Watch the colors sail by on a fall foliage cruise

As the car and busloads of tourists flock to America's most colorful country roads this fall why not try an alternate route? Autumn colors of gold, red and yellow leafs can be just as breathtaking from the deck of a boat. And a cruise tour can be downright relaxing as you miss the traffic jams. Unpack once and let the leaves sail by!

There are plenty of special fall season cruises on the nation’s rivers and shore lines. For example this fall, MSC Cruises' full-scale ocean voyages cover some of North America's most spectacular leaf-peeping territory. For its inaugural stateside season, the Europe-based company is sending the 2,550-passenger MSC Poesia between New York and Quebec, with ports of call at Prince Edward Island; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Newport, R.I.; Boston MA and Bar Harbor, Maine, to name a few.

Carnival, NCL, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean all offer east coast fall foliage tours so there are plenty of options. Small ship river cruises are another alternative.

There are plenty of deals out there! Just contact the Travel Professor or your favorite travel agent.

Bon voyage!