Customer Reviews

Fodor's The Complete Guide to European Cruises, 1st Edition: A cruise lover's guide to selecting the right trip with all the best ports of call (Travel Guide)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a first time cruiser doing the Med in June/July 2008, the timing of this book couldn't have been better for me. The profiles of the cruise lines and ships are nowhere near as comprehensive as those in Douglas Ward's Berlitz Guide, but they do provide a reasonable overview.

Where this book comes into its own is in the port profiles and advice section, which should be very helpful for those considering exploring ports of call independently, rather than taking ship's excursions.

The information is clear and concise, and the maps are very handy.

Fodor's "The Complete Guide to European Cruises" is a very useful guide to mainstream cruises in Europe. Written by Fodor's resident cruise expert Linda Coffman, it primarily targets an American audience or at least an English speaking one, as British cruise information is also abundant. The book is great for those new to cruising, and particularly excels at explaining what cruises would and would not be suitable for different people. It focuses on mainstream companies (e.g. Celebrity, Holland America, Royal Caribbean, etc.) but I was pleased to see it delve into some companies that are relatively unknown in the US (e.g. P&O Cruises, Ocean Village, Saga Cruises, etc.) though in the interest of brevity many companies (e.g. Pullmantur of Spain, AIDA of Germany, etc.) are omitted or given short shrift. The cruise industry changes very quickly, and despite the 2008 copyright on this first edition, many ships have come and gone since this book was written. For those who really want an encyclopedic source on cruises, I recommend Douglas Ward's fine "Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships," which really is the gold standard, and my most highly recommended book on the subject.

Coffman is to be lauded for a brief but substantive discussion of European river and barge cruises, along with a listing of primary operators, as well as other useful information about the major ships that will help newer cruisers pick more suitable ships and cabins. Where this book really excels, though, is in its discussions of the various ports of call. The level of detail is excellent, and includes transportation options to and from the port (a very important consideration in places like London and Rome,) although larger maps clearly showing the location of the ports and transportation hubs would have been nice, the maps that are provided are excellent for general trip planning and orientation. Keeping with a trend in the book, the maps are rendered in various shades of orange, which is just one minor quirk; a more annoying one concerns the organization of parts of the book. You would, for instance, expect all the "London" ports (Dover, Harwich, Southampton) to be grouped together in a convenient place. Not so. It's not a huge deal, as the index is exhaustive; still it could be more user-friendly.

This is a very good guide to European cruising, and Coffman is very accurate in her descriptions and assessments of the ships that I have personally been on, which provides great credibility in my mind. While it will be very hard to top the expertise in Ward's Berlitz guide, this really addresses a different need, is geared to more in-depth examination of ports and common cruise lines, and is more suitable for new cruisers than the Ward book. The second edition will be released in March 2011, and I am looking forward to the updates it brings.

We were very disappointed in the Fodor's book we purchased. We were planning a cruise to the Greek Isles and Turkey and had hoped to find info on excursions in each port plus hotel information for pre and post cruise stays. Their was no hotel info in any embarking or disembarking ports and no valuable info on excursions. There was actually no hotel info in the entire book. We replaced it with a Frommer's Cruise book which was much better and more informative. From now on we will stick with Frommer.

This guide is very comprehensive and includes great information on cruise ports in Europe. There is a great deal of information that I don't use regarding cruiselines and ships but would be great for a new cruiser. I chose this guide over a couple of others because there was more information on the ports themselves.

I actually wrote this as an email addressed to the email address given in the Fodor's Guide, but it kept bouncing back to me; maybe it will get to them this way!

First - lovely to have a Guide concentrating on Europe. This makes it somewhat smaller and more manageable than one trying to cover the whole cruising globe.

Second - lovely to find destinations with maps and descriptions included, as well as ships and itineraries

Third - lovely to have River Cruises included, which "another" guide leaves out - I shall be using that.

But - of course there will be "buts":

I do realise that you are an American publication, aiming at an American clientele. Is this why you have omitted any reference to or mention of so many British cruise ships?? I discovered this when I tried to find reference to the itinerary we are cruising this May, ie Archangel and Murmansk in Russia (you do include Russia, as I have read with interest your comments on St Petersberg). We are travelling on Voyages of Discovery - no reference to her, or her more up-market associated ship Minerva (Swan Hellenic). You also don't refer to any of the Saga ships, or their related ship Spirit of Adventure. There may of course be many more, but these are ships I have cruised on, and would love to have seen critiques of them.

I have also cruised with Holland America and Windstar, both of which you write up most favourably, but they are American lines. Have you decided that Americans don't like British ships? I do know Minerva was chartered to an American company three years ago to cruise the Antarctic for the "winter", as we sailed on her immediately following, still with the American staff of superb guides and lecturers, who were most amused at the differences they experienced between predominately American and predominately British passengers.

Very comprehensive book on European cruises - all the ships, all the ports, very informative and useful for planning a great trip.

I Purchase for the references to river travel and found the information containded in the book to be highly informative. Well worth the expenditure.

D. P. Richarme

Great product...was stated as good condition, but I would have made the condition 'like new'. Very happy with purchase!

So many brochures in the mail, touting this mediterranean
cruise, but which one is best?
This is the book!