FOR those who treasure both the sea and discovering interesting ports, anytime is cruise time. Since Bermudians are "cruisers extraordinaire", we've tried to come up with both some unusual ships and different destinations for those anxious to sail away yet this season.

Yes, the superliners are still very much out there, getting ever larger. Limited by their massive size, they tend to have more of a sameness to their itineraries. But a full scale competition exists between smaller ships whose marketing departments are scanning the world in search of the unusual. We thought you might like to hear about some current offerings.

Often yachtlike in size, they're able to reach wonders travellers dream about. Name your dream destination. . .there's almost certain to be a ship cruising there. Scotland's Outer Hebrides, Iceland, Greenland, South Pacific, the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers, Bengazi, Falklands, Singapore, Baffin Islands, Arctic, Easter Island and on and on.

Even super size liners are adding new exotics, realising the repeat cruisers' interest in the unusual. Unfortunately that often means tedious tender shuttles, so double check those itineraries to see what they involve. There's a big difference between simply walking ashore directly from your ship rather than waiting in the lounge to be called, then going down a gangway to the waiting tender for a half hour ride ashore from your far out anchorage. Some passengers like that, others don't.

Bermudians are very familiar with Celebrity Line whose Horizon and Zenith call at the island weekly during summer. Now that steamship company has added yet another possibility to its offerings. Celebrity Xpeditions has created small ship adventures ranging from the Galapagos to the Arctic and Antarctic.

Some Galapags cruises are via ninety-eight passenger (formerly ). Their thirteen night Arctic adventure and twelve night Antarctic one are on board , a Polar class ice-breaker of Russian registry. On this they team up with Quark, a leader in polar cruises. The former departs Canada's Resolute Bay to cruise Arctic Islands and Greenland in August and September.

The Antarctic cruises leave Ushuaia, Argentina in October and November for Drake passage, Antarctic Sound, South Shetland and Cape Horn. Those sailings are rather unusual in their timing, since they depart in autumn rather than the more usual January and February dates of other cruises to that area. Prices start at $5,875 on their November 6-17 trip.

Many travellers dream of cruising to a climate of a different sort. One with lush vegetation, tradewinds and a volcanic archipelago. No, it's not Bermuda, although it sounds like it.

This is French Polynesia, the historic Pitcairn island of Mutiny On The Bounty fame and fabled Easter Island. One hundred thirty passenger Clipper Odyssey sets sail from Papeete, Tahiti October 1 on a sixteen day adventure with the opportunity to visit a number of unusual villages, atolls, a designated UNESCO Biosphere reserve and day after day of further surprises. Many will be seldom visited sites.

Not unlike the Galapagos in that sense, this region is noted for its unique bird life. Explorer Jacques Cousteau rated one of them visited as "one of the richest in fauna in the world" . . . Rangirou, Tuarnotu Archipelago.

Another, Fakarava, is home to highly prized black pearls. Also on the itinerary is Raroia where adventurer Thor Heyerdal's balsa raft came ashore after his dramatic voyage from Peru in 1947.

There's a visit to a vanilla plantation on Pukarua and finally legendary home of those who mutinied against Captain Bligh in 1789. Today fifty of their descendants still live here and travellers enjoy meeting some of them as well as snorkelling over the Bounty's sunken remains.

Another prime stop is Henderson Island, an uplifted coral island whose limestone cliffs have caves, grottoes and blowholes edged by pristine beaches. Home to the Henderson flightless crake, the island is a UNESCO heritage site.

There are two relaxing days cruising the South Pacific en route to Easter Island with its mysterious stone heads. After overnighting there it's homeward bound via Santiago, Chile.

ach stateroom features a sitting area, lower twin or queen size beds, bathroom, refrigerator, television and telephone. Rates range from $6,830 per person double to $9,510 for a deluxe cabin on Bridge deck with private verandah. Rates do not include airfare. Sample round trip economy airfare to Papeete returning from Santiago are quoted around $1,550. But on such a long flight, you'd really want to consider upgrading to business class. See more at www.clippercruise.com.

This is definitely an itinerary for those seeking the unusual. is owned by Intrav, also noted for its unusual itineraries via private jet. Yes, those trips carry major sticker shock. . .but certainly no more than a mailing Jim recently received from his university alumni association.

I'm sure many readers receive much the same offering. But this most recent arrival was a real eye-opener. Jim graduated from the same university three times . . . undergraduate, MBA and law school, so there's a bombardment.

The most recent expeditions ranged from $35,950 to $45,950 for twenty to twenty-two day, eighty-eight passenger private jet tours that included such off-trail wonders as the Skeleton Coast, Timbuktu and Bhutan, along with a number of more easily accessible ones like the Canary Islands, Marrakech and Dubrovnik.

That certainly counts as sticker shock and more than a little togetherness for three weeks. After reading those brochures, cruises seem an even more remarkable bargain!

You've seen sailing yachts plying Bermuda waters for years. Ever considered the joys of seeing new sights under full sail? Your travel agent will have a list from Maine's Windjammer to the stately Star Clipper line. But there are some small classics that don't get wide publicity.

Classic Cruises of Newport sends its one hundred sixty foot, twenty cabin cruise yacht to New England in summer, the Chesapeake Bay in autumn and to the US British and Spanish Virgin Islands come winter. Five night cruises range from $899 to $1,699, all with private baths. Their itineraries include Virgin Gorda, Peter Island, Jost van Dyke, Vieques, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Newport, Annapolis, Oxford, St. Michael and more. 1-800-395-1343. www.cruisearabella.com.

Perhaps all those sound exciting, but all you really have time for now is a quick getaway. Carnival has a special two-day offering from Miami to the Bahamas. This will introduce its new one-hundred ten thousand ton on December 15-17.

Prices for the two day trip begin at $219 per person double occupancy. But that will be an inside stateroom, so anyone interested will want to opt for one of the sixty per cent of its 1,487 staterooms that offer an ocean view. Over half of those have balconies.

he ship will depart Miami Wednesday, December 15, spend Thursday, December 16 in Nassau and return to Miami on Friday, December 17. So it could be considered a pre-holiday break. It also offers the opportunity to try out one of the big cruise liners without committing to a long voyage.

If you've been watching the BBC recently, you've heard of their inspection which found construction material used on lavatories aboard Cunard's new were flammable. I've not yet heard a follow-up.

If you're thinking trans-Atlantic crossing, many possibilities have arrived in my mail recently. Orient Line's leaves Southampton, November 24, bound for Funchal, Madeira, thence to St. John's, Antigua; Bassetere, St. Kitts; Fort de France, Martinique; Castries, St. Lucia, disembarking at Bridgetown, Barbados, December 9.

At that point they begin their thirty day Antarctic schedule which visits Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina. www.orientlines.com.

Holland America's will be departing Lisbon, November 9, also stopping at Funchal en route to Fort Lauderdale on an eleven day cruise for as little as $1,500 outside stateroom. Their disembarks September 14, on a sixteen day northern passage to New York stopping at Rotterdam, Le Havre, Guernsey, Plymouth, Cork, Dublin, Belfast, St. John, Newfoundland and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Outside staterooms from $2,079, verandahs from $3,369.

Those prices should give you some idea why repositioning cruises are so popular and your travel agent will know about along list of them crossing from a summer in Europe to begin their winter Caribbean season.

Rather than just being crossings, they're evolving into unusual cruises stopping at attractive ports en route. Consider this one being offered by Costa Cruises on their eighty-six thousand ton leaving Genoa November 4. It stops at Barcelona, Spain, spends two days at sea before arriving at Tenerife, Canary Islands.

Then there are five move days at sea before docking in Barbados, continuing on to St. Lucia, Antigua, Tortola, San Juan, two more sea days and finally Fort Lauderdale. That's a total of seventeen nights at sea and the prices quoted in their brochure are a pleasant surprise. An ocean view starts at $2,269. . .a six-hundred fifty square feet grand suite with wrap-around verandah, sitting area and whirlpool bath is a modest $3,909. Government taxes between $43.70 and $63.65 are extra.

Another attention getter is Holland America's twenty-six day Amazon River Explorer November 24. It departs Fort Lauderdale, stopping at Caribbean favourites en route to Devil's Island, then up the Amazon to Santarem and Manaus in Brazil. Outside staterooms start at $5,900, verandahs from $7,900.

There was a time when our family cruised every one of Holland America's ships. . .so much so, that my mother was written up in their passenger newsletter as a frequent repeat passenger. But frankly, we've not been aboard one since their purchase by Carnival Cruises, so can't speak from current experience about their quality or service since the takeover.

Travellers have read about the opening of Libya to tourism and Travel Dynamics International already have a cruise stopping there which is sure to be a sellout. Departing October 9, the thirty-four passenger yacht sails from Heraklion, Crete, Greece for Derna on Libya's Cyrenaican coast. Benghazi, the great ruins of Leptis Magnas and Tripoli are among sites visited on this ten day exploration.

ates range from $7,000 to $8,395 airfare not included. Because tourism is so new to Libya, comfort of a yacht seems a sensible way to explore. This company specialises in the unusual, with each itinerary a definite temptation. Their all-suite eighty-eight guest sails from canals of Venice to walls of Troy September 26 to October 8. Another follows Homer's journey of Odysseus.

They feature calls in Canada's Maritime Provinces viewing fall foliage and November 1 December 2 their new one-hundred six guest will follow the route of the explorers from Panama down along South America's coast to Tierra del Fuego. That trip can be split in two segments or enjoyed in its entirety. www.traveldynamicsinternational.com.

For baseball fans, Carnival Cruises offers a special four day voyage November 4-8 from Miami. Coaches, players and executives of the 2003 World Champion Florida Marlins will be aboard for the "Florida Marlins Championship Cruise".

The ship will call at Key West and Cozumel. In between there will be autograph and photo sessions, a baseball memorabilia auction, youth baseball-themed events. Fares begin at $499 per person double. . .but again that will be an inside stateroom. Call 800-327-9501 or visit carnival.com/promo/marlins.

( ? A Midyear Travel Appraisal)