Canal cheap cruise panama

All the ships at sea...

Carlos Afre runs the Golden Age Travel Club at Pier 27 on San Francisco's Embarcadero. He's my cruise expert. So I asked him about the state of the industry since the tragic events at New York's World Trade Center on September 11.

"All of the major lines are doing okay," he said. "Princess, Carnival, Norwegian and so forth. Many lines are offering more opportunities to sail from U.S. ports to Mexico, Alaska, New England/Canada and the Panama Canal.

I'm having great success selling a rail-and-sail program," Carlos added. "Amtrak to Los Angeles and then a 7-day Mexico cruise.

"Princess has added 66 new cruises for U.S.-based vacations at sea, and Carnival's Chairman, Mickey Arison, says he expects all the lines under his company's corporate flag will be doing as well financially this January as they were last year."

Security analysts have predicted the demise of several lines. "Renaissance Cruises has already ceased operations of their nine ships," Carlos told me, "although the Renaissance vessel that sails in Tahitian waters may continue. It is owned by the French government.

"American Classic Voyages have stopped Hawaii sailings of the Patriot and Independence as well as their U.S. Cruise Lines and Delta Queen coastal voyages. Four of the five Delta Queen vessels, including the American Queen, Mississippi Queen, Columbia Queen and the Cape May Light, will cease operations. The Delta Queen steamboat will continue to operate on the Mississippi.

"American Classic Voyages had contracted with Northrup Grumman to build two new ships for deployment in Hawaii, but construction has stopped and the future of this "Project America" new building is uncertain. United States Cruise Lines may rescue construction.

On Dec. 16, Norwegian Cruise Line will position the Norwegian Star in Hawaii, and they may have the 7-day cruise market to four islands all to themselves for a while.

Carnival may buy the Patriot and deploy it around the Sandwich Isles. Industry-wide, a capacity increase of seven to eight percent is seen for 2002, with just over nine percent for 2003 and 2004.

Carnival executives estimate that both the Alaska and Caribbean markets will see capacity increases in the upper teens in 2002.

A friend of mine, Joe Lynch of Tiburon, is a great fan of Crystal Cruises. He is on board for a voyage from Cape Town, South Africa, to Lisbon, Portugal, along Africa's west coast.

There are some worries about cruising Africa's east coast. Last November I expected to be on a cruise from Mombasa to Cape Town, but my trip was a victim of the tragic events at the World Trade Center.

I had booked passage on the Silver Wind, one of four vessels in the fleet of Silversea Cruises. They also float the Silver Cloud, the Silver Shadow and the Silver Whisper.

These ships carry only 382 guests. Nice, intimate way to travel. Well, the line has decided to take the Silver Wind out of service for a while. Perhaps a year. Berths at sea are harder to sell these anxiety-ridden days, but the folks at Silversea must figure they can keep three ships operating profitably.

The readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine have voted Silversea the undisputed "World's Best" cruise line for the sixth consecutive year.

The magazine's readers also praised the line's culinary excellence with "a 90-plus rating for food."

All beverages and gratuities are included in the price of a ticket. Passengers are offered free-flowing champagne and an extensive selection of wines and spirits. Guests don't have to sign for drinks or remember who bought the last round.

Accommodations are all suites with private verandas, and there is a wine and champagne bar by Moet & Chandon, a cigar lounge by Davidoff, a world-class Mandara Spa, superb shows and luxury shops.

There are a lot of bargain rates on certain lines these days, but Silversea is pricey, cousin. Their kind of pampering doesn't come cheap.