BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. -- A travel agency owner here has launched what
he calls "the first true on-line cruise booking engine."
Visitors to the site can book a cruise vacation based on cruise
line, region, date or price range without contacting SmartCruiser
or the supplier by phone or e-mail.
Users also can reserve air/sea packages and purchase travel
insurance via the system. Currently, site visitors can book passage
on American Hawaii Cruises, Carnival, Celebrity, Costa, Crystal,
Holland America Line, Mediterranean Shipping Cruises, Norwegian,
Orient Lines, Premier, Princess, Radisson Seven Seas, Royal
Caribbean, Seabourn, Uniworld River Cruises and Windstar.
Lee Smolinski, SmartCruiser's president and owner of Palm Coast
Travel here, said consumers "want to be able to book cruises on
line just as they book other travel services on line."
Although cruise executives say that less than 5% of all cruises
are now booked on line, Smolinski said researchers predict on-line
cruise sales will total $2.5 billion by 2003.
"With a growing number of consumers buying via the Web and the
high number of new ships being built, we feel that the future for
cruise sales is on the Internet," Smolinski said.
A handful of cruise lines and some cruise-selling agencies
currently allow consumers to book cruises via the Internet, but
most still require some functions to be handled by telephone or
e-mail.
Smolinski said the company is working on a second phase of
SmartCruiser, which will enable agents to book passengers via the
site.