36-night Vibrant Cities & Natural Wonders Cruise

Naha is the port for Okinawa Island lying southwest of the main Japanese islands. Landmarks in the city include the Commodore Perry Memorial, the 16th-century Sogen-ji Ishimon Gates and Tsuboya pottery quarter. Explore Shuri the 500 year old former capital that contains various shrines, temples and ceremonial gates including the famous Shurei Gate. The island, tropical and encircled by coral reefs, also houses Japan's largest sub tropical park (Okinawa Memorial Park) that includes an Aquarium, Museum and amusement park. It is also possible to visit the Okinawa Battle Sites and a number of war memorials recording the American victory in 1945.

Situated off the coast of Kagoshima, this picturesque island is blessed with a subtropical climate, beaches with "star sand," and an abundance of flora and fauna. But there is more to this island than just its scenic beauty. Amami Oshima has inspired an arts and crafts culture that is as rich as its heritage. The cultural center at Amami Park is usually one of the first places visitors come to, as it contains the Museum of Amami where you can find detailed information about local customs, traditional culture, and the history of the Amami Islands. Another popular site is the Tanaka Isson Memorial Museum, which celebrates this famed Japanese painter's career and his ties to the island. Other artistic endeavors woven into the culture include the richly dyed tsumugi textiles, which date back more than 1,300 years. These fabrics are famous for being used to make high-quality kimonos. Music is a large part of the island's identity and it is known for its shimauta (island songs), accompanied by the sanshin, a three-stringed musical instrument. A mouthwatering variety of tropical foods can be found in the restaurants and local markets, particularly the passion fruit and mango, cultivated in the warm southern climate, are exceptionally delicious.

The fan shaped city Hakodate was once an island but now straddles a sandbar linking it to the mainland. Sites worth visiting include Mount Hakodate (cable car), the Old Public Hall, the Russian Orthodox Church and Goryokaku Fort. Nearby is the Onuma Quasi-National Park and Mount Komagatake.

The extravagant tastes of the Czars extended all the way to the Russian Far East, which lured with the promise of caviar, sable and mink. Today, the draw to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is volcanoes—some dormant, some active—rising majestically from a chromatic tundra.

Travel across the International Dateline and step forward or backward in time one day.

Dutch Harbour is a port in the Aleutian Islands. Geologically, the archipelago is a continuation of the Aleutian Range, which is on the Alaskan mainland, and contains a number of volcanic peaks. Few trees, all of stunted growth, are found, but grasses grow in abundance. Although a few good harbours are found in the archipelago, navigation is dangerous because of almost perpetual fog and numerous reefs.

Seventy-five miles long and covering over 1,350 square miles in area, the Hubbard Glacier is the largest tidewater glacier in North America. It is also one of the most impressive, a 300-foot wall of ice rising sheer and jagged from the ocean. You may hear the rumble and see the monumental splash as the glacier breaks off in great ice chunks, known as "calves."