FW&PCOA Region 7 Pre Holiday 2008 Group Cruise NEWS FLASH! - For anyone interested in seeing what the ship is like before you book, our travel agent is arranging for a FREE lunchtime onboard visit to our ship's identical sister ship (because our ship won't be in Florida until November) now DEFINITELY scheculed for SUNDAY 29 JUNE 2008 in MIAMI (earlier tentative dates were postponed due to a miscommunication at the cruise line.) You will be escorted onto the ship, where you can take a tour or explore on your own, grab a lunch, see the sights, look at different cabin types, whatever, for several hours. You WILL have to REGISTER IN ADVANCE for security reasons, and it is limited to the FIRST 35 PEOPLE who call our travel agent, Sam Guess, at 800-874-6040 and give him your required ID info. It will be a fun experience, hope to see you there!

FW&PCOA Region 7 Pre Holiday 2008 Group Cruise

As members of the Florida Water & Pollution Control Operators Association, we WORK with water every day. Here in the Broward, Miami-Dade & Monroe Counties area of Region 7 we thought it was about time we got some of our fellow members and their friends & family together to PLAY on the water! South Florida IS the cruise capital of the world, so we are proud to be offering you the opportunity to come join us for a fun & exciting vacation cruise along with others in your profession. You don't HAVE to be a member of Region 7, or even of FW&PCOA at large, to join us. All Regions are welcome, as are your friends & family, or ANYONE who'd like to come along and enjoy the fun, but we do expect that the majority of our own little group probably WILL be fellow members whom you will share much in common with through our profession in the water & sewer utilities industry, and some of whom you may already know socially through work or through other FW&PCOA activities locally or statewide.

[Our Mascots Willing Water & Able Sewer]

We will be sailing round trip out of Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades to the Eastern Caribbean for 8 nights, from Saturday 13 December to Sunday 21 December of 2008, so that those of us who work a standard monday through friday work week can squeeze the entire 8 night voyage into just 5 vacation days, and still get home before Christmas. You'll really appreciate all that time, as we will be sailing on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Brand new (as I write this they are still building it!) and LARGEST in the world cruise ship, The Independence Of The Seas, so big & exciting that it's a destination in itself! Here's a list of just a few of it's many special features:

SHIP FACTS:

Passenger Capacity: 3,634
Gross Tonnage: 160,000
Length: 1,112'
Max Beam: 184'
Draft: 28'
Cruising Speed: 21.6 knots

SHIP HIGHLIGHTS

FlowRider®
H2O Zone
Cantilevered whirlpools
Rock-climbing wall
Ice-skating rink
Royal Promenade
Extensive WiFi & cell phones access
Full-size, flat-screen room TVs
Themed bars and lounges
Adventure Ocean® youth facilities
Fitness Center and Day Spa
Full-size Everlast boxing ring
Casino RoyaleSM
Sports Pool
Full-size sports court
9-hole miniature golf course
Johnny Rockets® '50s-style restaurant
Portofino Italian Restaurant
Chops Grille
Ben & Jerry's® ice cream

As you can see, the ship is really quite a destination in & of itself, but of course, you'll also want to get off and see some fun & interesting places along the way. In addition to three full days at sea to really explore & enjoy this huge ship, we also have four visits to four very different Caribbean ports where you can get off the ship and have some fun seeing the local sights. There's the old Spanish heritage & architecture and lively nightclubs of San Juan, the unspoiled natural beauty & duty-free shopping haven of St Thomas, the European flavor of half-Dutch & half-French St Maarten (we dock on the Dutch side of the island, but if you want to see the French side, it's just a short taxi ride away), and the cruise line's own "private desert island" type sun & fun beach resort of Labadee. Here's our full schedule at all of the ports:

Are You "Willing & Able" To Come Sail With Us?...

*** EARLY BOOKING PRICES NOW EXPIRED! *** *** Please note that as of 1 June 2008 the cruise line took back all unsold and/or undeposited cabin space from our reduced price early booking room block, and the original prices as listed below may no longer be available. We are leaving them up just for comparison purposes. If you were deposited and/or paid before 1 June, your original rates are locked in. If you have NOT yet booked, you still CAN do so, but the rates will likely be HIGHER, and will vary based on whatever the cruise line's "going rate" is when our travel agent requests a room for you. He will still be able to include you in our group, so you should still qualify for our other group benefits, including the $100 free onboard credit, and free cancellation up until 6 October 2008, as detailed in the original info listed below ***

Our travel agent has managed to get us a great deal on this particular sailing, at several hundred dollars per person below the normal busy season rates for this class of ship, as an incentive to help fill cabins in their "slow" season between Thanksgiving & Christmas. He is initially holding us a block of 40 cabins, split equally between Inside (windowless), Promenade (with a window that looks out on the ship's interior Grand Promenade shopping plaza & mall), Outside (with a window looking out on the sea view), and Balcony (with a window & private balcony.) The earlier you book your reservation the better, as it will get you a higher priority for any free promotional cabin upgrades that we may receive through the group, and all deposits & payments remain FULLY REFUNDABLE from the cruise line through 6 OCTOBER 2008, so reserve NOW to lock in your place in our group. In addition to getting us the cruise line's lowest rates of the year for this sailing, we are also receiving a special GROUP BONUS of a $100 per cabin onboard credit that can be used as you choose, on drinks, shore tours, or whatever! Another group benefit we are due to get is an overall group credit, which will vary based on the total number of double occupancy rooms that we book, and we expect to be able to give that back to you as a REBATE of probably between $50 - $100 Per Cabin, either directly credited off of your payment, or more likely as a refund after the trip, depending on how & when the cruise line frees up the funds to the travel agent for what are called "TC Credits" in the business. Just one more great benefit of being in a group, that we plan to pass on to you. Here are what the four different basic types of cabins look like, and our rates per person (for standard two in a room double occupancy):

Inside $799 Per Person DO

Promenade $859 Per Person DO

Oceanview $999 Per Person DO

Balcony $1098 Per Person DO

Those ORIGINAL EARLY BOOKING RATES (no longer guaranteed, see note above) are for the first TWO passengers in a room. All rooms have two single beds that can be locked together to make one king or queen sized bed. Additional 3rd & 4th passengers sharing the same room (in either a sofa-bed or an upper bunk-bed that folds out of the wall) pay a much lower rate. 3rd & 4th passengers in a cabin are discounted to a significantly lower ad-on rate, usually just $499 depending on the cabin catagory & capacity - the cheapest rooms can not accommodate extra 3rd & 4th passengers, but if you step up to a slightly higher rate room that CAN take the extra 3rd & 4th passengers, then although you will pay a little MORE on the first two passengers, you can then save big on the highly discounted 3rd & 4th ones, at a large OVERALL savings for your family or group sharing the triple or quad room. It can sometimes be a bit confusing, so if you want a triple or quad room, ask our travel agent to personally price it for you when you make your reservations and you could save hundreds off your overall booking price. Unfortunately, due to cruise line policies, single occupancy of a cabin will be at twice the double rate (but if you are a single, and want to share a cabin with another single to save money, we will TRY to find you a roommate who wants to do the same, but no promises...) In addition, there are some taxes & fees on top of your per person cabin rates, specifically Government Taxes of $51.10 per person and a Fuel Surcharge of $64 per person (up from the original $40) ( which is based on $8 per night x 8 nights, up from the original $5 per night.) Our travel agent, Sam Guess at Peter Berlin's Travel Center, can answer any questions you have concerning your total charges when you contact him to make your reservations, which will NOW be individually calculated for you on a case-by-case basis, based on the cruise line's "going rate" at the time you book.

To Reserve Your Cabin
Please Contact Sam Guess at Peter Berlin's Travel Center
1291 S Powerline Rd, Pompano Beach, FL, 33069

800-874-6040 (Out Of Area)

954-974-6040 (Local Number)

Florida Seller Of Travel Licence #ST36212

Our EXCLUSIVE Travel Agency Is

You MUST Book Through Them To Join Our Group!

To Reach The Organizer Of This Event, Region 7 Newsletter Editor Dan Harris,
E-Mail him At
ExtraFileSpace@aol.com

To Book Reservations,
Call, Or E-Mail Sam Guess at The Travel Agency At
sam@peterberlintravel.com

Various copyright photos & trademarks belonging to Royal Cabibbean Cruise Line are used throughout this web site with their permission solely for the promotion of a cruise with them. Willing Water & Able Sewer characters are used by FW&PCOA with the permission of the original copyright/trademark owner. Ship's registry Bahamas.