Being in the Travel Business, I always look forwards to the Fall!  It seems like the majority of new ship deliveries come in the Fall months, and that means lots of Inaugural activities, time to visit with old travel industry friends and an opportunity to see the “Latest and Greatest” in ship design and on-board amenities.
 
Late October had me winging it off to Miami to board the magnificent Explorer of the Seas (Click for ship profile), for a seven day cruise with some of my friends and fellow agency owners from the West Coast.  The ship is currently the largest cruise ship in the world, weighing in at 140,000 tons!  And talk about choices while cruising, in addition to the traditional activities, we also did a little rock-climbing on the rock wall on the very top deck of the ship and did a little Ice Skating in Studio B, the only Ice Rink at sea!
 
If you prefer the larger ships and all the amenities, you must try the Explorer of the Seas or one of her sister ships, the Voyager of the Seas or the Adventurer of the Seas.  These ships are the definitely the MGM Grand or Venetian of the high seas!
 
November also brought us the new Carnival Conquest, the newest addition to the Carnival fleet.  The Conquest sailed from New Orleans for a series of introductory cruises and did not disappoint!  Carnival just gets better and better!  If you have not been on one of their ships in the last few years, then you are in for a pleasant surprise.  Many people do not realize that Carnival Corporation is the largest cruise company in the world, and owns many other brands you might recognize, including Holland America Line, Windstar Cruises, Cunard Line, Seabourn Cruise Line, Costa Cruise Line and of course, Carnival Cruises!
 
In a few weeks the new ms Zuiderdam will set sail on a series of Inaugural events aimed at introducing her to the industry, so stay tuned for our review of this beautiful ship from the venerable Holland America Line.
 
We are in the midst of launching our new website, so click here for a sneak preview and see what the excitement is all about!  We plan to have it officially launched before the next newsletter on December 15, 2002.  You will be able to pull up profiles of most of the cruise ships in service, view all of our special groups sailings and rates, and much more, so take a look and let us know what you think!
 
We hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
 
Scott, Adele, Peter, Lisa and Rebekah!
The Cruise Place