MORRISTOWN, N.J., Jan. 11, 2001 -- The luxury sailing ship Wind Surf, the elegant ocean liner Zaandam and the Tahiti-based R3 dominated top honors in the annual CruiseReports' Head of the Class awards. Announced in the newsletter's January 2001 issue, the awards recognize ships reviewed last year that earned the highest Quality Rating and Value Index scores based on independent surveys of cruise passengers.

All three winners set record marks in their categories. "The record marks in all three cruise categories this year mainly reflect the low prices available today even for premium and luxury cruises," noted CruiseReports Editor-in-Chief Michael Brown. "Generous early booking discounts and other price breaks combined with sustained high Quality Rating scores from passengers to produce some extraordinary Value Index numbers for the Class of 2000."

Windstar Cruises' 308-passenger Wind Surf led the way both in the Lifestyle Cruise category and overall with a combined value and quality rating of 27.7 points. That score set a new record for the nearly 200 ship reviews published by CruiseReports in the past six years.

Holland America Line, Windstar's parent company, also earned honors in the Class of 2000 rankings, as the Zaandam took Head of the Class honors in the Resort Cruise category with an overall score of 23.0. That marked a new high for the category.

In the Tour Cruise category, Renaissance Cruises won the top prize with the R3, one of the line's new series of vessels. Operating in Tahiti year-round, the R3 scored an overall score of 19.7, again a record high for the category.

The complete report on the Class of 2000 awards is available at the CruiseReports website, http://www.cruise-report.com.

CruiseReports has set a new industry standard with its uniquely objective cruise ship ratings based on the judgments of paying cruise passengers who rate ships on which they have recently sailed. The newsletter publishes the averaged numerical ratings received along with quotes from the reviewers' comments.

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