It's shaping up to be a banner year for the cruise industry, with an impressive number of new ships being launched, unique new destinations and ports waiting to be explored, and more and more on-board amenities debuting on your favorite cruise ships. According to our in-house prognosticators--that is, the cruise experts at Hideaways Travel Services--the bitter-cold beginning to winter, which included record lows in Florida, could signal the start of a very busy year for cruising.

And so we enter another cruise "Wave Season"--traditionally the months of January through March, when cruise bookings are at their peak. We thought we'd get 2011 off to a tempting start with this showcase of cruising trends, deals, and tidbits of insight that hopefully will pique your interest in a cruise vacation. After all, with the holidays behind us and a potentially long winter still ahead, you'll want something to look forward to--and what could be sweeter than the prospect of a week or more spent exploring the mighty Amazon, lazily cruising the rivers of Southeast Asia, or sailing along a string of balmy tropical islands?

January 2011