Travelocity has added three additional lines to its current cruise offering –Orient Lines, Oceania Cruises and MSC Cruises. The study, conducted by Keynote, the leading provider of customer experience research services, also noted that “one of the biggest advances over the past year was improvement in Travelocity´s online booking process.”

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) said passenger growth climbed during the third quarter of 2005 as member companies saw increases in worldwide and North American passenger numbers for the first three quarters of the year. CLIA member cruise lines carried 3.04 million worldwide guests, a 6 percent increase over the same period in 2004, and North American passenger counts were up 8.6 percent during the same period, to 2.55 million guests, up from 2.35 million in the year-ago period.

EasyCruise took a cheeky shot at Carnival Cruise Lines in a new print ad promoting its Caribbean cruises. The ad says: “If spending nights at sea in tacky ballrooms full of old folks is not your idea of a holiday, then easyCruise.com is for you,” followed by “any similarity with Carnival Cruise ships is purely coincidental.”

The majestic 150,000-ton Queen Mary II, with 2,464 passengers and 1,295 crew onboard, made its first of five stops in St. Kitts for the 2005/2006 cruise ship season last week. The world´s largest and most expensive cruise liner docked at Port Zante from New York.

Next summer, Silversea Cruises is offering the well-heeled, sophisticated traveler eleven opportunities to explore the unspoiled beauty of Alaska from the comfort and incomparable luxury of its all-suite, 382-guest Silver Shadow, the only ultra-luxury cruise ship scheduled to call in Alaska in 2006. From the beauty of snowcapped volcanoes and ice-blue glaciers, to the rugged grandeur of Misty Fjords, the privileged guests of Silversea will explore one of the world´s last great untamed frontiers, as they sail in the pampering luxury of their intimate, six-star ship on voyages ranging from nine to 14 days.

Celebrity Cruises will tempt travelers´ taste buds once again with its “Savor the Caribbean” series. For the third year, the line known for fine dining is pairing some of the hottest chefs with one of the industry´s highest rated ships, Celebrity´s Infinity. The “Savor the Caribbean” series will take place onboard Infinity´s seven-night Eastern Caribbean sailings from January 15 through March 12 with a host of celebrated chefs.