You Can Admit You Went on a Cruise

Credit rising oil prices, a newfound frugality, or simply a desire among cruise customers to get off the damn boat: a new brand of small cruise ships is popping up, taking you places the behemoth boats can't reach. Alaskan Dream Cruises will set sail from Sitka in May with eight-day, 42- or 78-passenger cruises. On a loop that hits Glacier Bay National Park, Hobart Bay, and Red Bluff Bay, passengers hike through temperate rainforest, visit local tribes (the trip's guides are Native American), and spot whales, glaciers, and hundreds of waterfalls. From $4,695; alaskandreamcruises.com. In October, American Safari Cruises' 36-passenger Safari Explorer will launch from Lahaina, Maui, with kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, wetsuits, snorkel gear, and mountain bikes for shore excursions on Hawaii's Lanai and Molokai islands. Eight-day trips from $4,995, massages and on-deck yoga classes included; americansafaricruises.com. Finally, InnerSea Discoveries will launch 49-passenger cruises between Juneau and Ketchikan, Alaska, in May, using two vessels equipped with hot tubs, saunas, cameras mounted on deck for whale watching, and kayak-launching systems (you'll explore coves in Frederick Sound). Eight-day cruises from $1,795; innerseadiscoveries.com.