Every day, more and more people are discovering the all-inclusive pleasures of a cruise vacation. More singles, families, couples, honeymooners, second honeymooners and groups of friends are sailing away on the vacation of their lives. Last year alone, just under five million people enjoyed cruise vacations. When you add it all up, it's easy to see why.

YOU HAVEN'T LIVED UNTIL YOU'VE CRUISED!!! The price of your ticket includes all of your meals and in between snacks. All your on board daytime activities and fun, nighttime parties and entertainment. Plus, a relaxing voyage to some of the most exciting and exotic places in the world. You'll find a cruise ship is a floating resort, with all the things a fine resort has to offer and more. You'll meet new friends - people like ourself - who share the same tastes and interests. And, you can spend your days and nights being as lively or leisurely as you like. The hassles of an ordinary vacation are completely eliminated in one convenient package. You don't have to worry about making dinner or nightclub reservations, running to make connections, packing and unpacking, or expensive surprises at restaurants and nightclubs. You can just lie back and be completely pampered. Or go non stop. Dine like never before. Enjoy one great show after another. Let your cares float away. It's no wonder that more people are taking cruise vacations than ever before. And it's no wonder that, once they get a taste of cruising, they come back for more. Again and again.

As a matter of fact, cruises have a higher percentage of satisfied customers than any other vacation experience. There are cruise vacations to suit every budget, from the cost-conscious to the most luxurious. Even more important, a cruise offers the best travel for your money. Your fare includes all meals, your cabin, on board daytime activities, nighttime parties and entertainment. So for once, you will know what your vacation will cost before you go. Universal Cruises offers a wide variety of cruise line vacations worldwide, many outside of CLIA member cruise lines. Please contact us and allow us to book your next vacation cruise. One of the best reasons to take a cruise has absolutely nothing to do with relaxing, with visiting exotic ports or enjoying classic shipboard life. It has to do with saving money. Now that may sound remarkable, but consider what you get when you purchase a cruise. And then compare it with a land based vacation. When you do, you'll probably arrive at the same conclusion. As a vacation package, cruises are virtually all inclusive. But that's not the same as referring to a ship as a floating hotel. Because no hotel, no matter how lavish, is able to offer what a cruise ship can. When you buy a cruise, for a single price you get accommodations and all of your meals. On a cruise, that can mean upwards of seven or eight designated mealtimes daily, from early morning breakfast on the Promenade Deck to a lavish mid-night buffet. You needn't eat at every meal, of course, but you're not spending a dime for any food during the voyage either.

If there are lecture by naturalists, noted authors or celebrities, they're included in the price. On-board sports and fitness centers are yours to use, and a morning stretch class while watching ice floes on Alaska's Inside Passage is part of the experience. So is entertainment, from lavish Vegas style revues to classical piano concerts. There's never a charge for entering a disco or casino. All you need for the latter is luck. Shipboard movie theaters feature new releases and classics - with a difference: there's no charge to view them, as in a hotel. If that were all that a cruise includes, it would be a great deal. But cruises are often sold as packages, which means they have other components. When you buy a cruise, you may be buying round-trip airfare as well. You may be purchasing ground transfers to get you and your baggage seamlessly from airport to harbor, and visa versa. And there's one element that distinguishes a cruise from all other vacations. That's the voyage itself. That may sound obvious, but think about it. You're being transported from port to port in the most civilized fashion possible. You're not paying for an airline ticket, or taking a car, bus or train. You do what you like, eat what you like, sleep as long as you like and then you're someplace new. It's an experience no hotel can offer. What can make a cruise seem like an even sweeter deal these days is the early-booking incentives that many cruise lines offer. By signing on six months or so before a cruise, you not only get the best choice of cabins, you receive a substantial discount on the price.

So you not only get a lot of vacation for your money on a cruise, but you're able to anticipate costs and plan your budget in a way no other vacation allows, from transportation and accommodation to meals and entertainment. Extra expenses, such as drinks, ship organized sightseeing trips, tips and laundry, or maybe a massage, are at your discretion. Which means that they're under your control. In short, a cruise represents the best all around vacation deal going and gives you the most bang for your buck. the vast numbers of cruise ships, cruise itineraries and packages for every budget mean that it's a vacation with virtually unlimited potential. The only thing extra that's required is your imagination.