Thursday 13 v. 65 Cruise News

Thirteen Pieces of Cruise News from Carmen 1. Princess Cruises is having one heck of a cruise sale to Europe in 2009, plus some bonus incentives, like a $100 on-board credit, a reduced deposit and a $120 coupon book. 2. A comparison of a traditional hotel stay verses a cruise vacation comes down on the side of a cruise vacation every time. For instance, a Caribbean hotel/air stay is around $372 a day, and the cruise is $365. 3. You could cruise for free if you're the leader of a group or club. Book 15 people, and the leader can go for free. Some ships have fewer restrictions. 4. I have a new cruise group on Facebook, called Cruise Fun and Deals. It's open to anyone on crackbook, so sign up. :) 5. Travel Industry Association (TIA) and the Air Transport Association (ATA) both urged Congress and the Bush administration to take action to shore up the credit markets, which provide much-needed support to travel businesses at every level. *My comment, no s*** Sherlock. 6. If you want to go on a cruise in high season, for example, the Caribbean in the spring, booking 6 months in advance is not a bad idea. 7. The much-heralded Celebrity Solstice set sail this week, on September 29. You can read more about it here. 8. October 19-October 25 is World Explorer Week. There are going to be some great cruise offers during this week. Check back here for more information. 9. The Disney Magic went into dry dock, and came out with some enhancements. 10. On September 27, the Queen Mary 2 completed its 100th transatlantic crossing. When she arrived in New York, she had logged 711,288 nautical miles since her debut. Other stats include: More than 229,000 guests crossing the North Atlantic,, 450 pets crossing the North Atlantic, 97,000 pounds of lobster served and enough tea served to fill nearly five Olympic-sized swimming pools 11. If you happen to have 108 vacation days in 2010, you can set sail on a world cruise with Crystal Cruises. 12. The Miami Herald has a good story on which cruises are best if you have teenagers. 13. As always, I encourage you to visit our cruise site, Expedia CruiseShipCenters Website (and enter to win a cruise.)

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Economy Worries = No Travel?

There's been a lot of talk lately about people being scared to spend their money for fear that the economic times ahead are not going to be good.

Here's what I think. I'm not going to stop living my life. If my job is affected, I'll deal with it then. What about you?

A lot of people are saying that they're giving up vacations. Seems to me that now's the time that we all need some serious vacations. I'd give up eating out before I gave up vacations - but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't look for a good deal.

There are tourist services around the world that are seeing the effect of people cutting back on their vacation spending. That's why they are slashing prices and offering incentives like crazy to attract travelers to their products.

Take, for example, Princess Cruises. They are offering some fantastic cruise prices to Europe in addition to bonus incentives. When you book and make a deposit on a 2009 Princess Europe cruise from today through November 15, you also get

-- $100 onboard credit per stateroom
-- Reduced deposit of $100 per person
-- Coupon booklet worth up to $120 in on-board savings

Plus, you pay for the cruise and shore excursions in U.S. dollars, and you don't have to worry about the exchange rate or the dollar taking a plunge.

If you're thinking of taking a cruise next year, now's the time to get an awesome deal. Leave me a comment or send me an email at CarmenandJim@cruiseshipcenters.com, or visit the Web site at www.cruiseshipcenters.com/CarmenandJim. (Though a lot of these deals aren't on the site.)