3.5 Ribbons??

[marysb]

We will be going on our first HAL cruise on the Oosterdam in January, and I was looking at the reviews. Why does cruise critic rate the Oosterdam and the Westerdam lower than the other 2 vista ships (which get 4 ribbons).

I have cruised on other lines including Carnival and Norwegian, and I must say, this will be our first cruise on any ship with a cruise critic rating of less than 4 ribbons. It is making me a bit nervous.

[JimVrhovac]

Cruises are such an individualistic thing. You can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the peole all of the time.

 

Those ratings are personal opinion pols and nothing else.

 

We have never had a bad cruise on a HAL ship. Some have been better than others but none of them bad.

 

Hope this answers your question.

 

Ruth & Jim

[m steve]

HAL runs rings around Carnival and NCL. Excellent food, cabins and staff and they don't rummage thru your luggage looking for liquor and wine as NCL does. And no idiot games at the pool.

[jtl513]

All reviews are subjective to some degree. Another reviewer at another time may have marked the Oosterdam higher. For example, I noticed that one of the things that the reviewer gave the Oosterdam a "3" on was Entertainment - but the entertainment is changing continuously, and a particularly good or bad act on one HAL ship one cruise could be on another ship a week later.

 

We've never been on the Oosterdam, but I wouldn't be hesitant at all to sail her if an itinerary was one we were interested in.

[suse]

Well, I try to take reviews with a grain of salt. Maybe I'm crazy, but I usually like stuff that may not be very popular with others and so on it goes. Maybe that's why I am a mature, discerning customer.:) Ha, wish that were true! My tastes are different, say in food, since I'm partial to fried smelts and beef kidneys and most people say ick to that but I call it 5 star food! Get it?

[jtl513]

Well, I try to take reviews with a grain of salt.

I believe the OP is talking about the "official" CC review that can be found on the CC home page, not the forums. That one should be more objective than the ones written by us ordinary customers, but of course no review can ever be completely objective since there are few measurable aspects involved.

[E-500]

I just picked up the new Berlitz Cruise Rating Book. Very detailed reviews with a weighted 2000 point scale. All the Vista class HAL ships scored high 4 stars. Over 270 ships worldwide listed, profiles of the cruise lines, rating of ports (Port Everglades and POM did not score well) and lots of misc. information. The guy who writes/edits it is a Brit. but from what I can tell from my experience he is fairly objective. He worked in the industry before becoming a travel writer.

 

Long story short, no hesitation in sailing on any HAL ship

[schwabby]

I sailed the Oosterdam in September - October on a 12 night Mediterranean cruise. I had a group of 16. There was not one complaint -- only raves -- out of 16 people for 13 days. That's pretty good. Raves about food, service and entertainment.

 

Schwabby

[marysb]

Yes, I was referring to the "OFFICIAL" cruise critic rating. Not the members rating (which was actually higher at 4 ribbons)

So it sounds like the CC rating are just as subjective as all the others. I wonder what criteria they use? 3.5 ribbons is usually used for older ships

[pipedreams62]