Top cruises

For nearly a half century, Metropolitan Touring has promoted eco-tourism to the Galapagos Islands and owns its fleet of deluxe vessels in the Archipelago. It also conducts educational and conservation oriented programs in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve, located in Ecuador's Amazon basin.

SHIPS:
Isabella II (yacht) 40 p Ecuador Registry

MV Santa Cruz 90 p Ecuador Registry

Address:
PO Box 17-17-1649
Av. Republica del Salvador N36-34
Quito, Ecuador,
Phone: 593 2-2988200
Fax: 593 2 2464702

Norwegian Coastal Voyage Limited is an internationally owned company of Ofotens og esteraalen Dampskipsselskab AS Narvik, Norway and Troms Fylkes Dampskipsselskab AS Tromsø, Norway. The two companies in Norway run the Norwegian Coastal Voyage fleet, known in Norway as the Hurtigruten. It is also sometimes known as the Coastal Express, The Coastal Steamer, or even the Mail Boats.

Norwegian Coastal Voyage, which operates year-round on a 1.250-mile stretch of Norway’s spectacular west coast, which offers seven-day northbound sailings from Bergen, six-day southbound cruises from Kirkenes, above the Arctic Circle and 12-day roundtrips. The line’s 12 ships doubling as cargo vessels and local transportation for many Norwegians, calling at 34 ports throughout the year where they pick up or unload goods. Passengers are brought into close contact with the people, customs and natural beauties on these trips.

SHIPS:
MS Finnmarken 670 p Norway Registry

MS Trollfjord 670 p Norway Registry

MS Midnatsol 320 p Norway Registry

M/S Narvik 320 p Norway Registry

M/S Vesteralen 320 p Norway Registry

MS Kong Harald 490 p Norway Registry

M/S Nordnorge 464 p Norway Registry

MS Nordlys 482 p Norway Registry

M/S Nordkapp 490 p Norway Registry

M/S Polarlys 482 p Norway Registry

M/S Richard With 490 p Norway Registry

MS Lofoten 200 p Norway Registry

Address:
405 Park Avenue
New York, New York 10022
Tel: 1-212-319-1300,
1-800-323-7436
Fax: 1-212-319-1390

NCL dates back to 1966 when the Oslo-based Kolsterss Rederi A/S acquired the M/S Sunward and repositioned the ship from Europe to Miami, establishing a company called Norwegian Caribbean Lines. The next three decades brought new ships, new itineraries and a new corporate name-Norwegian Cruise Line. NCL further expanded the fleet and in a move to strengthen the company’s brand identity, most of the ship names had Norwegian added to them. In 1998,NCL’s parent company, NCL Holding ASA acquired Orient Lines. In 2000, Star Cruises of Malaysia acquired the NCL Group and is now the parent company. More recently within the NCL Group, NCL America was formed, which will handle the operations for US-based vessels.

In April 2004; a new company -NCL Corp- was formed directly under Star Cruises to hold all of the North American-based activities of the group: NCL, NCL America and Orient Lines brands and operations as well as all of the new ships in those businesses and the ships under construction.

SHIPS:
Norwegian Dawn 2,240 p Bahamas Registry

Norwegian Dream 1,748 p Bahamas Registry

Norwegian Majesty 1,462 p Bahamas Registry

Norwegian Sea 1,518 p Bahamas Registry (To be transfered to Star Cruises in 2005)

Norwegian Star 2,240 p Bahamas Registry

Norwegian Spirit 1,966 p Bahamas Registry (The former Star Cruises SuperLeo debuts in 2005)

Norwegian Sun 1.936 p Bahamas Registry

Norwegian Wind 1,748 p Bahamas Registry

Norwegian Jewel 2,400 p Bahamas Registry

Norwegian Crown 1,078 p Bahamas Registry

Pride of Aloha 2,000 p US Registry
Pride of America (Debuts 2005)
Pride of Hawaii (Debuts 2006)
SS United States (Purchased in 2003 by NCL, plans call for the vessel to be operational by 2010, most likely as a coastal cruise ship in US waters. The United States has been retired since 1969.)

SS Independence (Owned by NCL and docked on the West Coast of the US.)
The Norway (the former SS France, is to be sold.)

ADDRESSES:
7665 Corporate Center Drive
Miami, Florida 33126
Tel: 1-800-327-7030
Tel: 1-305-436-086
1-305-436-4000

NCL/UK Office address:
Norwegian Cruise Line
1 Derry Street
Kensington
London W8 577
Tel: 0845-658-8010 (Reservation)

Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) Line. NYK caters to the Japanese-speaking trade.

Ship:
Asuka 600 p Japan Registry

Address:
Yusen Building
3-2 Marunouchi 2-choime
Chiyoda-ku 100-0005
Japan

Oceania Cruises was formed in 2002 by cruise industry veterans Joe Watters and Frank Del Rio. Seasonal cruise itineraries include the Black Sea, British Isles, Caribbean, Central America, Greek Isles, Mediterranean, Mexico, North Cape, Russia, Scandinavia, and South America.

SHIPS:
Regatta 684 p Marshall Islands

Insignia 684 p Marshall Islands

Nautica 684 p Marshall Ils. Registry (The former R5 will debut as the Nautica in 2005).

Address:
8120 NW 53 Street
Miami FL 33166
Main Phone Number: 305-514-2300,
Fax: 305-514-2222
Reservations: 1-800-531-5658

Ocean Village Holidays offers informal cruises to the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. The company launched its ship 'Ocean Village' in April 2003.The cruises combine action and relaxation at sea and ashore into a fresh new take on holidays. For thirty-to-fifty-somethings with modern active.Ocean Village Holidays is a unit of Carnival & plc.

SHIP:
Ocean Village 1,578 p UK Registry

Address:
Richmond Terrace
Southampton,
SO14 3PN
UK
Reservations: 0845 358 5000
Tel: 44-23-8053-4200
Fax: 44-23-8053-4682

Orient Lines, founded in 1992, was purchased in 1998 by Norwegian Cruise Line’s parent company NCL Holdings, which, in turn, was purchased by Star Cruises of Malaysia in 2000. The line offers an in-depth selection of itineraries to the Greek Isles, Mediterranean and Scandinavia during the summer season, as well as a vast array of exotic destinations such as New Zealand, Australia, Africa, India, Egypt, Asia, South America and even Antarctica.

SHIP:
M/V Marco Polo 800 p Bahamas Registry

Address:
7665 Corporate Center Drive
Miami, Florida 33126
Tel: 1-954-527-6660
1-800-333-7300
Fax: 1-954-527-6657

P&O’s beginnings go back to the 1837 when as the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company began passenger conveyance. Novelist William Makepeace Thackeray made a "Mediterranean cruise" -- a Grand Tour by sea aboard a series of P&O ships in 1844, and published his enthusiastic memoirs in "Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo." The company to this day has remained a British-based shipping line and in its heyday served the British Empire.

In the 1880s the Orient Line and the North of Scotland company, both later to be taken over by P&O, pioneered modern-style cruises, and in 1904 P&O offered its first program: First Class only with shore excursions arranged by Thomas Cook, using the 23-year-old liner Rome, renamed Vectis in her new role as a "cruising yacht." Between the wars cruising became more popular, often using the newest ships in the fleet rather than the oldest. Tourist class cruises began in the early 1930s and Pacific cruises from Australia a few years later. In 1960, the company merged with the Orient Line to form P&O-Orient Lines

P&O's last ship built for scheduled line voyages, Canberra, was delivered in 1961, but by the 1970s, jet airlines had taken over the company's traditional passenger trades while the container ship packed up liner cargoes. Forced to concentrate on the leisure side of sea travel, P&O abolished passenger classes, acquired Los Angeles-based Princess Cruises in 1974, and Sitmar Cruises in 1988. Sitmar cruises was then merged with Princess Cruises.

In 1999, P&O entered Continental Europe with the acquisition of a majority stake in AIDA, and the following year acquired the remainder of AIDA and Seetours, a company specializing in the German cruise and riverboat sector. That same year, the company demerged from the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company and became known as P&O Princess Cruises. In July 2001 A'ROSA, a new premium destination-oriented brand catering exclusively for German-speaking customers was launched. In 2003, P&O Princess Cruises plc merged with Carnival Corporation, to become Carnival & plc.

SHIPS:
Aurora 1,874 p UK Registry

Oriana 1,822 p UK Registry

Arcadia 1,475 p UK Registry

Oceana 1,950 p UK Registry

Adonia 2,010 UK Registry

Arcadia* 1,952 p UK Registry

Artemis* 1,203 p UK Registry

* Debuts 2005

ADDRESSES:
UK Home Office :
Richmond House
Terminus Terrace
Southampton
SO14 3PN UK
Reservations: 0845 3 555 333:
Fax: 023 8065-7030

US Office address:

7 Princess Tours
2815 Second Avenue
Suite 400
Seattle Washington 98121 - 1299
Tel. 1 206 728 4202
Tel. 1 206 727 3199
Fax. 1 206 336 6100

Peter Deilmann Cruises has been offering deluxe cruise vacations for more than 25 years for mostly the German-speaking trade on its luxury vessel MS Deutschland and the 48-passenger Lili Marleen, a three-masted barquentine sailing ship. In addition, Deilmann owns and operates 10 deluxe river vessels cruising the great rivers of Europe.

SHIPS:
MS Deutschland 513 p Germany Registry

SY Lili Marleen 50 p Germany Registry

Address:
1800 Diagonal Road
Suite 170
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Tel: 1-703-549-1741
1-800-348-8287
Fax: 1-703-549-7924

Phoenix Seereisen operates cruises for the German-speaking trade.

SHIPS:
Maxim Gorky 650 p Bahamas Registry

Alabatross 827 p Bahamas Registry

Alexander von Humbolt

Finnjet

Address:
Kolmstrasse 50
53111 Bonn
Germany