Smaller, more intimate ships are enabling travelers to experience previously inaccessible destinations without compromising on luxury. Here are the routes our A-List agents are recommending in the coming year.

Antarctica

This is the white-hot itinerary for both families and couples. Cruise specialist Ruth Turpin matches the ship to the guest: for top-flight adventure, nonpareil Antarctica experts Lindblad Expeditions’ National Geographic Explorer, with itineraries accompanied by conservationists as well as professional explorers and photographers. For no-holds-barred luxury with Zodiac excursions and ice walks, she’s booking Abercrombie & Kent’s new Le Boreal. And for the first-timer looking for a few days of cruising in South America, Turpin recommends the Crystal Symphony, which stops in Buenos Aires and Valparaiso, Chile, and includes a day trip to Antarctica.

Black Sea

“There is a slew of great new ships exploring this region,” super-agent Priscilla Alexander notes. Itineraries combine exploring ports of call with newly minted cachet—Sochi, Russia’s answer to the French Riviera, and the suddenly glamorous Azerbaijani capital of Baku—along with Yalta and Odessa, Ukraine, for sociopolitical interest. A perfect example: Silversea’s World Leader Symposium Black Sea cruise—which recently featured guest speakers Condoleezza Rice and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Scandinavia

“We’re seeing some great things, along the Norwegian coast in particular,” says T+L super-agent Diane Hilliard. Both Seabourn and Crystal have extensive itineraries along the North Sea coast and into the Arctic Circle, as well as small-ship Baltic explorations calling at Tallinn, Estonia, and Riga, Latvia, plus bigger ports (Stockholm, St. Petersburg).