PLAN YOUR TRIP WITH THE BEST IN THE WEST: WORLD TOURS AND CRUISES

Cruises are not only the easiest way to see the world but they also offer more value for the dollar than any other international vacation option.

After all, where else can you unpack once and wake up every morning in a fascinating new destination? And where else can you spend as little as $45 to $50 per person, per day, and receive comfortable, well-maintained accommodations with twice-daily maid service, 3+ meals, a full slate of shipboard activities and nightly entertainment?

This unmatched value is magnified during economic slowdowns, like the one we find ourselves in now.

With the cruise lines price-to-fill model, weakened demand translates instantly into lower prices, and this year we continue to see prices at all-time lows in cruise markets around the world. In turn, the cruise passengers bang-for-the-buck is at an all-time high.

Here are a few examples of the extraordinary values in the marketplace right now:

A 4-night Bahamas cruise starting from $39.75 per person, per day. :=)

A 14-night Trans-Atlantic cruise starting from $46.36 per person, per day.

A 23-night South America cruise starting from $47.78 per person, per day.

A 17-night Panama Canal cruise starting from $52.88 per person, per day.

A 7-night Mexico/Central America cruise starting from $57 per person, per day.

Airline fare not included. Some cruises leave out of San Franciscos Port and travel to Alaska, Mexico, the Panama Canal, South America, the Caribbean and the options are endless.

Cruise lines provide such outstanding value because of the efficiency with which they deliver their service.

For example, the typical cruise ship has teams of room stewards, chefs and waiters working 7 days a week to clean 1,000 cabins per day and prepare and serve three or four meals a day to 2,000 passengers. When the ship sails from the port of departure, the Hotel Director knows exactly how many meals will be served for the entire cruise and the ship has been provisioned accordingly. Every cabin, table and employee is fully utilized, every day.

Thats much more efficient and less wasteful than the system land-based hotels and restaurants must employ to serve a much smaller group of customers who vary in number daily.

As ships have gotten larger and cruise lines have grown into billion-dollar enterprises, feeding and transporting millions of passengers every year, ...