FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CruiseCompete celebrates sixth anniversary; Personal service and agent expertise key to continued success

DETROIT, Mich., Sept. 15, 2009 - Savvy vacation travelers shop around and CruiseCompete.com, where travel agents compete to offer consumers the best deals on cruises, celebrates its sixth anniversary today. Despite the overall reduction in cruise demand, the volume of CruiseCompete quote requests increased substantially over the past 12 months.

"Tighter budgets have made our member-agents' ability to provide consumers with the best deals on cruise travel an even more valuable service this year," said CruiseCompete CEO Bob Levinstein.

CruiseCompete member-agents have provided more than five million cruise quotes in response to more than one million requests from consumers planning vacations aboard many of the world's most popular and luxurious cruise lines.

Levinstein credits the Web site's popularity largely to the dedication of its 350+ member agencies, ranging from some of the larger cruise travel aggregators on to smaller boutique travel agencies with deep expertise in specific cruise lines. "The ongoing success of CruiseCompete.com," Levinstein added, validates the importance of personal service in the travel industry.

"In the not-so-distant past, large travel Web sites seemed to be a driving force in the travel industry, with many travelers thinking the best deals were found through large-scale booking agencies that offer so-called mass discounts," Levinstein said. "People have learned, however, that cruise specialists are, and always have been, the key to booking an ideal, personalized, budget-savvy vacation."

So what do the experts at CruiseCompete have to offer that the typical travel Web site does not? Levinstein said an agent's professional life revolves around being an expert in travel. They are educated, responsive and personally accessible, even after "business" hours, he explained. Agents also have "insider information" on deals, incentives and add-ons that are typically not available to the public on most travel Web sites.

"Our member agents are avid travelers and try to treat their clients the same way they would want to be treated when planning a cruise vacation," Levinstein added. "Our clients, many of whom are repeat buyers, appreciate the attention they receive from our agents and their ability to package the best cruise deals possible on a number of lines."

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About the CruiseCompete Concept

CruiseCompete.com was named one of the "25 Best Value Travel Sites" on the Internet by Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine and one of the 36 Web sites that consumers "should know" when planning a vacation, according to The Washington Post. For more information, visit www.CruiseCompete.com.

Since 2003, over 1,000 cruise experts have provided close to 5 million quotes to over 1 Million quote requests. For more information, visit https://www.cruisecompete.com or http://www.CruiseCompeteGroups.com.