SITTING in the dentist's chair recently for my regular check-up (happily, it was "Look Mom, no cavities!"), the well-travelled specialist, familiar with my travel career, began to tell me about his most recent Alaska adventure. With a daughter living in Anchorage, he's an annual visitor to that beautiful state.He enjoys sharing impressions of those trips, as well as his enthusiasm for participating in Civil War re-enactments where he is commander of an artillery squad with two canons. So he's definitely no couch potato.

"But I could never imagine taking a cruise there," he said in obvious disappointment. "I flew to Juneau for a few days last trip and the dock was absolutely overwhelmed with massive ships carrying more people than live there. What do they do with them all?"

A good question. This traveller assured him there were places to go . . . and also specific seasons to travel . . . where he would not find himself surrounded by super-sized giant liners disgorging the population of a small village. Five of them in one small port like Juneau, Alaska's capital, can deposit well over 15,000 people.

Some travellers may find that exciting. But when you're in a profession endlessly dealing with people and tight scheduling as the dentist does, solitude may be your preference.

There are plenty of small and mid-sized cruise ships out there offering unique itineraries. In fact, even as some of the megaships expand ever more in size, there's also a growing trend towards an addition of mid-sized ships in some of their super-sized fleets, as well.

The smaller ships tend to be far less advertised because they sell out to a devoted following of repeaters. Oceania's near sell-out success with almost new ships bought from Renaissance are an indication of continuing interest in more intimate sizing. Renaissance, with a fleet of new beauties, fell on hard times after 9-11 when there were massive booking cancellations.

Bankruptcy saw its fleet divided — some to Oceania, others dispersed around the world. Some lines which had switched to megaships and retired their smaller "golden oldies" saw resistance from repeaters who felt "less is more".

Princess will be adding 688-passenger Royal Princess to its fleet and has just announced some interesting new destinations for 2007. Ravenna, Italy, Split, Croatia and Kotor, Montenegro are three this traveller very much enjoyed in the past. Corsica and Sardinia are others for travellers who like to dream ahead.

The line already has the Pacific Princess, which has been concentrating on Asia, Africa and India, and Tahiti Princess, its pearl of the Pacific focusing on Hawaii, Tahiti and Polynesia. Both were Renaissance ships carrying just under 700 passengers.

Radisson Seven Seas has opted to go more upscale, renaming its product Regent Seven Seas and is in the process of enhancing an already luxury product. The ships range from Seven Seas Navigator, carrying 490 passengers, to Seven Seas Voyager and Mariner with 700 each.

Windstar's "sailing yachts" range from 148 to 308 passengers and keep luring us back for encore cruises. Seabourn carries just over 200. Silverseas is in the 314 to 384 category.

Lindblad's Sea Bird (32 guests) and Sea Lion (64 guests) resemble large private yachts. Cruise West also has a roster of modest-sized ships exploring Alaska.

Popular 320-guest M.S. Paul Gaughin continues to concentrate on Tahiti and French Polynesia. Holland America's 793-passenger Prinsendam will be in the Mediterranean through October, then goes transatlantic and onto the Amazon before sailing around the world.

Its Statendam, Maasdam, Veendam and Ryndam all carry 1,258 guests, Zandam and Volendam 1,432, the Rotterdam 1,316 and Amsterdam 1,380. They're considered comfortably mid-sized by today's standards.

So are some of MSC's (Mediterranean Shipping Company) new ships, with Lirica, Armonia, and Sinfoniaeach carrying more than 1,500 guests. They divide their time between the Mediterranean, northern Europe and the Caribbean ,adding Italian flair to their itineraries.AS ever-larger megaships add everything from boxing rings, water parks and surfing pools to rock-climbing walls, skating rinks and miniature golf, there also seems to be an ever-growing market of travellers anxious to avoid all of the above. They're not anti-social, but simply enjoy tranquillity and prefer not to feel they're living in Grand Central Station.Which is not to say there aren't families who thoroughly enjoy all that action and excitement. But with so many thousands of staterooms to fill, what those megaships have to offer is very widely advertised, often heavily discounted and very publicised because competition among them for filling cabins is fierce.

Any traveller looking for a quieter experience on a smaller ship has a harder time finding them. That's why we're focusing on some of them here.

One hundred and 14 guests aboard all-suite, five-star Corinthian II will "voyage into the classical world" from September 17-October 9. Departing Piraeus, Greece, it will visit the tomb and excavated palaces of Philip II of Macedonia. Next stop is scenic Chios, birthplace of Homer. On this classic Greek island itinerary, guest actor Yannis Simonides will join the voyage to perform The Apology of Socrates in three parts, each set at a different ancient Aegean site. Transcribed by Plato, it professes to be a record of the speech he delivered in his own defence at his trial in 399 BC. Not for everyone, but definitely different.

The 11-night cruise starts at $6,000 (no single supplement). Like so many upscale cruises, it includes house wines with lunch and dinner, along with all shore excursions.

If time is no problem, Holland America's 793-passenger Prinsendam offers a taste of two continents. Travellers can opt for the long way back, sailing from Lisbon on October 17 for Casablanca, Agadir, Dakar, Abidjan and a unique list of African ports en route to Capetown, South Africa on a 46-day epic.

Or start there on November 8, continuing from Cape Town to St. Helena of Napoleonic fame and onto a series of South American ports, including Fortaleza and Belem. Then cruise up the Amazon to remote Santarem which should be a highlight of this trip. We certainly found it fascinating on our first trip to Brazil. There's even a stop in Barbados before docking at Fort Lauderdale.

Forty-six days starts at $9,699 outside with a veranda from $12,149. Twenty-four days outside starts at $5,000, $7,000 for a veranda. Free airfare was included on the latest 24-day offering that arrived in the mail. Definitely not an everyday travel schedule.

These are just a few samples of truly unusual cruises available and rarely heard about. Holland America has another, this time on its Statendam, for a 14-day sampling of Australia and New Zealand. You'd want to fly out early and linger a bit to cover more territory.

Australia to New Zealand (and reverse) are scheduled for December, January and February. There are pre- and post-tour options; ports include Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania, Christchurch, Wellington as well as Fiordland National Park. Outside fares are from $2,099, veranda suites from $3,699.

Various lines offer remarkably different possibilities for exploration. Travel Dynamics International cruises along Amazon tributaries in Corinthian II's five-star all-suite luxury, while Ecotour Expeditions seeks out some of that region's most untouched rain forests on the M/Y Tucano. The eight-day, seven-night adventure cruises operate year round. Cost is $2,100.

Leafing through a cruise brochure is almost guaranteed to induce a travel mood. Oceania's is a good example. In just a few pages remembered visits to Catherine the Great's Palace, Athens Parthenon and Edinburgh's Holyrood House glistened in glowing, ful- page Technicolor recalling memorable visits to each.

Just this week the latest edition of Explorations arrived in the mail. That catalogue illustrates especially dazzling offerings combining the best of Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic. By coincidence, I began paging through it while watching National Geographic's annual finals competition between young 11- to 14-year-old finalists. Geographic knowledge of those finalists was impressive, but unfortunately not typical of today's average American student. In fact, this issue of Exploration focuses on that modern failing and announces introduction of a new public campaign by National Geographic Education Foundation entitled "My Wonderful World".

Its laudable goal is "to vigorously promote geographic literacy at home, in schools and in communities". Recent polls reveal a depressing number of American students don't know the capital of their own state and sadly far less about the world they inhabit.INTERESTINGLY, the only question totally missed by contestants was the modern identity of Somers Island . . . Bermuda! Leafing through the 123 pages of this catalogue certainly helps remedy any lack of geographical knowledge. Beginning with Peru's Macchu Picchu on the cover, they take readers on cruises through Alaska, then retracing Lewis and Clark's trail. There are tempting itineraries through the Panama Canal, Galapagos, Antarctica, Arctic Norway among others.They all sound fascinating. Follow the Vikings across northern Scotland, the Faroes and Iceland aboard 100-guest National Geographic Endeavour. Savour the heart of Scotland after being piped aboard 48-passenger Lord of the Glens.

Each adventure is also a learning experience with experts on board to share their knowledge. Learn more about Lindblad itineraries at www.expeditions.com. And check up on geographical knowledge on www.MyWonderfulWorld.org.

So if you're feeling a sort of restlessness, a hankering to get away some place different on a ship you feel matches your personality, now's the time to head for your travel agent and start studying those glossy brochures.

[obox] Next week: What's happening at the airlines