Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships (Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships) [Paperback]

Douglas Ward (Author)

Book Description

Series: Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships | Publication Date: October 15, 2005

This complete guide to ocean cruising and cruise ships will help readers choose the right cruise for them. It includes in-depth reviews on 260 cruise ships and covers everything from cuisine to on-board entertainment. "Ocean Cruising and Cruise Ships" is internationally recognised as the definitive cruise guide.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Buy the Berlitz Ocean Cruising and Cruise Ships by Douglas Ward; it's excellent. Independent on Sunday. Informative about all aspects of cruising... sensible and comprehensive. Sunday Telegraph. The point system used to evaluate the ships provides an excellent basis for comparing ships and cruise lines. About.com Succeeds in taking an extensive subject, thoroughly researching it and serving it up in palatable prose for readers. Travel Weekly, New York Indispensable for choosing a ship the first time, or for experienced cruisers wanting to try a new ship. Tourist Echo, Paris.

About the Author

In January 2003, the renowned Berlitz Publishing became part of the Langenscheidt Group. The Langenscheidt Publishing Group, the premier group of map and travel companies, offers over 4,000 North American and international street maps, road maps, atlases, language-learning, bilingual dictionaries, and travel-related products covering countries, cities, and languages in every continent.

Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Berlitz Publishing; Revised edition (October 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9812467394
• ISBN-13: 978-9812467393
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,794,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great book - unless you already own previous editions!, March 8, 2006

By 

SS Calgary (Calgary, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships (Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships) (Paperback)

The Berlitz Ocean Cruising and Cruise Ships guide is an authoritive guide to cruising, the cruise lines, as well as a full guide to almost every individual ship sailing today.

The book is well written, and is one of the only guides that accurately positions the ships within a sensible rating system. Wheras other cruise guides will rate some Carnival ships 4.5 stars, and give a paltry 3.5 or 4 stars to some of the Holland America and Celebrity 'Premium' line ships, this guide has a logical rationale for it's ratings, with points awarded for 5 distinct categories to give an overall 'score' and star rating.

All in all - a great guide for anyone interested in cruising, and indispensible for anyone in the travel industry selling or marketing cruises.

Two caveats however. First - the book is written from the perspective of a veteran cruiser who has a great insight into the cruise industry - but unfortunately there is a definite edge of 'snootyness' throughout the book. Cruise lines are criticised for offering 'mindless parlor and deck games', and many of the elements of mass cruising are sneered at.

Whilst there doubtless those who share this perspective and would prefer a refined, formal, upscale cruise vacation, there are also those than enjoy the 'fun ships' of Carnival or the activities of Royal Caribbean.

In short - you have to be prepared to read through a fair amount of reviews carrying a heavy dose of disdain for such 'common' activites.

My second major complaint about this book (and the reason I am returning it for refund): I already own the 2005 copy of the book, and sadly, the 2006 copy is nothing more than a copy and paste rehash.

True - there are some new additions, and a handful of reviews which have been 'tweaked'. But the vast majority of the book is just a word for word reprint of the 2005 edition. For instance, whilst the overall score for the Celebrity ship 'Zenith' has been lowered in this new edition - the review is a word for word reprint of the 2005 edition, and it still refers to 'forthcoming improvements and refurbishments due to take place in early 2005'... I find it disappointing that after a ship has a major refurbishment the reviews are hopelessly out of date and the 2006 edition refers to events 'due to take place' in early 2005!

If you don't already own a previous edition, then I'd recommend this book, but be prepared for some out of date information.

If you own a previous edition like myself, then don't waste your money on what is essentially an almost identical reprint.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Know your stuff, July 26, 2006

By 

P. H. Macdonnell (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships (Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships) (Paperback)

Douglas Ward certainly knows his stuff. The 2006 edition is the best yet with loads of relevant information on the ships not only for cabin size, food etc. Knowledge of what type of cruise will suit you, and who are likely to be your fellow passengers are of great interest especially as ships get bigger. He obviously prefers the smaller more intimate and classy ships rather than the floating Las Vegas type. I concur.
However, having said this, I find the reviews are unbiased. Well worth the $$$$.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good reference book, March 15, 2006

By 

K. Jones (Sunny Isles Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships (Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships) (Paperback)

This is a good book to have in deciding which cruise or cruise line to take or to review cruises you've done and to plan any new ones.

(Last year's had a page which showed all the cruise line logos so they can be recognized by binoculars, we live on the beach between the Ports of Miami and Fort Lauderdale. It wasn't in this year's edition.)