Paris, London, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Iceland, Barcelona, Madrid: Europe is almost "too easy" to get to for us. We want to take a trip we'd never take otherwise and we can fly to Europe for ~$500/each for the cheapest flights. I have an aunt that lives in Hamburg and my wife's mother is from Munich and she has relatives back there that my wife has never met who are older and don't speak English. It could be really akward visiting them, which is another reason why Europe isn't high on the list

Australia: Literally the opposite side of the world from where we live and the leading candidate.
New Zealand: My wife's crazy friend who is nuttier than squirrel sh*t had her head shaved and got a henna tattoo on the back of her head of the "Air New Zealand" logo to be a walking billboard and get free roundtrip tickets to New Zealand. I've heard more than one person say it's the most beautiful place in the world they've ever been.
Dubai: There was a story in the news about a British couple who were jailed for kissing in public, which has my wife completely turned off from Dubai. We're also your stereotypical white Americans and while Dubai is an international city, the Middle East isn't the friendliest place for Americans to visit

Africa: Wife and I have zero desire to go here--especially the northern countries going through revolutions right now.
Sedona, Arizona: Too close. I've been to Sedona (I used to live in Las Vegas), but the wife hasn't. We can fly out on our own dime for a couple hundred bucks.
Singapore: I'd love to go here, but the wife isn't too gungho about it. Same goes with Hong Kong, Tokyo, Taipei, etc. Asia is like a different planet compared to America in terms of culture and way of life, but I fear we'd tire of big cities rather quickly--New York City is easily one of my least favorite places on earth to visit (my wife's from NYC).
Hawaii: High on the list. Wife has a strong desire to go here, but it is rather expensive. We can fly to San Diego and take a cruise to Hawaii (which is the preferred way to get there), but a 15 day cruise is probably too long for us--see cruise section below.
North Korea: My best friend was in the Army and stationed at Camp Casey just outside Seoul and has crazy North Korea stories. We have zero interest in an "adventure" such as this. See stereotypical white American comment above

Maldives: Looks amazing...need to do more research.
Bora Bora/Tahiti: High on the list, but very expensive to get to and I've read some pretty ugly reviews online of vacationing in the area.
Tora Bora: Hell on earth.
Cruises: I've been on at least 10 cruises in my life and my wife has been on 3-4 and just got back from a girl's only cruise last week. I'm 100% fine on the boat, but my wife never feels 100% as she gets motion sickness. I've been on Carnival all but once when we chanced it on Royal Carribean and I wouldn't recommend them. The food on Royal Carribean was really mediocre (I have a culinary degree) whereas we were used to Carnival's higher expectations (think ranch steak versus filet mignon). The Royal Carribean boats are laid out terrible as well. Carnival has all the clubs and activities on the upper decks with cabins on the lower decks whereas Royal Carribean has everything intermingled--our cabin was right by a night club and you'd hear loud music through the night.
If I had to book it right now, I think the plan would be Australia with a cruise. We can fly Atlanta to Sydney for $3000 round trip and take a 9 day cruise to Nomea, Fiji, and Vanuatu for another $2000. We can spend a few days in Sydney or otherwise taking in Australia, but this option doesn't get us to New Zealand at all. Part of the allure of a cruise is that the actual travel part is relaxing. You wake up each morning at a different destination versus battling airport crowds and being stuck in an airplane seat. If anyone has any other Southeast Asia/Australia/New Zealand ideas, please let me know...