MORRISTOWN, N.J., Jan. 5 -- Continuing their long-standing
tradition in a new venue, award-winning cruise experts Shirley Slater and
Harry Basch announced their selections for the best and worst from the past
year in cruising in the January issue of CruiseReports newsletter. Those
meriting praise receive champagne, while silliness at sea and boneheaded moves
lead to keelhauls -- an old-time punishment involving being dragged under a
ship while it is underway.

Champagne went to five cruise lines and two individuals. Winners included
Silversea Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, First European Cruises, Princess
Cruises and Society Expeditions. Slater and Basch also singled out Michel
Roux for champagne honors as "the culinary genius behind the fine food served
aboard Celebrity Cruises." A special posthumous toast also was raised to Ted
Arison, founder of Carnival Cruise Lines, who died late last year.

On the other side of the ledger, Premier Cruises, Royal Olympic Cruises and
American Safari Cruises were sentenced to keelhauls, as were the city of
Juneau, Alaska; ships officers who keep passengers in the dark during
emergencies, and the Royal Caribbean International engineers who falsified
environmental reports.

CruiseReports newsletter has set a new industry standard for cruise ship
ratings with its monthly reports featuring ship reviews reflecting the
consensus judgment of actual cruise passengers. CruiseReports compiles its
cruise ship ratings -- including the benchmark Value Index and Quality Rating
-- based on reports received directly from volunteer reviewers who rate ships
on which they have recently sailed. The newsletter publishes the averaged
numerical ratings received along with quotes from the reviewers' comments.

Editorial and circulation offices for CruiseReports are located at 25
Washington Street, Morristown, NJ 07960; telephone, 973-605-2442, and fax,
973-605-2722. The publication is also available on the World Wide Web at
http://www.cruise-report.com. Address e-mail correspondence to
cruises@gti.net. Subscriptions are $69.95 per year (12 issues) in the U.S.,
and US$77.95 in Canada. International subscriptions are available for US$134
per year.

/NOTE TO EDITORS: For a fax or e-mail copy of the complete "Champagne and
Keelhauls" column appearing in the January issue of CruiseReports, please
contact Michael Brown, Editor-in-Chief, at 973-605-2442, or e-mail to
cruises@gti.net./
05:20 EST