FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Des Moines, Iowa (July 14, 2004)

Vacation Value for the Money
What cruisers know (that other vacationers don't)

What would you pay for a six-course gourmet dinner plus breakfast, lunch, a midnight chocolate buffet, and unlimited room service? Wait, you also get free admission to the health club, live stage shows, comedians, live music, eighteen bars, a casino, pools, hot tubs, plus a room with twice daily maid service and exotic views that keep changing.

Unbelievably, all of this luxury and much more are routinely included in the cost of a cruise for less than $75-$100 per day sometimes much less.

Some things just have to be seen to believed. A survey¹ of more than 2,000 vacationers showed that people who have traveled on cruise ships are more than twice as likely to rate cruising as "high value for the money" than those who have never cruised. Not surprisingly, the same survey showed that cruising was the vacation activity most often rated a "5" overall (exceeds expectations), far outstripping other offerings.

Getting rates like these on a cruise starts with the obvious: shopping around. CruiseCompete.com is a new web site that lets travelers research and select a specific cruise ship and sail date, then receive offers from multiple, independent travel agencies. Free and anonymous, the site then allows the traveler to contact the best agencies directly for further information or to book the trip.

"Cruise travel is a tremendous vacation value. With just about everything included, it's hard to go wrong" says Steve Gelfuso, President of Rhode Island cruise travel agency Cruise Brothers. "But the travelers really getting the best deals are those who know how to find the most aggressive agencies--and that often just comes from shopping around."

¹Cruise Lines International Association, 2003 Spring Overview Survey