Berlitz Cruising and Cruise Ships 2020

(Berlitz Cruise Guide)

Overall rating of the book: 2 out of 10

The introductory part of the 2020 book nicely outlines various aspects of cruising that may be very helpful for those new to cruising.

At first glance, the reviews & rating part (the main part) of the 2020 book does not look as slovenly as usual.

However the 2020 book continues to feed the readers with the “reviews” of the ships the authors have not seen (top Holland America Ships, Carnival Glory, etc.).

Potential cruisers are promised to enjoy the features that the ships have never had (MSC Preziosa, Regal Princess, etc.)

The authors do not seem to realize why Celebrity Edge space ratio “is high”. This misleading ratio  (44.3) requires an explanation done by a competent reviewer.

Sadly, while the principle of the rating system is essentially correct, putting the large MSC ships above entire RCI, NCL, Celebrity, Holland America, Princess fleet automatically nullifies whatever the book states about the ratings in the “large resort ships” category.

Although the reasonable reviews prevail, some reviews are affected by inconsistency, wrong information, subjectivity, and favoritism.

The major problem of the book has not been solved yet: a “regular reader” is not able to tell the correct reviews & ratings from the fake ones.