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7 BLUE SEAS DEVELOPS INNOVATIVE SHIPSHOPPER INDEX™ Outdated 'star-rating' system on the way out JANUARY 14, 2003 - (Pasadena, CA) 7 BLUES SEAS, the most innovative and comprehensive place on the Internet (www.7blueseas.com) to plan and book a cruise vacation is rolling out a revealing proprietary index, called the ShipShopper Index to help consumers compare cruises, it was announced by 7 BLUE SEAS Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Daniel Kwoh. The ShipShopper Index is the industry's first truly objective ship rating system, far surpassing the outmoded and subjective 'star-rating' system, which labeled ships with a certain number of stars to represent the level of amenities and quality of facilities that a particular ship has to offer. "The ShipShopper Index advances the 7 BLUE SEAS mission of providing cruise vacationers with the most objective information possible to allow them to make the best choice within their budget," said Kwoh, whose career highlights include co-inventing the VCR Plus+ system and earning the title 'Best Entrepreneur' from Business Week Magazine. "This index represents, on a relative scale, what cruise passengers have paid and continue to pay, on a per diem basis, for cruising on a particular ship." The new index employed by 7 BLUE SEAS is determined by objectively analyzing all current prices of a ship over an extended period of time, factoring in the variables of seasonality and itinerary, to compute a price-based index for that ship. The index is based on the least expensive yet widely available cabin category for that ship, which prevents cabins priced as loss leaders from skewing the results. The ShipShopper Index provides opportunities for consumers to maximize their vacation dollar in at least two ways. First, it allows them to more affectively research their cruise vacation options by presenting a list of ships ranked by their relative prices. With the ShipShopper Index, consumers may be surprised to learn that cruise ships they once believed beyond their budgets, are, in fact, affordable vacation options. Second, the Shopper Index can signal a cruise of better value when compared to similarly priced cruises with similar itineraries. For example, someone trying to decide between two identical 7-day Western Caribbean cruises priced at $599 on different ships would need only to look at the ShipShopper Index. If one ship has a ShipShopper Index of 120 while the other has an index of 100, then the first cruise with a 120 represents a much better deal as vacationers have been consistently paying 20% more for that ship. "The obvious benefit to the consumer is that the ShipShopper
Index allows them to immediately identify cruises that are genuinely
great deals," added Kwoh. "Cruises are often pushed based
on low price, leaving the consumer to sort out which are really
bargains from which are just low-priced by design. Until now there
has not been a truly objective tool for the consumer to make that
choice." 7 BLUE SEAS already separates itself from practically all other cruise vacation sites with its enriching wealth of information about destinations, cruise lines, and specific ships. Over 20,000 photos plus hours of cruise ship and port city virtual video tours makes 7 BLUE SEAS more like an interactive travel book and travel agent rolled into one. The site contains exclusive articles on a wealth of subjects written by 7 BLUE SEAS' staff of professional travel writers, making it the definitive source for unbiased information. 7 BLUE SEAS is the most objective and comprehensive place on the
web for anyone interested in taking a cruise. # # # Press Contact: Jonathan Zaleski |