Cruise-n-Views December 23, 2003 Newsletter

Holiday Season

Due to the holiday season and all the associated activities, this issue as well as the next issue will be slightly shorter than normal.

All of the remaining ports-of-call covered on the extended South America Cruise will be covered in detail by Captain Lou after the New Year.

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Carnival Announces "Miracle" Godmother

Carnival Cruise lines has announced former U.S. Army Private Jessica Lynch will fulfill the role of godmother to the lines newest ship, Carnival Miracle.

The official naming ceremony is scheduled for February 27th in Jacksonville Florida. This is the first time an event like this has been held at the nation's newest cruise homeport.

According to a company spokesperson, Miss Lynch represents the thousands of courageous American men and women serving in our armed forces. Jacksonville, with its long military and maritime history, is the perfect venue for this ceremony.

The retired Army private will break the traditional bottle of champagne across the bow. In appreciation for Miss Lynch serving as godmother of the Carnival Miracle, Carnival will make a significant contribution to the Jessica Lynch Foundation. The Foundation was established to assist children of soldiers that have either served in the military or were killed while on duty.

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Q & A

Nobody has actually asked this question YET, but after reading article number two on the left, somebody would have asked. So I am beating you to the punch!

Question: How can a cruise line operate at 103.2% capacity? 100% would be full, how can they carry more than that?

Answer: Cruise ships have a lot of different numbers associated with them. One is total capacity. Every ship has a total capacity based on lower berths. This means allowing for two people per cabin. This does not count upper berths or counting additional berths in cabins that have pull outs or rollaway bed capability. These are the cabins that are used for three and four people (triples and quads).

If a ship has every cabin sold, which occurs a high percentage of time in the current market, and then has 100 cabins that have a third or a third and fourth person in them, when you count the total number of passengers on the ship, it will actually exceed the "100% Full Capacity" number. This is how a particular ship or cruise line, or even the entire industry can operate at 103.2% capacity.

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"Off The Track Fact"
by Judy

A peculiar characteristic of Tierra del Fuego is the duration of daylight, 17 1/2 hours in Summer and 7 hours in Winter.

Cruise-n-Views Newsletter For Complete Up-To-Date Information On The Cruise Industry Issue #013 December 23 , 2003
FOR OUR NEW SUBSCRIBERS 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 occasional 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.
*HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE!* "Predict The Date" Due To The Hustle And Bustle Of The Holiday Season The Contest Winners Will Be Announced Next Issue!
	In This Issue #1 Ushuaia, Argentina #2 Cruise Travel Increases PLUS -Holiday Season- -Carnival Announces Godmother- -Q & A- -Off The Track Fact-	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
***Serving Over 29,000 Opt-In Subscribers Weekly!***
#1 USHUAIA, ARGENTINA Port-Of-Call #12 "Still heading South"! Capt. Lou and "crew" are approaching their first dock in "Tierra del Fuego", Argentina. Our port is farther south than any other city on the globe. (56° -46’ S) It’s a community of 40,000 inhabitants on a natural deep port. Its name is Ushuaia which in aboriginal voice means-- USH = "the end" and WUAIA = "bay, cove, or port". We’re on our way to board or ride: "The Train at the End of the World". Our charming female taxi driver (see photo) charges us a small percentage of a ship arranged trip. Of course, the negotiations take place outside the port gates but in close proximity. The surrounding mountains have razor sharp peaks and are snow covered. The vistas enjoyed along the winding road are themselves worth the price we paid. The ravines, gorges, and rapidly flowing streams offer great photo opportunities.--and unlike the tour package, we merely request a brief stop. Estella is an enthusiastic tour guide and with four kids at home she may need to be. She "educates" us on Ushuaia and the area (in Spanish) as she maneuvers along the narrow dirt road. Now, we are at the picturesque Train Station--Estación del Fin del Mundo,(end of the World Station). From here the railway provides an environmentally friendly means of permitting tourists to visit and view an otherwise inaccessible part of the Tierra del Fuego National Park. This is the only Argentinean Park that encompasses the Sea, Forests, Peat Bogs, and Mountains. This park began as a Penal Colony in 1902. The location was chosen for the fact that it was difficult to get to…and impossible to escape from! 1947 brought the closure of the "Prison at the End of the World". Today’s train carries sightseers instead of prisoners--that is a slight improvement. The train’s path, built by the prisoners is still the best way to traverse this rugged terrain. The two hour round trip ride allows us to see some of the most beautiful and untouched areas of South America. Horses roam freely and are oblivious to our presence. Estella is at the station, as arranged, upon our return. In the city center she advises us about where to purchase good Argentinean Wine and shows us the street with high quality shops which offer very reasonable prices. We bid good-bye to a new friend! Back aboard ship, we do not have to come off this marvelous day "cold turkey", the Cruz del Sur Ballet Company has agreed to give a performance on board. The ancient Argentinean Folklorico program has all the ladies in the audience cheering and all the men wishing they were Gauchos. The modern sensuous Tango completes the performance. "BRAVO"…… Now…we are headed to "The Horn". Capt. Lou writes about that later… For Now!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS / FELIZE NAVIDAD AND / Y GOOD LUCK IN THE NEW YEAR / BUENO SUERTE EN EL ANO NUEVO. The preceding article was written and contributed by: Capt. Lou Hoffman *** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * #2 CRUISE TRAVEL INCREASES** Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) just announced that over 2.6 million people cruised on CLIA member line ships in the third quarter of 2003. Almost 2.2 million of these were North Americans and involved 983 North American cruises. This total passenger count of 2.6 million was an 8.9% increase over the same period in 2002. That puts the yearly total at just under 7.2 million passengers worldwide on CLIA ships, including more than 6 million in North America. This is an 11.85% increase over the first nine months of 2002. The original estimate for this year was 9.6 million total passengers with 8.3 million from North America. The cruise industry is on pace to meet this estimate and have another record setting year. These continuing increases clearly confirms that cruising continues to be the vacation of choice for millions of people. With all the travel concerns of the past year; lingering concerns from 9/11, SARS outbreak, Norwalk, Iraq war, terror threats, etc. etc., cruising continues to grow year after year! Miami remained the largest departure port, accounting for 18 percent of the total traffic in the third quarter. Vancouver had a slight decline in total volume but still remained in the number two spot. Port Canaveral was third with New York coming in at fourth. Western Caribbean remained the most visited destination. CLIA ships sailed at 103.2 percent occupancy during the first nine months of 2003. The CLIA fleet represents 97 percent of the cruise capacity marketed to North America. For the past 22 years, 1980 through 2002, cruise capacity has increased an average of 8.3 percent annually while cruise demand by passengers have increased 8.4 percent annually. That answers the question, who is filling those berths on all the new ships put into service in the past several years!			Holiday Season Due to the holiday season and all the associated activities, this issue as well as the next issue will be slightly shorter than normal. All of the remaining ports-of-call covered on the extended South America Cruise will be covered in detail by Captain Lou after the New Year. *** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Carnival Announces "Miracle" Godmother Carnival Cruise lines has announced former U.S. Army Private Jessica Lynch will fulfill the role of godmother to the lines newest ship, Carnival Miracle. The official naming ceremony is scheduled for February 27th in Jacksonville Florida. This is the first time an event like this has been held at the nation's newest cruise homeport. According to a company spokesperson, Miss Lynch represents the thousands of courageous American men and women serving in our armed forces. Jacksonville, with its long military and maritime history, is the perfect venue for this ceremony. The retired Army private will break the traditional bottle of champagne across the bow. In appreciation for Miss Lynch serving as godmother of the Carnival Miracle, Carnival will make a significant contribution to the Jessica Lynch Foundation. The Foundation was established to assist children of soldiers that have either served in the military or were killed while on duty. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Q & A Nobody has actually asked this question YET, but after reading article number two on the left, somebody would have asked. So I am beating you to the punch! Question: How can a cruise line operate at 103.2% capacity? 100% would be full, how can they carry more than that? Answer: Cruise ships have a lot of different numbers associated with them. One is total capacity. Every ship has a total capacity based on lower berths. This means allowing for two people per cabin. This does not count upper berths or counting additional berths in cabins that have pull outs or rollaway bed capability. These are the cabins that are used for three and four people (triples and quads). If a ship has every cabin sold, which occurs a high percentage of time in the current market, and then has 100 cabins that have a third or a third and fourth person in them, when you count the total number of passengers on the ship, it will actually exceed the "100% Full Capacity" number. This is how a particular ship or cruise line, or even the entire industry can operate at 103.2% capacity. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Off The Track Fact"** by Judy A peculiar characteristic of Tierra del Fuego is the duration of daylight, 17 1/2 hours in Summer and 7 hours in Winter.

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