Grand Europe World: 90 - nights

Brisbane, Australia
Once considered the "country cousin" among Australian cities, Brisbane is today the nation's third-largest metropolis - and one of the most desirable places to live in the country. Lying on the banks of the meandering Brisbane River, this cosmopolitan city boasts elegant 19th-century sandstone buildings, a lively cultural scene and superb parklands. Brisbane is also your gateway to uniquely Australian adventures, be it the theme parks of the Gold Coast or Queensland's dazzling beaches.

The beaches south of Brisbane form Queensland's Gold Coast. Travel tip: Brisbane is pronounced "Bris-bin."

Lombok, Indonesia
The crystalline waters of the Lombok Strait separate the island of Lombok from its neighbor Bali. For experienced travelers, Lombok will seem a throwback to Bali''s halcyon days - reminiscent, indeed, of that island some 30 years ago, before globalization brought a steady stream of development to its shores. Like its neighbor, Lombok is renowned for its traditional craft villages. Artisans produce the exquisite brocaded cloth called songket, elegant woodcarvings, and superb pottery made from local hillside clays. The island also possesses great natural beauty, from the dramatic rice terraces and plantations of the south to the tropical rain and cloud forests of the north. Lombok is home to Mt. Rinjani, Indonesia''s second highest peak, a magnificent volcano soaring over 12,000 feet above sea level.

The Lombok Strait is part of the Wallace Line - a major eco-geographical boundary separating the flora and fauna of East Indonesia and Australia from West Indonesia. Many species found on Lombok, for example, are not found on neighboring Bali, just 20 miles away across the strait.

Singapore
Singapore - the very name summons visions of the mysterious East. The commercial center of Southeast Asia, this island city-state of four million people is a metropolis of modern high-rise buildings, Chinese shop-houses with red-tiled roofs, sturdy Victorian buildings, Buddhist temples and Arab bazaars. Founded in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles of the fabled East India Company, the city is a melting pot of people and cultures. Malay, Chinese, English and Tamil are official languages. Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Hinduism and Christianity are the major faiths. Singapore is an ever-fascinating island boasting colorful traditions, luxurious hotels and some of the finest duty-free shopping in the world.

Lying just 85 miles north of the Equator at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, the island was a haven for Malay pirates and Chinese and Arab traders.

Phuket, Thailand
Hailed as the "Pearl of the Andaman Sea," this island off Thailand's long southern coast boasts a colorful history. A crossroads for trade, Phuket has been a melting pot of Thai, Malay, Chinese and Western influences. Its importance over the past 500 years stemmed from the island's natural resources, which include tin, hardwoods and rubber. In the past half-century, Phuket has enjoyed wide popularity as one of the premier travel destinations in Southeast Asia. Travelers are drawn to the island's beaches, crystalline waters, and dramatic, forested hills.

Maldive Islands (Male)
Malé is the capital of the Maldives - a republic comprised of 26 coral atolls and 1,190 islands draped along the Indian Ocean like a string of pearls. With a population of 150,000 souls, the Maldives are an unspoiled paradise of white-sand beaches, placid lagoons, and coral reefs. Malé is the most developed city and island in the republic, boasting modern high-rise buildings and a surprising host of cars.

Ironically, there are no beaches on Malé itself - the island is bordered by a seawall. There is an artificial beach is on north east corner of the island. Visitors to the Male' and other village islands should cover from shoulders to the knee all the time even at the beach as fit for Muslim society.

Luxor/Karnak (Safaga), Egypt
The port of Safaga has become a popular Egyptian seaside resort specializing in water sports and diving holidays. The unspoiled beaches and stiff breezes off the Red Sea made it the perfect site for the 1993 World Windsurfing Championships. But Safaga's real lure is being the gateway to Egypt's mighty and mysterious past, the great Temple of Karnak, the vast necropolis known as "The Valley of the Kings," the ruins of Luxor Temple, and Ramses II's great temple at Abu Simbel in Aswan.

A three and a half hour drive brings the traveler to the ruins of Luxor and the Temple of Karnak.

Suez Canal, Egypt (Scenic Cruising)
Transiting through the Suez Canal is sure to be one of the lifelong memories of your cruise. The thought of a canal linking the Mediterranean and Red Sea extends back in history as far as 2100 B.C. Napoleon Bonaparte, pursuing his dreams of conquest, entertained the notion in 1798. But it was French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps who finally proved that a canal across the Suez was practicable. Work on the canal began in 1858. Eleven years later the opening of the Suez Canal was an international event. The world had acquired a quicker route to Asia-as well as a Verdi opera called Aida.

Of course the Suez Canal was a source of immediate controversy. The British wrested control of the canal from Egypt in 1882. Egypt regained control during its revolution of 1952. In 1956, the British, allied with the French and Israelis, nearly took the canal back. The Arab-Israeli Six Day War of 1967 closed the canal until 1973, when another war and intense international negotiations led to its return to Egyptian control.

Alexandria, Egypt (for Cairo & Giza)
Having added Egypt to his empire, Alexander the Great decreed that a new city be raised as his imperial capital and named it Alexandria. The young conqueror never lived to see his dream realized, dying nine years later at the age of 33. But the city he founded would play a major role in world history for the next 20 centuries. Alexandria was the capital of Egypt under the Ptolemys and the Roman Empire. An early center of Christianity, the city was famed as a focus of commerce and culture - a legacy that endured until the waning of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th century. Under Ottoman rule, Alexandria suffered a long period of decline until Muhammad Ali revived its fortunes in the 1800s. The opening of the Suez Canal also served to diminish Alexandria's role as a major port, but the city was a bastion of the British Empire in both world wars. Today Alexandria is Egypt's second-largest city with a population of some 5 million souls.

Alexandria is hailed as "The Pearl of the Mediterranean." The city serves as your gateway to Cairo and the Great Pyramids.

Naples, Italy (for Capri & Pompeii)
Italy's third-largest city, Naples is a bustling metropolis famed for it stately buildings, crowded streets, pizza - and notoriously bad traffic. However, this beautiful city is rich in centuries-old culture and customs. Naples is also your gateway to the Isle of Capri, the fabled Amalfi Coast and the ruins of Pompeii, buried in ash by the cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D.

Naples boasts an ideal location, with both the ruins of Roman cities and the stunning Amalfi Coast in easy reach.

Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
Your gateway to the Eternal City, Civitavecchia has served as Rome's seaport since the 13th century. The port has a long and venerable history. The emperor Trajan built a pleasure villa near the modern city, while Bernini and Michelangelo designed the harbor fortifications.

Yet the Eternal City eternally beckons. The ancient capital of the Western World and the center of Christianity for nearly 2,000 years, Rome provides an inexhaustible feast. Visit the ruins of the Forum, view the splendors of the Sistine Chapel, or climb the Spanish Steps, once the heart of Rome's Bohemian Quarter.

Rome has been a magnet luring the world's greatest artists, architects, and philosophers since the days of the Caesars.

Messina, Italy
Messina has played a major role in European history since its founding as a Greek colony in the 8th century B.C. During the Roman Empire, the city was a major port and commercial center, during the Middle Ages, Messina was the major port of departure for Crusaders. History has also left its scars: a massive earthquake leveled much of the city in 1908 and the World War II campaign for Sicily devastated Messina. Yet Messina emerged from that devastation with some of its historic treasures intact, including the 12th-century Annunziata dei Catalani Church. Messina is also your gateway to the rugged beauty of southeast Sicily, from the seaside resort of Taormina to Mt. Etna.

Between the fall of Rome and the 1866 unification of Italy, the Arabs, the Normans, the Germans, the Spanish and the French ruled Sicily.

Santorini, Greece
Did the catastrophic volcanic eruption that ravaged Santorini circa 1600 B.C. destroy Crete's ancient Minoan civilization - and give birth to the myth of Atlantis? In 1967, archaeologists on Santorini unearthed the remains of a Bronze Age city that may have been home to as many as 30,000 people. Whether the Lost Continent of Atlantis is rooted in myth or reality, an undisputed fact remains. The eruption created a caldera - and one of the most dramatic land and seascapes in the entire Mediterranean. On Santorini, whitewashed buildings cling to vertiginous cliffs that plunge to a turquoise sea. Part of the Cyclades Archipelago, the three-island group of Santorini, Thirasia and uninhabited Aspronisi present the traveler with unforgettable vistas.

The island has had a number of names throughout history - from Strongyle or "Round" to Thera in honor of an ancient hero. Santorini is more recent and stems from the island church dedicated to St. Irene - Santa Rini to foreign sailors.

Note: Santorini is an anchorage port: passengers transfer to shore via ship's tender.

Rhodes, Greece
The largest and arguably the most beautiful of the 12 islands forming the Dodecanese, Rhodes has long played a major role in history. Lying just 12 miles off the coast of Turkey, the island straddles the sea-lanes linking Egypt, Southern Europe and the Holy Land. Rhodes Town bears witness to that long history. The ancient city features a classical stadium and the ruins of the Temple of Apollo. The "old" city is a walled town with medieval buildings and streets harking back to the days of the Crusades. The new town is a Mecca of luxury resorts lining the island's picturesque Mandaraki Harbor.

The Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is reputed to have once stood guard over the harbor. Today, the bronze statues of a stag and doe top the two columns marking the harbor entrance.

Kusadasi, Turkey (for Ephesus)
From the port of Kusadasi on Turkey's Anatolian Coast, one travels into the past. Nearby stand the ruins of ancient Ephesus, a major site of archeological excavation. The city was once a Roman provincial capital and trading center. Ephesus is also home to several of Christendom's holiest sites. St. Paul preached at the Great Theater and the ruins of Ephesus' Basilica cover the tomb of Christ's most beloved disciple, St. John the Apostle.

In Kusadasi, whitewashed stone houses rise in tiers behind the market district. The palm-lined esplanade is the center of town life, with thousands of merchants offering wares to rival the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.

Athens (Piraeus), Greece
The past maintains a vibrant presence in the cradle of Western civilization. Atop the Acropolis, the serene Parthenon sails above the commotion of the modern city. The tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were performed in the Theater of Dionysus at the foot of the Acropolis. On Pnyx Hill, citizens of a fledgling democracy gathered to cast their votes on Athens' destiny. Then there is the hustle and bustle of the modern city, a metropolis of 4.5 million that spreads out from the foot of Mt. Lycabettus and across the plain. Packed with busy shops and lively tavernas, modern Athens is a colorful counterpoint to classical Greece.

Piraeus is the port city for Athens and has been Athens' port of entry for over two millennia.

Katakolon (Olympia), Greece
Perched on the west coast of the Peloponnesus, Greece's largest peninsula, this sleepy fishing village of some 300 souls is your gateway to Olympia, site of the original Olympic Games. Held every four years between 776 B.C. and 393 A.D., when the Emperor Theodosius banned pagan festivals, the Olympic Games celebrated the ideal harmony of mind and body. Every four years, the sacred flame of Altis is rekindled to light the torch for the Modern Games.

Olympia's temples were destroyed after the games were banned. An earthquake in the 6th century compounded the destruction, and floods buried the site. Excavation of the ruins began in 1875, and Olympia was declared a National Park in 1976.

Corfu, Greece
The lush and verdant island of Corfu lies in the Ionian Sea, midway between Greece and Italy. The island has a long and colorful history. First colonized by the city-state of Corinth, Corfu has been ruled by the Romans, the Venetians, the French and the English. Corfu Town boasts fortresses bearing the insignia of the Venetian Republic, an esplanade lavishly planted by the French during the Napoleonic Wars, and an English cricket pitch. The island also offers some of the finest coastal scenery in the entire Mediterranean.

Corfu's old town is a mixture of the medieval and the modern. The Esplanade, planted with palms and eucalyptus by the French, leads to the English cricket pitch.

Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik is a beautiful stone jewel hugging the Adriatic Sea. This picture-perfect medieval walled city offers ancient stone buildings, narrow cobbled streets and fortified ramparts rising above red-tiled rooftops. Stradun is the city's focal point and main artery while Dubrovnik's streets are blessedly free of vehicular traffic. Despite the heavy damage inflicted by shelling in the early '90s, Dubrovnik has been restored to its pre-war beauty. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the old city remains the pride of the Republic of Croatia.

For six centuries Dubrovnik was an independent republic - an oligarchy ruled by patrician families. The Republic was overthrown by Napoleon in 1808.

Note: All passengers must carry an original photo I.D. when going ashore: photocopies are not accepted.

On occasion, Dubrovnik will be an anchorage port; passengers transfer to shore via ship's tender.

Venice, Italy
Rising from the waters of the Laguna Veneta, Venice has long - and rightly - been regarded as one of the world's most beautiful cities. Napoleon, who had an eye for acquisitions, once described St. Mark's Square as the finest drawing room in Europe. Certainly, no other site can quite match its superb campanile, Doge's Palace and recumbent lions. Just over two miles in length, the Grand Canal is lined with stunning buildings that reflect the city's unique heritage. Cruise through its winding canals on a gondola or watch the bronze Moors on the clock tower strike the passing hours as they have for 500 years - Venice is an unparalleled experience.

The city began life as a refuge from barbarian invasions. By the Crusades, Venice's dominion extended throughout the Adriatic and Mediterranean. The winged lion - symbol of St. Mark - flew over palaces and fortresses from Gibraltar to the Black Sea.

Koper, Slovenia
Slovenia's largest port possesses a long and colorful history. Over the course of two millennia, the city has been ruled by the Roman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy and Yugoslavia. Koper's history has been well-preserved in its city center, which boasts well-preserved medieval squares, a 15th century Venetian palace and Slovenia's largest cathedral.

Koper is also your gateway to Slovenia proper. Ljubljana, the nation's capital, is a mere 90-minute drive away. The political and cultural heart of Slovenia, Ljubljana is a graceful city of Baroque and Art Nouveau architecture and bridges. The region surrounding Koper is also home to Slovenia's largest cave and the Lipica Stud Farm, home of the legendary Lipizzaner horses.

Slovenia is a seismically active country. In 1511 and 1895, Ljubljana was devastated by massive earthquakes. Rebuilding resulted in the city's distinctive architecture.

Split, Croatia
Pine-clad hills, secluded coves, beaches - Split and the Dalmatian Riviera have been premier destinations on the Adriatic since the days of the Roman emperors. In fact, medieval Split was built within and around the palace complex built for the emperor Diocletian in his retirement. (The complex included both a villa and a castrum - a Roman camp capable of garrisoning three legions!) The charms that soothed an emperor are still evident today. The Dalmatian Riviera offers the traveler a heady blend of natural beauty and fascinating cultural sites.

Diocletian abdicated in 305 A.D. During his reign, the emperor ruthlessly persecuted Christians. Ironically Split's St Dominius' Cathedral occupies his mausoleum.

Mykonos, Greece
Thanks to its proximity to the mainland, Mykonos was one of the first Greek islands to become an international travel destination. During the late '60s and early '70s, Mykonos was famed as a haunt for the rich. The island's nightlife - then and now - was a glittering whirl of colored lights, music, and parties. But there's another side to Mykonos - the neighboring island of Delos. In classical mythology, Delos was the birthplace of Apollo and his twin sister Artemis. Travelers to Delos can stroll among the island's vast ruins, which include three temples consecrated to the Sun God and the famed Lions Walk.

Mykonos town features hip boutiques, restaurants, jewelry stores, souvenirs, taverns and cafés. The island's famed windmills are found just south of the waterfront.

Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul rises from the Bosphorus, a vision of minarets and domes sparkling in the light. The capital of vanished empires, Istanbul is a true crossroad, the only city on Earth to span two continents. This meeting place of Europe and Asia, of Christian and Muslim, is one of the great adventures a traveler encounters. Browse the stalls of the world's largest bazaar, explore ancient mosques and churches, and gaze at the stunning jewels in the Topkapi Palace.

Istanbul has dominated the Straits of Bosporus for 25 centuries. As Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, it was a metropolis of stunning splendor when the great cities of Europe were mere villages.

Anzac Cove, Turkey (Scenic Cruising)
This tiny scenic cove on Turkey's Gallipoli peninsula became famous when the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) landed here on April 25, 1915, ready to undertake their first battle of World War I. During a devastating struggle with Turkish troops, which later became known as the Battle of Gallipoli, thousands of lives on both sides were lost.

While sailing by this historic place, your port lecturer will point out any discernable memorials standing on the battlegrounds as well as numerous cemeteries that hold the graves of some 22,000 fallen soldiers.

As we prepare for our scenic cruise of ANZAC Cove, we invite passengers to join us on deck at dawn for the call of the bugle. The Captain will ceremoniously lay a wreath out to sea and onboard clergy will say a few words to commemorate the departed. This poignant observance is not to be missed.

Note: Anzac Cove is a scenic cruising site. Ships will slowly travel past while a knowledgeable port lecturer points out significant sites you'll be able to see from onboard.

Naples, Italy (for Capri & Pompeii)
Italy's third-largest city, Naples is a bustling metropolis famed for it stately buildings, crowded streets, pizza - and notoriously bad traffic. However, this beautiful city is rich in centuries-old culture and customs. Naples is also your gateway to the Isle of Capri, the fabled Amalfi Coast and the ruins of Pompeii, buried in ash by the cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D.

Naples boasts an ideal location, with both the ruins of Roman cities and the stunning Amalfi Coast in easy reach.

Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
Your gateway to the Eternal City, Civitavecchia has served as Rome's seaport since the 13th century. The port has a long and venerable history. The emperor Trajan built a pleasure villa near the modern city, while Bernini and Michelangelo designed the harbor fortifications.

Yet the Eternal City eternally beckons. The ancient capital of the Western World and the center of Christianity for nearly 2,000 years, Rome provides an inexhaustible feast. Visit the ruins of the Forum, view the splendors of the Sistine Chapel, or climb the Spanish Steps, once the heart of Rome's Bohemian Quarter.

Rome has been a magnet luring the world's greatest artists, architects, and philosophers since the days of the Caesars.

Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy
Livorno is the gateway to glorious Tuscany. Visit Florence - the cradle of the Renaissance - home to the Duomo, the Uffizi and the Ponte Vecchio. Here the Medici fostered a city-state whose cultural legacy is as great as classical Athens. Giants like Dante, Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Galileo infused the West with a new creative spirit. Then there is Pisa, Florence's rival for political power. Pisa, a brash, commercial seafaring town rivaled the great maritime powers of Venice and Genoa. The city was a leader in art and architecture second only to Florence.

Cannes, France
Movie stars, motor yachts, the crush of paparazzi on the Croisette - such are the images of Cannes and its legendary film festival. But this gracious city with its palm-lined boulevard dividing divine beaches from chic cafés and nightclubs is also your gateway to Monaco and Monte Carlo, Nice and St. Tropez. For centuries this former Roman camp - the Castrum de Canios - was nothing more than a sleepy port. Then in 1834, the British Lord Chancellor interrupted his travels to Italy to take shelter from a cholera outbreak. He fell in love with the stunning coast, built a villa and voila! Two centuries later, the town remains synonymous with glamour, luxury and a sybaritic lifestyle.

Note: Cannes is an anchorage port, passengers transfer to shore via ship's tender.

Barcelona, Spain
The 1992 Summer Olympics revealed to the world what Europeans and seasoned travelers already knew - Barcelona is one of the world's greatest treasures. Vibrant and earthy, commercial and cultural, this city of four million residents is the capital of Spain's autonomous region of Catalonia. Stroll along the wide, tree-lined promenades of Las Ramblas and marvel at the spires of Gaudi's cathedral La Sagrada Familia. Or visit the former Olympic Ring on the hill of Montjuic - also home to world-class parks, fountains and museums. Barcelona, which nurtured such artistic giants as Picasso, Dali, Miro and Casals, is definitely a traveler's paradise.

Marseille (Provence), France
The largest port on the Mediterranean, Marseille is France's second largest city and a virtual melting pot of peoples and cultures. It is also a place of striking contrasts, from the fishing boats and pleasure craft of the picturesque Vieux Port to the modern Canebiere. Dominating the harbor is the infamous Chateau d'If, the rocky prison from which Alexandre Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo escaped. Marseille is also your gateway to Provence. Explore the countryside around Arles and Avignon, immortalized in the canvases of Van Gogh, Cezanne, Matisse and Picasso.

Valletta, Malta
Malta is the largest in a group of seven islands that occupy a strategic position between Europe and Africa. The island's history is long and turbulent. Everyone from the Normans to the Nazis have vied for control of this small, honey-colored rock. For centuries the island was the possession of the knightly Order of St. John - the Knights Hospitaller. Valletta, Malta's current capital, was planned by the Order's Grandmaster Jean de la Valette to secure the island's eastern coast from Turk incursions. Founded in 1566, Valletta's bustling streets are lined with superb Baroque buildings and churches.

Malta has a long history: the megalithic stone temples at Gozo may be the oldest freestanding structures on Earth.

Suez Canal, Egypt (Scenic Cruising)
Transiting through the Suez Canal is sure to be one of the lifelong memories of your cruise. The thought of a canal linking the Mediterranean and Red Sea extends back in history as far as 2100 B.C. Napoleon Bonaparte, pursuing his dreams of conquest, entertained the notion in 1798. But it was French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps who finally proved that a canal across the Suez was practicable. Work on the canal began in 1858. Eleven years later the opening of the Suez Canal was an international event. The world had acquired a quicker route to Asia-as well as a Verdi opera called Aida.

Of course the Suez Canal was a source of immediate controversy. The British wrested control of the canal from Egypt in 1882. Egypt regained control during its revolution of 1952. In 1956, the British, allied with the French and Israelis, nearly took the canal back. The Arab-Israeli Six Day War of 1967 closed the canal until 1973, when another war and intense international negotiations led to its return to Egyptian control.

Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt
Sharm el Sheikh has been a sleepy fishing village, a major naval base and a captive city, twice. The 1979 Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty led to the city's return to Egypt sovereignty in 1982, and the beginning of a new life as major resort destination. Today Sharm el Sheikh lies at the heart of the Red Sea Riviera, its luxury resorts, beaches and crystalline waters attracting visitors from Asia and Europe. Sharm is a must visit spot for snorkelers and scuba divers. The Red Sea offers one of the world's richest and most pristine marine environments - home to sea wrecks, underwater caves, miles of fringing reeds and over 1000 species of marine vertebrates.

Sharm el Sheikh's Maritim Center frequently plays host to international conferences. The city is often described as the "City of Peace" due to large number of summits that meet there.

Aqaba (for Petra), Jordan
The port of Aqaba has been an important strategic and commercial center for over three millennia. Originally called Elath, the home of the Edomites became in Roman times a trading center where goods from as far away as China found entry to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Today Aqaba is Jordan's only seaport, and the city serves as an intriguing gateway for travelers. In the surrounding desert lies the lost city of Petra - a city that may date to 6,000 B.C. - and Wadi Rum, where an English soldier mystic named T.E. Lawrence found his destiny as "Lawrence of Arabia."

Perched at the apex of the Gulf of Aqaba, Aqaba offers internationally renowned diving opportunities and the richest marine life in the entire Red Sea. The old fortress on the waterfront dates to the 14th-century. Passengers should drink only bottled water while ashore. Please respect local customs and dress accordingly, avoiding exposed shoulders and knees.

Salalah, Oman
Oman is commonly described as a Persian Gulf State. Strictly speaking, no part of Oman lies on the Persian Gulf: the nation occupies the southeastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula. Salalah, its second largest city, is an anomaly in Arabia as it benefits from the climatic effects of the yearly monsoon. The city is an oasis where tropical fruits grow abundantly. But as you travel outside the city, along the white beaches of the coast or into the serene mountains, one is soon reminded of the vast desert of the Arabian Peninsula.

Salalah is the birthplace of Oman's reigning Sultan Qaboos. The city is surrounded by coconut, banana, guava and papaya groves.

Mumbai, India
India's premier metropolis is a city of stark contrasts, modern towers of steel and glass stand next to stately stone edifices from the days of the Raj. Automobiles race down the crowded streets and everywhere one confronts the paradox of India. The commercial capital of the subcontinent, a large percentage of Mumbai's population lives in hutments without running water or electricity. Yet the fabled "Gateway of India" is a place of haunting beauty, from the marble serenity of the Jain Palace to the Elephanta Caves, where sculptures of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu were carved out of solid rock over a millennia ago.

India's principal seaport, Bombay is "Mumbai" in Marathi. The Portuguese aquired the city from Bahadur Shah in the 15th century, they called their new possession Bom Baim, "good bay."

Colombo, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka conjures up the exotic and the mysterious. Once known as Ceylon, the island boasts a fantastic landscape that ranges from primeval rain forest to the bustling modern streets of Colombo, the capital. A visitor to Sri Lanka has a wealth of options. Relax on some of the world's finest beaches. Explore the temples, halls and palaces of the last Sinhalese kingdom at Kandy. Or take a guided tour of an elephant orphanage. Colombo also offers an array of charms, from the Royal Botanic Gardens, once a royal pleasure garden, to the Pettah Bazaar, where vendors hawk everything under the sun.

Colombo and Sri Lanka were shaped by Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and European influences. Colombo also serves as a gateway for Overland Adventures to India.

Kuala Lumpur (Port Kelang), Malaysia
From a lawless huddle of kampongs in the trackless jungle, Kuala Lumpur has grown into a fascinating metropolis. Steel and glass towers stand side by side with graceful stone colonial buildings and mosques adorned with slender minarets. The commercial and cultural heart of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur (better known as KL), is a melting pot. Its population of one million is comprised of Malays, Chinese, Arabs, Hindus, Eurasians and Europeans.

Kuala Lumpur is located at the confluence of the Klang and Gombek Rivers. The city was founded in the 1850s as a tin mining outpost.

Darwin, Australia
Closer to Indonesia than to any other Australian city, Darwin is the capital of the "Top End" - the remote, vast Northern Territory. Home to more than half of the territory's population, the city reflects the rugged endurance and individualism required to survive the Outback. Darwin also boasts a colorful history to add to that heritage. During World War II the Japanese bombed the city and threatened invasion. In 1974, Cyclone Tracy cut a destructive swath through the region. In addition, man-eating crocodiles, tropical monsoons, searing heat and bush fires that burn for weeks are all part of everyday life.

Locals in the Top End consume over 60 gallons of beer a year. All those empties don't go to waste: Each year Darwin residents compete in the Beer Can Regatta, a race with boats, rafts and other vessels manufactured out of beer cans.

Sydney, Australia
As your ship passes Harbour Heads, you are presented with the shimmering skyline of Sydney - hailed by many seafarers as "the most beautiful harbor in the world." Two prominent landmarks, Harbour Bridge and the sail-like curves of the Sydney Opera House, grace the backdrop of this picturesque harbor. There is a wealth of adventure waiting in Sydney - from its cosmopolitan city center to miles of beautiful beaches and the Blue Mountains.

Australia's oldest and largest city was born in 1788 with the arrival of the "First Fleet" transporting 760 British convicts. Today, Sydney is the largest port in the South Pacific and is often voted the most popular destination in the South Pacific.

This itinerary features 39 different ports of call including Singapore, Rome, Athens, Venice, Istanbul and Barcelona.