CRUISES OFFER TRAVELERS MORE OPPORTUNITIES
IN 2004 WITH NEW PORTS, DESTINATIONS, ITINERARIES

With all signs pointing to a continued resurgence in travel in 2004, cruise lines are expanding their already diverse selection of itineraries with new ports of call and destination opportunities as well as new twists on some old favorites, according to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

While cruise ships will be sailing the world to such perennial popular destinations as the Caribbean, Alaska, and Europe, 2004 will also see an increase in visits to far-away lands.

“What this means to cruise vacationers is more choice of cruising experiences,” says Bob Sharak, CLIA’s executive director, “from short getaways close to home to world cruises and circumnavigations of South America – and everything in between!”

Among the highlights of the 2004 itineraries offered by CLIA member lines are the following:

• More itineraries departing from North American home ports – The popularity of cruises leaving from ports that are “closer to home” has stimulated the use of new North American ports and expanded use of existing ones.
• Visits to new ports of call throughout the world – In the never-ending search for new cruise experiences to offer travelers, the cruise lines continue to develop unusual itineraries.
• More cruises to such exotic destinations as the South Pacific, the Orient and Australia – Cruise lines are making it easier to explore far-off lands many had only “visited” in their dreams.

Following are some of the itineraries and sailing programs offered by CLIA member lines in 2004:

Carnival Cruise Lines features the line’s first cruises from Jacksonville, Fla. and new seven-day round-trip itineraries from Baltimore to Key West/Bahamas and from New York to Nassau, Freeport and Port Canaveral/Orlando. The line also increases capacity from New Orleans with four- and five-day cruises on the Sensation, and deploys a new ship on seven-day departures from Tampa.

Celebrity Cruises offers cruises from 11 different mainland U.S. cities, including the new departure ports of Galveston, Texas (Panama Canal); Norfolk, Va. (Bermuda); and Seattle (Alaska). For the first time since 1999, the line deploys three ships in Europe, sailing Mediterranean and Scandinavia-Russia cruises. Eight “Savor the Caribbean” voyages sail in partnership with Bon Appetit magazine beginning Feb. 7 with wine and regional rum tastings as well as special excursions in ports of call.

Costa Cruises’ Costa Mediterranea sails an inaugural Caribbean season, joining Costa Atlantica on alternating seven-night eastern and western Caribbean sailings. The line’s fall/winter Europe Best Value Program features three ships sailing throughout the eastern and western Mediterranean on seven- to 10-night cruises. The South America program offers three- to 22-night sailings to such exotic ports of call as Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. All of the line’s ships spend the summer in Europe, cruising to 92 ports of call on 283 sailings, to 35 countries on 70 itineraries from April to November.

Crystal Cruises introduces new seven-day trips allowing for rejuvenating escapes to destinations in the Mediterranean, New England/Canada and the Caribbean. The inaugural 106-day World Cruise aboard Crystal Serenity visits 37 ports in 17 countries on four continents, while the line offers its first winter series of 10-day Hawaiian island cruises roundtrip from Honolulu. Maiden calls at Fanning Island in the Republic of Kiribati, Nuuk in Greenland, Calvi on France’s island of Corsica and Zadar in Croatia also are featured.

Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 makes 13 transatlantic crossing between Southampton and New York in her inaugural year, while the Queen Elizabeth 2 is deployed to Europe on a series of cruises that sail round-trip from Southampton to Northern Europe, the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands.

Disney Cruise Line’s ships visit several new ports of call in 2004. Eastern Caribbean itineraries include stops at St. Maarten, St. Thomas/St. John, San Juan, Antigua, and St. Lucia (on a 10-night holiday cruise), while western Caribbean ports include Key West, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Both itineraries feature stops at the line’s private island, Castaway Cay.

First European Cruises’ ships visit ports in the West Indies, North Africa and the Canary Islands, western and eastern Mediterranean, the Baltic Sea and Norwegian Fjords, and transatlantic crossings. European Vision sails to the West Indies from Santo Domingo from December to April on alternating itineraries, with the balance of the year cruising the Greek Islands. Azur sails year-round from Venice to Greece, Egypt, Cyprus and Turkey. Mistral departs Genoa to Italy, Greece, Egypt and France. European Stars sails from Genoa to Spain, Morocco, France, Canary Islands and Portugal.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines offers 105 departures that include visits to 200 ports. In addition to the Baltic, Norway, Mediterranean and Canary Islands itineraries, Black Watch debuts a cruise to Iceland and Greenland. The ship also features its first Round the World Cruise, sailing westward from Southampton via the Panama Canal and visiting the Caribbean, South Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Australia, islands of the Indian Ocean and South Africa. Braemar offers an itinerary featuring Caen (France) to mark the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

Holland America Line offers new eastern seaboard homeports for Caribbean cruises from Norfolk, Baltimore and Philadelphia, doubles its Canada/New England sailings from Boston, and offers 139 cruises to Alaska. The line presents a new Amazon River Voyage when the Prinsendam departs Fort Lauderdale Nov. 20 on a 28-day tour of the southern Caribbean and Amazon River that crosses the equator twice. The Amsterdam departs April 21 on an 18-day Seattle-Hawaii roundtrip cruise that features calls at five ports on four islands – Hawaii, Oahu, Kauai and Maui.

MSC Italian Cruises adds eight new ports of call to its variety of 2004 Mediterranean itineraries, including Gabes, Tunisia; Lanzarote Island, Spain; La Valleta in Malta; Messina, Italy; Tripoli and Tobruk, Libya; Taormina, Sicily; and Volos, Greece. Lirica kicks off its U.S. winter cruise season with an 11-night West Indies and Bahamas cruise that departs Fort Lauderdale Jan. 15. The ship also sails Panama Canal and South America itineraries. In the Mediterranean, the line has a fleet of five ships offering seven- and 11-night sailings.

Norwegian Coastal Voyage’s 11 ships sail year-round from Bergen to Kirkenes, above the Arctic Circle, calling at 34 ports along Norway’s west coast. A nine-day air-inclusive “Fabulous Fjords” program has been added, departing May 4 to Sept. 6. The package features sailings from Bergen to Trondheim and including the Geirangerfjord, two nights in Oslo, one night each in Balestrand, Bergen and Trondheim, and train and ferry excursions from Oslo to Bergen via Balestrand, exploring the area surrounding the Sognefjord, the world’s longest and deepest fjord.

Norwegian Cruise Line debuts several programs: Mexican Riviera cruises departing roundtrip from Los Angeles; three ships offering seven-day Alaska voyages roundtrip from Seattle and Vancouver; 10- and 11-day Caribbean cruises departing roundtrip from New York; 52 weekly Bermuda departures from Baltimore, Boston, New York and Philadelphia; new roundtrip Caribbean cruises from Charleston, S.C., Houston and New Orleans; fall foliage sailings from Baltimore; and NCL America’s seven-night inter-island cruises roundtrip from Honolulu.

Oceania Cruises presents its first Chairman’s Cruise, as Insignia sets sail July 22 on a 14-day cruise from London to Lisbon. Ports of call include Amsterdam, Bruges, St. Peter Port, Plymouth, Cork, Dublin, Honfluer, Bilbao La Coruna and Oporto. Among the special guests on board is Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough, who lectures on a wide variety of historical subjects.

Orient Lines introduces two new European itineraries, one featuring rare port calls in England, Ireland and Scotland and a second that takes guests from the Baltic to western Europe by way of the historic Kiel Canal, the Mediterranean, Gibraltar and exotic Morocco. The line also offers Antarctica cruises to experience the natural landscape and wildlife of one of the world’s least-visited places.

Princess Cruises introduces two new homeports, Galveston to the western Caribbean and Whittier in Alaska. The line presents its first summer Exotics program, with routes through the South Pacific Islands, Australia, Asia, Hawaii/Tahiti, West Africa, South America and the Indian Ocean. Connoisseur Adventure Voyages, debuting with the 2004 Exotics season, offer 21- to 30-day itineraries that travel between two or more different parts of the world and together cover all seven continents and more than 85 destinations.

Radisson Seven Seas Cruises calls at 23 new ports. Seven Seas Voyager sails its first 94-night Grand Asia Pacific Voyage from Los Angeles Jan. 10, reaching 41 ports in 18 countries, including the line’s first circumnavigation of Australia and maiden calls at Adelaide, Albany, Fremantle (for Perth) and Broome. The ship also inaugurates calls at Keelung (for Taipei) and Kaoshung (Taiwan), and Midway. Seven Seas Mariner will sail first-time voyages across the Pacific from Seward to Tokyo.

Royal Caribbean International debuts seven-night sailings on Grandeur of the Seas from Baltimore to Key West, Orlando, Freeport and CocoCay, the Caribbean and Canada/New England. Jewel of the Seas sails 10-night Canada/New England cruises from Boston. Splendour of the Seas offers short cruises from Galveston to the Western Caribbean, three ships sail seven-night Alaska voyages, and Nordic Empress debuts Southern Caribbean itineraries, calling at St. Maarten, St. Barts, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Margarita Island, Aruba and Curacao.

Royal Olympia Cruises presents a 46-day “South Pacific Adventure” itinerary, summer cruises in the Mediterranean and the Baltic, transatlantic and Grand Amazon cruises departing from Fort Lauderdale, a series of “Aloha Odyssey” cruises sailing from Los Angeles/San Diego/San Francisco to Hawaii, a “Transpanama” cruise from Port Canaveral/Fort Lauderdale through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles, and a 62-day “South America Circumnavigation” from Ensanada. The line’s vessels also serve as housing during the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Seabourn Cruise Line returns to the South Pacific in 2004, as Seabourn Spirit sails an Austral Summer season exploring Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. The season centers on a pair of “Yachtsman’s New Zealand” itineraries exploring the North and South Islands in depth and adding two islands in Fiji. Other cruises include Australian ports, the Great Barrier Reef and Papua New Guinea.

Silversea Cruises presents its first ship in Alaska for a series of 11 summer cruises of seven to 14 days on Silver Shadow as well as inaugural calls in Seattle, Vancouver and Japan. The ship also visits Australia and New Zealand on five new itineraries ranging from nine to 16 days before visiting the Far East on 12 different itineraries and making inaugural calls to 10 Japanese cities.

Windstar Cruises’ ships sail the waters of Tahiti and the Society Islands, the Caribbean and Europe, including the Mediterranean and new itineraries in the Baltics. Wind Spirit and Wind Surf offer three transatlantic voyages of 14 days each.