off overseas.

Alliances between hotel chains and cruise companies are leading to a new type of "cruise and stay'' holiday from the US -- a programme which Bermuda began months ago.

And although the Island's involvement with the combination vacation has not been a runaway success, the idea is catching on overseas.

As well as offering holidays that combine cruising and a hotel stay, the participating companies are sharing knowledge about their customers in a bid to attract business.

Here the idea of a combination holiday has not been a huge hit, with the designated cruise and stay ship, the Crown Dynasty , only selling 151 holidays by the middle of July.

The holidays have been linked with a number of Island hotels but in the US, cruise companies are joining forces with major hotel brands.

Starwood Hotels have formed a marketing partnership with Carnival, which brings Cunard Line, Carnival, Holland America and other cruise lines together with Westin, Sheraton, St. Regis and Four Points hotels.

In addition, Royal Caribbean, which operates Bermuda vessels, Nordic Empress , Horizon and Zenith , has launched packages with its ships and the Bahamas' resort of Atlantis.

The company is also planning to have holidays marrying a cruise from Miami with stays at hotels at Universal Studios in Florida.

According to a report in the trade publication, Leisure Travel News, the merger of Carnival's collection of "World's Leading Cruise Lines'' with Starwood, creates a massive customer database.

Officials from the organisations believe there are significant numbers of clients who have cruised or stayed in their hotels, but never done both.

A spokesman for the Starwood group said discussions between them and Carnival revealed similarities in their customer bases.

He said customers from the different types of cruise companies and hotel brands matched quite well with each other.