oard on data fees. $1. Download it: iPhone/iPad. GET ADVICE FROM FELLOW CRUISERS The social-network-style Always Be Cruising app provides an instant entry point into the passionate community of die-hard cruisers: After creating a profile and sharing your itinerary, you can connect with other passengers—past, present, or future—and get advice on anything from where to book the best deal to which buffet to avoid to which cruise director doles out the most upgrades. Free, requires Wi-Fi (cruise ships usually charge for Wi-Fi on board—expect to pay around 75¢ a minute). Download it: iPhone/iPad.  MANAGE YOUR TIME The vast range of activities found on today's mega-ships can be overwhelming—Waterslides! Rock climbing! Casinos!—but Ship Mate makes managing your time a painless proposition. Set up a daily schedule (for Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, Costa, or MSC cruises—plus Disney Cruises on the Android version), peruse deck maps, and plan excursions using the app's guides, which include prices for each outing. $2 each. Download it: Android, iPhone/iPad. ROAD TRIPS When I Spy has lost its appeal half an hour into the drive, enlist RoadTripBingo to entertain your junior crew through even the dullest stretches of highway. There are thousands of 25-square grids to play, with targets both ordinary (a hotel) and more obscure (a cactus). Even kids too young to grasp the game will get a kick out of tapping the icons and shaking the screen clear. Android, $1; iPhone, iPad, $2. Download it: Android, iPhone/iPad. CHART YOUR COURSE It was only a matter of time before Google took its ubiquitous map technology to the next level with a full-fledged GPS service. Google Maps Navigation bundles all the best features of its popular mapping site—such as satellite images, street views, and traffic news—with voice search, step-by-step audio directions, and speedy rerouting options after a wrong turn. Garmin, you've been warned. Free. Download it: Android. TAKE A DETOUR What better place to stretch your legs than at the home of the World's Largest Rubber Band Ball? Roadside America pinpoints wacky pit stops from coast to coast in six separate regional editions, with real-time GPS suggestions for a worthy detour near you. Buy only the area you need, or upgrade for access to all 6,000-plus oddities. $3 per region ($6 more for all six). Download it: iPhone/iPad FILL UP FOR LESS With gas prices soaring yet again, it's no wonder that GasBook's service-station directory is consistently among the highest-rated travel apps. The tool uses GPS to map nearby stations and frequently updates standard prices with user-submitted data. You can also search by fuel grade or brand and bookmark your favorite local locations for everyday fill-ups. $1. Download it: iPhone/iPad. ON THE GROUND LOOK LIKE A LOCAL Because some things just require visuals, Howcast's user-generated video tutorials cover everything from taxi strategies in New York City to the proper consumption of soba in Japan to nude-beach etiquette. (Then again, maybe some things don't belong in a video.) The short clips load quickly and particularly shine on the larger-format iPad. Free. Download it: Android, BlackBerry, iPhone/iPad.. SURVIVE WITHOUT A PLAN So the museum you planned to visit was closed, and now you've got a free afternoon on your hands. Goby has you covered: The app searches events and activities near you—live-music shows, family-friendly outings, and outdoorsy pursuits—and plots them on a map with details and photos. Free. Download it: Android, iPhone/iPad. SKIP THE LINES The new Undercover Tourist app made for savvy Walt Disney World–goers delivers accurate wait times for every ride in the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. At day's end, a built-in GPS helps you navigate right back to your car. $4. Download it: iPhone/iPad. EXPLORE YOUR OPTIONS Lonely Planet has created the perfect pairing of inspiration and information. First, flip through the colorful, photo-heavy 1000 Ultimate Experiences iPad app for thumbnail takes on some of the world's most intriguing destinations. Then use the brand's dedicated guides (for over 75 cities) to hunt for specifics, like how to get a bus pass for the MUNI in San Francisco or when to catch the ferry for a visit to Alcatraz. 1000 Ultimate Experiences $5, city guides $6. Download it: iPad (The 1000 Ultimate Experiences); iPhone/iPad (city guides). FIND A PLACE TO "GO" Like it or not, Starbucks outposts have unofficially replaced service stations as America's favorite rest stops. Fortunately for travelers, both are mapped on the SitOrSquat app. More than 99,000 restrooms are represented (concentrated in larger cities in the U.S. and Europe), with details like hours, changing-table availability, and, of course, a "sit" or "squat" recommendation. Free. Download it: Android, BlackBerry, iPhone/iPad. FAMILY TRAVEL DON'T FORGET THE DIAPERS Why is it that the tiniest travelers require the most baggage? Baby Pack & Go supplies packing lists that you can customize for each child. It also sends reminders to ensure globe-trotting doesn't disrupt baby's routine: Ding! It's lunchtime. Ding! Naptime. $1. Download it: iPhone. BRING STORYTIME ON THE ROAD Dr. Seuss goes digital with iPhone- and iPad-ready versions of his best-selling stories. Let The Lorax app be your on-the-road babysitter: It reads the story aloud, and when you tap an illustration, the machine will speak its name ("Trees." "Grass." "Pond."). $5. Download it: Android, iPhone/iPad. COLOR WITHOUT CRAYONS The ultimate airplane toy for antsy tots, Dora the Explorer Coloring Adventures is a virtual coloring and sticker book for kids ages two to six, with five scenes they can infinitely redesign. Here's to no more stray crayons under the seat! $5. Download it: iPad. SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM First, give yourself some elbow room. Then fire up Scoops, a highly addictive game even a technophobe could master. Your only goal is to position a virtual ice cream cone under colorful scoops that fall from the sky, using the phone's motion-sensitive accelerometer to direct the cone with a tilt of the wrist. Free. Download it: iPhone/iPad. DINING SNIFF OUT CRITICS' FAVORITES If you're more interested in getting a recommendation on the spot, download Urbanspoon. The app makes a game of finding a restaurant: Search options are displayed slot-machine style, with neighborhood, cuisine, and price as the categories. Refresh with a simple shake of the device, or click off for critics' reviews and some menus. Free. Download it: Android, iPhone/iPad. MAKE RESERVATIONS Instead of calling 12 restaurants to find one that can seat your party of four, let OpenTable do the work. Search more than 15,000 restaurants in Canada, the U.K., Mexico, and the U.S. by the number of diners and your desired reservation time, and then sort by cuisine, price range, and neighborhood. And in about five taps—voilá!—you've got a reservation. Free. Download it: Android, BlackBerry, iPhone/iPad. SIP SMARTER With more than 1 million bottles of wine from Chile to Cali cataloged, the Cor.kz app is like a pocket sommelier. Search by region or varietal, peruse an exhaustive glossary, or scan a bottle's bar code with your smartphone to call up expert ratings and tasting notes. $4. Download it: Android,  iPhone/iPad. AVOID MENU MISTRANSLATIONS Foreign phrases can be unforgiving—and that's where On The Menu comes in. A database of more than 1,400 terms from all over the globe allows users to solve culinary conundrums with a quick Google-style search. Bagna cauda? That would be Italian for anchovy fondue. $2. Download it: iPhone/iPad. RUB ELBOWS WITH REGULARS It's no easy feat to cut through the restaurant-of-the-moment hype in an unfamiliar city, which is where the no-holds-barred user reviews on Yelp's app come in. Using your GPS-mapped location, the app reveals the highest-rated places near you, as determined by the people who know best. Search thousands of dining options in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Ireland by price, neighborhood, or the handy "what's open now." Free. Download it: Android, Blackberry, iPhone/iPad. ASK THE EXPERTS Crowd-sourced restaurant reviews on Urbanspoon or Yelp can be telling, but you never really know who's behind them. The owner's mom? A foodie fussbudget? LocalEats relies on (relatively) objective parties-food bloggers, newspaper dining critics, alt-weekly columnists-to compile its top-100 lists in America's 50 largest cities. Locally owned spots are in, national chains are out, ensuring you'll find an authentic meal-without too much legwork. Android, iPhone/iPad, $1; BlackBerry, $3. Download it: Android, BlackBerry, iPhone/iPad. CHECK DINER REVIEWS Globe-trotting gourmands have long relied on Zagat's city guides for quick takes on a restaurant's food, decor, service, and cost. The robust Zagat To Go app pairs more than 40,000 reviews across 100-plus cities worldwide with handy tools like GPS-enabled searching, concierge-style recommendations, and an instant online reservation tool. New reviews are added and updated weekly, making that onetime $10 price tag easier to swallow. Android, iPhone/iPad, $10; BlackBerry, $20. Download it: Android, BlackBerry, iPhone/iPad. FIND A RESTAURANT WITH CHARACTER Feeding your family at a big theme park presents a small world of challenges—inflated prices, painful wait times, cookie-cutter meals tailored to pint-size appetites. The Disney World Dining app alleviates some of the angst. Users can browse photos and full menus for over 150 dining spots in more than 20 Disney parks and hotels. Bonus: A GPS-powered "Near Me" tool minimizes the distance between the first hunger pang and that must-have plate of Mickey-shaped waffles. $2. Download it: iPhone/iPad. EXCHANGE AND TRANSLATION PAY THE RIGHT PRICE There are dozens of free currency-converter apps, but Oanda Currency Converter stands above them all for its reliability and depth of data. To calculate exchanges between more than 190 currencies, the app pulls from inter-bank market rates—what banks use when trading money. For even greater accuracy, the app also adjusts results to reflect the specific transaction type (credit card or cash) you select. Free. Download it: Android, BlackBerry, iPhone/iPad. SPEAK LIKE A LOCAL Foreign-language mix-ups can make for some serious travel stress. The app iTranslate—basically a digital phrase book—co