Senior Highlights....

JUST CRUISIN' THE BEST OF THE

CARIBBEAN AND PANAMA CANAL

You can never go on enough cruises. With so many ships and destinations, you can choose a different cruise for every week of the year and still have many more reasons for just cruisin' again and again.

"Seniors love cruising and are some of our best repeat clients," says Andrea Packman, public relations director for The Cruise Line, Inc., one of America's foremost cruise and information centers, specializing in quality discount cruises. They've even produced a new brochure, called the "Guide to Senior Cruising." You can get a copy by calling (800) 777-0707.

This winter, the Caribbean and Panama Canal are cooking up hundreds of interesting options for cruising. Just choose your cruise line, ship, and itinerary and check into your cabin. Your ship has come in and will take you to the Caribbean or Panama Canal.

Typical of many cruise lines, Holland America is offering more Caribbean cruises than ever before in the 1995-96 sailing season. "With the introduction of the Veendam in May, 1996, Holland America will have a total of eight ships cruising the Caribbean--the largest five-star fleet in this market," says Lawrence Dessler, their director of public relations. "For 1995-96, Holland America is offering a total of 193 luxury Caribbean sailings--15 more than last season--with 23 different cruise itineraries ranging from seven to 15 days."

Of special note to seniors is that Holland America has launched a new advance-purchase program, called "Caribbean Savings," which features discounts of 25 to 40 percent. "Our new Caribbean Savings reformulates our early booking programs by providing both prospective passengers and travel agents with real pricing in the brochure," says Jack Anderson, vice president of marketing and sales. "Our competitive pricing, combined with our superb quality and five-star service, makes Holland American's Caribbean cruises an unsurpassed value. As a testimony to that, Holland America Line has been named the world's 'Best Overall Cruise Value' by the World Ocean and Cruise Liner Society for the third consecutive year."

Holland America's 1995-96 Caribbean cruise season includes many itineraries and ports of call that are popular with cruise lines. Their itineraries provide a choice of sailing from three popular ports: Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, or New Orleans.

Holland America offers four core itineraries: a seven-day Eastern Caribbean cruise, a seven-day Western Caribbean cruise, and two different 10-day itineraries--the Seafarer and the Wayfarer--that explore the Southern Caribbean from the Lesser Antilles to the Spanish Main. Some of those itineraries have been fine-tuned to include islands such as Dominica on the Wayfarer route and Antigua on the Ryndam's Seafarer route. New in 1996 is a third 10-day Sunfarer itinerary that includes Aruba, Cartagena, the San Blas Islands, the Panama Canal (see below), and Costa Rica.

Like many cruise lines, special holiday cruise itineraries are being offered by Holland America. Similarly, each of Cunard's eight distinctive vessels presents passengers a unique warm-weather cruise to Caribbean (or East African) ports for Christmas and New Year's. Cunard's flagship, Queen Elizabeth 2, the world's last-remaining ocean liner to make regularly scheduled transatlantic crossings, will spend the holidays in the Caribbean. She will sail 15 days roundtrip from New York on December 20th, bound for Barbados. Other Cunard holiday cruising options include the Royal Viking Sun, the Sagafjord, the Cunard Countess, the yacht-like Sea Goddess I, and Panama Canal cruises (see below) aboard the Vistafjord (from Los Angeles) and the Crown Dynasty (from Ft. Lauderdale).

As always, Carnival Cruise Lines is incredibly active and popular in the Caribbean. Carnival's line-up is extensive and varied.

With a typical southern Caribbean itinerary, the San Juan-based Festivale currently calls at St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Dominica, Barbados, and Martinique, while the Fascination cruises to St. Thomas, Guadeloupe, Grenada, Caracas, and Aruba from San Juan. Starting in late-April, the Festivale will call at St. Thomas, Antiqua, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Barts. "There is a fast-growing interest in Southern Caribbean itineraries that enable cruise vacationers to visit some of the less-traveled, less-developed islands, and we believe this new schedule offers a particularly attractive blend of spectacular and interesting ports," says Bob Dickinson's Carnival's president.

The Tropicale offers 10-day Southern Caribbean cruises, as well as 11-day Panama Canal itineraries (see below). The Miami-based Carnival ships include: the Celebration calling at San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten; the Ecstasy offering three-day Bahamas cruises; the Sensation alternating Eastern and Western Caribbean routes; the Imagination's seven-day cruise to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios; and the 2,040-passenger Inspiration, which will debut next spring with Panama Canal and Southern Caribbean voyages.

One of the Caribbean's top players is Royal Caribbean and they have some fabulous cruises coming this season. The options include: the Sovereign of the Seas from Miami to the Eastern Caribbean; the Monarch of the Seas or the Song of America to the Southern Caribbean from San Juan; the Majesty of the Seas to the Western Caribbean from Miami; the Nordic Empress to the Bahamas from Miami; the Sun Viking between San Juan and Miami; and several Panama Canal cruises (see below).

Princess Cruises continues to be active and popular in Caribbean cruise circles. The biggest news is the introduction of the Sun Princess, a stunning 1,950-passenger vessel that is the first in the line's series of new "Grand Class" ships. Features include the largest number of cabins with private balconies, an uncommonly high level of spaciousness and intimacy for a ship this size, and a unique configuration that deviates from traditional cruise ship design, giving its passengers a larger choice of on-board options than any ship afloat.

The Sun Princess's inaugural season of cruises, which begins December 2, will visit the western Caribbean with seven-day round-trip itineraries from Ft. Lauderdale, with calls at Playa del Carmen/Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Montego Bay, and the line's private beach, Princess Cay. Of course, Princess offers many other ships and cruises throughout the Caribbean and the Panama Canal (see below).

For an alternative in the Caribbean, you may want to consider a Windstar sailing cruise. The sails, the size of the ships, and the itineraries all make a Windstar Caribbean cruise unique. Sailing on alternating northbound and southbound itineraries, the Wind Star will base out of Barbados and will call on Nevis, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy, Monserrat, and Martinique or Bequia, Carriacou, Grenada, Tobago, Tobago Cays, and St. Lucia. The Wind Spirit will sail out of St. Thomas to St. Croix, Saba, Montserat, St. Barthelemy, Virgin Gorda, and St. John.

Other lines are equally popular in the Caribbean, with a wide variety of home ports, ports of call, ship sizes, amenities, and activities. Other highly recommended possibilities include: Celebrity Cruises, Commodore Cruise Lines, Costa Cruise Lines, Crystal Cruises, Dolphin Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Regency Cruises, Royal Viking Line, Seabourn Cruise Line, Silversea Cruises, Sun Line Cruises, and the unique Windjammer Barefoot Cruises. Your best bet is to consult a travel agent or a service like The Cruise Line, Inc.

The Panama Canal continues to be a popular alternative to a traditional Caribbean cruise. As mentioned earlier, Holland America, Cunard, Carnival, Princess, Royal Caribbean, and many other lines offer Panama Canal cruises.

As do most of the cruise lines, Holland America offers an amazing range of Panama Canal crossings. These may be part of regularly-scheduled routes or as part of repositioning plans. Both offer a great way to see the Panama Canal and exciting ports to the west and east of it.

Holland America's 1996 schedule includes 27 cruises, ranging from 10 to 23 days, on seven luxurious ships. Ports of embarkation and debarkation include: Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Acapulco, Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria and San Francisco. Ports of call include: Grand Cayman, Columbia, Guatemala, Mexico, Costa Rica, Aruba, Jamaica, Curacao, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, and many other exciting destinations. Combine that with the history and scenery of the amazing Panama Canal and you have a perfect cruise.

Other lines are equally popular in the Caribbean, with a wide variety of home ports, ports of call, ship sizes, amenities, and activities. Other highly recommended possibilities include: Crystal Cruises, Cunard, Princess Cruises, Regency Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Royal Cruise Line, Seabourn Cruises, and Silversea Cruises. Your best bet is to consult a travel agent or a service like The Cruise Line, Inc.