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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