More than 500 of the world's most famous, well-to-do and well-connected flew in to Alaska's capital Friday for a top secret party aboard a posh cruise ship. It was being thrown by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen for fellow billionaire Bill Gates.

On hand were Candice Bergen, James Cameron, Debbie Reynolds, Dan Aykroyd and Jeff Goldblum, among others. In addition to rafting and shopping, the stars had to brave an unexpected rainstorm with wind gusts up to 70 mph.

Guests arrived on 20 or so planes, most of which stayed far from the passenger terminal. Guests were whisked by bus to the Crystal Harmony, a 960-passenger cruise ship rented for an undisclosed price to cruise Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage.

(AP) source story.

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-- Thomas M. Terashima (tom@nucleus.com), August 31, 1998

Answers

(I couldn't resist!)

Just imagine Bill Gates and his long-time friend and business partner Paul Allen at the bow of the ship, yahooing and hollering. (Gates is worth something over $50 Billion US dollars, even after today's stock market correction.)

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-- Thomas M. Terashima (titanicshack@yahoo.com), September 01, 1998.