JOIN RICHARD AND ANGELA TUREN ON THEIR PERSONALLY ESCORTED SIGNATURE CRUISE IN 2010

May 28 - June 5 - An amazing eight-day cruise from Venice to Siracusa with an all-Croatia itinerary aboard Traveltruth's # 1 Rated Ship, The World of Residensea. (may be extended to 14-days, ending Rome)

For details and financials please e-mail Richard at rturen@traveltruth.com

NEWSBRIEFS: 1.16.10 - A CONSUMER'S GUIDE TO CURRENT TOPICS WITHIN THE INDUSTRY

AIRLINES:

CRUISE LINES:

Carnival has launched an interesting legal maneuver by attempting to prohibit travel firms from bidding on their trademarks as key words on Google and other major search engines. This could mean that when you try to find Carnival Cruise Line you might actually be connected to Carnival Cruise Line. Too many internet sites mimic the travel supplier home page and Carnival feels this is a breach of trademark. This is a really interesting case in an untested branch of the law.

What does the stock market think about Royal Caribbean's mega-ship building plan and the launch of the Oasis of the Seas? It would seem that they approve of reports from the ship. RCI's stock from Janiary 6th l;ast year tot he same date this year rose 70.5.

HOTELS:

Jamaica is poised to pass a bill in Parliament that willpermit gambling on the island at new resorts costing at least $1.5 billion with a minimum of 1,000 rooms. The 1500 room Palmyra Resort and the 1500 room Harmony Cove Resort in Trelawny will be the first to be approved.

OCEANIA TAKING RESERVATIONS FOR FIRST NEW SHIP

The books are now open for the January 2011 launch of Oceania's new, 1,258 guest Marina. This is Oceania's first new build and it is double the capacity of each of the line's three existing ships.

Oceania has decided to stick with he success of the Oceania country club feel and highly regarded specialty restaurants Toscana and Polo. The Marina will also feature a Jacques Pepin-themed restaurant called Jacques and an Asian-inspired restaurant called Red Ginger.

Food will remain a focus on the new ship with a Bon Appetit hands-on Culinary Center. The 65,000 ton Marina will carry 800 crew. The cabins have been enlarged with inside's at 174 sq. feet and veranda space at 282 sq. ft. The most popular cabin category, Penthouse 1,2, and 3 are a comfortable 420 square feet. Penthouse guests's have of a new Executive Lounge.

The Oceania formula, now being copied by several other lines, includes food that is significantly better than average, more time in port then competitors, and a casual "no formal dress" onboard atmosphere.

NEWSBRIEFS: 12.16.09 - A CONSUMER'S GUIDE TO CURRENT TOPICS WITHIN THE INDUSTRY

AIRLINES:

The strangest way to fly to Europe is aboard one of British Airways two non-stop daily evening flights from JFK to the tiny London City Airport. These "All Business Class" flights are being flown on new Airbus 318's, just about the smallest plane to ever fly scheduled trans-Atlantic service. There are only 32 guests aboard. The flights from JFK arrive at 7:00 am. and 10:30am., allowing for early morning business appointments.

Airlines have to think long-term. United 410 billion in new aircraft from both Boeing (787) and Airbus (A350). These new planes will begin to be delivered in 2016. Some industry analysts were surprised that United "split" their order between Boeing and Airbus. The new planes will replace the 747 400's and 767 300's currently flying United's longest routes.

Virgin Galactic has unwrapped the new Spaceshiptwo aircraft that will take the public on sub orbital commercial flight after full testing by the FAA is a completed. The Virgin "Space Ship Enterprise" was christened at its base in the Mojave desert.

Beware of JFK until April or May. Although it has not been widely reported in he consumer press, New York's JFK Airport has begun a major construction project on Runway 31L. It happens that this is the airport's busiest runway, handling about 50% of all take-offs. Airlines serving JFK have been desperate to come up with plans to avoid long delays, but our feeling is that they are inevitable during peak flying hours.One of the goals of the $376 million project is to widen the runway to accommodate the new Airbus 380. Travel Weekly reports that the construction project will result in enough cement being poured to pave 31 football fields along with new asphalt that will weigh as much as six Titanics.

CRUISES:

Azamara is now Club Cruises. In April, numerous changes tot his two-ship RCI-owned fleet, which has been seen, since its inception, as an imitator of Oceania. Azamara is now coming into its own with a more inclusive product offering, informal atmosphere, and significantly more time in port then is currently offered by the larger ships. The Azamara Quest and Journey are part of the former Renaissance fleet and virtually identical to the ships that Oceania bought from the same defunct line.

Two Carnival brands, Princess and Holland America. have announced sharp cutbacks int he number of calls they will make to Alaska in 2011. Alaska sailings are showing some weakness this year, but the real reason for the cutbacks can probably be traced to the promise that Carnival's Chairman, Mickey Arison, made to an industry analysts that the newly-imposed taxes and fees that the various ports were planning to level at the cruise industry was making Alaska seem far less attractive as an investment then it once was.Europe and the Far East will be the primary beneficiaries of Alaska's loss in cruise ship calls.

The industry is all abuzz about the well-publisized launch of the 5,400 guest Oasis of the Seas. The World's largest ship has been receiving rave reviews although we have heard that on an early sailing, the new Carnival Dream sailed the Caribbean with slightly more paid revenue guests. Carnival does not believe in the signature gimmicks for newbuilds and their Inaugurals are relatively tame affairs. But they've been making money while RCI has been building.

A NEW CRUISE LINE FOR BRAINIACS

Using the recently refurbished 350-guest Aegean Odyssey, Voyages to Antiquity is a new cruise line dedicated to historical cruises taking in the classic civilizations of Europe and the Middle East. In other words, this is the line for cruisers more interested in history then bingo, those who would rather share time with an Egyptologist then a Bridge instructor.

VTA is a new venture headed up by Gerry Harrod, the founder of Orient Lines. Two-week cruises during the 2010 Inaugural Season will include complimentary shore excursions, gratuities, wine with dinner, transfers and an "almost free" air add-on program from major gateways. Business Class upgrades are available.

But these historic voyages to Egypt, Classic Greece, and the hearft of the Byzantine Empire will feature something else, something that is tough to describe in a brochure. Expect interesting and intelligent fellow-passengers. Lightweight fun-seekers won't choose one of these voyages. University lecturers will lead one of the industry's most comprehensive onboard lecture program.

Avoid any category below a category G as these cabins are extremely tight at 130 sq. ft. Seriously consider a category C/D, a 200 sq. ft. deluxe balcony stateroom.

The Aegean Odyssey is not a five-star deluxe vessel. Buther refurbishment has beene extensive and she is comfortable. She may also be the only vbessel catering to American travelers who share a genuine interest in the history of the destinations to be visited. For those who have been waiting for a cruise product that caters to travelers of intellect - your ship may have come in.

Since this cruise line will cater to intelligent travelers with a bent for classic civilizations, , expect a fair number of guests to hail from the United Kingdom.

PAUL GAUGUIN ANNOUNCES 2-1 PRICING THIS WINTER

            The Paul Gauguin, Tahiti’s Five-Star cruise experience has just come out with new offers on all 7-14 day itineraries between January 6th and April 6th.

            The pricing initiatives we are seeing are the first from the line’s new owner, Richard Bailey, a respected travel entrepreneur who owns several major hotels on the islands.

           Each of the Gauguin’s itineraries will feature 2-1 pricing PLUS free round-trip economy airfare between Los Angeles and Tahiti on all cruises of ten nights or longer.

            For seven-night sailings, the air is offered as 2-1 rates which is $625 per guest.

            Using the 2-1 rates on the least expensive outside cabin on the March 6th sailing, the per person rate with round-trip air from Los Angeles comes out to $3435.50 per guest. The brochure price for the cabin, without port charges or air, is $5495 per guest. This is a “Real Deal” 2-1 coupled with a very sweet air offer.

            These offers will end on December 18th.

TRIP ADVISOR TELLS USERS REVIEWS MAY BE 'MANIPULATED"

Echoing reports that have appeared in the travel media, the world's largest consumer review site, TripAdvisor, is now placing warning messages on "user generated" reviews it feels may be suspect. The review reads:

"TripAdvisor has reasonable cause to believe that either this property or individuals associated with the property may have attempted to manipulate our popularity index by interfering with the unbiased nature of our reviews. Please take this into consideration when researching your ravel plans."

It was nice of Expedia-owned TripAdvisor to finally make this admission. Traveltruth had reported more than a year ago on the phenomenon of marketing types, using assumed names, trashing competitors and singing the praises of their own properties In fact, we pointed out that this sort of thing has a name, Buzz Marketing, and there is a BM Association that holds annual conventions where members meet to discuss strategies to tear down their competition while touting their own brands on the more popular networking sites.

Since the negative reviews posted on TA are just as suspicious as the positive reviews, the site user is left with an unreliable no man's land of user-generated commentary.

Currently, under Reader's Top Ten Favorite Hotels in Florence, TripAdvisor's guide to the highest-ranking hotels by users, we note that the newly-opened Four Seasons is not mentioned. In fact, by all industry accounts, this is the best hotel in Florence, perhaps in Italy, and a winner of Gold List awards from both Conde Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure Magazine. But it just isn't good enough to please the folks who contribute to Trip Advisor. In fact, the Four Seasons doesn't even make the top 20 hotels in Florence. That is just one of the reasons that folks in the travel industry find TripAdvisor reviews sad and amusing at the same time.

NEWSBRIEFS: 11.13.09 - A CONSUMER'S GUIDE TO CURRENT TOPICS WITHIN THE INDUSTRY

AIRLINES:

The airline industry is atwitter with the news that Continental has left the Delta/Air France/KLM alliance to join with Air Canada, Lufthansa, United and others in The Star Alliance. Many feel that this news, which gives the Star Alliance more slots in the New York area, along with highly valued slots flying transatlantic routes, could be a game changer in terms of securing new frequent flyer loyalists. The Department of Transportation seems to have little problem with the new merger, but the Department of Justice is said to be concerned about the potential for higher fares and their impact on competition.

Meanwhile, the American One World Alliance has been shaken by rumors that key player, Japan Airlines, may be departing as part of its reorganization plan.

United flew its final 737 flight last week. The aircraft type has been part of United's domestic stable fore the past four decades. United is trying to simplify its cost structure by utilizing fewer airline types.

Industry analysts have always attributed part of Southwest's financial success to the fact that it uses the 737 exclusively which greatly simplifies the stocking of parts, staff training, and other cost cutting issues.

CRUISES:

We were there as the largest passenger ship in history, the Oasis of the Seas, (5,600 Passengers) arriveds to great fanfare on a beautiful Friday morning in Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale). As she sailed slowly and ever so cautiously into the channel leading to her berth we noticed that her top deck was only one floor lower then the first high-rise apartment building she passed at the harbor entranceway.

Our view of the arrival was unsurpassed as we were having a delightful breakfast on the aft open deck of the newly launched Seabourn Odyssey. Ironicaly, the just-launched Odyssey is the largest ship in the entire Seabourn fleet because she carries as many as 450 guests.

Given the premium prices Royal Ccaribbean has been chharging for the Oasis, and the aggressive discounting of Seabourn's five-star all-inclusive luxxury, we were quite glad to be viewing the Oasis from a distance.

HOTELS:

The US Hotel Industry was not cheered by news from Smith Travel Research that 3rd quarter occupancy rates have dropped to 61%. the average cost of a daily room dropped almost 10% to $96.84

The largest declines were in Houston, Detroit, Dallas, Phoenix and New Orleans.

Most alarming about 3rd quarter results is the fact that the average occupancy rate has gone down for eight consecutive quarters. Domestic hotels, particularly those in the mid to upper price categories, are under levels of financial stress that are significant. The feeling among industry analysts is that room rates just cannot be raised in the current environment.

REGENT CUTS TIES

Ties, tuxedoes,  and fancy cocktail dresses at sea may be the norm on some lines, but Regent Seven Seas has announced a major restructuring of its onboard dress code.

Effective with it’s 2009 New Year’s sailings, Regent is doing away with all formal dress nights on sailings of fifteen days or less.

Citing “guest feedback”, Regent has now adopted a policy of “elegant casual” dress on all of its ships. They join Sea Dream Yacht Club, as the only five-star rated cruise line with a “no formal night” dress policy.

This new policy was undoubtedly influenced by the success of Oceania Cruises, which has been “smart casual” since its inception. Both Oceania and Regent are owned by Apollo Management.

While working on this new dress code, Regent surely had to consider the preferences of Around-The-World guests and those who elect to do longer itineraries. The new dress code calls for two “formal optional” nights on cruises of sixteen days or longer.

The Yachts of Seabourn will also have new dress recommendations aboard its fleet. Effective witht he New Year, Seabourn will drop all formal nighnts on Caribbean itineraries. One week Europe sailings will have two formal nights on the second and sixth evening.

FROM PIRATES TO THE CARIBBEAN

    Citing problems of security and saying they “look forward to a time when the sea routes (off the coast of Somalia) are controlled enough for us to cruise there for a season”, Seaboun announced the cancellation of fifteen cruises in Africa and the Indian Ocean.

    The five-month series of cruises aboard the Seabourn Legend was scheduled for late 2010 and early 2011. The ship will now be positioned back to the Americas at the end of its Meditteranean season with new Caribbean cruises scheduled for the winter.

     Seabourn’s President and CEO, Pam Conover, was saddened by the cancellations and pointed out the irony that the shoreside destinations remain safe for visitors. But she stressed that “the high seas routes between some of these destinations are currently vulnerable to incidents of piracy that have not been adequately controlled.”

    While interest in visiting Kenya’s game parks, the Seychelles lands, and exotics like Madagascar and Zanzibar remain high, consumer concerns about publicity related tocontinued attacks by gangs located in villages along the Somali coast has clearly affected booking trends on cruise ships that must use sea lanes within reach of the “pirates.”

THREE THINGS WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THE SPREAD OF SWINE FLU:

01 - When flying, in waiting rooms, and in hotel rooms, consider not picking up magazines that have been handled and read by previous guests.

02 - Avoid, for just a while, ice drinks in restaurants, bars, and from room service. Bacteria sticks to ice. Unless the ice is being handled by a sanitized scoop, unlikely, bacteria can quickly spread and be stored in the "ice chest". Ice cubes are the most dangerous item served in most restaurants because they are rarely handled properly.

03 - Don't sneeze into your hands. The latest recommendation is to sneeze, and cough, in the curve of your arm. You might also consider using the Swine Shake - when meeting someone touch clenched fists instead of shaking hands. It's the cool, new way to greet someone in these flu times.

BENCHMARK THE REAL PRICE OF YOUR CRUISE

        We are being bombarded with unprecedented pricing offers on the world’s top cruise lines. Consumers are grabbing at 60% off offers, two-for-ones, and onboard credits with free air.

        But two-for-one off of what? How do you know if the discounted price is a “Real Deal” or a clever marketing ploy?

        Are 2010 brochure prices being raised to accommodate offers of 50% off plus $1,000 early booking? Are you actually going to spend as much for your cruise in 2010 as you would have this year? Or, is 2010 really the year of “Five Star Ship Savings”?

        To find out, we used our RCP (real cruise price) formula. We determined actual per diem costs and then compared them year to year.

        This is the formula we recommend to all of our clients and traveltruth.com visitors.

        Take the per person price of the least expensive, non-obstructed ocean view cabin, including the port charges and government fees.

If your ship has only balcony cabins, use the least expensive category.

Use the “cruise-only” cruise fare, without airfare or insurance.

        Then, take the cost of your cruise per person, including all taxes and divide by the number of nights you will spend aboard the ship.

        This will give you the actual “per diem” cost of your cruise. You can use it to always compare apples to apples. You can use onboard credit offers or free airfare to sway your decision but you will know how the price per day compares to other cruises you have taken or are considering:

SILVERSEAS WIND 10-DAYS ROME-ATHENS OCT. 30, 2009

$652

SILVERSEAS CLOUD 10-DAYS VENICE-ATHENS OCT. 13, 2010

$559

VERDICT – A REAL DEAL AT ALMOST $100 PER DAY LESS

SEABOURN ODYSSEY 12-DAY RT FT. LAUD NOV. 28, 2009

$417

SEABOURN SOJOURN 11-DAY RT FT. LAUD NOV. 19, 2010

$677

VERDICT – NO DEAL. WAIT FOR PRICE TO GO DOWN

CRYSTAL SERENITY 12-DAY ISTANBUL-VENICE SEP. 14, 2009

$498

CRYSTAL SERENITY 12-DAY VENICE-ISTANBUL SEP. 17, 2010

$477

VERDICT – MIXED. GOOD PRICE BUT DRINKS AND GRATUITIES ARE NOT INCLUDED. But note that the $1,000 P.P. Onboard credit will likely cover drinks, gratuities, and shore excursions.

NEW AIRCRAFT UPDATE

If you have a hankering to fly the world's newest, largest commercial jet, you need to head out to LAX for the non-stop Qantas flight to Sydney. Qantas has just taken delivery of its fourth Airbus A380 enabling them to increase service from three to four times per week. This is the only regularly-scheduled A-380 service to and from the United States on the new plane.

Meanwhile, Airbus competitor Boeing has announced that its new generation aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner, will actually do a test flight before the New Year. The Dreamliner Project is more than two years behind schedule. The current estimate is that the first plane will be delivered to its owner during the fourth quarter of 2010. The lucky airline that is first in line:Japan's All Nippon Airways.