The groundhog Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, predicting

six more weeks of winter, and he and his handler have been offered

a free cruise from Royal Caribbean

MIAMI, Feb. 2 -- A few hours after the famous groundhog
Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his fake tree stump in Punxsutawney, PA at 7:28
a.m. (ET) and saw his shadow - a sure sign of six more weeks of winter - Royal
Caribbean Cruise Line extended an offer of a free Caribbean cruise to Phil and
his handler Bill Deeley. Royal Caribbean currently is sailing seven of its
nine ships in the Caribbean. The other two are sailing to Mexico.

"It's been a tough winter," said Rod McLeod, Royal Caribbean's Executive
Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Passenger Services. "Our heavy bookings
for cruises right now are testament to the fact that this is the ideal time to
get away from the cold on a warm-weather cruise. With six more weeks of
winter on the way, we don't want Punxsutawney Phil to have to shiver through
it. He and Bill can enjoy one of the next six weeks on a Royal Caribbean
cruise."

According to legend, if Punxsutawney Phil doesn't see his shadow, spring is
just around the corner. If he does, six more weeks of winter are on the way.

The Northeastern United States has only recently begun to recover from the
Blizzard of '96 which dumped as much as three feet of snow in some areas.
Currently, the Midwest is experiencing bone-chilling temperatures; in Little
Falls, Minnesota, the low this morning was 43 degrees below zero and it's
snowing across Texas. All of Royal Caribbean's ships are reporting air
temperatures in the mid-80s.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line is one of the world's largest cruise lines and
operates nine modern ships with a total capacity of 15,020 passengers.
Between 1996 and 1998, Royal Caribbean will introduce five more ships with a
total additional capacity of 9,700 passengers. The 1,800-passenger Splendour
of the Seas debuts in Europe on March 31 and the 1,950-passenger Grandeur of
the Seas begins year-round Caribbean cruises from Miami on December 14. Two
more ships will follow in 1997 and one more in 1998. The award-winning
vessels of the fleet offer passengers 54 different itineraries and 134
destinations and attractions in the Caribbean, Mexico, Bahamas, Alaska, Panama
Canal, Bermuda, Europe, the Far East and Hawaii.

NOTE: According to a recent on-line poll by Prodigy Services Co., bad
weather has prompted about one in three respondents to book a warm weather
vacation and nearly three out of five chose a warm-weather resort or a cruise.
Seven out of ten want a warm weather vacation of a week or less, the same
length as a Royal Caribbean cruise in the Caribbean or to the Bahamas or
Mexico.