprise. New cuisines to taste, new architecture to behold, new plants that startle with their sensuousness, new theater and new dances and new music, new animals, new smells, new faces. Yet all of these are ancient.
One day, it's time to step ashore on Penang and breathe in the earthy perfumes of southeast Asia. Another day, the ship sails into Singapore, a city of the 21st century.

Indian Ocean, East Africa
In the wondrous world of East Africa and the Indian Ocean lie the Comoro Islands, Madagascar and fanciful, remote landfalls-the Republic of Seychelles, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Elephants and rhinos, giraffes and zebra: The game parks of Kenya and Tanzania astound both the eye and the imagination with their bevies of beasts. Mombasa, Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam, Nosy Be, Tananarive: Deep in the shadows, Noel Coward and Alec Waugh, Ian Fleming and Sydney Greenstreet still stroll.
A passage to India is a puzzler. What you see is spectacular, but skewed. A fantasy of flowering trees gives the port of Bombay a jaunty air belied by the swarm of the streets. From there, excursions lead inland to peerless temple cities, Ajanta and Elora, to pink Jaipur and on to the Taj Mahal in Agra. Goa, once the capital of Portuguese Asia, is now a tropical seaside resort. There is a lot to discover.
What could be a better use of a cruise than to celebrate the diversity we wanderers share? It's a very large world.


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What Cruise Lines Are Available?

 

Each Cruise Line may have an extensive fleet of cruise ships - each with varying styles, ameneties, and itineraries.  No two cruises are the same.  Let our CLIA-Certified Master Cruise Counselors help you find the BEST cruise line, ship, and itinerary customized to YOUR personal interests, lifestyle, time, and budget.  Call us at (800) 784-8471,  CruiseWomen.com

Cruise Line Profiles provided by CLIA (Cruise Line International Association)  -
IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:

 

Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival Cruise Lines is the largest and most popular cruise line in the world, with 15 “Fun Ships” operating voyages ranging from 3 to 16 days to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska, Hawaii, the Panama Canal, Canada and Bermuda. Known for their festive yet casual atmosphere, Carnival “Fun Ships” offer a wide variety of dining, entertainment and activity options-from elegant multi-course meals to 24-hour pizzerias, dazzling Las Vegas-style entertainment, casinos, duty-free shops, “Nautica Spa” health and fitness facilities and
“Camp Carnival,” a complimentary children’s program. Carnival is so confident in its product that it offers cruising’s only Vacation Guarantee.

Celebrity Cruise Line
A Celebrity cruise is an extraordinary vacation. Award-winning cuisine by world-renowned master chef Michel Roux; magnificent spa facilities and innovative AquaSpa programs; stylish, trendy entertainment like Michael’s Club lounge and Cova Café straight from Milan; contemporary art from Picasso to Andy Warhol, and new technology like the Celebrity interactive network. Luxurious staterooms (each complete with plush terry-cloth robes) crowned by attentive service that takes on a graceful, sensitive presence. Discover Alaska, Bermuda, the Caribbean, Europe, and exotic South America with Celebrity Cruises and allow us to exceed your expectations.

Costa Cruises
Costa, Europe’s No. 1 cruise line, offers hundreds sailings with over 50 different itineraries ranging in length from 5 to 16 nights. Enjoy a true European experience throughout the Mediterranean, North Cape/Fjords, Baltic and Russia and Transatlantic. Sail the youngest fleet in
Europe aboard seven Italian-inspired ships, the CostaAllegra, CostaClassica, CostaMarina, CostaRiviera, CostaRomantica, CostaVictoria and CostaAtlantica, joining the fleet in 2000. Or cruise the Caribbean Italian Style with plenty of sun, fun and Italian activities. From the first Buon Viaggio Celebration to the last Bacchanal Parade, Costa sets the stage for a week of unforgettable enjoyment. Indulge in all of the magic cruising Italian Style has to offer, and experience the time of your life on Costa.

Crystal Cruises
Crystal Cruises offers one of the world’s best large luxury-ship experiences. In addition to garnering accolades from discerning travel professionals, the line has won the “World’s Best Large Ship Line” awards from the readers of Travel & Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler.  The Six-Star-rated, 940-guest Crystal Harmony and Crystal Symphony feature expansive decks, spacious lounges, flexible gourmet dining with two alternative restaurants, an Ambassador Host program for single travelers, a state-of-the-art fitness facility with full-time fitness directors, a lavish spa, a Caesars Palace at Sea casino, and exquisitely appointed staterooms and penthouses, more than half of which offer private verandahs.

Cunard Line
Cunard Line, one of the world's most recognized brand names with a classic British heritage, operated by Cunard Line Limited, has provided the ultimate in deluxe ocean travel experience for the past 158 years. A Cunard cruise is noted for luxurious accommodations, exquisite personal service, gourmet cuisine, attention to detail, and exciting and exotic destination opportunities. The fleet consists of famed liner Queen Elizabeth 2 and the Caronia, a classic ship formerly identified as Vista fjord. The Cunard Line brand, the epitome of the British
essence, focuses on recalling the golden age of sea travel for those who missed the first.

Disney Cruise Line
Disney Cruise Line launched its first ship, Disney Magic, in July 1998. The ship sails round-trip from Port Canaveral, FL, to Nassau and Castaway Cay, the line’s private Bahamian Island. The Disney vacation is a seven-day experience, with a 3- or 4-day stay at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando followed by a 3- or 4-day cruise. The Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder have been designed specifically for children, families and adults, and include an entire deck of children’s activities, Broadway-style shows, themed restaurants
and a state-of-the-art spa. (Now offering 7 day cruises!)

Holland America Line
As World Ocean and Cruise Liner Society’s choice for “Best Cruise Value,” Holland America Line provides premium cruising to destinations around the world. Floating resorts, our fleet of eight ships are fabulous destinations in themselves, offering everything you’d expect in a great land resort, and more. Renowned master chef Reiner Greubel creates exciting dining options, exquisitely presented. Our staff takes pride in anticipating your every need and our “Tipping Not Required” policy means service is always genuine, gracious and
unconditional.

Orient Lines
Orient Lines, the destination cruise specialist, operates award-winning cruise vacations to all seven continents at affordable prices. Widely recognized for its outstanding value and well-planned itineraries, the line offers 12- to 26-day cruise vacations aboard the 800-passenger Marco Polo and the 1,050-passenger Crown Odyssey. This year, a new selection of in-depth itineraries to the Norwegian fjords, Baltic capitals, Iceland and South America will complement the line's existing programs to the Mediterranean, Antarctica, New Zealand, Australia,
Southeast Asia, India and Africa. All itineraries combine a cruise with included hotel stays and city tours in embarkation and/or disembarkation cities.

Princess Cruises
For over three decades, the sun has risen on the beautiful ships of Princess Cruises. Princess features Grand Class cruising-big-ship choice with small-ship feel. Spacious staterooms, many with private balconies, offer a luxury that Princess has made affordable to all. Princess offers a non-regimented cruise experience so you can do “what you want when you want.” And our newest Grand Class vessels offer choice and variety, intimacy and spaciousness, with multiple dining rooms and 24-hour alternative dining, entertainment lounges and fabulous
amenities from computerized golf to virtual reality. And these ships provide the widest variety in destination and itinerary choices.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises
A six-star-rated line (Fielding’s Worldwide Cruises, 1998), RSSC offers unique and luxurious small-ship experiences, all with the highest standards of service, quality and value. Four distinct and clearly defined luxury ships-ranging from traditional elegance to modern deluxe and adventure cruising-offer personal atmosphere with amenities found on larger vessels, single open-seating dining with gourmet cuisine, highly personalized and attentive service, and spacious, ocean-view accommodations. RSSC's new deluxe vessel, the Seven Seas Navigator, hosting 490 guests, will sail in the six-star tradition of Radisson Seven Seas.

Royal Caribbean International
There’s always a first for everything, but none quite as exciting as your first Royal Caribbean vacation. Don’t let our name fool you. Royal Caribbean International’s 13-ship fleet has journeyed way past the islands of the Caribbean, making room for 125 destinations all over the world. We’re used to thinking in epic proportion: intriguing shows, historic sites and scenery no post card could do justice to. Sports, saunas and spa treatments. Fine dining and dancing. Everything, from romantic moonlight dances to family pizza parties, from outrageous
comedy to fascinating history. You decide how to spend your time. It’s your vacation.

Seabourn Cruise Line
Seabourn Cruise Line, the ultra luxury cruise line with contemporary Scandinavian-style vessels, is operated by Cunard Line Limited. Seabourn, highly acclaimed for its luxurious accommodations, impeccable service and award-winning cuisine, operates six ships. The small, elegant, yacht-like vessels of the Seabourn Goddess I and II offer a more casual ambience and casual dress style that appeal to youthful affluent travelers. The larger all-suite yacht-like vessels of the more formal Seabourn Pride, Spirit and Legend are frequently referred to as
country clubs at sea. The global resort cruiser Seabourn Sun, with traditional elegance in grand setting, is ideal for longer at-sea holidays.

Silversea Cruises
Silversea’s all-inclusive ultra-luxury vacations appeal to discriminating travelers accustomed to plush accommodations and attentive, individual service. The line’s luxurious vessels carry only 296 guests each, in true splendor, with one of the highest passenger-space ratios of any ship at sea. Silversea is distinguished by its award-winning, all-suite ships and impeccable service. Its all-inclusive fares, the most comprehensive in the industry, feature 148 outside suites (75 percent with private verandas), round-trip airfare, pre-cruise deluxe hotel
stays, all beverages, all gratuities, all port charges, all transfers and porterage. A special shoreside event, The Silversea Experience, is included on select sailings.

 

Star Clippers

Clouds of canvas on a "tall ship" with motor augmentation.  These ships will provide a true sailing experience with hands-on opportunities to crew the vessel.  Though small by turbine-driven cruise ship standards, facilities offer comfort and enjoyment beyond the barefoot level.

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Windjammer Barefoot Cruises

Low-key, very informal, involved sailing experience on a true wind-driven ship.  The "barefoot" concept is closer to small-boat yachting, whereas Windstar and StarClipper are more akin to traditional, small cruise ships in facilities and accommodations, though all are more "efficient" than standard cabins.

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Windstar Cruises
Windstar’s sleek ships pioneered modern luxury sailing, though they are more correctly motor-driven ships with sail augmentation. Not even the crew manhandles canvas, as the sails are completely computer-directed and operated.  The award-winning Wind Star, Wind Spirit and Wind Song carry only 74 couples each, in spacious, modern staterooms. Sailing under its banner phrase “180 degrees from ordinary,”  Windstar offers luxury and superb cuisine, yet with a casual, intimate ambiance and relaxed dress code. Windstar guests leave their ties and formal wear at home. Dinner, with dishes by renowned chef Joachim Splichal or light-cuisine expert Jeanne Jones, is served with one open
seating. In May 1998 the 312-passenger Wind Surf (formerly Club Med 1), a new generation of Windstar ship, joined the fleet and will soon sail the Caribbean.