With cruise ships making 242 stops on Dominica this cruise season there are plenty of reason for Dominica’s tourism authorities to be very happy.

The official 2006-2007 cruise season began last week in Uruguay with the arrival in Montevideo of the MS Amsterdam carrying 1.300 tourists and 600 crew members. The 61.000 tons displacement MS Amsterdam belonging to the Holland America Cruise Line arrived from Rio de Janeiro and is scheduled to continue for Buenos Aires.

At this time last year, Ambassadors International was not known in the cruise business. This year, it owns seven river ships, has established a cruise division specializing in North American river cruises and as a result posted an enormous year-over-year gain.

Celebrity Cruises is serving up another sizzling “Savor the Caribbean” series featuring some of the nation’s hottest chefs. Celebrity’s fourth annual series will take place on Millennium’s seven-night Eastern Caribbean sailings from January 7 through March 4 next year.

Carnival Cruise Lines’ 2,758-passenger Carnival Triumph will operate a new four-port seven-day “Exotic Eastern Caribbean” itinerary from Miami beginning April 2007 that features a combination of diverse and captivating ports of call.

Cruise pricing and booking trends are improving and demand for Royal Caribbean International is the strongest among the major cruise brands, according to a monthly survey of 450 travel agents conducted by Bank of America leisure analyst Michael Savner.