Berlitz_CruisingAndCruiseShips_2018

Getting around the e-book

This Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your next cruise, as well as comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

About Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships

The e-book is divided into two main parts: the first part helps you define what you are looking for in a cruise vacation and advises you on how to find it. It provides a wealth of information, including a look at life aboard ship and how to get the best from it. Specialist cruises are discussed, too, culminating with that ultimate travel experience: the around-the-world cruise. Please note that, although price indicators are supplied for such things as alternative restaurants, spa treatments and other items, prices may have changed.

About the Ship Ratings

The book’s second part and main section profiles 300 ocean-going cruise and expedition ships. From large to small, from unabashed luxury and exclusivity to ships for the budget-minded, they are all here. The ratings and evaluations are a painstaking documentation of Douglas Ward's personal work. He travels throughout the world and sails for up to 200 days each year. All evaluations are made objectively, without bias, partiality, or prejudice. Most of the statistical information contained in the ship profiles has been supplied by the cruise companies. Passenger comments are taken into account in the final evaluations.You are welcome to send details of any errors or any updated information to Douglas at: shipratings@hotmail.com.

Please note that Douglas Ward’s constant ship inspection schedule means he is infrequently on land and is no longer able to answer letters. However, every comment received will be studied and will help maintain the authority of the next edition for the benefit of all.

From the author

Welcome to the 2018 edition of Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships – the book’s 33rd year of continuous publication.

The cruise industry is a fiercely competitive business, and one within which any marketing opportunity is seized upon and hyped to the utmost. Cruise industry awards – often in the form of magazine or online readers’ polls – provide a perfect such opportunity and are extremely valuable to the cruise companies.

Yet these polls are only ever as good as the number of people who vote in them, the number and types of ships, and the criteria established for measuring quality. For example, if a magazine initiates a readers’ poll, and no readers have cruised aboard a French-speaking cruise ship, that ship will receive no votes. So, votes go to the most-traveled ships, which are not necessarily the best. The magazines never state the criteria. The results are therefore unreliable.

At Berlitz, we always state our criteria, clearly and honestly. That’s why the Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships 2018 is the most authoritative and dependable guide on the market. What’s more, this book is totally independent, and unconnected or influenced by sponsorship.

My 6,200-plus days at sea

In welcoming new readers, I should mention my qualifications for assessing cruise ships on your behalf. I first fell in love with ships when, in 1965, I sailed aboard Cunard Line’s 83,673-ton ocean liner RMS Queen Elizabeth – at that time the world’s largest passenger ship. Coincidentally, it was also the year that The Beatles had a hit with Ticket to Ride.

To date, I have completed over 6,200 days at sea, participating in more than 1,090 cruises, 159 transatlantic crossings, and countless Panama Canal transits, plus shipyard visits, numerous ship-naming ceremonies, and maiden voyages.

The first edition of this book, reviewing, testing, and evaluating 120 ships, was published in 1985, when cruising was viewed as an expensive, rarefied experience. Today, the book is the most highly regarded source of comparative information not only for cruise purchasers, but also for cruise industry executives, travel agents, and crew members.

This book is a tribute to everyone who has made my seafaring experiences possible, especially my mother and father, and I thank the cruise lines for their assistance during the complex scheduling, sailing, inspection, evaluation, and rating processes.

Douglas Ward

Cruise ships and their facilities are changing constantly. To keep abreast of developments, readers can sign up for our cruise and travel newsletter, distributed by email. This will contain our latest information and insights. To register for the newsletter, please visit the following webpage and fill out the form: http://eepurl.com/mLhOn