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Finicky ship critic

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Robert

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Jun 18, 2006, 8:28:05 PM6/18/06
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Interesting article from the LA Times about cruise ship critic Douglas Ward.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/travel/14847684.htm

Robert


cruisemates

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Jun 19, 2006, 1:33:59 AM6/19/06
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As someone who has met and conversed extensively with Doug Ward I can
tell you he is the hardest working cruise critic out there. He has been
doing ship reviews consistently longer than anyone and has probably
sailed on more varied cruise ships than anyone in the world.

He is a real gentleman, and extremely critical of "style" amongst the
cruise lines, never letting them forget they came from the grand era of
ocean liners People like Doug may be considered dinosaurs by some of
the cruise lines more interested in making money than style, but Doug
does not let that deter his own approach to rating ships, obviously.

Unfortunately, you have to buy his book "Berlitz Guide to Cruising" to
get his work, as he is not represented online. Expedia licensed his
work for several years until about 2002, but (I surmise) decided it was
not "marketing oriented" enough for all the 3 & 4-day Carnival & Royal
Caribbean cruises they sell.

Paul Motter
CruiseMates.com

Dillon Pyron

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Jun 20, 2006, 6:45:38 PM6/20/06
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Thus spake "Robert" <sab...@comcast.net> :

>Interesting article from the LA Times about cruise ship critic Douglas Ward.
>
>http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/travel/14847684.htm
>
>Robert
>

Quote

The best cruises Ward ever took? To the Antarctic Peninsula, where he
saw an iceberg ``the size of Belgium'' floating by. He sees growing,
if still limited, interest in activity-oriented cruises that are more
about ``wildlife and being with nature'' and less about shipboard
perks.

For now, the most popular destinations for Americans remain the
Caribbean, Alaska and Europe. But Ward thinks frequent cruisers have
tired of the big-ship Caribbean cruises. ``They want a bit more of an
intellectual experience, not just sun, sea and sand,'' he said.
``They're so fed up, they don't get off the ship anymore. They say,
`Give me a cruise of seven days where there are no ports.' People are
allergic to ports. They're so fed up with all the hawkers on the
beach.''

So, which is it? Stay on or get off? Can't have it both ways.
--
dillon

666 permissions of The Beast

Crabman

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Jun 20, 2006, 7:38:12 PM6/20/06
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I think that was well explained in the comments you posted.
Clay

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