Berlitz Crowns New Top Ship

In the new 2014 edition of Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships, author Douglas Ward crowns Europa 2 the top-rated ship – the first new ship to claim the title in 14 years – knocking her older sister off the pedestal. Other ships that have held this honour in the 29-year lifetime of the Guide - the seafaring equivalent of the Oscars - include Royal Viking Sea (now Albatros), Royal Viking Sun and Sagafjord. 

 

The app version of this much-anticipated ‘bible of cruising’, Berlitz Cruise Ships 2014, is already out, ahead of the UK’s National Cruise Week, September 21-29, and the full paperback and ebook formats will be published in the UK on October 1.
 

Available for all Apple devices, the App (below) is the perfect cruise planning tool. Its 285

hard-hitting reviews help every cruise-goer, whether solo, senior, family or first time cruiser, to choose the right ship. The internationally accepted Berlitz rating system takes into account a remarkable 400 items based on personal experience. Highlights include:

• A new No.1 ship for the first time in more than a decade.
• 285 ocean-going ships are rated and reviewed by the world’s foremost cruise authority, Douglas Ward.
• 5 completely new ships debuting in the 2014 edition.
• Lots of full-colour photography, including interior shots of many ships.
• Filter and search options help cruisegoers choose a vessel and voyage according to their needs, criteria include: cuisine, entertainment, accommodation, size of ship and many others.
• A detailed FAQ section with knowledgeable and reliable answers.
• A comparison of the cabin facilities, food and dining services.

TOP-RATED SHIPS – NUMBERS CRUNCHED

Only two ships have achieved the score required to be in the most exclusive 5-star+ category, Europa and the recently introduced Europa 2, both from Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.
It’s the first time since 1989 that two ships belonging to the same company (Hapag-Lloyd Cruises) have achieved a 5-star+ rating – previously Royal Viking Sea and Royal Viking Sky (Royal Viking Line).
 

Small is beautiful according to the ratings in the 2014 App, with 11 out of 12 top-rated 5-star+/5-star cruise ships being Small or Boutique-sized vessels. Of the top 10 Large Resort Ships, five belong to Celebrity Cruises, while The three top-rated Large Resort Ships are all Cunard Line ‘Queens’, Queen Mary 2 (Grill Class), Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria.

 

Seabourn dominates success in the combined Small and Boutique Ships categories, with

six vessels out of the top 20, namely Seabourn Quest, Odyssey, Sojourn, Legend, Spirit and Pride. In the highly regarded Small Ships category, five of the top 10 are Silversea vessels, while SeaDream have two of the top three in the Boutique category.
 

Quirky fact: The seven top-rated 4-star cruise ships (not including 4-star+) all begin with the letter A: Azamara Journey, Azamara Quest, Artania, Adonia, AIDAblu, Aurora and Amsterdam.

The complete rankings of the top five ships in the four size categories (with a maximum of 2,000 points) are:

Top 5 Large Resort Ships (with more than 1,750 passengers)

Queen Mary 2 (Grill Class) 1673pts
Queen Elizabeth 1585
Queen Victoria 1579
Celebrity Reflection 1571
Celebrity Silhouette 1567

Top 5 Mid-size Ships (751 – 1750 passengers)

Crystal Serenity 1714pts
Crystal Symphony  1702
Riviera 1682
Marina 1680
Asuka II 1673

Top 5 Small Ships (251 – 750 passengers)

Europa 2 1860pts
Europa 1851
Silver Spirit 1762
Silver Whisper 1749
Silver Shadow 1747

Top 5 Boutique Ships (50 – 250 passengers)

Hanseatic 1765pts
SeaDream I 1761
SeaDream II 1754
Sea Cloud 1702
Sea Cloud II 1701

Commenting on the new champion, author Ward said: “Europa 2 is a stunningly spacious, top-notch informal ship for sophisticated cosmopolitan travellers and their families - the benchmark in contemporary cruising. The choice of dining venues and types of cuisine are excellent and the service is attentive and friendly but unobtrusive. It all adds up to the very best informal cruise ship available today – unless you own a private motor yacht.”

THE WORLD’S TOP AUTHORITY ON CRUISING AND CRUISE SHIPS

Douglas Ward is the world’s top authority on cruising and cruise ships, with more than 45

years of experience and over 5,900 days at sea. He continues to spend up to 200 days per year aboard cruise ships, inspecting and evaluating their facilities and service.

Fully updated and revised, the Berlitz Cruise Ships 2014 App (£6.99) is available for Apple devices at the iTunes store. In addition, 2014 Berlitz Cruising & Cruise Ships (752 pages) will be available in book and ebook formats from October 1, both priced £17.99. For further information, visit www.insightguides.com/berlitz/berlitz-cruising.

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The Essential Cruise Guide - Berlitz 2012

Some 21 million people will be thinking of booking a cruise next year and many will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of brochures and bewildered by the variety of cruise ships.

The 2012 edition of the famous Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships, (published in paperback on October 1, £17.99, as well as a new App edition) will cut through these choppy waters and help readers to identify the cruise that best suits them, so that their hard-earned holiday represents money well-spent.

Completely independent and accepting no sponsorship, this annually updated guide has become the ‘bible of cruising’, thanks to the painstaking investigation carried out each year by its author, Douglas Ward, the world’s most highly regarded cruise expert.

Eagerly awaited, the 2012 edition will be more fact-packed than ever before, with 285 candid reviews – that’s virtually every ocean-going ship in the world. Now in its 27th year of publication, the Guide sets the internationally recognised ratings system for cruise ships worldwide. Its frank and forthright opinions tell readers everything they could ever want to know about the cruise experience, warts and all.

Even better, the App for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch is to be launched at the same time as the book edition. The simplicity of this app is that, with just a couple of taps, would-be cruise-goers can quickly search through all 285 ships according to their needs, whether for family travel, quality of cuisine or accommodation, size of ship and many other criteria, making this the perfect cruise-planning tool.

This new version features fully updated ship reviews, an enhanced interface for choosing the right ship by preference, more background information on cruising and cruise lines, lots more ship photos and a fresh design.

The Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships 2012 (£17.99, 688 pages) will be available from October 1 from all good bookshops, while The Berlitz Cruise Ships 2012 App will also be available during October. For further information, visit www.berlitzpublishing.com.

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Digital and APP versions of the "Cruising Bible"

By guest blogger Steve Newman

After 26 years' success in print form, the annual Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships is now also available in digital form as the Berlitz Cruise Ships 2011 App. The beauty of the new app is that, with just a couple of touch-screen taps, would-be cruise-goers can search the 284 featured cruise ships according to their needs - whether for size of ship, families, couples, solo travellers or star ratings, among many more.

Available for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, the Berlitz Cruise Ships 2011 App features in-depth searchable cruise ship reviews. For regular cruise-goers and first-time cruisers alike, the App features quick and easy access to Douglas Ward's authoritative and hard-hitting reviews, ratings and statistical information through user-friendly touch-screen menus.

Browse through the ships according to Ward’s world-respected rating system, search by traveller type, ship size or cruise line, and highlight favourite ships for future reference. As the most extensive cruise ship information available anywhere, the App allows users to find out about each cruise ship's accommodation, cuisine, entertainment and fitness facilities, and to see images of every vessel.

Completely independent and accepting no sponsorship, the Berlitz Cruise Ships 2011 App and its author sets the internationally recognised ratings system for cruise ships worldwide. Douglas Ward is recognised as the world’s top authority on cruising and cruise ships, with more than 40 years of experience. He continues to spend up to 200 days a year aboard cruise ships, inspecting and evaluating their facilities.

Berlitz Cruise Ships 2011 App is available now at a promotional price of £9.99 (standard price £12.99). For further information, visit http://www.berlitzpublishing.com/

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

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Embarkation for all ports!

OK folks, here's a quick 'Welcome Aboard' message from your new 'captain' for Time Spent At Sea, which is something we hope will develop into one of the most entertaining and informative Blogs about the wide World of Cruising (oops - cheap plug alert!).

My name is Simon Veness (one half of the almost-well-known Veness travel-writing team) and, as some people will already be aware, editor of World of Cruising magazine, Europe's longest-running and premier publication on the subject of cruising and cruise ships (whoops - there I go again!). By way of introduction, I have been cruising since I was nine (although there is no truth in the rumour I was on the maiden voyage of the original Queen Mary) and am a complete cruise addict. I am firmly of the opinion this is the best kind of holiday anyone will take - provided they choose the right voyage for their personal taste.

Modern cruising is a vastly different animal to that which many people associate with the image of yesteryear (or even my first experiences) and there is a vast amount of choice these days, hence it is vital people do their 'homework' before booking their first (or next) cruise. Our magazine obviously provides a lot of insight (oops - gratuitous plug No. 3!), but that should really be just the starting point for the booking process.

A good, up-to-date guidebook is also highly advisable (I use both Steve Stern's Guide to the Cruise Vacation and the inestimable Doug Ward's encyclopaedic Berlitz Guide to Cruising), while the internet is obviously invaluable, too, with sites like Cruise Critic providing a wealth of up-to-date info.

Obviously, we are happy to take all kinds of queries on the subject and develop an even greater database of info and advice, while UK cruise devotees should also make an early advance note in their diaries for March 27-28, 2010, when the second big CRUISE show, sponsored by the Daily Telegraph, will be open in London (at Olympia next year, as opposed the rather cavernous ExCel in 2009) and well worth visiting for special displays, talks and - especially - cruise deals. Check out their website early and often for how to get tickets in advance at reduced prices.

Finally, by way of a final 'plug' for this blog (and I promise to keep it relatively Ad-free in future!), we also have a companion Twitter with our sister company The Cruise Line Ltd which also provides little news nuggets and updates on what we're doing (and some juicy special offers!).

We will also, of course, continue to offer Blogs by some of our other notable contributors, like well-known travel writer and cruise aficionado Anthony Nicholas, and hopefully it will all add up to some fabulous Time Spent At Sea. All aboard, now............!

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

If you haven't already, subscribe to the World of Cruising magazine today.