Publication Date: October 4, 2011 | Series: Travel Guide
Plan to perfection. What's included in your cruise fare? Which cabins are the best (and worst)? What should no cruise passenger leave home without?
Get insider info. Written by cruising experts, our overviews of each major cruise line and ship tell you which cabins are the biggest, which kids' programs are the most comprehensive, and which lines offer the most dining options.
Go Ashore. Find choices for every traveler, from beaches to underground river-tubing, from Mayan ruins to fun adventure activities.
Freshest Facts You won't find a more up-to-date port guide. Our writers seek out hot spots while verifying that listings meet our high standards.
Travelers Like You Get candid advice from fellow travelers at Fodors.com, and read their “Word of Mouth” tips throughout this book.
Linda Coffman is a freelance travel writer who has been dishing out cruise travel information and advice for more than ten years. An avid cruise passenger who enjoys sailing on ships of every size to any port worldwide, Linda spends most of her time cruising the Caribbean and writing for Fodor's Travel Publications and Fodors.com. She is the author of Fodor's The Complete Guide to Caribbean Cruises, co-author of Fodor's The Complete Guide to European Cruises, and contributes to these Fodor's guidebooks: Caribbean Ports of Call, Alaska Ports of Call, European Ports of Call, Bermuda, Greece, Greek Isles, and Essential Scandinavia: The Best Cities, Sights, and Cruises guidebooks.
In 1997, when the Internet was experiencing growing pains, Linda developed and maintained two travel information web sites for a network of niche-specific sites rated as a top ten digital media/web property by Media Metrix. Under Linda's expertise until March 2000, the cruise site was recognized as one of the Internet's leading sources of cruise travel information by such publications as The Washington Post, The Montreal Gazette, The New York Times, Porthole Magazine, Forbes, The New Yorker, Yahoo! Internet Life, The Jacksonville Business Journal, and USA Today. Cruises was also named a Top Ten site in 1999 by PR Newswire and the prestigious National Geographic Traveler.
Sailing solo, Linda created CruiseDiva.com in February 2001 to provide unbiased and practical cruising information to the thousands of Internet users who research their travel choices online. CruiseDiva.com was named a "Best of the Web" Leisure Travel web site by USA Today. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says, "The Cruise Diva's site has good information, lots of practical tips and lots of attitude."
As a recognized authority on cruise travel, Linda is often interviewed by major national news outlets. She has been called upon to provide on-air commentary as a cruise travel authority with Peter Greenberg on his nationally syndicated radio show, as well as making appearances on Martha Stewart Radio's Living Today, National Public Radio's Savvy Traveler, Broadcast.com, USA Radio Network, and the Michigan Talk Radio Network. She has been quoted in outlets nationwide, from The New York Times to CNN.
Linda has appeared on ABC News, ABC's "Good Morning America," and has served as the cruise expert for The Travel Channel and USA Today online. A featured host in "Cruising Do's and Don'ts" on The Travel Channel, Linda was profiled as "Queen of the High Seas" in the November 2007 edition of Columbia County Magazine.
Linda's columns and articles have appeared in print in Cruise Travel, Porthole, Consumer's Digest, Travel Age West, Travel Agent, Impressions, New Jersey Savvy Living, Vacation Agent, Freestyle Cruiser, and Marco Polo magazines, as well as the Chicago Sun-Times and Denver Post.
Over the past two decades Linda has sailed numerous times on all the major cruise lines. When not at sea, she makes her home in Georgia with her husband Mel and their "Unofficial Presley" Tabby Cat Family, Elvis, Pricilla, and Lisa Marie.
