Just Cruising Along....Hey, So What If I'm Dreaming?

Cruise Travel magazine is a very small publication but it has a lot of vacation ideas and information inside! It is marketed toward those who love taking cruise vacations or are planning one in the future. If travel is one of your passions, then you would probably enjoy this magazine!

Cruise Travel is one of the magazines I somehow got subscribed to on one of my "Freebie Lists". I sign up for just about any free magazine because I love to read. I also enjoy traveling and hope to one day go on another cruise. I'm ready but my husband is not thrilled with leaving the country for any travel anymore. Hopefully, one day I will persuade him to take the plunge.

Cruise Travel magazine is published bi-monthly (6 issues per year), at a newsstand rate of $5.99 per issue in USA and $7.99 per issue in Canada. Subscription price is $23.94 for one year (quite a savings here!). I think the newsstand price of $5.99 per issue is a bit steep for an average of 55 pages per issue.

What's Inside Cruise Travel?

I just finished reading the June 2004 issue (yeah I know I'm a little late but I'm usually late for just about everything) and found lots of interesting topics from cruises to destinations to even some historical information. With only 58 pages in this issue, I found a sea of information on cruises and cruise ships. The size of this magazine is the only thing I would say could use improving on. Each issue is small from 50-60 pages each.

Cruise Travel hosts its Letters section immediately after the table of contents. There are usually several pages of questions (and answers) from readers here concerning the magazine, former articles and travel/cruise destinations.

Cruise Travel also has a feature article each month on Ship of the Month and Port of the Month . These articles are packed with detailed information. These articles feature all you would want to know about the cruise ship, destinations, and has color photographs of the ship, ports the ship docks at, deck layout, food served, and cabin interior.

The Port of the Month feature stories have some wonderful color photographs of places to visit in the featured Port of the Month , as well as a little background history in each article!

There is also a New Ship Review in each issue which features new ships as well as renovated cruise ships.

You will find several articles in each issue with different cruise destinations with things to do in each city/port of call. I like the variety that is displayed in each magazine. You will find destinations in the US, as well as international destinations.

Advertisements

I found the advertisements in this magazine to be well placed and the balance with the articles was very good. I did not feel bombarded with ads on every page. This is important for such a small magazine. I think the editors have a good balance going on here and I hope this doesn't change.

Of course you will see several ads from travel agencies who are ready to book a cruise for you. They have cruise itineraries leaving from different destinations listed with current sale prices. This is helpful to use in comparison shopping when you are ready to book a cruise.

Photographs

There are lots of color photographs in Cruise Travel . All of the articles have several color photographs relating to the articles. I love to look at pictures, especially when travel related. There are so many places to go and so many things to see. I know I'll never
be able to see a fraction of what I'd like to, so living through these photographs will have to suffice for now.

Overall Rating

This is an entertaining and informative magazine. If you are planning a cruise vacation, I highly recommend that you subscribe to this magazine. There are great articles and travel deals inside that will be targeted to Cruise Travel. My only disappointment is the size of the magazine, especially for a bi-monthly magazine and the price per issue. This just doesn't match, $5.99 for a 55 page magazine! 4 Stars for a tiny magazine with a lot of detail!

© 2004 Birdfeather