VANCOUVER – Internet shoppers will soon be booking Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises on the Uniglobe Travel Online Inc. (UTO) Web site in real time, guaranteed of getting the cabin they want at a set price.

"UTO has entered into a strategic partnership with Royal Caribbean Cruises to offer our Web customers real-time booking of cruises for Royal Caribbean and Celebrity," said Michael Dauberman, UTO's Senior Vice President of Operations. These cruises, which can be booked on-line by customers, will be available at www.uniglobe.com as well as at the Web sites UTO is currently supplying cruise product, including Microsoft Expedia, Internet Travel Network, and Leisure Planet.

The company expects to provide the real-time bookable feature on the UTO as well as its customer cruise Web sites during the first quarter of 1999, which will make UTO one of the first sites to allow customers to complete their cruise bookings on-line.

"Internet customers have been able to research and begin the process of booking cruises on-line for some time now," said Dauberman, "although at some point the customer would need to complete the booking on the phone with an agent. By providing real-time cruise bookings, UTO is giving Web customers the ability to complete the transaction and book their cruise on-line with a set price, assurance the inventory is available, and ability to purchase with a credit card."

UTO chose Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises to provide the first featured cruise product to be booked on-line in real time on the site because the cruise lines are innovative in bringing their cruise offerings to travelers around the world. "Our goal of providing real time booking for cruises on the Internet is one that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity sees as positive for the marketplace and of interest to many Web-savvy consumers," said Dauberman.

Dauberman noted that UTO will soon provide cruise shoppers on the Internet the absolute in service - they can book on-line in real time at the UTO site any time of the day or they can contact one of UTO's agents and get personal service as they work through their shopping decision. "We plan to have one of the widest selections of cruise product available to be booked on-line by our consumers," said Dauberman.

"Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are pleased to partner with UNIGLOBE on this project," said Annette Hogan, director of Marketing Automation for Royal Caribbean. "Our two cruise lines have been the industry leaders in the development of marketing automation for cruise sales. We see this as another step in the evolution of automated sales and giving our customers more options in the way that they can book a cruise vacation."

In addition to today's partnership announcement, UTO also responded to recent speculation in the market. The Company has confirmed it is in discussions with a number of travel and Internet-related companies, including America Online, with regard to a broad range of potential business relationships. However, there can be no assurances that any of these discussions will result in significant business relationships.

Uniglobe Travel Online Inc. is a publicly traded company on the Vancouver Stock Exchange. Its majority shareholder, Uniglobe Travel (International) Inc., is the world's largest single brand travel franchise company with annual sales of C$2.7 billion. UTO provides products and services to leisure and business travelers as well as operating a travel fulfillment center for various on-line companies. Strategic partners include Microsoft Expedia, Galileo International, Internet Travel Network, , and Leisure Planet. Visit the UTO Web site at www.uniglobe.com.

Stephen W Lewis
VP, Corporate Communications, UNIGLOBE Travel Online
(604) 718-2642
Uniglobe.com