Berlitz Cruising and Cruise Ships 2020 (Travel Guide eBook)

Berlitz

Description

If you want a holiday that's hassle-free, virtually pre-paid, and that lets you see lots of places while only needing to pack and unpack once, then you should try a cruise. This best-selling book is the cruise industry bible: it gives you all the information you need to choose the right cruise for you.

Meticulously updated every year by cruise expert Douglas Ward, it is divided into two main parts: the first helps you work out what you're looking for in a cruise holiday and how to find it; the lively text and colour photographs describe every aspect of life on board, including safety, the highs and lows of the cruise experience and how to save money. The second part contains unbiased reviews and fascinating detail of almost 300 ocean-going cruise vessels, and grades them on service, food, entertainment and facilities, using an internationally recognised ratings system.

Informations

• Publié par: Apa Publications
• Date de parution: 01 septembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785732508
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 70 Mo

Extrait

How To Use This E-Book
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: [e-mail] .
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 2020 edition of Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships – the book’s 35th year of continuous publication.
The cruise industry is fiercely competitive, and 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 Spanish- or Romanian-speaking ship, it will not receive any votes. Votes go to the most-traveled ships, which are not necessarily the best. Magazines never state their criteria or methodology. The results are therefore unreliable and subjective.
At Berlitz, we state our criteria, clearly and honestly. That’s why the Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships 2020 is the most authoritative and dependable guide on the market. What’s more, this book is totally independent and is not supported by sponsorship or advertising.
Over 6,350-plus days at sea
In welcoming new readers, I should mention my background 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 (one of the eight-strong Cunard fleet). Coincidentally, it was also the year that The Beatles had a hit with Ticket to Ride . I worked on the final transatlantic sailing of RMS Queen Elizabeth and, three weeks later, joined Queen Elizabeth 2 (known affectionately as QE2 ) in the John Brown shipyard on Scotland’s Clydebank.
The first edition of this book, personally reviewing, testing, and evaluating 120 ships, was published in 1985, when cruising was viewed as expensive and uncommon. Today, the book is the most highly regarded source of comparative information for cruise purchasers, cruise industry executives, cruise travel agents, and crew members alike.
To date, I have taken over 1,120 cruises and 159 transatlantic crossings, plus countless Panama Canal transits, shipyard visits, numerous ship-naming ceremonies, overnights, and maiden voyages.
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
© 2019 Apa Publications (UK) Ltd.
Table Of Contents
Introduction
New to Cruising?
Cruising Uncovered
Cruising’s Growth
What’s Ahead
Choose the Right Cruise
Choose Where to Cruise
Ship as Destination
Choose the Right Ship
Choose Your Accommodation
Types of Cruising
Cruising for Families
Cruising for Solo Travelers
Cruising for Romantics
Cruising for Seniors
Cruising to Suit Special Needs
Cruising to a Theme
Expedition Cruising Uncovered
The Expedition Companies
Coastal Cruises
Cruising Under Sail
Transatlantic Crossings
World Cruises
The Cruising Experience
35 Wonderful Cruise Experiences
Life Aboard
Cuisine
Entertainment
Casinos
Excursions Ashore
Spas and Wellness Facilities
Top of the Range
The Cruise Companies
The Major Cruise Lines
AIDA Cruises
Carnival Cruise Line
Celebrity Cruises
Costa Cruises
Holland America Line
MSC Cruises
Norwegian Cruise Line
Princess Cruises
Royal Caribbean International
The Smaller Cruise Lines
Practical Information
What To Do If
Cruising and the Environment
Cruising and Safety
The Ships and Their Ratings
How We Evaluate the Ships
What the ratings mean
Criteria
What the Descriptions Mean
★ THE STAR PERFORMERS
Tables and Charts
New ships to debut
Cruise lines: private islands
Advantages and disadvantages of large resort ships
Advantages and disadvantages of mid-size ships
Advantages and disadvantages of small ships/boutique ships
The biggest of the big
New expedition ships: 2020-2021
Hurtigruten ships
USA coastal ships
Comparing luxury ships
SHIPS RATED BY SCORE
The Ship Listings
ADVENTURE OF THE SEAS
AEGEAN ODYSSEY
AIDAAURA
AIDABELLA
AIDABLU
AIDACARA
AIDADIVA
AIDALUNA
AIDAMAR
AIDANOVA
AIDAPERLA
AIDAPRIMA
AIDASOL
AIDASTELLA
AIDAVITA
ALBATROS
ALLURE OF THE SEAS
AMADEA
AMERA
AMSTERDAM
ANTHEM OF THE SEAS
ARCADIA
ARTANIA
ASTOR
ASTORIA
ASUKA II
AURORA
AZAMARA JOURNEY
AZAMARA PURSUIT
AZAMARA QUEST
AZURA
BALMORAL
BERLIN
BLACK WATCH
BOUDICCA
BRAEMAR
BREMEN
BRILLIANCE OF THE SEAS
BRITANNIA
CALEDONIAN SKY
CARIBBEAN PRINCESS
CARNIVAL BREEZE
CARNIVAL CONQUEST
CARNIVAL DREAM
CARNIVAL ECSTASY
CARNIVAL ELATION
CARNIVAL FANTASY
CARNIVAL FASCINATION
CARNIVAL FREEDOM
CARNIVAL GLORY
CARNIVAL HORIZON
CARNIVAL IMAGINATION
CARNIVAL INSPIRATION
CARNIVAL LEGEND
CARNIVAL LIBERTY
CARNIVAL MAGIC
CARNIVAL MIRACLE
CARNIVAL PANORAMA
CARNIVAL PARADISE
CARNIVAL PRIDE
CARNIVAL SENSATION
CARNIVAL SPIRIT
CARNIVAL SPLENDOR
CARNIVAL SUNRISE
CARNIVAL SUNSHINE
CARNIVAL VALOR
CARNIVAL VICTORY
CARNIVAL VISTA
CELEBRITY CONSTELLATION
CELEBRITY ECLIPSE
CELEBRITY EDGE
CELEBRITY EQUINOX
CELEBRITY FLORA
CELEBRITY INFINITY
CELEBRITY MILLENNIUM
CELEBRITY REFLECTION
CELEBRITY SILHOUETTE
CELEBRITY SOLSTICE
CELEBRITY SUMMIT
CELEBRITY XPEDITION
CELESTYAL CRISTAL
CELESTYAL OLYMPIA
CLUB MED 2
COLUMBUS
CORAL PRINCESS
COSTA ATLANTICA
COSTA DELIZIOSA
COSTA DIADEMA
COSTA FASCINOSA
COSTA FAVOLOSA
COSTA FORTUNA
COSTA LUMINOSA
COSTA MAGICA
COSTA MEDITERRANEA
COSTA NEORIVIERA
COSTA NEOROMANTICA
COSTA PACIFICA
COSTA SERENA
COSTA SMERALDA
COSTA VENEZIA
COSTA VICTORIA
CROWN PRINCESS
CRYSTAL ESPRIT
CRYSTAL SERENITY
CRYSTAL SYMPHONY
DEUTSCHLAND
DIAMOND PRINCESS
DISNEY DREAM
DISNEY FANTASY
DISNEY MAGIC
DISNEY WONDER
EMERALD PRINCESS
EMPRESS OF THE SEAS
ENCHANTMENT OF THE SEAS
EURODAM
EUROPA
EUROPA 2
EXPLORER DREAM
EXPLORER OF THE SEAS
FIFTY YEARS OF VICTORY
FRAM
FREEDOM OF THE SEAS
GENTING DREAM
GOLDEN PRINCESS
GRAND CELEBRATION
GRAND CLASSICA
GRANDEUR OF THE SEAS
GRAND PRINCESS
HAMBURG
HANSEATIC INSPIRATION
HANSEATIC NATURE
HARMONY OF THE SEAS
HEBRIDEAN PRINCESS
HEBRIDEAN SKY
HORIZON
INDEP