We'd like to take a cruise to Scandinavia that ends in St. Petersburg, Russia, so we can spend a few days there. Can you help?

Most of the major cruise lines offering Baltic cruises include St. Petersburg - but none ends in the Russian city. However, some cruises that include it on their itineraries spend at least an overnight there, giving you two full days to explore its many sites.

Three major lines that do are Norwegian Cruise Line (ncl.com), Carnival (carni val.com) and Princess (princess.com). This year, Carnival will debut a new ship, the Splendor, on its first-ever 12-day northern European cruise with stops in Copenhagen, Denmark; Helsinki, Finland; Tallinn, Estonia; and Amsterdam, the Netherlands (first sailing is July 13). It will include a two-day call in St. Petersburg. Most ships sail from May to late August or early September; embarkation points are either Copenhagen or Dover, England.

Luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent offers a 13-day cruise aboard the Regent Seven Seas Voyager that embarks in Stockholm, Sweden, and calls on most of the cities mentioned above. Passengers get three days in St. Petersburg; the cruise includes hotels and some shore excursions.

What's the best time to take a cruise to Australia and New Zealand?

Because the seasons are reversed south of the equator, you'll find that most ships sail from early November to early March.

We found a number of cruise lines, such as Celebrity, Princess and Holland America, that offer sailings of nine to 14 days to Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. Many lines also include more exotic ports, such as Tahiti, Bora Bora, the Cook Islands or Southeast Asia.

Embarkation points vary, but most typically begin in Sydney, Australia, or Auckland, New Zealand.