Seabourn and Silversea Top Luxury Cruise Lines

The 2006 Luxury Brand Status Index survey rates Seabourn Cruise Line as the most prestigious cruise line, followed closely by Silversea Cruises and last year's winner, Lindblad Expeditions.

Crystal Cruises rounds out the A List of luxury cruise lines. Regent Seven Seas Cruises also moved up in the rankings of the survey, which was conducted by the Luxury Institute.

Seabourn received the strongest ratings in delivering consistently superior quality and was rated the cruise line "most used by people who are admired and respected" by wealthy consumers.

Silversea nearly matched Seabourn in uniqueness and exclusivity scores and in making the customer "feel special across the entire customer experience." The high net worth customers rated Seabourn and Silversea as "worthy of a significant price premium."

"We live in a transparent world where the only expert opinions that count are those of consumers, not pundits or reviewers," said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. A nationally representative sample of 1,000 wealthy consumers was surveyed online. Respondents had an average household income of $616,000 and average net worth of $3.8 million.

Survey results are weighted to match the demographic and net worth profile of the same audience according to the latest Survey of Consumer Finances from the Federal Reserve. For more information, call 646-792-2669 or visit www.luxuryinstitute.com.