14 Night Cruise sailing from Los Angeles to Ft Lauderdale aboard Island Princess.

Island Princess features all the options of Princess' larger ships, plus 90% outside staterooms with most providing private balconies, so you won't miss a view, whether relaxing in your cabin or enjoying the breeze on deck. You'll also enjoy an impressive choice of dining options, including two main dining venues, Sabatini's Italian Trattoria and the Bayou Cafe, the New Orleans style restaurant at sea. Then there's the handsome cigar lounge and retro martini bar.

Panama Canal
From the Panama Canal's opening day to present, nearly a million ships have passed through the mighty locks. Encompassing tragedy and triumph, Spanish kings, conquistadors and five different American presidents, the building of this massive project spanned 400 years. And today, nearly 100 years after its completion, the Panama Canal remains one of the most vital trade routes in the world.

Los Angeles, California
The City of Angels always hovers between dream and reality. Once a near-forgotten colonial outpost, the pueblo metamorphosed into an agrarian paradise before reinventing itself as a movie colony. Perhaps no other city owes so much to the technological innovations of the 20th century, from the automobile to the airplane. Little wonder that LA is oft described as the "dream machine." In LA, reinvention is a way of life. Yet this talent for change has created a city with a rich ethnic diversity and a sizzling culture. LA is the source for trends that migrate across the country and then the world. Where else can you enjoy a Thai taco or munch on a kosher burrito? Or travel from downtown's high rises to the beaches of Malibu, shopping in Beverly Hills along the way?

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Millennia ago, Cabo San Lucas was part of the Mexican mainland. Then a massive rupture of the San Andreas Fault sent the waters of the Pacific crashing into the newly formed depression, creating the Gulf of California and the Baja Peninsula. Lying at the very tip of Baja, where the Pacific meets the Gulf of California, Cabo San Lucas - or "Cabo" - is one of the premier resort destinations in the Western Hemisphere. Swim in the transparent waters of the Gulf, marvel at the wealth of marine life, relax on one of the white-sand beaches or try your hand at some of the finest sportfishing in the world.

Puntarenas, Costa Rica
To Spanish explorers, the rumors of gold and vast riches could only mean that this section of Central America was the costa rica - the "rich coast."

Hailed as the Switzerland of the Americas, Costa Rica occupies a unique position, lying between two oceans and two continents. On both coasts, tropical rainforests rise to the mountains of the interior, many of which soar over 13,000 feet above sea level. In the west, a seemingly endless succession of white-sand beaches forms the nation's Pacific coast. Puntarenas is your gateway to Costa Rica's wonders--and to its capital city of San Jose.

Aruba
Dutch influence still lingers on this balmy Caribbean island, part of the Netherlands Antilles until its independence in 1986. Aruba is a contrast, the island's arid interior is dotted with cactus and windswept divi-divi trees while secluded coves and sandy beaches form its coast. Aruba's long and colorful heritage is reflected in its dialect. Called Papiamento, it is a tongue that combines elements of Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, African and English.

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
According to the popular 1960 beach movie, Fort Lauderdale was "where the boys are." The city's reputation as America's spring-break capital, however, has been replaced with the more favorable image of a prime family tourist destination, attracting more than 10 million visitors annually. The most popular beach resort in Florida is even more rightly famed as the "Yachting Capital of the World," with more than 40,000 registered crafts calling its waters home. The city also prides itself on being the "Venice of America" with more than 300 miles of navigable waterways. Fort Lauderdale boasts world-class theaters, museums, sightseeing, and shopping.

The city sits 24 miles north of Miami and is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale, who was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. Look hard and you might find remnants of three of them today. More people seem to be interested in taking a water tour aboard the "Carrie B."