This book is a great help in preparing for a cruise. It contains a wealth of information on cruising, but an unexpected & very interesting section is the "History of the Mediterranean.

I am planning my first trip/cruise to Europe and I was hoping for a more in depth look at the museums, restaurants, sights, etc. More than anything it was a history lesson... But, overall it had good information and it a nice "catch all" guide.

I am planning my first trip/cruise to Europe and I was hoping for a more in depth look at the museums, restaurants, sights, etc. More than anything it was a history lesson... But, overall it had good information and it a nice "catch all" guide.

This is a good book. Nice color pictures, lots of information on history, architecture, what to see in ports, where to eat and maps. A nice small enough to carry in you purse book.

If you go on a Mediterranean cruise...buy this book..if,like me,you really enjoy immersing yourself in a book about the trip of your dreams..buy this book...It is a perfect combination of facts,history and beautiful pictures and maps.The "must see" sections turn an overwelming siteseeing tour into one that is relaxed and enjoyable.My daughter and son-in-law are flying to Rome next month..she is looking forward to "borrowing" my book...it has wonderful suggestions for a Roman holiday....how romantic is that!...I would not go to the Mediterranean without this book..it would be like trying to make a delicious italian cream cake without reading the recipe..

I expected more from this book after reading some of the reviews. I do really like the diagrams of the ports and some of the maps seem helpful but other maps are bad with scale and distances just plain wrong. I have also found many spelling errors... who edited this?
My biggest complaint though is the pictures outnumber the information. Some pages have 4-5 photos making each one so small you can't see much of interest in them. And the photos aren't that good to begin with, many actually look like scanned postcards.
This book seems to be a very unprofessional attempt at a travel log. There are other books on the market which do a much better job... don't buy the book just for the diagrams of the ports!

This book goes into the history of each area. It is very comprehensive and well written. I learned a lot and enjoyed it in the process. The pictures are excellent and each area has a must see list. This book would be a great asset when deciding which excursion to go on. It will also let understand more of what you are seing while you are there.

We are planning a Western Med Cruise and wanted to get information on the different ports of call. The description of the book led us to believe this was the book we needed. What we received was a book that provided an extensive history lesson on the Med!

If you want to know about the different ports and what to see and what not to see find another book.

I thought this new edition was very good. It has the info on shore excursions but also provides tips on getting around independently in all the ports. The excellent color photos and maps add greatly to getting a handle on the attractions and focusing on what you what to see. The background on the Mediterranean is also quite helpful. How can you go to this destination without knowing, and wanting to know, the fascinating history of this region.

This is more a history book then a guide for where to go - when to take a guided tour and when you can strike off on your own - waste of money - need practical information - left my copy in the ship library.

This is more a history book then a guide for where to go - when to take a guided tour and when you can strike off on your own - waste of money - need practical information - left my copy in the ship library.

We took the "Mediterranean by cruise ship" book on our Mediterranean cruise and were reading it as we visited places. The book offers general info on the countries, some historical references and more detailed excursions on some of the most popular cruise stops. Its compact format makes it useful especially to "first-timers" in Europe.
We would like to mention, though, that we noticed some historical inaccuracies and omissions.

We are about to embark on a Venice to Barcelona cruise and bought this book sight unseen on Amazon, always a bit of a risk. It's 4 star rating and inexpensive price influenced us. Some of our ports were missing or information was too perfunctory. Korcula in Croatia was barely mentioned and Toulon in France was ignored. Probably unreasonably, we expected too much from one book trying to cover all the Mediterranean.

This book's title is correct; it does cover the entire Mediterrean. However, if you are looking to use this book to make plans it is rather thin. Too little information on each location and not enough detail to really help. Some good maps, but little else