NEW YORK, Jan. 30 -- The movie "Titanic" may chronicle the last
desperate hours of a sinking ship, but it's not hurting what was already
expected to be a busy cruise sales season, according to Travel Weekly, the
industry's leading newspaper.

In fact, says Fran Golden, Travel Weekly's cruise editor, "cruise line
officials are reporting impressive sales for January's Wave Week and Wave
Month. Cruise lines traditionally regard this early booking activity as a
barometer of cruise interest for the coming year.

"The cruise executives I spoke with suggested that the popularity of the
movie is certainly not hurting the industry," Golden said.

For example, a Carnival spokesperson is quoted as saying "People who have
seen it told me it would not deter them from taking a cruise," a Royal
Caribbean spokesperson said the movie calls as much attention to the "glamour
and excitement of a cruise" as to the potential for disaster, and Rick James,
senior vice president of Princess Cruises, said the movie is probably having
"a positive spin" on the line's bookings.

Among the cruise lines reporting strong bookings:

-- Royal Caribbean officials said the line experienced a one-day record

number of bookings, 21,827, on Jan. 12, and a record number of

reservations calls, 29,000 (14 percent more than the year before), the

same day.

-- Princess Cruises estimated a 40-percent increase in phone volume.

-- Holland America Line reports that on the first Monday of January, the

line experienced the most phone calls in the company's history.

-- Orient Lines said its reservations for the second week in January were

up 200 percent over last year.

And, since publication of the Travel Weekly story, Carnival has reported
record bookings of 20,773 on Jan. 27, according to Golden.

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