Cruise-n-Views October 28, 2003 Newsletter

Thanks for the WAKE UP!

Well, at least I know the people who are reading this newsletter are awake, well, a lot of them anyways! It seems I was slightly messed up with the date on last week's header. It read September 21, 2003 instead of October! Several readers brought that to my attention via email!

Maybe I should just say it was a test to see if my readers are really paying attention or not.... or....... well....... OK, let's just say I messed up. I will not let it happen again!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

##SPECIAL REPORT##

Editor Is Sailing Away!

After just admitting that I messed up the date last week, I am going to forewarn you about the upcoming 4 weeks or so. I, along with my wife, my brother and his wife are boarding the Norwegian Crown in Miami on Saturday November 1st for a total of 30 days.

The itinerary is actually the combining of back to back cruises. The first is the repositioning of the Norwegian Crown from North America down to South America for the season.

This first cruise will depart Miami for a sea day and then arrive in Ocho Rios, Jamaica . We will then head to Montego Bay, Jamaica and Puerto Limon, Costa Rica with another sea day in between.

We will then a full day transit of the Panama Canal followed by a crossing of the equator the following day.

After another relaxing sea day we will visit the ports of Salaverry, Peru and Lima, Peru. The first part of this extended cruise will conclude with port calls in Arica, Chile and Coquimbo, Chile before docking in Santiago, Chile.

At this point, most of the passengers will get off and a new group will get on, but not us! We will remain on board and set sail out of Santiago that evening which will be November 16th.

This part of our cruise will have us visiting Puerto Montt, Chile and Puerto Chacabuco, Chile before entering three straight days of sailing some of South America's most picturesque scenery.

We will cruise the Darwin Canal, Patagonic Channels, Chilean Fjords, and the Straight of Magellen. We then visit the port of Punta Arenas, Chile before continuing to the Beagle Channel for some glacier cruising.

After an 8 hour port call in Ushuaia, Argentina we will then hit the main highlight of this cruise for most people and that is sailing around the southern most part of South America, Cape Horn!

After rounding the Cape we will arrive at the ports of Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, then Puerto Madryn, Argentina, and finally Montevideo, Uruguay before arriving in Buenos Aires, Argentina on November 30th. It will be at this point that the crew will insist that we get off or start working on board! OK then, with that said, it will be time to disembark.

I will be writing the newsletter from aboard the ship, uploading it to the server, and making sure it gets out to everyone! That is if all modern technology works the way it is suppose too! Hopefully all will go smoothly, but bear with me if there are any delays.

The next four issues will contain details on each port of call as well as the sea days and overall activities. If you have never been on an extended cruise, this will be a great opportunity for you to get day by day recaps of the events and maybe help you make the decision to "Go for it!".

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Be sure to watch for upcoming information about

"Dynamic Dream Cruise Club"

The only cruise club that offers rewards, bonuses, discounts, and even cashback awards and gives you credit for every cruise taken, no matter which cruise line.

Cruise-n-Views Newsletter For Complete Up-To-Date Information On The Cruise Industry Issue #005 October 28, 2003
Welcome to another issue of Cruise-n-Views Newsletter. If you are new to our newsletter, welcome. We are glad to have you as a subscriber and hope you enjoy the information this weekly newsletter provides you to stay up-to-date on all the exciting happenings in the cruise industry. We also hope you take part in this newsletter, by submitting questions you want answered, providing feedback to help us improve the newsletter to make it even more enjoyable, and even participating in occassional surveys and then reading the results of our readers once posted. The more participation from the readers, the better the newsletter will be. Editor: Daniel A. Hoffman, MCC This newsletter contains current news and information on the "Cruise" industry. It will also contain the "Views" of the editor on different issues within the industry. The editor owns and operates a cruise oriented travel agency located in Pennsylvania. This newsletter's main purpose IS NOT AND WILL NOT BE for the purpose of selling cruises. It will at times contain ads from different sources. All ads will be cruise or travel related. It will list cruise specials from time to time in the ad section, but as stated, this is not the primary purpose of this newsletter.

	In This Issue #1 Ports Feel The Strain #2 The New "Empress Of The North" Sets Sail SPECIAL REPORT Editor Is Sailing Away!	Contact Info: You can email us at the following: Feedback@Cruise-n-Views.com for input about the newsletter Editor@Cruise-n-Views.com for submitting questions to have answered Reply@Cruise-n-Views.com for general replies or responses to articles in the newsletter

#1 PORTS FEEL THE STRAIN In 2002 U.S. ports handled 6.5 million embarkations, which was 71% of all worldwide embarkations. 2003 is on pace to beat that all time record again. While this is great news for the travel industry and especially the cruise industry, it is causing major headaches for a lot of port cities and port managers. The past few years, and especially the past two years, have seen a great number of new U.S. ports open for cruise ship operations. The public loves this! It has increased by the tens of millions of people who can now take a cruise without having to go to an airport, deal with airport security issues, and spend hours waiting and then flying just to start their vacations! Now they can simply load up the car, drive a relatively short distance, park the car, and start enjoying their dream cruise vacation! However, in order to have these mega ships docked in these new locations, it requires years of planning to handle the huge volume of items that must be handled and addressed within a typical six to eight hour docking period. To start with the port must have a facility capable of handling upwards of 5,000 passengers, and sometimes even more, counting those embarking and disembarking. This is only a small part of the overall operation. It must have parking facilities, public transportation available, airport transfer service, security, trucking access for restocking, ability to handle large volumes of trash and debris coming off the ship, facilities for crew members, dock workers, handling personnel, and many more areas which we have not even touched on. Arrangements must be made to accommodate U..S Customs, Immigration and Naturalization, Animal, Plant and Health Inspection Services, and now Homeland Security Department personnel. 14 new terminals are either under construction or in the planning stages for completion within the next 3 years. It is estimated that with the growth rate of the cruise industry, as a result of more and more people realizing the great value of a cruise vacation, that another 50 to 70 new terminals will be required in the U.S. in the next 15 years. Do we really need all these new terminals, just ask anyone who has taken a cruise into or out of the Port of New York City! They will make it very clear, there is a massive need for new upgraded terminals in many cities! *** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * #2 THE NEW "EMPRESS OF THE NORTH" SETS SAIL** When most people in North America think about taking a cruise, they think about the big mega market cruise ships and cruise lines. NCL, RCCL, Princess, Carnival, Celebrity, Disney, HAL, and so on. Most never think about, and many do not even know they exist, but there are many small ship cruise operations in both North America and around the globe. These small cruise lines operate smaller ships with less passengers and offer itineraries that the mega ships can only dream about. They can cruise into areas that the big ships can not get close to. Also, when you arrive in a port, it is often only 100 to 200 passengers getting off in the town instead of 1,500 to 3,500! A very nice change indeed! So it is with the newest ship of the American West Steamboat Company. The ship just finished the summer in Alaska and is now cruising the Columbia and Snake River areas in the Pacific Northwest. The ship is 360 feet long and is powered by a three story bright red paddlewheel which will move the 235 passenger vessel along at 10 knots. The paddlewheel is authentic and is not there for decoration. The ship has 112 staterooms and all are either outside or suite categories. The suites range in size from 312 to 408 square feet, not including the veranda. The upper stateroom categories have all the accommodations of top level resort hotels. Writing desk, corner entertainment units, minibar, television with DVD player, dual closets, and private balcony. Dining is classed as "casually elegant" and offers lobster, steak, lamb, fish, vegetarian as well as regional specialties. There is also an outdoor, all-weather causal dining venue called the Calliope Bar & Grill and is located on the upper deck. On this ship, as with many cruise lines that handle this niche cruising market, there is one major shore excursion included at each port of call. There are always other excursions available for booking if the main one does not appeal to you. These niche market cruise lines really study and know their market and clientele and provide what they are seeking out of a special cruise experience. This includes the food offered, the level of service provided by the crew on board, the shore excursion offered and included in the cruise package, as well as the entertainment provided. If you have taken several cruises and think it is time for something different, do not forget to consider the niche cruise markets both here in the U.S. and abroad. There really is something for everybody in the cruise market! If you have any questions about this article or any questions about the niche cruise market and what is offered, feel free to email me at: Editor@Cruise-n-Views.com			Thanks for the WAKE UP! Well, at least I know the people who are reading this newsletter are awake, well, a lot of them anyways! It seems I was slightly messed up with the date on last week's header. It read September 21, 2003 instead of October! Several readers brought that to my attention via email! Maybe I should just say it was a test to see if my readers are really paying attention or not.... or....... well....... OK, let's just say I messed up. I will not let it happen again! *** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ##SPECIAL REPORT## Editor Is Sailing Away!** After just admitting that I messed up the date last week, I am going to forewarn you about the upcoming 4 weeks or so. I, along with my wife, my brother and his wife are boarding the Norwegian Crown in Miami on Saturday November 1st for a total of 30 days. The itinerary is actually the combining of back to back cruises. The first is the repositioning of the Norwegian Crown from North America down to South America for the season. This first cruise will depart Miami for a sea day and then arrive in Ocho Rios, Jamaica . We will then head to Montego Bay, Jamaica and Puerto Limon, Costa Rica with another sea day in between. We will then a full day transit of the Panama Canal followed by a crossing of the equator the following day. After another relaxing sea day we will visit the ports of Salaverry, Peru and Lima, Peru. The first part of this extended cruise will conclude with port calls in Arica, Chile and Coquimbo, Chile before docking in Santiago, Chile. At this point, most of the passengers will get off and a new group will get on, but not us! We will remain on board and set sail out of Santiago that evening which will be November 16th. This part of our cruise will have us visiting Puerto Montt, Chile and Puerto Chacabuco, Chile before entering three straight days of sailing some of South America's most picturesque scenery. We will cruise the Darwin Canal, Patagonic Channels, Chilean Fjords, and the Straight of Magellen. We then visit the port of Punta Arenas, Chile before continuing to the Beagle Channel for some glacier cruising. After an 8 hour port call in Ushuaia, Argentina we will then hit the main highlight of this cruise for most people and that is sailing around the southern most part of South America, Cape Horn! After rounding the Cape we will arrive at the ports of Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, then Puerto Madryn, Argentina, and finally Montevideo, Uruguay before arriving in Buenos Aires, Argentina on November 30th. It will be at this point that the crew will insist that we get off or start working on board! OK then, with that said, it will be time to disembark. I will be writing the newsletter from aboard the ship, uploading it to the server, and making sure it gets out to everyone! That is if all modern technology works the way it is suppose too! Hopefully all will go smoothly, but bear with me if there are any delays. The next four issues will contain details on each port of call as well as the sea days and overall activities. If you have never been on an extended cruise, this will be a great opportunity for you to get day by day recaps of the events and maybe help you make the decision to "Go for it!". * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Be sure to watch for upcoming information about "Dynamic Dream Cruise Club" The only cruise club that offers rewards, bonuses, discounts, and even cashback awards and gives you credit for every cruise taken, no matter which cruise line.

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