Exotic destinations: hot, but pricey

This is the fourth in a four-part series on finding bargain destinations for 2007. 2007 is proving to be a bust-out year for exotic cruise destinations.

Whether you want to voyage to Greenland or the Amazon, China or Dubai, you can find a cruise ship ready to take you there. Asia, South America, the Arctic, and Antarctica are all in demand, as cruise passengers seek out variety in far-flung locales.

Alas, like personal computers in the 1980s and wide-screen high-definition TV sets today, cruises to remote destinations are still unusual enough that prices remain relatively high.

One exception, however, seems to be Australia and the Pacific. If you're looking to cruise off the beaten path at discount prices, these areas are probably your best bet this year. (On the other hand, getting to your far-flung cruise by air is never going to be cheap.)

But stay tuned -- as cruise lines send more ships into ever more exotic waters, chances are that competition will send prices dropping a bit. And I'll keep you posted when they do.

China cruise photo by Dennis Cox/WorldViews