Customer Reviews

Cruise Vacations For Dummies 2005 (Dummies Travel)

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Growing up watching "The Love Boat," I was never interested in actually taking a cruise. But real-life cruises can be very different from that program -- and are not only for shuffle-board playing seniors or honeymooners or (as in every episode of "The Love Boat") comically bickering spouses. In fact, a cruise vacation can be a fun, easy way to travel. As the author notes, you can see lots of places, but only have to unpack once.

"Cruise Vacations for Dummies" provides great detail about everything you'd want to know about cruises (*but were afraid to ask), and provides so many useful tips that it's hard to summarize everything, but it includes information on how to make your cruise more romantic, how to plan a family-friendly cruise, even how to gamble, plus how to choose the best shore excursions -- whether you're planning a cruise in the Caribbean, Alaska, the Mediterranean, or a more remote destination -- and how much and whom to tip.

Unlike other cruise books, "Cruise Vacations for Dummies" serves as a kind of Consumer Reports on cruising with its objective reviews of the major cruise lines, their fleet, itineraries, food, entertainment, atmosphere, and cabin choices. In fact, whether you're considering a top-of-the-line experience, like on a Seabourn or Windstar, a popular-priced cruise, like on a Carnival, or a cruise to Alaska (Holland America) or to an alternative destination, like Antarctica, the reviews are great for first-timers and for experienced cruisers, alike.

The For Dummies series covers just about every topic that exists, and cruising is no exception. Learn about cruising from the ground up with this informative book.

I have a number of books about cruising, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. Cruise Vacation is a great overview of what cruising is all about, with information given on the most commonly used ports and destinations. There's also a page or two on each main cruise line and what its strengths and weaknesses are.

The beginning of the book goes over the basics - passport and documentation, what to expect on a cruise ship, how you pay your bills, what duty-free is all about, and so on. The next section helps you compare the cruise lines, describing each main line and providing comparison charts of the typical rates for the ship and the fleet's specifications. They update the Dummies book each year, so make sure you get a current book to get valid rates.

The rest of the book - almost the second half of the book - is taken up with descriptions of the various port towns and destinations. If you're leaving from Tampa, for example, you can see maps of the area and learn about interesting things to do before you sail off. You can read through the descriptions of the various destinations and see which ones appeal to you, and start to prioritize your choices.

Where some other books are sure to point out the bad AND good of the locations and ships, Dummies seems much more oriented towards always talking up the good. This makes it less of a "consumer reports" and more of a "promotion of the cruise industry". Cruise descriptions include "outstanding features" and "super deals" - but not any listing of what to watch out for. The very few times they give warnings, they are of the quite obvious kind - i.e. Disney cruises are full of kids, and honeymooners seeking romance should be aware of this.

Still, the book gives a great overview, and is well recommended.

This is a must have for any first time cruiser and a continued resource for experienced cruisers. The information contained in this book is very useful and valuable.

We loved this book, as this was research for our first ever cruise we found it very interesting. Would recomend to any one who has never cruised before and would like info.

I really liked this book. It reminds me of Mike Azcue, Wayne Nugent, Wes Melcher, Dan Stammen, Robert Oblon and Marc Accetta who got involved in World Ventures and it great cruise packages for average people. My friends Dave and Yvette Ulloa went to a few of these great trips and just loved it. I highly recommend cruise vacations book that shows so many great vacations and packages out there.