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Summary: Look Elsewhere for a Helpful Cruise Ship Guide!
Review: I have purchased this book for the past several years for the single reason that it is very informative with basic facts and figures. If you are interested in specifics of ships such as tonnage, crew and passenger size, and other factual information, it is fine. However, I have been on over 300 cruises myself and have worked for several major cruise lines for years. I find Mr. Ward to be extremely bias and a down right anti-American snob. He insults anything he can about American service and hospitality, including mentioning the cheeses from America being of poor quality (I hope he doesn't visit Wisconsin anytime soon!)ans with statements like, "Americans eat anything put in front of them on their plates", etc. I also disagree with about half of his reviews, as do most major publications, such as Conde Nast Traveler which rates large cruise ships very differently. I do agree with some of the reviews, however he places so much importance on things such as afternoon high tea(fine if you are British and 85 years old), whether the jelly and jam is in glass jars or disposable containers(gasp!), and the percentage of cotton vs poly blend in the sheets and towels. Sure, perhaps this is nice to know, however, what Mr Ward does not seem to bear in mind is that over 75% of the Cruise Passengers in the world ARE the Americans whom he is insulting and buying this book. Cruise vacationers care more about issues such as entertainment, ship safety, health inspections, and many other facts which he consistantly fails to mention in specifics. Cruise Lines vary from ship to ship with entertainment quality. Very often one cruise line will have several different producers in charge of shows which means quality can fluctuate from very good to mediocre from ship to ship within one line. Some ships have brand new, state of the art shows, while some ships, due to the high expense of new shows keep the same tired shows for years. Some get an old show from a different ship and passengers can see the same shows they saw years before. Yet he rates all ships the same throughout one single cruise line. Also, Even though a ship may be the exact same layout as another, as cruise lines often mass produce one "class" of ships, each also has it's own distinct flavor, style, and some are maintained better than others. Each ship also has it's own head chef and food does vary in quality within each line, yet he once again groups ratings exactly the same for an entire cruise line. If you have purchased this book, you know the snobbery and the annoying repetitive information I am mentioning. If you have not bought this book, look elsewhere, or you will be disappointed. If you ARE Berlitz, you will realize Dougals Ward who self claims to be the "Leading authority on cruising in the world" is not what he claims, or perhaps was back in 1950's Britain. Today however, most cruise ship passengers, whether first time cruising or a 300 cruise veteran, want young, fresh attitudes, ideas, and more important details that will actually have an impact on their vacation.
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Summary: Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships 2000
Review: There are many cruise ship guides on the market, but none as complete or as thorough as this one, which is written for people who cruise, as opposed to people who think they may like to cruise. Certainly there is a certain amount of space devoted to the basics of the cruising experience, but thankfully not the huge amount of space that many cruise book writers feel they have to devote to descriptions of ports and cruise destinations. There are many other travel books that can give you that information. The major bulk of the book (around 70%) is devoted to very detailed descriptions, reviews and ratings for over 240 cruise ships, ranging from the small and modest JASON, to the huge, and some would say immodest, VOYAGER OF THE SEAS. This is where the author, Douglas Ward, excels. His descriptions, comments and ratings are fair and relevant. You may not agree with every judgement, particularly if you are a fan of the Carnival line (their highest rated ship comes 82nd on his list), but let's face it, Carnival is a great line for first time cruisers, but for many seasoned cruisers, a SECOND Carnival cruise is not something we would put very high on our cruise wish list! I would rate this book as indispensible for all travel agents and cruise enthusiasts. The only minor criticisms I could make are: RATINGS: a rating system out of 1000 rather than 2000 would enable readers to compare ships more easily, via a percentage system (for example, the highest rated ship is given a score of 1799 - if this were to be, say 900, it converts easily to a 90% approval rate - a little easier to comprehend) WHATEVER HAPPENED TO...?: Over the years well known ship names disappear through name changes, company take-overs, sinkings or delistings, and I would love to see a section of Ward's book covering, not just the current year, but going back several years, detailing exactly that - whatever happened to...? Finally, although I rate Ward's book as tops in it's field, I also enjoyed the enthusiastic chatty style employed in Slater & Basch's FIELDING's WORLDWIDE CRUISES. They group ships according to cruise lines, and give an overall evaluation of each line as well as individual ships, however do not review as many ships as Ward does, concentrating on the major or larger cruise line operations. Nevertheless, a good second opinion, should you want one.
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Summary: Excellent Source
Review: This work is detailed and provocotive in that it will have the reader comparing vessels & cruiselines thoroughly. If read prior to sailing, there'll be no surprises.
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Summary: Good book for Rating the Cruise ships.
Review: We purchased this book for the purpose of the ratings of the cruise ships. Sometimes the brochures from the cruise line can be a little deceiving. As we have not traveled by cruise yet, we have spoken with quite a few that have and the book mirrors their reviews rather closely the book just put it together so well. Each ship receives points on many facets of the ship from service food to amenities. This is very helpful. Though I will agree with the other reviewers that the writer tends to reuse his paragraphs for similar ships. Though the information may be true it does get a little boring re reading the exact same thing over and over againBuy this book for the rating of the ships; however if you are looking for more detail for example food menus, on board amenities or more detailed things like that, then get Sterns Guide to the cruise vacation. All in all this is an excellent book for learning about each cruise ship. We do like the rating system and the description again though he may reuse his words in other reviews.
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