High Expectations

[CruzCouple]

A couple months back I received a post cruise satisfaction survey and all the questions were in the form: Did the "xyz" meet or exceed my expectations? The problem is that I now (after a few cruises) have very high expectations. For example, the food was very good but anything less would be a big disappointment. And the cabin steward and MDR wait staff were excellent, as I expected. I remember being so impressed in the specialty restaurant the first couple of times but how is the next time going to exceed that? In order to mark things as "far exceeded my expectations" do I need to pretend that we were expecting Motel 6? How about you? How often do elements of your cruise exceed your expectations and how do you respond to the surveys? -Scott

[DHADEN]

Very good point. I wrote notes on mine explaining that same point and they should have "unsatisfactory, Satisfied", very satisfied, etc. for choices instead.

 

I always like open ended questions that allow you to write in your own personal opinion, but I fear most people would never take the time to do that.

[Zindy Lou]

When survey's come our way and they meet the same level of enjoyability they can easily exceed our expectations since they remain on the high level we experienced prior and we always account for a fall off that often times does not occur.

[jd1966]

When survey's come our way and they meet the same level of enjoyability they can easily exceed our expectations since they remain on the high level we experienced prior and we always account for a fall off that often times does not occur.

I start all of our cruises with a clean slate and no comparisons to previous cruises. Why would anyone want to set themselves up to be disappointed?? As a result, I've never been disappointed on any of our ten cruises!

[Zindy Lou]

I start all of our cruises with a clean slate and no comparisons to previous cruises. Why would anyone want to set themselves up to be disappointed?? As a result, I've never been disappointed on any of our ten cruises!

 

Us either. The strategy must be working this way.

[Phxazzcruisers]

Us either. The strategy must be working this way.

 

I agree 100%. They do, however, seem to keep getting better.

[Lsimon]

.... how do you respond to the surveys? -Scott

 

We respond with total honesty about how we feel. If our expectations are high due to a prior cruise experience on Celebrity and the current cruise doesn't meet those expectations we indicate that and tell them why. If it does meet expectations (which they usually do) then we indicate that.

[DHADEN]

We respond with total honesty about how we feel. If our expectations are high due to a prior cruise experience on Celebrity and the current cruise doesn't meet those expectations we indicate that and tell them why. If it does meet expectations (which they usually do) then we indicate that.

 

So when you hve a really great cruise, do you check "met expectaions" and you do NOT check "exceeded expectations"?

[C 2 C]

I start all of our cruises with a clean slate and no comparisons to previous cruises. Why would anyone want to set themselves up to be disappointed?? As a result, I've never been disappointed on any of our ten cruises!

 

I guess getting older has its benefits. A failing memory means all my cruises will be great because I can't remember having done them before. My next cruise on Carnival or NCL or Princess or HAL will be great because I won't compare them to my Celbrity experiences.

Would you recommend the same philosophy to a person buying a car or booking a flight or to someone getting remarried?;)

[CruisingChick]

I've only been on 14 cruises - 12 with Celebrity and I'm already finding that I'm having a hard time keeping all of them straight.

 

But I do try and answer the questionnaires honestly. A cruise has to be darn near perfect for it to EXCEED my expectations.

[MMastell]

I never base my expectations nor my evaluation on previous cruise that were not on that line. In this instance Celebrity.

 

However: I base my expectations on previous cruises within that line. I have eight cruises on Celebrity over the last ten years and I have seen a drop in food quality and a slight drop in service.

 

I find that if you lower your expectations or say everything "Exceeded Expectations", when it really didn't, then you are doing yourself a disservice as well as the rest of the cruisers.

 

The cruise lines will try to meet or exceed the expectations but when you lower the bar the cruise lines, i.e. Celebrity will be more than willing to lower their standards to that level. Lower standards almost always means lower costs.

 

Take care,

Mike

[Robkat]

We always answer those questionnaires as we're forever hearing that the cruise lines really evaluate them and act/change things according to overwhelming opinions.

 

We always approach each cruise as a new experience and try (although don't always succeed) to NOT compare to previous cruises and ships.

We have certain expectations on every, single cruise we take ... not that everything has to be "beyond our expectations", but that the experience (food, service, entertainment, crew, etc. etc.) will achieve the levels that we've come to expect. Hence, "met our expectation"!

 

Of course, within that category, there's lots of room for interpretation. We can have a cabin steward on one cruise, who's really friendly and good; and on the next cruise, who's not quite as friendly, but who does everything we expect of a steward. Both would "meet our expectations",

but one would have been nicer to have than the other. Now, if a steward does something (willingly and happily) waaaay out of the normal range of expected activities, that would merit an "exceeded our expectations"! The same kind of interpretation can be applied to food, entertainment, and almost everything.

 

It takes a lot of bad things happening for us to comment that things "did not meet our expectations". And conversely, as CruisingChick stated "A cruise has to be darn near perfect for it to EXCEED our expectations".

 

The OP commented that "The problem is that I now (after a few cruises) have very high expectations." We try to be reasonable and realistic in our expectations ... and almost without exception, that has led to many great cruises. (And yes, some DID exceed our expectations!):)

[Puffthefish]

I pretty much ignore the "meets expectations" and just look at it as a scale of 1-5 (or whatever), and mark it accordingly. I also give comments for anything that is less than a 5. If I have no criticism, then they get a 5. As for your particular question, if you have a valid critique, then lay it out there. The only concern I would have would be if your expectations are too high, then you would have to consider if your grading of the service/food is fair.

 

I also take the venue into account. If I am at McDonalds ($5-meal), I do not compare them to Alinea in Chicago ($150- meal). I am on a cruise, eating the buffet, I expect less than the MDR or specialty restaurants.

[Woobstr112G]

I start all of our cruises with a clean slate and no comparisons to previous cruises. Why would anyone want to set themselves up to be disappointed?? As a result, I've never been disappointed on any of our ten cruises!

 

Exactly.....:):):)

 

Bob

[CruzCouple]

Thanks everyone for the responses. We love cruising and even the few mishaps (bad embarkation once, excursion to hell once) have not dampened our enthusiasm. My point was that it became hard to rate the experience as "greatly exceeded my expectations" because they (Celebrity in particular) routinely make it so good and I have come to expect it from them.

[C 2 C]

Thanks everyone for the responses. We love cruising and even the few mishaps (bad embarkation once, excursion to hell once) have not dampened our enthusiasm. My point was that it became hard to rate the experience as "greatly exceeded my expectations" because they (Celebrity in particular) routinely make it so good and I have come to expect it from them.

 

I agree. Once they treat you like royalty on one cruise it's hard to accept ordinary treatment on the next without noticing the difference.

[jd1966]

I guess getting older has its benefits. A failing memory means all my cruises will be great because I can't remember having done them before. My next cruise on Carnival or NCL or Princess or HAL will be great because I won't compare them to my Celbrity experiences.

Would you recommend the same philosophy to a person buying a car or booking a flight or to someone getting remarried?;)

Actually, yes to the first two and I've been married for 44 years and couldn't comtemplate remarrying. I actually drive a brand of car I never thought I would buy and I love to fly Southwest Airlines which I swore I would never do. I try to keep an open mind and I will never let something trivial ruin a vacation.

[Softball20]

I do like that "clean slate" concept, but I can also see that it's hard not to compare to prior cruises. Our last Med cruise was on HAL and absolutely everything about it was FABULOUS. We were upgraded to a deluxe suite, the food was excellent, the service was excellent, the ports were awesome, the weather was picture perfect for the entire cruise (ok, HAL didn't have anything to do with that one :) ) We have been on Celebrity before and really liked it, but that last Med Cruise really set the bar high for us.

 

I am really looking forward to our upcoming Med cruise and keep telling myself not to compare. I know that we are going to have a fabulous time and that Celebrity is an excellent choice. Our group has six AQ cabins in a row, we've got some great days planned - what's not to love?!