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Cruise lines are increasingly embracing golf, both in onboard features and on-land excursion selections. But matching the right cruise line, not to mention the right ship, to passengers' individual golf skill and interest levels can be tricky.

Cruise lines have long included golf course outings in shore excursions and many, from the industry's earlier eras have incorporated some kind of driving range onboard. These days, though, cruise lines are getting much more techno-fancy, as well as emphasizing more personalized services, such as instruction and even Pro-accompanied golf outings.

Some quick points of advice:

In most cases, the newer ships in any line's fleet will have the best onboard facilities, such as video simulators and almost-like-land miniature golf courses.

More and more lines are adding full-time Pros on some, if not all, routes, which mean that even on sea days, there's golf to be enjoyed.

Hot golf itineraries include Bermuda, Hawaii and even Alaska (several cruise lines). Exotic itineraries, with golf affiliations ranging from Vietnam to Africa on more upscale small-ship lines, are also popular.

And even as some cruise lines are ramping up their golfing options, others, such as Costa and Windstar, feature no golf-related activities or tours. If you're cruising on those lines you'll need to set up a round of golf at port of call courses on your own or through golf-cruise specialist firms like hotdealsatwork 877-415-5442 www.hotdealsatwork.com

Here's a roundup of major cruise lines and their golf options.

Azamara Cruises

Program: Azamara offers a golf concierge onboard during Bermuda and Caribbean itineraries.

Features: The golf concierge will coordinate with onshore golf course staff to set up details of the outing, such as transportation, cart assignment, practice range activity, start time and check in. Costs vary.

Best Itinerary: As noted above.

Unique and Different: Onboard, the golf concierge will organize a handful of light activities onboard, such as golf fitness workshops, complimentary stretching before golf outings, and clinics.

Program: Carnival Golf offers golf-related programs on a fleet wide basis, year-round, though it varies by ship.

Features: Typically, golf pros are available for instruction onboard and during golf excursions. Ships have netted driving ranges. Fee-added amenities range from a 60-minute private lesson with "V 1 Digital Teaching Technology," where golfers can compare their swings to top tour pros. A take-home video recap of the lessons is available. You can also rent golf clubs (per day) and buy accessories and clothing. There are onboard putting contests.

Best Itinerary: Passengers on Carnival's Belize golf tour to Caye Chapel have to fly to get to the course. This course is one of several featured on the 110,000-ton Carnival Glory, which sails eastern and western Caribbean cruises from Port Canaveral.

Unique and Different: Carnival offers golf simulators aboard several of its ships, where golfers can "play" some of the world's top courses (including Scotland's fabled St. Andrews and North Carolina's Pinehurst Country Club, site of the 1999 U.S. Open.

Program: Celebrity offers a Golf Concierge service on cruises in the Caribbean, Baja Mexico and the Mexican Riviera.

Features: The golf concierge will coordinate with onshore golf course staff to set up the details, such as transportation, cart assignment, practice range activity, start time and check in. Costs vary.

Best Itinerary: As noted above.

Unique and Different: The golf concierge will organize a handful of light activities onboard, such as golf fitness workshops, complimentary stretching before golf outings and clinics.

Program: There's no fleet wide program, but the line does focus on golf-related activities -- primarily on Caribbean itineraries.

Features: Costa's golf program is available from November to April on the Costa Mediterranea and Costa Atlantica. Both ships will have a pro for instruction and a golfing cage. Golf equipment can be rented onboard.

Best Itinerary: On Eastern Caribbean routes, Costa has arranged for outings at St. Thomas' Mahogany Run and Casa de Campo's Teeth of the Dog. In the Western Caribbean, there are golf excursions in Cozumel, Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman.

Unique and Different: Few ships call at Casa de Campo (Dominican Republic), which really is famous for its golf courses, so that's a plus for Costa. On Costa Mediterranea and during the "season," there's a special golfers' cocktail hour at the beginning of the cruise. It's hosted by the golf pro.

Program: TaylorMade.

Features: Crystal's golf program features right and left handed clubs available for men and women, as well as golf clinics, instruction by PGA golf pros, a putting green, a practice cage and golf driving ranges aboard each ship -- Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity. In port, Crystal's concierges can make individual tee-time reservations.

Best Itinerary: Various islands in the Caribbean offer atmospheric courses, ranging from jungle settings to beachfront views; one favorite is Mahogany Run in St. Thomas.

Unique and Different: Onboard golf pros offer group clinics -- but get this -- they are free of charge to all passengers. The clinics, held mornings and afternoons on some sea days, are basically geared to beginners, but can vary depending on participants.

Program: Disney ships offer neither program nor onboard facility but passengers on seven night Western and Eastern Caribbean cruises on Disney Magic can sign up for shore excursions.

Features: On Disney Magic's Eastern Caribbean voyage, play at St. Thomas' Mahogany Run, designed by George and Tom Fazio, is available as a shore excursion. In the Western Caribbean, Cozumel's Cozumel Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus-designed course, is offered.

Best Itinerary: The aforementioned Disney Magic. Or ... combine a three or four nighter on Disney Wonder with a Walt Disney resort stay.

Unique and Different: Walt Disney World has extensive facilities: With a total of 99 holes on 775 acres of the 47-square-mile property, it's one of America's largest resorts. All services -- instruction, clinics, rentals, etc. -- are available there. Kind of wacky: On resort courses you'll spot Disney character shapes, such as Mickey's ear, throughout.

Fred Olsen Cruises

Program: Flagship Golf

Features: Fred. Olsen offers the programs on Black Watch, Boudicca, Braemar and Balmoral for an additional fee of 350 GBP for Mediterranean, Canary Islands and Baltic cruises, and 400 GBP for Caribbean itineraries. These additional costs include up to four rounds of golf at renowned clubs, including greens fees and transportation, free practice facilities on the ship and up to five private clinics with onboard PGA professionals.

Best Itinerary: We like the idea of golf in Madeira and the Canary Islands. There are several available dates from which to choose.

Unique and Different: Passengers on a Fred. Olsen fly-cruise package with Flagship Golf can take a set of clubs with no extra baggage fee.

Program: There's no fleet wide program, but newer ships do have specialized offerings.

Features: Prinsendam is equipped with a state-of-the-art computer-generated simulator to help passengers perfect their game or even preview golf courses around the world. The simulator offers 22 world-renowned courses that can be "played" alone or with friends. One person can complete 18 holes in about an hour. Golf pros are also on these ships and can offer lessons. Fees vary.

Best Itinerary: Caribbean (more than a dozen shore courses offered on various cruises).

Unique and Different: Onboard, on sea days, many ships hold a Dutch masters putt-putt tournament; there's one for kids and adults.

Program: No specific program, but a couple of times a year there is a golf-oriented theme cruise with pro, clinics and scheduled play.

Features: All of MSC's ships except MSC Rhapsody and MSC Melody have a nine-hole mini golf course. MSC Sinfonia also has a golf simulator.

Best Itinerary: If you want an actual golf program, join one of the line's golf theme cruises advertised on www.hotdealsatwork.com

Unique and Different: Practice shouting "FORE!" in Italian.

Program: NCL doesn't offer a fleet wide program, but focuses its golf offerings on Boston-to- Bermuda and New York-to-Bermuda cruises. The Pride of America also offers an excellent golf program in Hawaii -- both onboard and on land.

Features: For the Bermuda bound, there are four packages available. Each features a play at a particular course. They can only be booked onboard, and NCL emphasizes -- and considering it's Bermuda we're not surprised -- that a strict golf dress code is enforced (Bermuda-length shorts or long pants and collared shirts must be worn, which means that denim and tank tops are a no-go). NCL America's extensive Golf Hawaii program on Pride of America offers golf outings to championship courses on all four main islands on the ship's itinerary -- Kauai, Maui, Hawaii and Oahu.

Best Itinerary: Bermuda and Hawaii

Unique and Different: Pride of America has a full golf pro shop (including equipment rentals and sales, onboard clinics, three practice nets and much more). NCL's breadth of options in both Bermuda and Hawaii means serious golfers can try a variety of courses over a couple of days.

P&O Cruises U.K.

Program: Self-generated through the Shore Excursion Manager

Features: With advance notice, the Shore Excursion Manager can organize rounds of golf in destinations that have courses. Charges, which would include transfers, club hire and greens fees, are available in advance through the excursion office. P&O information includes the reminder to bring your golf shoes.

Best Itinerary: Since the golf programs are self-generated and not part of the cruise, choosing an itinerary that suits your preference is easy.

Unique and Different: All ships have chipping nets and simulators. There is a fee for use, which includes balls and clubs.

Program: Peter Deilmann offers an extraordinary golf program that's designed as a series of "theme cruises." Its ocean-going ship, MS Deutschland, and many of its river vessels have several throughout the year and -- depending on the itinerary -- golfers have a range of courses to play. Some programs also include a hotel stay. While prices are based on double occupancy, non-golfers can deduct a portion of their cruise fare.

Features: A golf pro from a noted course in Germany accompanies the trip; the add-on cost typically includes five to eight rounds of golf, transfers and greens fees. Excursions, snacks, caddies and tips are also included on most of the voyages.

Best Itinerary: In 2008, look for the Britannia Cup cruise on MS Deutschland; in 2007 it included play at both the Eden Course and the New Course at St. Andrews, a round at Gleneagles, and noted courses throughout Ireland. The river vessel MV Princesse de Provence travels from Arles to Lyon, stopping along the way for golf at sun-drenched south-of-France clubs.

Unique and Different: Most of the golf cruises on MS Deutschland include free airfare.

Program: Princess Golf offers programs on a fleet wide basis, year-round, though offerings vary by ship.

Features: Pros operate the golf simulators onboard, give private lessons using "VI Digital Teaching Technology" and provide instruction during golf excursions. Princess Golf offers golf simulators (on all ships except the smallest: Regal Princess, Tahitian Princess, Pacific Princess and Sea Princess) with options that allow you to play 20 of the world's top golf courses. The simulators feature a virtual driving range which measures distances and includes a ball tracer, which allows players to see not only the elevation but also the distance. Ships in the Grand class, along with Island Princess and Coral Princess, also have nine-hole putting courses.

Best Itineraries: Princess' shore excursion menus in the Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, New Zealand and northeast North America offer golf course outings.

Unique and Different: Princess offers an Alaska excursion. Ships that call at Skagway feature a "Yukon Golf Odyssey" -- just over the mountains in Canada's Yukon. Also in Alaska, cruise-tour passengers can play in the "midnight sun" via outings based out of Princess' wilderness lodges in Denali and Fairbanks.

Program: Golf Ahoy is the line's shore excursion program.

Features: hotdealsatwork, offered on most itineraries, is an excursion package that offers coordinated play at in-port clubs. The package includes green fees, transportation to and from the course, and golf cart; tee times can be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.

Best Itinerary: Except in Bermuda and on California's Catalina Island, the high-energy ethos of the line means that at least one golfing option is offered at every port of call.

Unique and Different: Voyager- and Freedom-class ships have cruising's best mini-golf courses ... Freedom-class ships feature, in addition, golf simulators.

Program: Seabourn focuses most of its attention on on-land golf activities, and has developed relationships with a breadth of clubs around the world -- 100 different options in 90 ports of call, ranging from Cairns to Caldera and from Bordeaux to Buenos Aires.

Features: Seabourn has teamed up with hotdealsatwork & Elite Golf Cruises to facilitate passenger requests for pre-cruise tee-time reservations. Once onboard, passengers work with each ship's travel manager to arrange transportation and course familiarization with a local pro. There is an onboard storage facility for duffers who bring their own clubs.

Best Itinerary: Just pick one, any one!

Unique and Different: Seabourn's focus on destinations both exotic and familiar, and its effort to facilitate relationships with major courses just about anywhere, means passengers are never too far from a golf game.

Program: Silver Links 365 is available on Silver Shadow and Silver Whisper.

Features: The Silver Links program has onboard and port-side components. Onboard, a pro offers clinics and private lessons. Each ship has golf driving cages. Scheduled events include complimentary clinics, demonstrations and putting contests. The pros use the vaunted V1 video teaching technology. On land, the ship offers escorted golf excursions in more than 100 ports.

Best Itinerary: Any trip in the Caribbean and some select European itineraries.

Unique and Different: Complimentary clinics on sea days.