News

As anyone who has recently been on a cruise to St. Thomas or St. Maarten knows, an ever-expanding roster of cruise ships is creating traffic jams in many popular destinations.

Cruise lines realize that people are looking for more variety and bragging rights, which is why in the next year you're going to see a lot of places off the well-sailed route showing up on itineraries, as well as the arrival of a new generation of ships designed to visit smaller, less-visited ports. Here are trends and new destinations to look for:

Small is beautiful

For years, cruise lines built ever-larger ships to offer more activities on board. Until the 1990s, it was rare to see a ship carry more than 1,000 passengers. Today, big new ships commonly hold 2,500 or more and ships being delivered in the next year will hold up to 4,000.

A sign of a change will come when Princess Cruises (http://www.princess.com) christens its newest 3,100-passenger behemoth, the Emerald Princess in April alongside the smaller Royal Princess that carries only 710 passengers. Both will be doing Mediterranean cruises, but the Royal will focus on smaller ports, including the line's first port calls in the Holy Land in five years.

A flurry of new ship orders proves Princess isn't alone in thinking small. Seabourn Cruise Line (http://www.seabourn.com) recently ordered two new yacht-like ships that will carry just 450 passengers.

Meanwhile, a new company, Pearl Seas Cruises (http://www.pearlseascruises.com), has ordered a pair of ships, one carrying 166 passengers and the other 214 passengers to be built in Halifax by Irving Shipbuilding and due to sail in the Atlantic provinces, New England and the Caribbean.

Expedition cruises

Small is also the watchword for a new division of Celebrity Cruises (http://www.celebritycruises.com) aiming at passengers who want some adventure in their vacation. The first of the ships in the line's Xpedition division carries 98 passengers and this winter is sailing in the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. Plans call for other small ships in places such as the Arctic, but a second ship, the 358-cabin Xpedition Journey, will start service in the spring on a relatively civilized route between New Jersey and the Bermuda Islands.

Grand Turk

Here's an example of "if you build it, they will come." The Turks and Caicos chain of islands south of Florida had limited port facilities and shallow water that made it difficult for cruise ships to visit. Last year, Holland America Line (http://www.hollandamerica.com) became the first to bring a big ship into a newly built cruise terminal on Grand Turk, which features extensive sand beaches and coral reefs for diving. This winter, Carnival Cruises (http://www.carnival.com) and Costa Line (http://www.costacruise.com) as well as smaller ships from Oceania Cruises (http://www.oceaniacruises.com) and Silversea Cruises (http://www.silversea.com) will be regular visitors.

Dominica

Here's a Caribbean island that doesn't have much in the way of beaches, but makes up for that mightily with spectacular mountains and jungles that appeal to eco-tourists. Like Grand Turk, it had a tiny port but a new terminal in the capital Roseau has Holland America, Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruises (http://www.royalcaribbean.com) planning calls this winter, along with smaller sailing ships from Star Clippers (http://www.starclippers.com ) and Windstar Cruises (http://www.windstarcruises.com).

Down Under

Australia and New Zealand are on many people's to-do lists but it's a long way to go and there's a lot to see when you get there. That's why there has been an explosion of new cruises Down Under this year that give passengers the chance to see a different port each day. Sydney will see 38 international cruise ships this winter -- eight more than last year. Prominent among the lines are Crystal Cruises (http://www.crystalcruises.com), Cunard Line (http://www.cunard.com), Holland America, Princess, Regent Seven Seas (http://www.theregentexperience.com) and Silversea.

The Amazon

No longer do you have to go by chugging steamboat or dugout canoe up Brazil's signature river. Big ships from Celebrity Cruises, Cunard, Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn, Orient Lines (orientlines.com) and Princess are all planning trips up to once-sleepy Manaus this winter.

Dubai

The buzz about the Mideast emirate's architecture and hospitality has made it a hot cruise destination this winter. Crystal Cruises is sending both of its ships to the region for cruises that begin or end in Dubai. Other lines planning port calls include Silversea, Costa, Oceania, Cunard and Holland America.

Vietnam

Americans, who are watching their invasion of Iraq turn into a quagmire, are apparently nostalgic for their Southeast Asian war that ended three decades ago. Vietnam had been off the cruise map for a couple of years because of SARS, the bird-flu epidemic and the Asian tsunami. But now a number of ships are getting ready to visit Saigon and Hanoi (Ho Chi Minh City), with some also stopping in Da Nang, Hue or Nha Trang. Lines with Vietnam stops include Crystal, Oceania, Princess, Seabourn and Silversea.

Western South America

Norwegian Cruise Line (http://www.ncl.com) is planning maiden stops by two of its ships at ports in Chile and Peru. Iquique in the northern area of Chile has beaches and day trips into the vast Atacama desert and archeological sites. Salaverry, the port for Trujillo, offers tours of a Peruvian city of colonial architecture and excursions to archeological digs of the adobe buildings of the ancient Mochica culture.

Antarctica

Princess will sail the largest ship ever to visit Antarctica when it makes a three-week voyage along the Antarctic Peninsula in January. With a capacity of 2,600 passengers, Golden Princess is three times bigger than Orient Line's 840-passenger Marco Polo, which is also sailing in Antarctic waters this winter. Also in the region will be the 700-passenger passenger MV Discovery, which was one of Princess Cruises' original Love Boats in the 1960s and is now run by British company Discovery World Cruises.

Likely to get closest to the action is Clipper Cruise Line's (http://www.intrav.com) 122-passenger Clipper Adventurer, which was built with a hull strengthened to withstand ice. It's also on sale. Those who book Clipper before Dec. 15 also receive $1,000 off business-class airfare.