Quark Expeditions has been operating expedition cruises on its chartered ships since 199 to the north and south polar regions. The company pioneered and developed a concept of adventurous journeys in first-class comfort on powerful, polar icebreakers and successfully navigated the first North Pole voyage, the first transpolar voyage through the North Pole, the first Circumnavigation of Antarctica, the first "Far Side" of Antarctica voyage, the first Weddell Sea voyage, the first Northeast Passage and the first Circumnavigation of the Arctic.

*Explorer II, an exploration ship, is chartered.

RSSC was formed in December 1994 with the merger of Diamond Cruises and Seven Seas Cruises, each line operating only one ship. From these modest beginnings, RSSC has joined the major players in the luxury cruise industry with a total of five cruise ships. Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, with headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is part of Carlson Hospitality Worldwide of Carlson Companies, Inc., one of America's largest privately-owned corporations.

As the ResidenSea logo states, one “can travel the world without leaving home”-ResidenSea offers a new concept in cruising: purchasing your floating home onboard a state-of-the-art vessel traveling around the world. Touted as the first ocean-going luxury resort, The World provides 110 spacious, fully furnished residences and 88 guest suites. For rental guests, stays are booked at daily fares.

*Transfer to Bahamas Registry from Norway Registry takes place in early 2005.

** Brilliance of the Seas is operated by RCL (UK) Ltd., a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Royal Caribbean International is operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, which also operates Celebrity Cruises and Royal Celebrity Tours. Royal Caribbean Cruise Line was founded by three Norwegian shipping companies in 1969-Anders Wilhemsen & Co., I.M. Skaugen & Co., and later Gotaas Larsen and a year later its first ship, Song of Norway, entered service. By 1986, several ships had been added to the fleet and the company had created its own exclusive destination resort Labadee on Hispaniola.

In 1988 Royal Caribbean and Admiral Cruises merged. Anders Wilhemsen & Co. bought out its original partners and gained full ownership of Royal Caribbean. Subsequently Wilhelmsen entered into a joint ownership agreement with an entity of the Pritzker family (owner of the Hyatt hotel chain) and the Ofer family who own a major shipping company. As the company grew, adding six more ships to its fleet of four ships over the next five years, it went public, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RCL in 1993. Four years and five more ships later, the company changed its name to Royal Caribbean International in 1997 to reflect its growing global itineraries. In the same year, Celebrity Cruises merged with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. where it operates as a separate brand. By late 2004, RCI’s vessels numbered 18. The company currently is building what will be the world's largest cruise ship, the new ultraVoyager class Freedom of the Seas, with the option for a second build in this category.

Royal Olympic Cruises operates cruises in the Eastern Mediterranean. The company was formed in 1995 when the Greek owned cruise line Sun Line Cruises merged with its Greek rival, the Epirotiki Line. In 1997, ROC began the process of building two new vessels with a new monohull design that would allow the vessels a cruising speed of 27 knots—the Olympic Voyager and the Olympic Explorer, which made their debut in 2000 and 2002 respectively. In 2002 the company changed its name to Royal Olympia Cruises. Financial difficulties forced the company into the process of restructuring its operations. In the process, It has relinquished three ships: the Olympia Countess; and in 2004, the Olympia Voyager and Olympia Explorer were sold to the KfW Bank in March 2004.

*Saga Pearl is chartered.

Saga Cruises is a subsidiary of Saga Holidays, a travel agency that specializes in vacations exclusively for people aged 50 and over (a traveling companion or family member may be aged 40 or over). In 1996 Saga bought its first cruise ship the Saga Rose, quite literally the flagship of the Saga Group. Seven years later the Saga Pearl complements the existing program currently offered by Saga Rose. In 2005 a third ship, the newly refurbished Saga Ruby—the former Caronia—will join the fleet.

The cruises are only available directly through Saga and not through travel agents. All of Saga’s cruising holidays include insurance and cancellation cover.

Founded in 1987 by Norwegian industrialist Atle Brynstead, who wanted to create nothing less than a totally new concept of cruising with absolute dedication to the highest level of personal service found in top-of-the-line hotels and restaurants on land. In March 1998, Carnival Corporation and a group of Norwegian investors acquired Cunard Line and merged it with Seabourn Cruise Line with the goal of retaining the two lines as separate brands. While Seabourn currently still shares services with Cunard where cost efficiencies dictate,Seabourn Cruise Line now operates as an independent unit of Carnival Corporation with its own executive team responsible for the line’s initiatives and results.

The German-based company operates two sailing yachts, which offer cruises in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.

SeaDream Yacht Club is the innovative new yachting venture by Norwegian entrepreneur Atle Brynestad who founded the highly acclaimed Seabourn Cruise Line and Larry Pimentel, who was President of Seabourn under Brynestad and later President and CEO of the merged companies Cunard-Seabourn. The key word for the SeaDream yachting experience is "unstructured." Although the SeaDream yachts depart their first port and arrive at their last port as scheduled, arrivals and departures at intermediate ports are not necessarily cast in stone. Captains have the authority to adjust for local opportunities such as making an unscheduled call at a small port to visit a local fish market or to remain longer in a secluded bay so guests can enjoy a few more hours of water sports Formerly the Sea Goddess twins, both SeaDream I and II were redesigned and refitted this year and are offering cruises in both the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.

Silversea Cruises was created in the early 1990s by the Lefebvre family in Rome, former owners of Sitmar Cruises. The venture was conceived and organized as a unique cruise company that would build and operate the highest quality ships in the ultra-luxury segment of the cruise industry. John Bland, former president of Sitmar, was appointed as Silversea's founding president. In the ensuing years and four ships later, the line has received consistently high marks for its ultra-deluxe cruising services. Recently, Silversea paired with the exclusive international boutique hotel association, Relais & Chateaux to create special onboard culinary programs and unique pre- and post-cruise land programs in conjunction with Relais & Chateaux properties the world over.

Star Clippers was founded by Swedish shipping entrepreneur Mikael Krafft in 1991. Replicas of the old clippers used in sea trading in the 19th century before steam-driven vessels made their debut, the line’s three sailing clippers equipped with auxiliary power are a hundred feet longer than their predecessors and offer state of-art technology and modern cruising embellishments. The company operates cruises in the Caribbean and Mediterranean.

*Wasa Queen is a cruise ferry operating in Singapore and international waters.

Star Cruises, the major cruise line in Asia-Pacific was incorporated in September 1993, representing a bold initiative to tap Asia-Pacific's potential as an international cruise destination. Following the acquisition of NCL Holdings** in early 2000, Star Cruises is now the third largest cruise line in the world presently operating a combined fleet of 18 ships with over 23,000 lower berths. Star Cruises operates cruises on eight ships in the Asia-Pacific region with Singapore, Port Klang (Malaysia), Hong Kong and Keelung as ports of embarkation

**NCL Holdings includes NCL, NCL America, and Orient Lines.

Swan Hellenic is a market leader in discovery cruising, offering a variety of inspiring cruises worldwide for the inquisitive traveler. Cruises focus on the history and culture of the many destinations visited around the world.