Berlitz 2000 Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships

Rating:
Summary: Very worthwhile buying
Review: Being towed in comfort to interesting places, without worrying about suitcases and transport connections, is the best cure I know for workaholics. But it's even better if you have chosen the exactly right cruise for your tastes.
This one of my favourite reference books on travel, and I recommend it if you are thinking of splashing out on a cruise vacation. It saves you from wasting your money on a boat that maybe is comfortable and fun but is a bit unsuited to your mood, attitude and way of life. I'm not saying, buy THIS cruise guide and no other, I'm saying, be sure you buy one of them. This one happens to suit me fine.

Rating:
Summary: Very worthwhile buying
Review: Being towed in comfort to interesting places, without worrying about suitcases and transport connections, is the best cure I know for workaholics. But it's even better if you have chosen the exactly right cruise for your tastes.
This one of my favourite reference books on travel, and I recommend it if you are thinking of splashing out on a cruise vacation. It saves you from wasting your money on a boat that maybe is comfortable and fun but is a bit unsuited to your mood, attitude and way of life. I'm not saying, buy THIS cruise guide and no other, I'm saying, be sure you buy one of them. This one happens to suit me fine.

Rating:
Summary: cruising and cruise ships
Review: cruising and cruise ships

Rating:
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.

Rating:
Summary: Berlitz 2000 Review
Review: My library currently has about 200 published travel books in it and this book is one of the best I have added to the library. It is factual and since we have traveled on several of the ships we found it to be accurate and up to date.I think you can count on the information 100%. Well worth buying if you are looking for hard facts and up to date data about specific ships.

Rating:
Summary: All the same words for all the different ships
Review: The authur, while informative, uses a lot of the same language to describe the many different ships. For example, the sentence, "Standing in line for embarkation, disembarkation, shore tenders, and self-service buffett meals is an inevitable aspect of cruising aboard all large ships." appears in almost all large-ship reviews (and a few medium sized ship reviews, too). Also, all the reviews on (now bankrupt) Rennisance Cruises' R-class ships are word-for-word identical. They even get the identical score on a 2000 point scale, too. I even noticed one paragraph that was repeated in the same review and other editing marks in the text (proofreading errors). Carnival's "Destiny" class ships receive the identical score while their "Fantasy" class ships scores vary by only five points with five of the eight ships in the class receiving the identical score. While I did expect that ships from the same line and class would receive similar scores, given that 60% of the raiting is based on ship-board experience that should vary such as service quality and food preparation. there should be some variation. The "side bars" are just repeats of what the authour wrote earlier in a separate chapter. The book lists ships alphabetically, although grouping by cruise line would help immensely. I personally feel that "The Unofficial Guide to Cruising" is a much better buy as it not only provides information on the ships, but on how to get the best deal, too.

Rating:
Summary: Browse through it at a library or bookstore, but don't buy!
Review: The first part of the book (on crusing) is informative, but the second part of the book (on cruise ships) is flat. Be forewarned: reviews of same-class ships on each of the cruise lines read the same! "The Unofficial Guide to Cruises 2002" far outshines this book, which capitalizes on Douglas Ward's name and forsakes quality.

Rating:
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.

Rating:
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.

Rating:
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.