Writing Reviews

[sherri3802]

One thing I have noticed is that there aren't that many recent reviews written about the ships that usually travel on the aussie circuit-Sun and Dawn Princess, Pacific Dawn, Pacific Sun and so on.

 

There are a lot of posts here on the message board and that is helpful, but for anyone heading to the reviews to get direct information about a particular ship, the latest review for the Pacific Dawn is from about April and for Sun Princess, about March.

 

Other overseas ships eg pride of America, oasis of the seas, seem to have dozens of recent ones.

 

I guess this is normal because after all, this is a US based board and maybe not many aussie passengers know about it.

But since March, surely there have been thousands of people through eg the Sun Princess.

 

I suppose what I am saying is-if anyone goes on a cruise, it would be really useful to write a member review, even a short one. Those are the first things I like to read through when considering a cruise and I am sure there are a lot of other people who would read them too, yet may never join a message board.

[Kinkacruiser]

Hi Sherri,

Nothing much has changed (ex. MUTS, Santctuary and the free icecream on Riveria) on the Sun Princess in over 2 years, so those older reviews are still useful. The Dawn Princess is identical so she's also covered.

We enjoyed all cruises on these two, but are definitely ready for a new experience.

BTW the March and April reviews you mentioned are probably very similar to the earlier ones.

Hope you enjoy your next cruise.

Anna :)

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Don’t know where you’re looking for reviews, but have a look here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1034349 & http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=cl&cl=POCruisesAustralia,

 

also their are reviews for the Sun Princess http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=63, & Dawn Princess: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=56

 

Hope this helps :)

[Waihekean]

One thing I have noticed is that there aren't that many recent reviews written about the ships that usually travel on the aussie circuit-Sun and Dawn Princess, Pacific Dawn, Pacific Sun and so on.

 

There are a lot of posts here on the message board and that is helpful, but for anyone heading to the reviews to get direct information about a particular ship, the latest review for the Pacific Dawn is from about April and for Sun Princess, about March.

 

Other overseas ships eg pride of America, oasis of the seas, seem to have dozens of recent ones.

 

I guess this is normal because after all, this is a US based board and maybe not many aussie passengers know about it.

But since March, surely there have been thousands of people through eg the Sun Princess.

 

I suppose what I am saying is-if anyone goes on a cruise, it would be really useful to write a member review, even a short one. Those are the first things I like to read through when considering a cruise and I am sure there are a lot of other people who would read them too, yet may never join a message board.

 

 

Hi Sherri.

Know what you mean the Dawn Princess has had no reviews since May and ofcourse we want to read all the latest ones:rolleyes: Cause have read all the old ones already:p But I have been wondering if that board was not working for some reason. On the other hand the Dawn Princess is now on her last stretch of a world tour, so maybe there will be a whole lot of new ones to read once the tour is completed.

 

Hay! I guess the both of us will write a review.

 

Also it took me quit a while to actually catch on that I could join the message board. Received weekly newsletters for months and had been reading the reviews and certain links, could also get some of the photo boards, but it wasn't till a message appeared of why I did not register? that I actually could join the message board.

 

See you at the M&G.......

[sherri3802]

Don’t know where you’re looking for reviews, but have a look here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1034349 & http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=cl&cl=POCruisesAustralia,

 

also their are reviews for the Sun Princess http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=63, & Dawn Princess: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=56

 

Hope this helps :)

Hi kiwi cruiser, thanks for that link.

Where I had been looking was on the home page, where it says "write a review" and under it, 'read a review" and there is a drop down menu for both of them to a long list of ships.

I must admit I tend to go there to look for reviews because the reviews about any particular ship are then all in the same place.

Sometimes I just enjoy reading them, even when I am not going on a particular ship, because I find them interesting and some of the American ones are quite funny.

Waihekean, yes, I will write a review when i get back.:)

Hopefully it will say what a sensational cruise and what an amazing cabin upgrade I got.:p

[Waihekean]

Hopefully it will say what a sensational cruise and what an amazing cabin upgrade I got.:p

 

Yeah:cool:

[thied]

Hopefully it will say what a sensational cruise and what an amazing cabin upgrade I got.:p

 

Yeah:cool:

 

I do hpe we do see a great review.

[Waihekean]

Thanks Thied, me too!

Will definitely do my best:D:D

[thied]

Thanks Thied, me too!

Will definitely do my best:D:D

 

great Itinerary you will ave a great time I do now we would.

 

 

Sydney, Australia 4:00 PM

2 At Sea

3 At Sea

4 Isle of Pines, New Caledonia 8:00 AM 5:00 PM

5 Lifou, New Caledonia 8:00 AM 5:00 PM

6 Vila (Vanuatu) 8:00 AM 6:00 PM

7 Wala, Vanuatu 8:00 AM 5:00 PM

8 Champagne Bay, Vanuatu 8:00 AM 5:00 PM

9 At Sea

10 Noumea, New Caledonia 8:00 AM 5:30 PM

11 At Sea

12 At Sea

13 Sydney, Australia

[Waihekean]

Hi, Thied. Me again. Yes seems a good combination and I think it is also nice we got a few sea days too. Thanks for the lobster tip:), if you have anymore tips or must do's, feel free to let me know as our roll call is not rolling........:(nor can we book shore excursions yet.

 

For the rest everything is organized, it is all so exciting and I'm looking so much forward to this special trip. Yeah:cool:

[sherri3802]

Hi, Thied. Me again. Yes seems a good combination and I think it is also nice we got a few sea days too. Thanks for the lobster tip:), if you have anymore tips or must do's, feel free to let me know as our roll call is not rolling........:(nor can we book shore excursions yet.

 

For the rest everything is organized, it is all so exciting and I'm looking so much forward to this special trip. Yeah:cool:

 

hey, waihekean, I have just realised, you are on the same cruise as my son will be on!:)

I should get you to sidle up to him one day and say-your mum said you better be behaving yourself and don't drink too much!:p

Wouldn't that shock him.:eek: (only kidding)

 

It does look like a great itinerary.

[bazzaw]

Well, I can't bear to read the reviews here in the reviews section of Cruisecritic (ie not those in this Forum)

 

They almost all appear to me to be written by people with high expectations and high levels of demand. Just looked at a couple written about a ship we will be cruising on soon. As soon as a passenger starts commenting on a "rude" staff member, I start to wonder. Staff are just people like anybody else - on 5 cruises , I have yet to meet a staff member who I would call rude - tired, yes - but rude, no. One "reviewer" was even raving about the fact that the Captain REFUSED to shake their hand.

 

I think I must go on different cruises to these people. So now, I don't listen to anybody about the food, the entertainment, etc - I just go on the cruise and try my hardest to enjoy it. But I do KNOW that it is not going to be perfect - and frankly couldn't care less about shaking hand with the Captain! :o

 

Barry

[Kiwi Kruzer]

One "reviewer" was even raving about the fact that the Captain REFUSED to shake their hand.

I think I must go on different cruises to these people. So now, I don't listen to anybody about the food, the entertainment, etc - I just go on the cruise and try my hardest to enjoy it. But I do KNOW that it is not going to be perfect - and frankly couldn't care less about shaking hand with the Captain! :oBarry

 

With you on that one Barry....

Read all the reviews ,then go anyway and make it a great cruise ,

in your own way.

As for shaking hands....

ie at The Captains Cocktail Party as he greets incoming guests.....

that is a NO NO these days.....

If just one passenger has Norovirus , and shakes his hand,

he then passes it on to everyone else.:eek:

[thied]

I like reading the reviews, some are about a bad cruise and some are about good cruises, or bad and good service,but then there are reviews about the reviews which are not very good either,some are good.

 

We are all people with differenet points of view about what service we should get on a cruise.

 

We are all people with different like and dislikes.

 

At the end of the day if you have a bad cruise or service on a cruise then whinge/ complain to there boss and if you have no luck with them then go higher up the ladder.

 

Then if we have a great cruise or service we should all say so as well in the same way.

 

 

People will still write reviews weather we read them or not, I say write them and people will read them.

[bazzaw]

At the end of the day if you have a bad cruise or service on a cruise then whinge/ complain to there boss and if you have no luck with them then go higher up the ladder.

 

Or perhaps - thank your lucky stars that you are not living in a cave in Afghanistan. Or that you are not an Aussie soldier on the Kokoda Track! Too many westerners/Aussies just don't understand or truly value the good fortune that life has thrown to them.

 

Barry

[thied]

At the end of the day if you have a bad cruise or service on a cruise then whinge/ complain to there boss and if you have no luck with them then go higher up the ladder.

 

Or perhaps - thank your lucky stars that you are not living in a cave in Afghanistan. Or that you are not an Aussie soldier on the Kokoda Track! Too many westerners/Aussies just don't understand or truly value the good fortune that life has thrown to them.

 

Barry

 

all true and thats why so many people world wide want to come and live Australia because of what We as Aussies are like and what We have here in Australia, and the way Aussies stand up and fight for there rights and dont let people walk over them, That is why WE Aussies are so good at being Soldiers/armed forces and known world wide for that reason.

[bazzaw]

fight for there rights

 

We could have a good philosophical argument here Thied - but we would be way off topic! :o

 

Personally, I am not one that has much interest in so-called "rights". In fact, I see the modern pre-occupation with "rights" here in Australia as one of our weaknesses. Something that has made us inferior to what we used to be. I believe that everything is a "privilege " and nothing is a "right". Even the act of breathing air is a privilege. I can't think of a single thing that I, as a human being, has that is a "right". But- that's just me! :o

 

Barry

[thied]

fight for there rights

 

We could have a good philosophical argument here Thied - but we would be way off topic! :o

 

Personally, I am not one that has much interest in so-called "rights". In fact, I see the modern pre-occupation with "rights" here in Australia as one of our weaknesses. Something that has made us inferior to what we used to be. I believe that everything is a "privilege " and nothing is a "right". Even the act of breathing air is a privilege. I can't think of a single thing that I, as a human being, has that is a "right". But- that's just me! :o

 

Barry

yes it is little off topic some thing for another type of forum .

[sherri3802too]

I personally enjoy reading through the reviews, some can be quite funny.

I agree with Bazza and think that at times you have to read between the lines.

There have been a few though where, if the facts are as presented, then the people really did have serious issues. Usually they weren't about staff, more often about booking placements and money.

 

The only thing I did find was when I joined this forum, I had never been on a cruise and had no idea what to expect. Then I read reviews for the ship and became a bit anxious because 2 other couples had booked on my say so, and I was worried the ship might not come up to expectations if some of the reviews were right.

As it turned out, I need not have worried as we had an excellent cruise.

 

Reading reviews and threads in here about the ship for our next cruise-Pacific Dawn-is also a bit the same. There are lots of negatives and lots of positives, so we will just have to see for ourselves.:)

 

Mind you, I am not quite as kindly as Bazza. I agree that we are privileged in our way of life. Our standard of living, even for some of our poor, is still probably better than for 90% of people who have ever lived on our planet.

All the same, it does not stop me from wanting what I pay for and reasonable value for money. In other words, I have been known to whinge if things aren't right.;)

I didn't on the cruise though.

I never even got within cooee of any captain, let alone had him refuse to shake hands. I probably have at least about another 50 cruises to go before I will be up in those sorts of levels where I would get to mingle with the captain.:D

[Sandielle]

I never even got within cooee of any captain, let alone had him refuse to shake hands. I probably have at least about another 50 cruises to go before I will be up in those sorts of levels where I would get to mingle with the captain.:D

 

Haha Sherri :D- it's not a big deal. On P&O anyway, sometimes the captain takes a walk around the ship and if you are in the right place at the right time, you can have a few words with him. Also from your second cruise on, you can go to the Captain's Cocktail party and have your photo taken with him. (I think they need a medal for standing there forever and smiling for photos!)

[Gaznjo]

Hi Sherri.

Know what you mean the Dawn Princess has had no reviews since May and ofcourse we want to read all the latest ones:rolleyes: Cause have read all the old ones already:p But I have been wondering if that board was not working for some reason. On the other hand the Dawn Princess is now on her last stretch of a world tour, so maybe there will be a whole lot of new ones to read once the tour is completed.

 

See you at the M&G.......

 

waihekean, guess there would be no reviews as the dawn is till on the world cruise which started in may....

 

but if you go to the thread bon voyage world cruisers you will find links to all the blogs that are currently being written by passengers on there.... bit like a pertpetual review LOL....

 

Joanne

[Waihekean]

hey, waihekean, I have just realised, you are on the same cruise as my son will be on!:)

I should get you to sidle up to him one day and say-your mum said you better be behaving yourself and don't drink too much!:p

Wouldn't that shock him.:eek: (only kidding)

 

It does look like a great itinerary.

 

Hi Sherri, I had the impression from the roll call that you are also going accompanied by your son and two of his friends.

If he is quiet young, he probably will not go to the meet & greet. But as it is nothing is happening with the roll call, so there probably won't be a M&G. If there is and he goes, HM I will keep an eye on him;)

Does he happen to be Sherri3802too?

[sherri3802too]

sherri3802/sherri3802too are both me,

What has happened is my laptop wireless connection is just not.. connecting.:mad:

Bigpond isn't being much help either. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. My son's phone connection is in the same boat.

 

So.. I am currently on the main computer. But when I tried to log in as sherri3802 and put in my password then pressed the 'connect' button, each time the password would disappear and up would come a message that name or password was 'incorrect'. I guess that is because by that time, there was no password, it had been removed.

I must have tried dozens of times, with the same result, so I just gave up and opened a new account.

So on my laptop I am sherri3802 and on the main computer, I am sherri3802too:D

 

I am not with my son on his cruise, by the way, I am on a different cruise the month before. He is 23 so I am guessing he is glad I won't be around. LOL

[Waihekean]

Ha, Ha, mystery solved, but now you are off the list as well.

Oh, well as long as we all are cruising nes't pas?

So it is now interesting to see if I will bump into your son.

If I do, I will let you know afterwards.:p

[rugbypopsie]

I thought I would throw six cents worth in two...even though people may review the same cruise the perceptions can be very different. It does depend on what your expectations are..also different cruises attract different age groups..I was on the Dawn Princes for 6 weeks, the age group was probably much older than you would find on a shorter cruise.. I thought the ship felt crowded in the public areas. It wasn't until I was thinking later..this older crowd did not hang out so much around the pool and the open decks so that may be the reason it felt so crowded. The Dawn Princess has some lovely features..and yes it is not the Diamond ...but a beautiful ship just the same. I am about to go on the Diamond Princess for a third time but you know it is not just about the ship..your cruise experience can be really enhanced by the people you cruise with...we have such a great group going I probably would sail with them in a tin tub and have a fabulous time.

 

Don't be too put off by negative reviews unless you are seeing consistent reviews quoting the same problem over and over. I really want to go on a particular ship (not one currently here) however until they fix its soot problems I wont be booking.

 

If there isn't a roll call for your sailing start one, your friends at home will get sick of you endlessly babbling on about cruising but you CC roll call friends never do:p