Cruise ships? There’s an app for that

As I was boarding Disney Dream for my tour of the ship yesterday I was handed two things: a hard hat, because it is still very much a construction site, and an iPad containing artists’ impressions and computer renderings to show in brilliant colour just how the interiors will look when they are finished.
It might have been a ploy to prevent me and the rest of the media from sneaking pictures with our phones – you’d have had to possess as many arms as Pearl, the octopus from Finding Nemo (left) , to juggle a pen, a notebook, the iPad and a cameraphone – but it was a brilliant idea. It brought the whole place to life, and it was able to demonstrate how, for example, the Enchanted Garden restaurant will transform from day to night, and best of all, it took me for a virtual ride on the Aqua Duck water coaster without getting wet.
You can’t imagine the disappointment when we had to hand them back as we disembarked. I was so tempted to slip it into my pocket and pretend that I had left it behind in the Oceaneer Club or the Skyline Bar. And there was always the sneaky feeling that Disney would surprise us by saying “No, it’s all right, you can keep it.” No chance.
But now there’s another reason for me to put an iPad on my Christmas wish list.
The Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising and Cruise Ships is my bible. I might disagree with some of the opinions of veteran author Doug Ward, and I’m not convinced that his ratings system is valid, but the book is an invaluable resource, and one I turn to almost every day.
Now the wealth of information it provides is going to be available as an app on the iPad and iPhone and with a couple of taps on the touch-screen, would-be passengers can search through the 284 ships featured in the guide’s 700-pages.
You can search by traveller type, ship size or cruise line, and highlight favourite ships for future reference. 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.
The Berlitz Cruise Ships 2011 app is available now at a promotional price of £9.99 (full price £12.99). Not bad, considering the book costs £16.99 and is considerably heavier to carry around. For further information visit www.berlitzpublishing.com .