How to book
Call Margret Propper of Brownell Travel in Birmingham, Alabama (800-999-3960; margretp@brownelltravel.com; secretagentm.com).

Large-Ship Alternative
Since Holland America's 1,848-passenger Oosterdam runs seven-day cruises all summer long (from $815) out of Seattle, you'll save money by not having to fly all the way to Alaska. The ship heads to Juneau through Stephen's Passage, sails by Hubbard Glacier, spends a day in Sitka and a morning in Ketchikan, and stops in Victoria before returning to Seattle. The ship's Culinary Arts Center often hosts food and wine luminaries such as chocolatier Jacques Torres and chef Marcus Samuelsson. Call Nancy Kelly of Kelly Cruises, in Oak Brook, Illinois (800-837-7447; info@kellycruises.com; alaskacruiseandtourexperts.com).

Galápagos Islands
Top itinerary
The Galápagos on Ecoventura's M/Y Eric, Flamingo I, and Letty
Length 8 days
Departures Every Sunday
Cost From $2,450
Map Click to view

Visitors to the Galápagos increase every year, but the archipelago's central islands—Bartolomé, Santa Cruz, and Isabela—bear the brunt of the invasion. Steering clear of the crowds, Ecoventura's boats head instead to islands on the outskirts, where the human influence is less evident and the animals most unusual. To the north lies Tower Island, a birder's paradise with storm petrels, short-eared owls, and rare red-footed boobies. On Fernandina—the westernmost and youngest of the islands, with cold Pacific currents breaking on its shores—Galápagos penguins and the largest colony of marine iguanas thrive. From April through November, waved albatrosses perform an elaborate mating ritual—which you'll see only on Hood Island, in the southeast. Hood is also home to many species found nowhere else on earth, including its eponymous mockingbird. As with all other Galápagos cruises, meals must be taken on board, with morning and afternoon excursions on the same or neighboring islands each day and major repositioning done overnight. But since these identical motor-yachts have only 20 passengers each, you'll save time getting to and from shore. Ecoventura is also the first travel company in Ecuador to offset carbon emissions from its boats and offices.

How to book
Call Tom Damon of Southwind Adventures in Littleton, Colorado (800-377-9463; tom@southwindadventures.com; southwindadventures.com).

Central America
Top Itinerary
"Panama Canal & the Wonders of Costa Rica" on Lindblad's Sea Voyager
Length 8 days
Departures Saturdays from October 27, 2007, through March 1, 2008
Cost From $3,970
Map Click to view