There is an abundance of things to see and do in the Ft. Lauderdale area: visit the newly redesigned Ft. Lauderdale Beach and cafes, stroll the historic Riverwalk, shop the luxurious stores on Las Olas Boulevard or adventure to the Everglades for an intriguing air boat excursion.

The Caribbean is full of tropical wonders and natural beauty. But there’s nothing like Half Moon Cay, our pristine private island paradise in the Bahamas. Cruise to the Bahamas with Holland America Line and discover the most stunning, highest-rated private-island experience in the region, Half Moon Cay. This island has won Porthole Cruise Magazine’s Best Private Island award 17 consecutive years, and was also named the best in Travel Weekly’s Readers’ Choice Awards. As soon as your toes touch that powdery white sand and your eyes settle on the perfect blue-crystal clear water, you’ll understand why this island is one of the most sought out destinations. Whether you are planning a romantic getaway or a family vacation, book a Bahamas cruise and explore Half Moon Cay’s beautiful beaches, exciting cruise excursions, exclusive beach cabanas and more.

Noted for being one of the Caribbean’s best-preserved Georgian towns, Falmouth boasts a rich 18th and early 19th century history. Explore Saint Peter’s Anglican Church, built in 1795; shop for local crafts at the Albert George Shopping and Historical Centre, and visit Greenwood Great House; built in 1760, this house was once owned by poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s family and today is home to the finest antique museum in the Caribbean.

Located just 40 miles northeast of mainland Honduras, Roatán Island is a Western Caribbean paradise. Enjoy the ease of Mahogany Bay’s new state of the art cruise ship terminal; relax on a soft sand beach; and explore the Carambola Botanical Gardens and nature trails in search of iguana, parrot, and archaeological sites dating back to Mayan times. Sample shore excursions: Roatán West Side Island Tour; Submarine Boat Ride & West End Village.

Set on a peninsula that juts out into the Caribbean Sea, Belize City may no longer be the capital of Belize (that is Belmopan, since 1970), but it is the country’s largest metropolis. Established in the 17th century as a British trading post for lumber, the city, then known as Belize Town, was an important source of mahogany and logwood. Though the Spanish and English fought over the Central American territory, it became a British colony in 1862, and remained so until it gained independence in 1981. Many of the traditional colonial structures have survived, including the Government House and St. John’s Cathedral, as well as stately houses of the period.Haulover Creek, a tributary of the Belize River, divides the city into north and south sides; the famous Swing Bridge, a manually operated bridge from the 1920s, and much of the local boat traffic are found on this waterway. The north is where many of the cultural attractions are located, including the Museum of Belize and the Fort Street Tourism Village, a harborfront shopping and dining area catering to cruise-goers. Albert Street, on the south side, is considered the main downtown commercial area; it’s lined with stores, gift and souvenir shops, banks and restaurants.

A cruise to Cozumel will take you , anto an island in the Caribbean off the eastern coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Cozumel is a popular destination as , drawsit draws many scuba divers, snorkelers and seekers of sand and sun who are attracted by the reliably sunny and tropical climate. The island and its environs also offer all other manner of on- and around-the-water attractions, many of which are quite unique, such as underwater sculpture gardens, a submarine excursion to see a shipwreck and a sailboat-racing experience that’s second only to the America’s Cup. For visitors who are intrigued by Mexico’s Maya culture, there are several archaeological sites in and around Cozumel, including the UNESCO-inscribed Chichén Itzá and, on Cozumel itself, San Gervasio, once a site where women made offerings to the goddess of fertility and childbirth. When you’re done sightseeing on your cruise to Cozumel, there’s shopping for traditional Mexican crafts, jewelry and leather goods, including custom-made sandals, and excellent food (the seafood, of course, is stellar).

One of the first things you’ll notice on your Key West cruise is the colorful gingerbread wooden houses and the amazing sunsets, and the constant crowing of roosters. Hundreds of the noisy birds—along with their quieter-clucking mates—roam the streets at all hours, and are nearly as synonymous with Key West cruises as its six-toed cats, the famous furry residents of Ernest Hemingway’s mansion in the Old Town district. They’re all part of the quirky charm of the United States’ southernmost point, whose compact 11 square kilometers (4.2 square miles) pack in everything from gorgeous historic architecture and spectacular fishing and sailing to a raucous party scene along famed Duval Street. All of which is truly enjoyed by vacationers who cruise to Key West, Florida.

There is an abundance of things to see and do in the Ft. Lauderdale area: visit the newly redesigned Ft. Lauderdale Beach and cafes, stroll the historic Riverwalk, shop the luxurious stores on Las Olas Boulevard or adventure to the Everglades for an intriguing air boat excursion.

Its official name is Cartagena de Indias—or “Cartagena of the Indies”—but call it Cartagena for short. The formal name hints at this Colombian city’s colonial relationship with Spain; it was founded in 1533 and named after the mother country’s Cartagena. Colombia declared independence in 1810, but there’s plenty about its fifth-largest city that evokes old Spain, including the impressive fort of Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, and the wall that encloses the old town, one of the few intact structures of its kind in the Americas. Both were considered important enough to inscribe on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in 1984. They may be historical artifacts, but the fortress and wall aren’t merely tourist attractions; they are central to daily life here. Take a stroll and you’ll see couples sitting atop the wall, locked in passionate embraces; parents watching their children walk it like a balance beam; and friends chatting while enjoying the Caribbean breeze. Along with history, there’s cultural and culinary intrigue here, too. This colorful city was a muse of the late Nobel Prize–winning writer Gabriel García Márquez, and is increasingly being recognized outside Colombia for its cuisine, which takes many cues from Caribbean ingredients. (Don’t leave without trying the coconut rice.)

Yet another chance to witness the wonders of eco-rich Costa Rica. Or tour to Sarchi, where the painting of oxcarts has evolved to high art.

In the cultured little country of Guatemala modern Maya still weave their stories on backstrap looms, and the great stone temples of Tikal stand in silent testament to ancient Mayan ingenuity. Sample shore excursions: Casa Santa Domingo & Antigua; Lake Atitlan & Highlands; Finca Coffee Plantation Tour; Tikal Expedition by Air.

Everything you ever wanted in a seaside resort: warm sun, sandy beaches and nine beautiful bays rimmed in every shade of blue. Nearby: low-growth caducifolia jungles teeming with birdlife and the nesting grounds of endangered sea turtles. Sample shore excursions: Five Bays by Catamaran; Horseback Riding; Bird-watching Eco Tour; ATV Jungle Adventure.

Unique compared to Acapulco, Cancún, Zihuatanejo and several other coastal resort towns in Mexico—many of which were created by the government as planned communities—Puerto Vallarta (“PV” to locals), on the Pacific Ocean, retains quite a bit of its colonial-era charm. Its town square, Plaza de Armas, and the gorgeous parish church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, topped with an ornate crown and overlooking the port, serve as the loveliest representations of bygone ages. While on your Puerto Vallarta cruise, we take you alongside these echoes of the past are more modern attractions, including an ambitious public art project along the seaside walkway (the malecón) and trendy restaurants such as La Leche, serving contemporary Mexican cuisine. Round these out with plenty of fun-in-the-sun outdoor activities on and along Banderas Bay (whale-watching! snorkeling! jet-skiing!), excursions that reveal the best of Puerto Vallarta’s flora and fauna, and a side trip to one of Mexico’s pueblos mágicos (magical towns, a designation conferred by the government to recognize smaller towns that possess historical and cultural value), and you’d be hard-pressed to find a more pleasant place to spend part of your cruise to Puerto Vallarta.

Easygoing San Diego embodies the Southern California surfer town fantasy, with its more than 300 days of sun, mild year-round temperatures and accessible, sporty pastimes and tourist attractions. Cruise to San Diego and hike the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve to get a glimpse of whale migrations, go sailing in the bay and, of course, surf the famous swells of Del Mar, Oceanside and La Jolla (among many other superb spots). Cruise from San Diego and explore the sixth-largest city in the United States. Discover San Diego’s distinctive neighborhoods on a San Diego shore excursion. Visit Old Town, North Park, Point Loma and Coronado are all within a few miles of the port, while the bustling Gaslamp Quarter and Little Italy are within walking distance.

And while there are lots of things to do for everyone on a San Diego Cruise—from visiting the country’s largest urban park to taking in the famous horse-racing season in Del Mar to riding the charming Old Town Trolley—definitely don’t pass up the chance to investigate San Diego’s quickly growing reputation as a culinary destination. Its inventive new restaurants and huge craft-brewing industry are something to be explored.

Catalina, one of California’s Channel Islands, lies offshore about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Los Angeles. The island’s distinctive landscape—a mix of mountains, canyons, beaches and coves—is mostly undeveloped outside the charming port town of Avalon. Here you’ll find a beach community with a Mediterranean flair reminiscent of a quieter time, and one that seems far from the traffic and bustle of Los Angeles. Sailboats bob in crystal-clear waters in the crescent-shaped bay, and the main street is lined with boutiques and restaurants in brightly painted bungalows.

You can easily explore Avalon in a few hours, as nearly everything is concentrated in a few blocks. That leaves the afternoon for exploring the rest of the island. Purchased in 1919 by William Wrigley, Jr., the chewing-gum magnate, Santa Catalina Island (to use its full name) once served as the spring training ground for the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Today most of the island is owned by the Catalina Island Conservancy, which works hard to preserve its flora and fauna, from Catalina Island foxes to the bald eagles flying overhead and the schools of bright orange Garibaldi fish swimming in the bay.

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With cable cars that “climb halfway to the stars,” this is everybody’s favorite city by the bay. Alcatraz, Nob Hill, Lombard Street, Fisherman’s Wharf of course you’ve heard of them all. Don’t miss this chance to really experience San Francisco.

Once a trading post and a rough-and-tumble sawmilling settlement, today modern Vancouver, Canada is many things. Cruise to Vancouver and visit this bustling seaport. This city is a hub for outdoor enthusiasts looking for active things to do in Vancouver an ethnically diverse metropolis, and Hollywood of the North. Hemmed in by mountains and sea, Vancouver seduces visitors with its combination of urban sophistication and laid-back attitude against a backdrop of glass towers and modern sights and plentiful green spaces.

Enjoy enjoy local attractions, fun filled outdoor activities, and an innovative culinary scene on a Vancouver cruise excursion. Vancouver’s culinary and cocktail scene is on the rise—and its excellent restaurants and hopping bars have a distinctively local stamp on them. If you are looking for where to go in Vancouver for music, theater and the arts, they are thriving in the city’s many museums, galleries and performance venues. Beyond the downtown attractions in Vancouver, days of exploration and sightseeing await among the colorful suburbs, unspoiled islands and the vast, rugged wilderness.

Bounded by the Puget Sound to the west and Lake Washington to the east, and surrounded by forests and mountains, Seattle, Washington boasts a stunning location.

But the largest city in the Pacific Northwest is as much an homage to human ingenuity as it is to natural beauty. From logging to shipbuilding to aircraft manufacturing to modern-day software and biotech development, the Emerald City has worn a succession of industrial hats, birthing the likes of Amazon and Starbucks—not to mention music legends Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana—along the way.

Visitors are spoiled for choice of things to do in Seattle, with iconic attractions like the waterfront, Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass and Pike Place Market all easily accessible. “Local” and “sustainable” are words to live by in Seattle, an ethos reflected in the profusion of fresh-seafood restaurants, independent coffee roasters and quirky boutiques that are dotted around the city, awaiting a taste or visit between sightseeing.