About Carnival Cruise Lines

Carnival, founded in 1972 and headquartered in Miami, is the world's largest cruise line. The line's humble origins pigeonholed it as the cruise industry's version of a floating fraternity party for a long, long time. But that was yesterday, and while Carnival still commands a certain reputation for a flashy, neon-esque atmosphere -- and by no means skimps on elaborate lounges and discos -- its ships continue to evolve. The current generation of vessels have a more sedate design, better-suited to longer sailings.

In particular, Carnival's earned kudos for enhancing cuisine (never a high point in the old days), investing in a top-notch children's program, and expanding its itinerary offerings beyond its traditional Caribbean and Bahamas trips to regions like Alaska and Atlantic Canada. It offered its first European itineraries in 2002 (Carnival Legend sailed a few cruises after its inauguration in Harwich), and in 2005, Carnival Liberty spent a full season in Europe -- a first for the line. The line has also taken advantage of the fastest growing cruise segment in the United States, short vacations of three to five nights, and has deployed most of its Fantasy-class ships to those markets. Those ships are currently being redone to include updated bathrooms, children's areas, and all will offer water parks and adult serenity decks to compete with similar size vessels (more on Fantasy updates in fleet section).

Carnival is one of the world's most innovative cruise lines. In 1996, Carnival debuted the first passenger vessel to exceed 100,000 tons Carnival Destiny. It was also the first major cruise line to build and operate a completely smoke-free cruise ship, Carnival Paradise. After nearly six years of butt-free sailings, the ship, now deployed in California, has gone to a "limited smoking" policy where guests can light up in the casino and just a couple of bars and lounges, but not in cabins nor most public spaces, even outside -- except for midship-only on the Lido deck.

Standard cabins now include robes, and the "Carnival Comfort Bed" sleep system features deluxe new plush mattresses, soft duvets, high quality linens and upgraded pillows. (Suite passengers have a "suite pillow menu" from which to select a specific pillow of their liking.)

But perhaps the biggest potential improvement is the quantum leap in culinary quality due in part to the new partnership with Michelin three-star chef, Georges Blanc, who is developing new menu entrees fleetwide and instituting training for Carnival chefs both in his Vonnas, France, restaurant and aboard the ships themselves.

Carnival also pioneered the concept of building regional drive-to ports, expanding its embarkation centers beyond Miami to places like New Orleans, Mobile, Jacksonville, Port Canaveral, Galveston, Norfolk, Charleston and New York. It has built a cruise port in Long Beach, California, to take advantage of sailings to the west coast of Mexico.

The company offers a vacation guarantee program that allows passengers unhappy with their cruise the chance to disembark at the first port and get a refund. They also provide senior discounts via AARP, as well as very successful weddings at sea and golf offerings.

Starting with one ship in 1966, NCL was first established by Oslo-based Klosters Rederi A/S, one of Norway's oldest and most respected shipping firms. Its first ship (M/S Sunward) repositioned from Europe to the then-obscure Port of Miami for Caribbean cruising. Adding four more vessels by 1971 and the former S/S France (renamed the Norway) in 1979, NCL was on its way to becoming an industry leader and one of the largest cruise companies in the world.

Malaysia-based Star Cruises acquired NCL in 2000. As a result of the investment by Star Cruises, the largest Asian-based cruise line, NCL underwent an unprecedented growth spurt that resulted in the introduction of ships specifically designed to carry out its Freestyle innovations. To date, the line has launched eight brand new ships since 2001.

In 2007, NCL entered into another chapter when Apollo Management agreed to become a 50 percent owner of the cruise line, sharing leadership with Star Cruises. The cost for half the company? A mere $1 billion. Since then, NCL has massively committed to Freestyle 2.0, a new initiative to upgrade services and programs on existing ships -- including spending $50 million alone on dining enhancements.

The line is also selling off older vessels, and plans to launch an entirely new design of ships, called F3, in 2010.

 About Hurtigruten Line

Editor's Note: You may remember Hurtigruten as Norwegian Coastal Voyage, which was the name the line used to market itself in the United States. But as of September 2007, there will be only one name, Hurtigruten, used worldwide.

Hurtigruten (meaning "fast route" in Norwegian) began life in 1893. Then, as now, the line served the isolated towns and villages sprinkled throughout the shoreline and fjords of Norway's western seacoast between Bergen on the south and Kirkenes, about 240 miles above the Arctic Circle. Known fondly as the coastal steamers or the mail boats, these vessels provided a vital lifeline to areas isolated from other forms of transportation.

With the passage of time, extra services have been offered and additional markets tapped. A Hurtigruten cruise is likely to include a mix of traditional cruisers, along with passengers traveling point to point along the coast, and some ferrying their cars as well. The couple sitting next to you at lunch may be booked in a luxury suite, or may be aboard so short a time they didn't book a cabin at all. And the ships still carry freight (but not mail), so a voyage on this line is comprised of a handful of extended port calls interspersed with several shorter stops each day, many just long enough to load and offload cargo.

Over the years, Hurtigruten has kept the number of ships in its fleet relatively stabile, constantly modernizing both amenities and technology with each new-build, retiring an older, smaller, less sophisticated ship for new ones brought online. In this way the company has hit on a formula that fosters growth and modernization without outstripping the demand for berths.

Hurtigruten has also expanded the span of its cruising region to include, along with its signature fjord and coastal trips, expedition cruising to Spitsbergen, Greenland, Antarctica and the Chilean Fjords.

Though comfortable and, in the case of the most recent builds, stylish, these ships lack many of the trappings emblematic of cruising: casinos, organized activities, entertainment, etc. In Hurtigruten's own words, on their voyages Mother Nature provides the entertainment, and interaction with fellow travelers and spectacular scenery is the main draw.

 About Oceania Cruises

The brainchild of cruise industry veterans Frank Del Rio and Joe Watters, former heads of Renaissance Cruises and Crystal Cruises respectively, Miami-based Oceania Cruises emphasizes a destination-intensive floating-hotel experience with top-notch food and superior service. The cruise line originally chartered vessels from the now-defunct Renaissance Cruises' (its 684-passenger R1 and R2, renaming them Regatta and Insignia). Its third ship -- another Renaissance R-class vessel -- joined the fleet in 2005 and is named Nautica. The company now owns its ships.

Regatta, launched in summer 2003 and Insignia, its nearly identical sibling that was introduced in spring 2004 really set the tone for Oceania's unique style -- and Nautica, which has received even newer, fresher touches -- continues in the same tradition. The company spent some $10 million-plus to refurbish these late-1990s vessels, and it shows. Public rooms, including restaurants, are graceful and elegant. The newly redone pool area is now surfaced in teak and boasts teak furnishings (including a fabulous double sunbed). Cabins have been tweaked with much more comfortable bed-wear and mattresses.

The big news for Oceania in 2007 its acquisition, in February, by New York-based Apollo Management, L.P., an investment company that specializes in private equity, debt and capital markets. Quickly following that move, the line placed orders for its first-ever newbuilds. The 1,260-passenger vessels, to be built at Italy's Fincantieri shipyard, will debut in 2010 and 2011.

Overall, Oceania has managed to create a luxury experience -- particularly in the areas of cuisine and service -- at a mid-market price point. Ultimately, the company offers one of the industry's best value-for-money options in cruising.

 About Princess Cruises

What began as the little cruise line that could has evolved into a cruise industry giant. Beginning its operations with a 6,000-ton converted ferry chartered from the Canadian Pacific Railway as a small luxury liner between Los Angeles and the Mexican Riviera in 1965, Princess Cruises now has 16 ships sailing the globe on approximately 100 itineraries that range from 1 to 107 days and visit some 280 ports.

Princess Cruises' fleet is among the industry's most contemporary: The line has launched half of its ships in the 21st century. In 2002, the company acquired three vessels from now-defunct Renaissance Cruises: the rechristened Tahitian Princess, Pacific Princess and Royal Princess. Most recently in 2007, the line launched Emerald Princess, and its sister ship, Ruby Princess, is due to sail in the fall of 2008.

Princess is now part of the industry's giant Carnival Corporation, a merger that occurred in 2003 when Carnival acquired Princess' parent company, U.K.-based P&O Cruises, in a hostile takeover tug of war with Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. From what we've seen, the operation of the line has, by and large, remained the same although some repeaters say they are starting to notice the Carnival influence.

 About Regent Seven Seas Cruises

The current company, based in Ft. Lauderdale, was formed in 1992 as a result of the merger between two one-ship lines -- Radisson Cruises and Seven Seas Cruises. The former contributed the Radisson Diamond, the industry's only twin-hulled ship, and the latter operated Song of Flower (both have since been retired from the fleet).

Since the late 1990's, the line has grown steadily, adding Paul Gauguin in 1997, Seven Seas Navagitor in 1999 and Seven Seas Mariner (the world's first all-suite, all-balcony ship) in 2001. The 700-guest Seven Seas Voyager, the line's second all-suite, all-balcony ship, entered service in April 2003.

In 2006, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises underwent another name change to become Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

During this time, the cruise line was owned by Minneapolis-based Carlson Hospitality Worldwide, one of the travel industry's largest hospitality companies. But in late fall 2007, New York-based Apollo Management, L.P., signed an agreement to acquire Regent Seven Seas Cruises. The deal closed in winter 2008. Regent Seven Seas is anticipated to continue, business as usual, from its Ft. Lauderdale headquarters under the leadership of Mark Conroy, the cruise line's longtime company president.

Changes in Regent Seven Seas Cruises' ownership shouldn't affect passengers too much. But over the past few years, more significant evolutionary features have indeed taken place. For one, the fleet of four ships has received significant upgrades that include wireless capabilities (and improved computer connections), new bedding featuring down comforters and Egyptian cotton linens, and Regent-branded bathroom amenities. Staterooms also got flat-screen televisions, DVD players and new clocks. Higher-end suites received iPod music systems (with Bose speakers) as well. And cell phone access is now available even at sea.

 About Royal Caribbean International

Editor's Note: Royal Caribbean has announced that it is toughening its smoking policy. Beginning in January 2008, smoking will be prohibited in all staterooms and suites aboard all ships except Legend of the Seas, Rhapsody of the Seas and Splendour of the Seas; those three will follow suit in the summer of 2008. However, passengers can still light up on stateroom and suite balconies. Royal Caribbean will also designate one lounge on each ship in its fleet as completely non-smoking.

The world's second-largest cruise line, Royal Caribbean International (originally Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines) began in the late 1960's as a consortium of Norwegian ship owners who wanted to get in on the rapidly expanding American market. Ever since their first ship, the brand-new Song of Norway (no longer in the fleet) debuted in 1970, the company has prided itself on introducing new shipboard innovations. After completing their first three ships (the others were Nordic Prince and Sun Viking) by 1972, Royal Caribbean "stretched" their first two ships and built the much larger Song of America in 1982. These early Royal Caribbean ships became the prototype for virtually all cruise ships since.

But, Royal Caribbean's biggest splash came in 1988 with the monumental Sovereign of the Seas, the very first mega-ship of the modern era. While only mid-sized by today's standards, at over 70,000 tons, Sovereign of the Seas was massive in its day, and completely dwarfed every competitor of the era. The most sensational feature -- aside from sheer size -- was the introduction of the first modern shipboard atrium, complete with glass elevators and a grand piano, reminiscent of an opulent hotel -- but, with a view no hotel could match.

Not content to wait for other lines to catch up, the even larger sister ships, Monarch of the Seas, and Majesty of the Seas, followed in quick succession, along with the smaller Nordic Empress, the first ship designed for cruises shorter than a week. Royal Caribbean also bought Admiral Cruises, a company specializing in short cruises, and turned their nearly-new Stardancer into Royal Caribbean's Viking Serenade after a massive refit. (To date, Viking Serenade, which left the fleet in 2002, remains the only ship to fly the Royal Caribbean flag that wasn't built for the company.)

By the early 1990's Royal Caribbean moved on to another challenge: designing ships for use outside their traditional cruising grounds in the Caribbean. While they'd sent some of their oldest, smallest ships farther afield to destinations like Alaska and Europe -- Royal Caribbean hadn't built a ship specially designed for worldwide cruising. This changed in 1995 with the introduction of Legend of the Seas, a spectacular new ship that brought Royal Caribbean into a whole new era. Smaller than the Sovereign-class ships, Legend, was by far the most luxurious ship Royal Caribbean had ever built, with bigger cabins, more space per passenger and a wider variety of public areas and open decks. The popular shipboard mini-golf course was introduced, as was Royal Caribbean's now-signature adults-only indoor/outdoor pool area, the Solarium, one of the most impressive shipboard spaces that had been built to date. Legend was closely followed by its sister, Splendour of the Seas, and then by two pairs of slightly larger near-sisters; Grandeur and Enchantment of the Seas, and Rhapsody and Vision of the Seas.

At the same time, between 1995 and 1999, the company disposed of the four original ships, and replaced them with the new Vision-class ships designed specifically for worldwide itineraries.

Having established itself outside the Caribbean, it was now time for Royal Caribbean to turn back to developing its core market. In the mid 1990's, as the Vision-class ships entered service to rave reviews, the company began planning a new ship that would redefine the cruise industry as much, if not more than Sovereign of the Seas had in the previous decade. Code-named "Project Eagle," the ship began sailing in 1999 as Voyager of the Seas-- and completely blew away every mega-ship that had come before. With features like an ice rink, rock wall, and indoor promenade, Voyager of the Seas was the most innovative ship design in decades, the first ship that genuinely felt more like a resort than a ship. Four ships would follow, and the Voyager-class became the defining mega-ship design of the early 21st century.

Meanwhile, four Radiance-class ships were built in the early 2000's as a follow-up to the Vision-class vessels of the 1990's. Similarly designed for worldwide cruising, they are larger, with more balconies, dining choices, public areas, and greater luxury all around.

The company's two most recent projects have been a updating of existing older ships, and the new Freedom-class design. The company has begun huge refits of Monarch of the Seas, Empress of the Seas (formerly Nordic Empress), Sovereign of the Seas, Enchantment of the Seas (including a "stretch" of Enchantment), and Majesty of the Seas as well. But, the big news recently has been Freedom of the Seas, an enlarged, enhanced version of the Voyager-class design that introduces new features like a water park to the array of Voyager-class amenities. Freedom of the Seas also narrowly reclaimed the title of "largest passenger ship" for Royal Caribbean, surpassing the Queen Mary 2 in tonnage (but not length or width). The Freedom-class also includes Freedom's sister ship, Liberty of the Seas, as well as Independence of the Seas, debuting in 2008. More refits of older Vision-class ships are also likely in the near future.

But, the biggest thing on the horizon for Royal Caribbean -- quite literally -- is the ship code named Project Genesis, set to enter service in 2009. At over 50 percent larger than Freedom of the Seas, Genesis will once again mean that a Royal Caribbean ship is the biggest in the world. (Only a few supertankers exceed the size of Genesis or a Freedom-class ship.)

 About Seabourn Line

Seabourn Cruise Line was founded in 1987 to compete in the ultra-luxury cruise market. It was originally intended to be named "Signet Cruise Line," but a ferry company in Texas owned that name and refused to give it up. Seabourn's first voyage was in November of 1988 on the newly built Seabourn Pride. Carnival Corp. purchased 25 percent of the company in 1991, an additional 25 percent in 1996, and in 1998, a consortium, which included Carnival Corp., purchased Seabourn and merged its operations with Cunard Line. At that time the fleet included its three present ships plus Seabourn Goddess I and II (which left in 2002 and are now Sea Dream Yacht Club's Seadream I and Seadream II) and Seabourn Sun (which left in 2002 and is now Holland America's Prinsendam). Carnival Corp. bought the company outright in 1999 and Seabourn became one of their "world's leading cruise lines." The six Carnival Corp's Cunard operations separated from Seabourn's in 2004 and moved to the corporation's newly purchased Princess Cruises (now the seventh of the "world's leading cruise lines"), and Seabourn now operates independently from other Carnival Corp. brands.

Seabourn has ordered two 32,000-ton, 450-passenger vessels to be delivered in 2009 and 2010, and will cost $250 million each. The ships will be designed by Bjron Storbraaten -- of Silversea alum -- and built at Genoa's T. Mariotti S.p.A. shipyard. Both ships will be "green ships," meaning they will be using wastewater treatment technology.

The cruise line garnered worldwide attention in 2005 when Seabourn Spirit successfully fended off machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenades during a Priate attack off the Somalian Coast. Passengers were moved to the dining room and served coffee by the unflappable waiters during the early morning incident -- talk about grace under fire!

 About SeaDream Yacht Club

SeaDream Yacht Club, a small entrepreneurial company, set up shop in August 2001 and a month later took possession of two luxury ships originally known as the Sea Goddess I and II. The line offers "ultra-luxury cruises on mega-yachts," and potential cruisers need only look to see who's in charge here to get an idea of what's in store for them. The owner of SeaDream is Norwegian industrialist Atle Brynestad, at one time the largest shareholder of the old Royal Viking Line and the founder, in 1987, of Seabourn Cruise Line. Chairman, CEO and co-owner is Larry Pimentel, who worked for Brynestad as the president of Seabourn. That luxury line is now owned by Carnival Corp., which sold the two 116-passenger ships to Brynestad and Pimentel.

Now named SeaDream I and II, the vessels were gorgeously transformed.

SeaDream promotes its style of cruising as "yacht-like" with a "resort-casual" dress code (read: no formalwear required) and upscale cuisine and amenities. "We are not a cruise line" is the mantra repeated by top executives who also tout the hallmarks of the vessels: "unstructured and free-form." That means itineraries are somewhat flexible, allowing the captain to linger in a port if passengers wish or to depart early if rain spoils plans. Beverages, shore excursions and tips are included in the cruise fare. Seating is open for meals, and caviar and champagne are always available -- even in the surf during beach visits.

 About Viking River Cruises

Established in 1997 by a Dutch and Swiss Consortium, Viking River Cruises is the world's largest river cruise line, with 23 ships sailing the rivers of Europe, Russia and China. River cruising is an intimate, up-close way to explore your destination. Viking River Cruises' ships average just 150 passengers, and often dock right in the heart of town, providing "walk off your ship" access into Europe.

Another perk: guided shore excursions in each port of call are included in passengers' cruise fares.