I just read about a new upscaling program that may interest those following this thread. From http://www.the-digital-picture.com/News/News-Post.aspx?News=19089

"Developer Steffen Gerlach has created a free program for Windows users – A Sharper Scaling – which he claims produces better enlargements than Photoshop’s bicubic interpolation.

For those that want to preserve details in large prints while cropping heavily, this might be a plausible solution. "

Software and additional info found here:
http://a-sharper-scaling.com/

Disclaimer: I have no association with the software or links above, nor have I tried the software. YMMV, etc.