Press Release

CRUISE WEST EXPANDS MANAGEMENT TEAM WITH THE APPOINTMENT OF TWO KEY PERSONNEL

July 17, 2006

SEATTLE, WA, July 14, 2006 – Cruise West has announced two new key appointments: Townsend (Tom) Carman as senior vice president, marine and hotel operations and George Howell as vice president, revenue development. Carman will oversee all marine and hotel operations, and Howell’s responsibilities include management of all reservations operations, sales, revenue and inventory.

Carman brings more than 30 years of marine and management experience to this position. He most recently served as CEO of Oregon Rail Holdings and American West Steamboat Co. for two years, and previously served as COO of the Delta Queen Steamboat Co. Prior to this position, Carman acted as head of operations for the seven-vessel fleet of American Classic Voyages. In the 1980s, he served as vice president of operations for Clipper Cruise Line and supervised the design and construction of the Yorktown Clipper, now part of the Cruise West fleet. Carman earned a Bachelor of Science in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

With a dynamic career of 28 years in the travel business, Howell has a proven sales growth management background. He most recently served as director of travel services and branch office sales and operations for AAA Arizona where, under his management, sales doubled in four years. Howell also served as director of travel services for AAA Washington for six years and spent 16 years with Doug Fox Travel, where his positions included manager of their wholesale division and director of marketing. Additionally, Howell has served on several major cruise line and tour operator advisory boards and on the State of Washington’s legislative Blue Ribbon committee for travel in the 1990s.

“The continued growth of Cruise West’s fleet, revenue and geographic scope has given us the opportunity to expand our management team in sales and in operations,” said President & CEO Jeffrey Krida. “Both Tom and George bring great experience from successful careers in cruise operations and travel retailing, and we are fortunate to have them on our team.”

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Cruise West – a second-generation, family-owned business based in Seattle – offers the opportunity to explore remote, worldwide locales by providing distinctive, one-of-a-kind, personalized itineraries not offered by the traditional larger cruise lines. Cruise West’s smaller ships – nine in all – hold between 78-138 people each, and the casual style onboard encourages relaxation and congenial interaction between guests and crew alike. The experience is personally enriching through expert Exploration Leaders providing onboard narrative and lectures, special local guests from a wide variety of backgrounds, and the library provided on each vessel. All have forward lounges and ample outdoor deck space for viewing and photographing wildlife and scenery. All vessels are also equipped with inflatable landing boats for close-up exploration of remote areas and shore landings.

Destinations served include: Alaska and the Bering Sea, British Columbia, Columbia & Snake Rivers, California Wine Country, Mexico's Sea of Cortés, Costa Rica & Panama, Japan, the South Pacific, and the Kuril Islands.