Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-05-23

Then there's the fact of pent
have been looking forward thr
they could get on a ship again.
last summer because the ship Of
their dreams was still In process Of
reconversion.
This is their year and they've
been booked since Christmas.
The canny traveller, however, need
not toss away all his plans for lying
stretched out in a deck chair watch
ing the horizon tilt.
There's always hope for cancella-
tions. As a matter OF fact, some
ships which have reported solid
bookings sail with several empty
berths because prospective travellers
cancel and there is too little time
to advertise space.
Then, too, the lines sometimes
make arrangements to allot BLOCK
OF space to q travel agency or ar
airline on an air-and-ship arrange.
ment. The ship line will tell yol
1t Is booked solid but there's 9
chance of space through one of the
agencies holding block of berths
For example, most Of the Great
Lakes cruises are practically sole
out as far as the lines rnemselve!
are concerned. However, Capita
Airlines has made arrangements fol
seven-day cruises combined witt
round-trip passage between Wash
ington and Buffalo. The airlin,
reports it still has space available OF
rail- its trips. The June 10 trip i.
wide-open. July and August ar.
booked heavily but there are still
openings.
A similar situation has developed
on the longest and probably mos
popular of the Saguenay River
cruises-the six-day cruise Of thu
Richelieu to Chicoutimi. The Can.
ada Steamship Line reports JUNE
space is available but july anc
August are sold out. One Of the
travel agencies here. however, say
at last reports space was available
on its 13-day package" tour from
Washington, which includes the
Richelieu trip.
Changes May Open Space.
Last-minute schedule change.
also raise hopes for getting away.
from-it-all on a ship. For instance
United Fruit Co. reports changing
its 11-day cruises to ls-day Journeys
which may force travellers with Inn.
tied time to cancel their reserva-
tons. Leaving New York weekly
the cruises take in Havana, Cristo-
bal in the Panama Canal Zone ano
Puerto Barrios. Guatemala.
The lines themselves vary from
reporting that space is available on
all their ships to warning that heavy
bookings leave last-minute cancel
lations as the only chance. Moore
Mccormack, for instance, reports
it has space on all its 38-day sum-
mer cruises down the East Coast of
South America. Grace Line reports
heavy bookings, particularly In June
and July on its 12-day luxury cruises
to Curacao, Venezuela and Colon
bia and en- its 18-day casual cruises
aboard cargo-passenger boats to
Colombia and Venezuela. Grace
Line trips down the West Coast OF
South America are still restricted
to essential travel)
The same variation is true on the
West Coast, where the Matson Line
reports waiting lists until Septem-
Der for passage on the new Lurline
for Hawaii, while the American
President Line says it has some
space both on its interim fleet" of
dormitory-type vessels and its lux
ury liners across the Pacific. Both
lines have made arrangements with
for one-way by sea, the
other by air.
The would-be cruise passenger
probably will find more comfortable
accommodations than ever before
and more places to 60 than at any
time since 1889. In fact, there are