Researching Your Cruise Ship Options

Each year, a large number of individuals make the decision to book a cruise ship getaway. When it comes to vacationing aboard a cruise ship, you are presented with an unlimited number of options. There are a large number of cruise lines that operate numerous cruise ships. In fact, there are so many cruise ships available that many individuals, maybe even yourself included, do not know where to start.

The first step in planning a cruise ship vacation is making the decision to take one. Traveling aboard a cruise ship can be a fun and exciting experience, but it is not for everyone. Cruises ships often require residing in close corridors for an extend period of time. If you have a difficult time dealing with crowds or you are looking for an overnight vacation, you may want to reexamine your decision to schedule a cruise ship vacation.

If you have already decided that a cruise ship vacation is what you want, you will need to find a cruise ship that interests you. This is where many individuals develop a problem. As previously mentioned, there are a number of different cruise lines. Each of these cruises lines operates a number of different cruise ships. Each cruise ship is likely to travel to different destinations and offer different activities, services, and facilities.

When searching for the perfect cruise ship, you have numerous options. Many travelers automatically start searching for the cruise ship of their dreams. Searching for a cruise ship is, in a way, different than searching for a cruise line. If you do not have a preference as to which cruise ship line youd like to travel with, it may be easier to search for cruises based on themes, destinations, or onboard activities. A standard internet search is a great way to educate yourself on the cruise ships available.

If you prefer to travel with a specific cruise line, you will want to research that particular cruise line. You can visit the cruise lines online website to further educate yourself or else you can perform a standard internet search. If you are unaware of the cruise line selection you have, you can easily familiarize yourself. There are a number of travel websites that offer information and links to the websites of popular cruise lines. Performing an internet search with the keywords cruise lines, is likely to produce a large number of results.

In your search, it is likely that you will come up with popular cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruse Lines, Disney Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, and much more. Once you are able to view the online website of each cruise line, you can begin to search for cruise ships with reservations still available. When browsing through each cruise ship, you will likely be presented with standard information. This information may outline the activities available onboard, destinations, travel stops, and the cost of reserving a cabin.

The Disney Cruise Line is one of the most well-known and sought after cruise lines for individuals vacationing with a family. If you are interested in scheduling a Disney cruise, you will see that the two cruise ships used are named Disney Wonder and Disney Magic. Each ship has onboard Disney characters and beautiful dcor. The main differences between the two ships are the character statues found onboard.

Carnival Cruise Lines is well-known among frequent travelers. They offer a wide range of cruises; however, their main focus seems to be on fun cruises. When researching Carnival Cruise Lines, you will see that they have over 20 fun ships. These ships target cruise goers who are interested in socializing, partying, and having an adventure over the water. Popular cruise ships include, but are not limited to Fantasy, Ecstasy, Celebration Fascination, and Sensation.

Royal Caribbean is another one of the many well-known cruise lines in the world. They are famous for their international cruises. Just a few of their many cruise ships include Adventure of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, and Navigator of the Seas. With twenty-one cruise ships, you are sure to find what you are looking for with Royal Caribbean

Researching each cruise line and cruise ships, individually, may take time. If you are pressed for time you can seek the assistance of a travel agent. Whichever method of research you select, research is important. It is the best way to find the perfect cruise ship for you and your family.
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By: John Ugoshowa

John Ugoshowa. You are welcome to use this article on your website or in your ezinesas long as you have a link back to www.quickreg ister.net/partners/ For more information on Cruise Ships see the Cruise Ships section of Quickregister.net Free Search Engine Submission Service at:www.quickreg ister.net/partners/

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Good News And Bad News For Small Hotel Owners

The good news is that the percentage of Internet-based hotel reservations is expected to triple to 15.4 percent by 2004 from the current 4.9 percent, according to Andersen LLP, and total volume is expected to reach $5.7 billion in 2004, according to Forrester Research.

It would appear that many leisure and business travelers have discovered that all of the very good travel deals are to be found not through a travel agent, or calling a supplier directly, but on the Web. And according to Nielsen/NetRatings over 37 million out of 162 million active Americans Internet users have already purchased travel online.

The bad news is that many smaller hospitality companies, except for the major brands, have not taken full advantage of the Internet as the cheapest and most efficient distribution medium for their inventory. Unfortunately many have suffered due to insufficient expertise in understanding how the Internet works. This has allowed a number of major online discount companies to increase their market share at the expense of many hotels' direct and GDS distribution.

In fact, many independent properties have been left out of GDS (Global Distribution Systems) such as Sabre and Galileo due to high booking fees and the need for dedicated telecommunications. Also many new booking networks require a property to maintain rates and inventory in a web-based system that can be difficult to manage.

This can make it impossible to list independent property inventory on the GDS or popular travel website such as AOL Travel, Yahoo!, Travelocity, etc.

Although using online hotel consolidators to sell your accommodation online is not an issue, it becomes a serious problem when these online services are your primary or only Web distribution channel.

Simply put. If your hotel only appears on the Web through your discounted rates offered by the online consolidators, Internet users would always find your discounted rates and nothing else.

Therefore, as far as the Internet consumer is concerned, these discounted rates are de facto your published hotel rates. In effect they become your published rate. The resulting brand erosion and price dilution can seriously effect your future financial health. How do you ever convince travelers to pay your full room rate?

The answer is very simple. As an Hotelier you must adopt a distribution model which focuses on two major areas, Direct and Indirect Web Distribution.

When an Internet user is searching for accommodations at your destination, they should be able to find your hotel website directly through the search engines, your website affiliates and destination portals.

The Indirect component of marketing your hotel web site on-line is to search and use channels other than your website and is probably already familiar to most hotel owners. Such as, establishing relationships with online leisure travel services, corporate services, meeting and event planner services, wholesalers and discount companies, Internet reservation systems, local portals, hotel directories, etc.

Direct Web Distribution involves energetically marketing your hotel website by turning your hotel website into a 24 hour by 7 day sales force, complete with booking engine, website optimization, website functionality, customer e-mail capture and a strong customer service component.

Your hotel website is not just an online brochure. Yes, it should be simple, nice, informative, useful and efficient. But, do you have a real-time booking engine? The booking engine should be prominently displayed on the Home Page and become the centerpiece of your hotel website. All web pages within the website should prominently feature the "Online Reservations" or a "Book Now" buttons.

Numerous studies show that most Internet users will not book a hotel that does not offer a real-time booking on its website. And if you have a booking engine is it capable of booking in real-time transient, corporate rates, preferred rates, special accounts and promotional rates, hotel packages and group reservations?

Other issues, such as, affiliate programs and customer e-mail capture programs should be an essential part of your website marketing strategy. Focus on permission-based email marketing to your customer list, weekly e-Newsletters, and Web-only and email promotions.

A further requirement is the optimization of your website for search engines. You need your website to be visible to the search engines with effective use of keywords and Meta tags, etc. Plus, all of your key pages should be submitted to the major search engines and directories. This positioning of your hotel web site is an ongoing task that is critical in providing you with cost effective traffic.

Hospitality SolutionsIt is a fact that 85% of Internet users rely on search engines to locate relevant information on the Web (e.g. Google, Yahoo, AltaVista, etc). As an independent lodging company that is not part of a major brand and without the marketing budget and name recognition of a major brand you must rely even more on search engine referrals.

Online distribution is here to stay. Travel suppliers, including hotel owners, are beginning to realize that online distribution is changing the "classic" distribution spectrum. Three years from now the Internet will contribute 18% of revenues in hospitality (PhoCusWright) and online bookings will surpass GDS bookings.

If your hotel does not currently generate at least 8%-10% of your bookings from the Web, you should be concerned. Why? This year over 7% of all revenues in hospitality will be Internet-generated. If you do not fare better than the national averages, you are already behind your pro-active competitors.

Taking care of the bad news in this article could certainly bring you much more good news.
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By: David Brights

David Brights writes for www.showcheaphotels.info where you can find out more about cheap hotels and other topics.

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