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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 South Central Pennsylvania. This newsletter will serve several purposes, including but not limited to, keeping you up to date on current events in the industry, offering views and opinions of the newsletter staff as well as views submitted by readers, providing information about cruise offerings and specials as well as cruise related products.

Be Sure To Check Out The

Panama Canal Transit

Photo Galley

In This Issue

#1 Falling Dollar
Foreign Travel

#2 HAL Oosterdam
In Full Service

PLUS
-Cruise Specials-
-Minor Fire At Sea-
- Photo Galley-

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Despite a dollar that has dropped considerably in recent times, and continues to fall against most other currencies, Americans are beginning to travel in numbers not seen since prior to September 11, 2001.

In January 2002, when the Euro was born, it was valued at $.78 to the US dollar. It was valued at $1.24 against the dollar this past week and shows signs of slipping even further.

Why is the dollar falling and why is it continuing to fall? In large part because the government wants it lower right now. If the dollar remains low, then US exports are cheaper and, at least in theory, that will help to increase the amount of exports to these other countries.

But what does the weaker US dollar mean for American travelers? It means the US dollar does not go as far or buy as much in the foreign countries. At least not in the countries where the dollar has indeed fallen. However, there are places where the dollar does remain strong. South America is one of these areas. Travel bookings to this region have been on the increase. Under the current exchange rates, this is a great area to visit.

After several years of limited travel as a result of numerous events, a lot of Americans are to the point that they are ready to travel and are going to take the trip and simply adjust what they do while there. Europe is one of these areas. Despite a weak dollar in this region, travel by Americans is increasing.

As most of you know, my wife and I were on a transatlantic cruise from London to Boston in September. We spent two days in London and then had several port calls in surrounding countries prior to the crossing. Then in November we had a 30 day South America Cruise. Trust me, the value of the dollar makes a huge difference. In Europe, the dollar did not go very far, whether dealing with meals, tourists attractions, souvenirs, or even taxis. Then upon our visit to South America countries, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, we were amazed at how far the dollar did go.

Regardless of where you are thinking about traveling, the world is ready and most areas are pushing and working hard to make their locations appealing to the Americans. They want us, and we want to travel, seems like a combination made in heaven!

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#2 HAL Oosterdam
in Full Service

You have been provided with two full sets of photos from the interior inspection of the brand new Holland America Oosterdam, now let’s get some details about the ship itself.

The Oosterdam is the second of four Vista class ships being put into service by HAL. These four ships will be named in Dutch for the four points of the compass. Oosterdam stands for east. Zuiderdam translates into south, Westerdam, due out in April is west, and Noordam, set to join the fleet in 2006, translates into north.

The Oosterdam sails from Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale to provide a mix of Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries from now until April. It will then head through the Panama Canal en route to Alaska for the summer season before it returns to the Caribbean for the fall and winter seasons.

These new Vista class ships are a change for HAL. They have increased in size by approximately 45% over the traditional HAL ship, but they have only increased the passenger volume by 25%. This translates into a better space ratio and obviously provides more open space on board for the passengers to enjoy.

The Oosterdam is 85,000 Gross tons, carries 1,848 passengers, offers 924 staterooms, including 136 inside cabins, 165 standard outside cabins, 461 veranda suites, 100 superior veranda suites, 60 deluxe veranda suites, and 2 penthouse veranda suites. These staterooms range in size from a very spacious 185 square feet for the inside cabins up to 1,000 square feet for the penthouse suites. Twenty-eight of the staterooms are wheelchair accessible.

The Vista lounge hosts 970 guests for large scale stage productions. The Oosterdam has two main pools including the Lido pool with a retractable glass roof to handle all weather conditions. The rear pool is an open air pool and is limited to adults only. The ship offers a large Greenhouse Spa and Salon with 11 therapy rooms, luxuriously tiled thermal suites, and a hydro pool. There is also a spacious gym offering an impressive array of exercise equipment.

Public areas include a well stocked library, Sports Bar, Piano Bar, Crow’s Nest Lounge, Northern Lights Nightclub, and the Queen’s Lounge Theater. With the size of the Oosterdam, it provides an extremely nice feature, plenty of small little private alcoves to curl up and rest, read a book, or just enjoy some quiet time to yourself or with a friend.

As you have seen from the photos we have been providing from our personal inspection of this ship in December, the Oosterdam is indeed a beautiful ship and a change from the “traditionall” Holland America ship. While still offering the high level of service that Holland America passengers have come to expect, it also allows Holland America to go after an even wider pool of prospective future cruisers!

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Photos From
Panama Canal Transit

A cargo ship entering the lock next to us and a close up of the superstructure on that cargo ship.

Minor Fire At Sea

Royal Caribbean International’s Majesty of the Sea experienced a brief galley fire last Thursday morning.

The fire caused minor damage and no crew or passengers were injured. The fire was caused by a deep fat fryer. It began at 4:47 AM in the ship’s Windjammer Cafe. The fire was totally out by 5:08 AM.

However, shortly after the fire was reported and on-board fire crews responded, the Captain ordered the emergency alarms sounded and all passengers were called to their assigned muster stations. They were held there as a precaution only, no life boats were lowered, and they were allowed to return to their cabins 24 minutes later.

The ship continued on its scheduled itinerary, however the Windjammer Cafe remained closed for repairs from the fire as well as smoke damage.

In this case, the Captain made a very wise and safe decision. Even though the fire was minor in nature and was quickly controlled and extinguished, the overall safety of the passengers required that they be awakened and prepared for the worst, just in case.

This is an excellent example of why the ships are required to run a safety life boat drill at the beginning of each and every cruise and why it is so important that you listen and pay attention to the information provided. 4:47 AM is not the time to try to learn where and how you are supposed to go to get to a safe location. Bottom line, pay attention during the life boat drill, it is for your safety, not the crews.

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