I am posting this in a new topic for those who don't read the sea mail.

Here's what Mark Conroy said:

First of all lets just say, it was about 90 minutes, open questions, and he was very open and above board. Lots asked about various new ports, etc. Here are some points we thought you might want first.

In dry dock, they changed all the carpeting (75K sq feet), soft goods, new upholstery, added cabins by removing the cigar bar and changed crew quarters to passenger. They reworked the engines, did a complete saftey check and painted the bottom of the ship. There are 290 passengers on this cruise, of which 210 are society members, a very high number.

They have plans to add another ship to the fleet, about 700 passengers rooms and about 500 sq ft in size. They are trying to compete with the upscale hotel industry not other cruise lines. Delivery of the ship would be 27-30 months after contract signing. The PG will remain in the fleet through 2008 and maybe longer.

The name change to Regent will take place offically March 7th. The Regent name will be used (instead of radisson) because the Carlson group owns the upscale Regent line of hotels and it is felt this name is better suited to the direction the company is taking. The transition to the new name will take 12-18 months, the logo will be changed which will force the ships to be painted with the new logo, new china, new towels etc. will also be required. As they move to the new name they are also considering changing their level of service (i.e. improving), one change being seriously considered is all inclusive. In fact he said he was pretty sure that would happen. This may take place in 2007. He also said that he hopes everyone is willing to pay for it, as they may (of course) need a small increase. They have experimented with all inclusive on the world cruise and have found this increases social interaction onboard. BTW, he said they buy booze cheap, for example, he said they buy gin in 1000 case lots which works out to about $4 a bottle. The mix is more expensive. He is a gin martini drinker.

There is more info, if you have individual questions please ask. he is leaving tomorrow to join the Voyager. Mr. Conroy has been in the cruise business since 1973 is married to a British woman. He attended the University of Miami. He travels 200 days a year.

Radission is a ~$400 million company and made money in 2005 for the first time.

I know this is a little disjointed, but David and i are both writing, as he attended all of it. I was at the spa!!

Cindy and David