Written by more than 175 outspoken travelers around the globe, Frommer’s Complete Guides help travelers experience places the way locals do.

• More annually updated guides than any other series
• 16-page color section and foldout map in all annual guides
• Outspoken opinions, exact prices, and suggested itineraries
• Dozens of detailed maps in an easy-to-read, two-color design

A cruise is a complete vacation, so it’s important that you choose the one that’s right for you. Frommer’s Cruises & Ports of Call 2009 is the most user-friendly, opinionated, and comprehensive guide you can buy before you set sail. We provide in-depth coverage on cruises departing from U.S. ports to the Caribbean, Alaska, Mexico, Bermuda, and Canada.

Unlike rating systems used in other guides, our system is simple. We break down the essential elements of a cruise experience (dining, activities, children’s activities, entertainment, service, overall enjoyment, and overall value), and rate them from “poor” to “outstanding.” Photos of each ship combine with the text to give a better sense of the very real differences among the various lines.

Most important, this is the only cruise guide that provides the real prices people pay for cruises, not just the rack rates. Other guides tell you that a seven-night cruise aboard Holland America’s Noordam costs $2,639. You can pay that if you want to, but only Frommer’s tells you that the same cruise is selling for $899. We give both the rack rates and the discount price for every cruise we review. This feature alone makes Frommer’s Cruises and Ports of Call by far the most valuable trip-planning book among cruise guides.

Our authors, noted cruise experts who’ve personally checked out every ship sailing in and around North America, offer candid and unbiased opinions on them all. They are completely up to date, with all the latest developments and the newest ships. You’ll also get complete coverage of the major port destinations, with advice on how to spend your limited time ashore.

Frommer’s. The best trips start here.

Completely updated every year (unlike most of the competition), Frommer’s Cancún, Cozumel & the Yucatán features gorgeous full-color photos of the white-sand beaches, mysterious ruins, and colorful market towns that await you. Our authors have lived in and written about Mexico for years, so they’re able to provide valuable insight and advice. They’ll steer you away from the touristy and the inauthentic, and show you the real heart of Mexico’s Mayan homeland. Let them take you to charming colonial towns, lovely beach resorts, ancient ruins, traditional villages, and natural wonders, from the glitz of Cancún’s hotel scene, to the mysterious ruins of Ek Balam.

You’ll travel the Yucatán like a pro with our candid advice and handy Spanish-language glossary. Also included are accurate regional and town maps (including site plans of the major ruins), up-to-date advice on finding the best package deals, a free color fold-out map, and an online directory that makes trip-planning a snap!

Experience a place the way the locals do. Enjoy the best it has to offer.

• Including Tobasco and Chiapas, for a complete overview of Mexico’s Maya heartland.
• Outspoken opinions on what’s worth your time and what’s not.
• Exact prices, so you can plan the perfect trip whatever your budget.
• Off-the-beaten-path experiences and undiscovered gems, plus new takes on top attractions.

From the sophisticated resorts of San Miguel de Allende to the lively festivals of Guanajuato, these celebrated colonial cities situated in the mountains north of Mexico City will allure travelers of all types.

About the Author
Kevin Delgado‘s grandparents moved to the U.S. from Guanajuato shortly after the Mexican Revolution. He travels to Mexico often and is the author of Los Cabos & Baja California Sur: Great Destinations Mexico. He lives in San Diego, CA.

Now in its updated 13th edition, The People’s Guide to Mexico still offers the ideal combination of basic travel information, entertaining stories, and friendly guidance about everything from driving in Mexico City to hanging a hammock to bartering at the local mercado.

Features include:
- Advice on planning your trip, where to go, and how to get around once you’re there
- Practical tips to help you stay healthy and safe, deal with red tape, change money, send email, letters and packages, use the telephone, do laundry, order food, speak like a local, and more
- Well-informed insight into Mexican culture, and hints for enjoying traditional fiestas and celebrations
- The most complete information available on Mexican Internet resources, book and map reviews, and other info sources for travelers

How, one might ask, would a travel guide for an area that includes Cancun possibly win a Journey award? Because the focus of this impressively comprehensive guidebook lies in the cultures, both past and present, of this incredible part of Mexico–and that’s refreshing. It’s packed, of course, with the usual practical information that one might expect–hotels, restaurants, transportation advice, prices, etc.–but, thankfully, it doesn’t end there. In fact, most of the book is concentrated on real items of interest, like the Bat Cave, dozens of different Archaeological Zones, the Temple of Five Stories, and the beaches of Xcalak. Bottom line: A step above the average guidebook in that it combines the practical stuff with lots and lots of history- and adventure-centered data. — Adventure Journey Magazine, December 26, 2007

Gary Chandler first visited Mexico as an exchange student from UC Berkeley in 1995, spending a semester in Mexico City and then four months teaching English in a tiny indigenous village in the mountains of Oaxaca. That trip was the first of many he would take to Latin America, Europe and Asia, while based in San Francisco. Gary has written for guidebooks on Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and Brazil. Between guidebook assignments, Gary has taught poetry and worked as a freelance reporter.

Liza Prado spent almost every summer of her life in Mexico, from preschool to high school, visiting her grandparents and extended family in Monterrey and Mazatlan. After two and a half years of fascinating and intense work as a lawyer, Liza left the Bay Area and moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, where she and Gary were married. Over the next two years, they traveled to the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Brazil. Liza plans to continue working as a travel writer, but (just in case) remains an active member of the State Bar of California.

Fodor’s. For Choice Travel Experiences.

Fodor’s helps you unleash the possibilities of travel by providing the insightful tools you need to experience the trips you want. Although you’re at the helm, Fodor’s offers the assurance of our expertise, the guarantee of selectivity, and the choice details that truly define a destination. It’s like having a friend on the Yucatán Peninsula!

•Updated annually, Fodor’s Cancún, Cozumel, & the Yucatán Peninsula provides the most accurate and up-to-date information available in a guidebook.

•Fodor’s Cancún, Cozumel, & the Yucatán Peninsula features options for a variety of budgets, interests, and tastes, so you make the choices to plan your trip of a lifetime.

•If it’s not worth your time, it’s not in this book. Fodor’s discriminating ratings, including our top tier Fodor’s Choice designations, ensure that you’ll know about the most interesting and enjoyable places around Cancún, Cozumel, and the Yucatán Peninsula.

•Experience Mexico like a local! Fodor’s Cancún, Cozumel, & the Yucatán Peninsula includes unique photo-features that impart the country’s vibrant culture, covering diving and snorkeling in Cozumel; Mayan palaces and temples; and Chichén Itzá’s mysterious ball courts!

•Indispensable, customized trip planning tools include “Top Reasons to Go,” “Word of Mouth” advice from other travelers, and tips to help save money, bypass lines, and avoid common travel pitfalls.

•Fodor’s Cancún, Cozumel, & the Yucatán Peninsula features over 25 maps from dining and lodging options in cities and up-close looks inside temple complexes, to regional overviews.