TRAVELERS’ CHECKS

Cruising at Christmas is a popular option, so reservations must usually be made well in advance. Fares for holiday cruises often are higher than at other times. A travel agent is your best resource for booking a cruise. This year Holland America has several cruises in which passengers can spend Christmas and New Year’s at sea and ashore in warmweather destinations that include the Panama Canal, southern Caribbean, Singapore and Australia. Free or reduced fares are offered for third and fourth guests on many cruises. Get details from HollandAmerica.com to indulge your dreams or plan your voyage. Scenic Cruises makes fine art of all-inclusive river cruises including several choices aboard ships on the Rhine, the Main and the Danube. Explore the iconic Christmas markets in Nuremberg, Regensburg, Vienna, Prague and Budapest and delight as you watch from your balcony to see snow softly fall over the historic riverside landscapes where Christmas traditions began. Join Midnight Mass in Wurzburg and bring in the new year in Budapest. To learn more, visit scenicusa. com or call 844-277-9029. Disney Cruise Line offers holiday getaways as short as three days from Cape Canaveral, Florida, along with longer cruises from ports in Texas and New York City. A life-sized gingerbread house and 24-foot-tall Christmas tree are standard on all ships during the holidays. Visit DisneyCruise.com or call 800-370-8046. “Our tropical holidays offer carefree visits to destinations such as South Africa, the South Pacific and South America,” said Tim Rubacky, communications director for Miami-based Oceania Cruises. “As many as 60 percent of our holiday-season passengers are repeat cruisers who have made a tradition of spending Christmas at sea.” Ships are on the small side, with 674 to 1,200 passengers, he said. “They tend to attract groups of family and friends wanting a more intimate experience than is offered by larger ships.” Its 684-guest Sirena will visit Cuba, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize on its Dec. 17-to-27 voyage this year. Details oceaniacruises. com. CroisiEurope River Cruises also has these holiday itineraries. Get prices and detail for these riverboat tours at croisieuroperivercruises. com: includes Johannesburg (South Africa) and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe).

Follows the Rhine, taking guests to the Christmas markets in Freiburg, Germany and Colmar, France.

The Loire River itinerary includes a visit of the historical city of Nantes, a daytrip to the Châteaux of the Loire Valley to tour Château d’Azay-le-Rideau and Château de Chinon with a Christmas Eve dinner with wine pairing, a midnight Mass in Ancenis and a wine tasting in Bouchemaine.

Celebrate the New Year on the Seine River with a panoramic tour of Paris, with visits to the most charming and picturesque covered arcades in the city.