Chicago Tops List of America's Most Stressed out Cities; Miami is Most Laid Back

Princess Cruises National Survey Reveals Overwhelming Majority of Americans Do
Not Have Balance in Their Lives, But Are Hopeful to Achieve Balance in Next
Five Years

SANTA CLARITA, Calif., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents of Chicago say they
have the least amount of balance in their lives, while people in Miami claim
to have the most, according to a new survey, the Princess Cruises Life Balance
Barometer. Rounding out the top-five list of most stressed out cities are
Houston, Boston, Los Angeles and San Diego. Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Las
Vegas and Dallas/Fort Worth ranked last on the list, purporting to have the
most amount of life balance.

The national survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive, reveals that
even though Americans continue to strive for the ultimate life balance, which
includes juggling work and personal priorities, only approximately one-quarter
of people in the U.S. actually have achieved this goal. However, the survey
shows that there is a prevailing sense of hope, even in today's tough economic
times, with more than 53 percent of respondents saying they believe they will
achieve life balance in the next five years.

"Princess Cruises launched this barometer because we believe we offer
Americans the perfect escape from their busy, frenetic lives; a way for people
to break away from their everyday routine to refresh and relax," said Jan
Swartz, Princess Cruises executive vice president. "Through the survey, we
hoped to determine if people were feeling out of balance, and if so, what they
need to get back on track. While it's clear from the results that many people
do not have life balance, we were pleased to see that one of the key enablers
to living a balanced life was taking a vacation. In fact, we discovered there
is a direct correlation between taking vacations and having a balanced life,
as 64 percent of people who say they have attained life balance have taken a
vacation in the last year."

According to the Barometer, the top-five things Americans feel will help them
achieve better life balance include realizing financial success, improving
physical fitness, getting organized and taking more breaks and vacations.
However, when it comes to doing what it takes to create more life balance,
Americans aren't taking their own advice, with one in four Americans not
planning to take all their vacation days this year. Of those not planning to
take all of their vacation days, 40 percent of those respondents cite
work-related reasons. And, it's clear they don't want to be alone - one out
of every 10 Americans, and particularly those living in Washington, D.C.,
don't think the President of the United States should be given any vacation
days.

Renowned stress expert and founder of The Stress Institute, Dr. Kathleen Hall,
believes learning how to deal with stress is one of the most important things
Americans can do to lead more balanced lives.

"Life balance is all about having time for work, relationships, relaxation and
fun, but when people are stressed out, it can be hard for them to focus on the
priorities that will help get them back in balance," said Dr. Hall. "Stress
can manifest itself in many different forms, both mentally and physically, so
it's important to know how to identify our key stressors and learn to make
positive choices that help manage stress every day. A crucial element to
maintaining life balance is taking breaks and vacations. Research shows it's
so important to allow yourself time to get away and disconnect from it all so
that you can return to your everyday life rejuvenated and ready to deal with
challenges head on."

The Princess Cruises Life Balance Barometer uncovered issues and trends
regarding life balance both nationally and in 25 cities. Key findings
include:

-- Chicago ranks first as the most stressed out city on the Life Balance
Barometer, followed by Houston, Boston, Los Angeles and San Diego (in
order)
-- The least stressed out cities on the Life Balance Barometer include
Miami, Dallas/Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Cincinnati and Minneapolis (in
order)
-- An overwhelming majority of Americans (72 percent) say they do not
have
balance in their lives, but there is hope; 53 percent say they believe
they will achieve life balance in the next five years
-- Fifteen percent of Americans feel that they will not have life balance
until they are retired
-- Financial stress and the poor economy are among the leading causes for
life imbalance among Americans, followed closely by their need to lose
weight/get fit
-- More than half of Americans say that improving their physical fitness
would create more life balance; however, when asked what they do to
de-stress when they get home from work, only 17 percent of Americans
cited exercise
-- The top-five things Americans do to de-stress at the end of the day
are
changing their clothes, laying down, kissing their spouse/partner,
playing with their pet and reading a book or a magazine (in order)
-- If being provided a free service for a month, Americans are most
likely
to choose a fitness trainer over a home organizer, masseuse or
personal
chef
-- One in five Americans (19 percent) rarely spend any time doing
something
for themselves, and of those that do, nearly a third feel guilty about
it
-- One out of every five Americans say their spouse/partner contributes
most to their stress level, with women more likely than men to say
this.
More men than women say that their boss is the biggest contributor to
their stress
-- Given the opportunity, a strong majority of Americans would not trade
places with many of today's top celebrities to escape their daily
stresses. But for those who would, most men would like to trade
places
with Bill Gates, Tiger Woods or Jay Leno, and most women would like to
swap spots with Ellen DeGeneres, Oprah Winfrey or Michelle Obama
-- Americans are divided about the value of smart phones for business
purposes. Just over half of users say the devices make them more
stressed, while just under half say they actually help them have
balance
-- Twenty-nine percent of users say that being active on Facebook is a
good
stress reliever, but many feel like it is another task they have to
take
care of (16 percent) and feel pressured to provide new updates and
content (13 percent)
-- One in four Americans are not planning on taking all of their vacation
days this year, with 40 percent of those respondents citing
work-related
reasons. Of those who think the President should be given vacation
days, the average number of days they think he should be given is 24
-- One in 10 Americans do not think the President should receive any
vacation days
-- Sixty-four percent of people who say they have attained life balance
have taken a vacation in the last year
-- More than half of Americans say they either work or think about work
while on vacation

-- Two-thirds of Americans say that, given more leisure time, they would
use it to travel. After travel came spending time with family and
friends, volunteering and going to back to school/furthering their
education (in order)

Following is a complete list of the 25 cities surveyed in the Princess Cruises
Life Balance Barometer, ranked in order from lowest to highest levels of life
balance:

America's Most Stressed Out Cities

1. Chicago 9. Tampa (tie) 15. New York
2. Houston 9. Portland, Ore. (tie) 16. Phoenix
3. Boston 10. Seattle 17. Atlanta
4. Los Angeles 11. Washington, D.C. (tie) 18. St. Louis
5. San Diego 11. Baltimore (tie) 19. Minneapolis
6. Denver 12. Sacramento 20. Cincinnati
7. San Francisco 13. Pittsburgh 21. Las Vegas
8. Detroit 14. Philadelphia 22. Dallas/Fort Worth
23. Miami

ABOUT THE PRINCESS CRUISES LIFE BALANCE BAROMETER SURVEY:
This survey for Princess Cruises was conducted by Harris Interactive online
within the U.S. from September 24 to October 1, 2009 among 1,539 U.S. adults
(age 18 and older), plus an additional 5,000 U.S. residents, age 18 and older,
evenly split among 25 select DMAs. For the overall U.S. sample, figures for
age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted
where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the
population. Propensity score weighting also was used to adjust for
respondents' propensity to be online.

The results of the Life Balance Barometer will serve as a benchmark for what
will become an annual survey conducted by Princess Cruises. A full survey
report of the data is available upon request.

ABOUT HARRIS INTERACTIVE:
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long
and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and
technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris
Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and
Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more
information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com

ABOUT PRINCESS CRUISES:
One of the best-known names in cruising, Princess Cruises is a global cruise
and tour company operating a fleet of 17 modern ships renowned for their
innovative design and wide array of choices in dining, entertainment and
amenities, all provided in an environment of exceptional customer service. A
recognized leader in worldwide cruising, Princess offers its passengers the
opportunity to escape completely to the top destinations around the globe,
with sailings to all seven continents, ranging in length from seven to 107
days. The company is part of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE:CCL;
NYSE:CUK).

Additional information about Princess Cruises is available through a
professional travel agent, by calling 1-800-PRINCESS, or by visiting the
company's website at www.princess.com.

Princess also can be found on:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PrincessCruises
Twitter: http://twitter.com/PrincessCruises
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/princesscruises/

News, background information and photography are always available in our
online newsroom.

SOURCE Princess Cruises

Erin Barrier, +1-213-438-8707, ebarrier@golinharris.com, for Princess Cruises;
or Karen Candy of Princess Cruises, +1-661-753-1540,
kcandy@princesscruises.com