17 Night Cruise sailing from San Diego roundtrip aboard Veendam.

Grandly proportioned and recently enhanced, the ms Veendam offers an onboard experience defined by spacious comfort and the latest Signature of Excellence features and amenities. Guests aboard the ms Veendam will not only enjoy elegant dining rooms, a $2 million art and antique collection, wide teak decks and spacious staterooms - many with private verandahs - but also new and exciting venues, stateroom options along with a complete update to all stateroom furnishings.

Highlights of this cruise:

San Diego
Beautiful, brilliant San Diego has the sun, the beaches, and the climate to die for. But don't let that fool you - the city is a power. It's the sixth-largest city in the U.S. and a center for military industry, trade, and biotechnology. Of course, it's a great place for cruise visitors. The San Diego Zoo is one of the world's best. Balboa Park is both a natural space and a collection of wonderful museums. Old Town is a colorful gaggle of shops and restaurants. Oh, and the beaches: Coronado, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, La Jolla. The forecast is for a high of about 75 degrees. Every day. Sigh.

Hilo
The east coast of the island of Hawaii throws out its arms, sticks its face into the moisture-heavy trade winds, and gathers all that wet air in to water its gardens, feed its waterfalls, and quench its volcanoes. Lili'uokalani Gardens, an authentic Japanese garden, sits on the shore of Kuhio Bay and contains 30 acres of pagodas, ponds, and picnic areas. Inland, along the furrowed lower reaches of Mauna Kea, Kolekole stream plunges 442 feet over a cliff at Akaka Falls. Closer in to town cruise travelers can see Rainbow Falls, an 80-foot drop. And it's just a short drive down the road to Kilauea, that fiery rent in the side of Mauna Loa.

Honolulu
The ghosts of Waikiki ride surfboards. Honolulu's signature beach was long a retreat for longboarding royals, but today, the gentle waves carry many a happy, uncoordinated visitor, learning to surf. Waikiki tells one story of the Hawaiian capital. The dormant volcano of Diamond Head tells another. Pearl Harbor another. The city is a tapestry of commerce, natural beauty, and war history. Pearl Harbor made it an important way station for trans-Pacific trade, an ideal spot for a U.S. naval base, and of course, the military target that ignited American entry into World War II. Cruise travelers can see one part of that history at the USS Arizona Memorial and another at the Punchbowl military cemetery.

Nawiliwili
The island is moving slowly west as the Pacific Plate passes over the Hawaii Hot Spot, which is currently constructing the Big Island away southeast. Time and rain will eventually wear the old volcano away, but right now, Kauai is basking in its golden years. Roughly circular, the island is a creased emerald wonderland. On the north coast, the flying buttresses of the Na Pali cliffs drop 4,000 feet to blue surf. In the interior, Mount Waialeale translates rain to endless waterfalls, and Waimea Canyon is grand. And on its fringes, Kauai offers cruise visitors countless beaches. Like Hanalei: all blond sand, green cliffs, and azure water.

Lahaina
Lahaina was a battleground for warring chieftains and later the capital of a unified Hawaii under Kamehameha III. Long before that, though, there were the humpback whales. For millennia they'd migrate here in winter to calve and feed in the warm, protected waters. In the early 19th century, the whalers followed, and at times you'd see 300, 400, 500 whaling ships in Lahaina Harbor. The whalers would surge ashore and find Christian missionaries seeking to impose order on the chaos they made. Today, the town welcomes cruise visitors to its compact, pedestrian-friendly streets. There is a bounty of places to eat and shop (especially along Front Street) or just relax in the shade and catch the view.

Kona
Once the playground of Hawaii's royalty, Kona is synonymous with the famous coffee that grows on the slopes of dormant Hualalai. Here, too, is Parker Ranch, the largest privately owned ranch in the U.S.

Ensenada
This sunny port on the Baja Peninsula gives you a taste of festive Mexico. Ensenada wines are some of the finest in the Americas. Try one with one of the city's signature foods: fish tacos, ceviche, or carpaccio. Then get ready for mariachi music, whale watching, or hanging out at one of the nearby world-class surf beaches.