Panama Canal

See the bright lights of the Big Apple, international mecca and melting pot, with expensive brownstones, colourful neighbourhoods like Greenwich Village and the Upper West Side and the legendary Central Park. Explore some of the world's great museums. Some come just for the shopping: there’s Bloomingdale’s on Lex, Tiffany’s on Fifth, Barneys and the unique boutiques along Madison.

See the bright lights of the Big Apple, international mecca and melting pot, with expensive brownstones, colourful neighbourhoods like Greenwich Village and the Upper West Side and the legendary Central Park. Explore some of the world's great museums. Some come just for the shopping: there’s Bloomingdale’s on Lex, Tiffany’s on Fifth, Barneys and the unique boutiques along Madison.

Colorful Wilhelminastraat is lined with typical Aruban buildings of the Dutch Colonial style, and plenty of shops offering duty-free goods.

Everyone should sail through the Panama Canal at least once. It is a remarkable experience and a moving one when you know the mixture of tragedy and triumph, French farce and financial meltdown which went into its building. The French spent 20 fruitless years trying to build a canal - Suez-style - straight through the land. Then the Americans tried a lock-based canal and, between 1903 and 1914, completed the waterway that stands today. Look out for memorial plaques to the thousands who died in its creation, mainly of diseases rife in the forests and swamps through which the canal was forged. It is 50 miles long and, from the Caribbean side, your ship will be lifted 85ft by the Gatun Locks into Gatun Lake. She then negotiates the narrow Gaillard Cut to the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks which lower her back down to the level of the Pacific, which you first see stretching out on the other side of the towering Bridge of the Americas.

On the Pacific Coast of one of the worlds newest and most exciting eco-tourism and cruise destinations - Guatemala, the Central American cruise port Quetzal leads you into a country boasting sublime scenic drama and a colourful history going way back to Mayan times.

While growing as a popular tourist destination, Cabo still retains an uncrowded feel with warm hospitality to match the sunshine. Nestled on the Southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, it is famous for its casual atmosphere, exciting nightlife and stunning beaches and scenery.

Cruising under the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco is one of the world's greatest travel experiences for it acts as gateway to a fascinating city set across dozens of hills overlooking the bay.The hippies are long gone but San Francisco's scenic beauty, laid-back ambience and more than 3,000 restaurants make it a joy to visit. The famous Fisherman's Wharf harbourfront restaurant and multi-coloured boats complex, where seals happily sunbathe on its wooden decking, faces out towards the former island prison of Alcatraz which is now a major tourist attraction just like the city's colourful Chinatown district and upmarket shopping centre in Union Square.And no visit to San Francisco would be complete without a trip on the city's 130-year-old tram system carrying you up and down the improbably steep streets made famous by that stomach-churning Steve McQueen car chase in the movie Bullitt.From the city, you can also visit the pretty resorts of Sausalito and Monterey.

The UK's premier passenger ship port, located in the picturesque English county of Hampshire, Southampton is a vibrant waterfront city, serviced by direct trains to London, an airport, and an international cruise terminal. Explore the city’s maritime heritage and links to RMS Titanic in the Sea City Museum, see contemporary British art in the Cultural Quarter, or walk the medieval walls in the Old Town. Further afield you’ll find The New Forest National Park, Winchester Cathedral, Stonehenge, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and the Isle of Wight, while the city’s thriving craft beer and culinary scene will leave you spoilt for choice.