Have a Minute To Help Us Out? We're Redesigning Our Ship Review Page!

[samoyedlover24]

Personally, I like the look and feel of the current review page(s). One thing I think would make all the difference to some people—make it clear on how to find the individual cabin reviews on the ships, or just list the individual cabin reviews on the ship review page.

 

Thanks!

—samoyedlover24

[alwalaska]

I'm going to comment before reading the other comments to keep my ideas straight. I appologize for duplications.

 

Overall, I like the layout of the page and it seems friendly to navigate. It would be nice though to have "back to the top" links throughout the ship details.

 

With the great resources that CC has, it would be nice to have links to sample Dailies for the itineraries that each ship sails where possible. This could be an area where members can provide the dailies or upload links. It would be nice to have everything in one place rather than trying to search the forums.

 

Although it is always subject to change, typical hours for each dining location would be nice.

 

Sample menus (with note stating subject to change and sample only) would be nice. Again, these could probably be drawn from members.

 

I especially like the gratuity information as well the pricing for the specialty restaurants. For new cruisers, this can help them plan better.

 

Good luck on your endeavor to rebuild the pages.:)

[sharecruises]

I really love the member reviews

 

As for the CC reviews..

I would like to see some "update" info (on older ships)..such as when/if it was revamped or remodeled (ie, most of the Carnival Fantasy class have the "Evolutions of Fun" revamp....some of the RCI ships are getting "Oasis" style updates) That really would be helpful

 

Updated info on where the ship sails from/to

ports

 

I would like some sort of clickable or popup to lots of pictures and click to a deck plan

[WinnipegCruiser]

I look for the ratings first. I would suggest that maybe they should be above the fold, and maybe even some comparative...

 

The ship we are looking at, the mean value for other ships of that line? Maybe even compared to other lines???

[tequilasunrise]

Nice work. Lots of information and easy to read.

 

If I would have one wish it would be more pictures--public rooms, pools, cabins. We visual people are sold on cruises by the photos!

 

Thanks for asking.

[sparkscruiser]

I'd really like to see larger Font for the Ships name. Would love the ads to be a little less obtrusive - perhaps a scrolling feature instead so they would not take up as much space. Maybe take the reviews and group them by the score they were given - that may make it more apparent if there was a pattern beginning to development in a certain area. Someone else mentioned using more ships photos - my recommendation would be to have the lines provide "recent" photos for use along with the review. Would give folks a more accurate view of what they are going to be boarding. Just a few thoughts - if I think of anything else, I will post again.

[kkwilson]

Laura,

 

Your review was comprehensive and an easy read. The only thing that occured to me was there was no way to envision the location of the many facilities you describe. I would suggest a link to a deck plan on which the location of the facility is highlighted.

Thank you for this opportunity,

 

Ken Wilson

[Tailskid]

OK you asked for it - I don't like it!

Most important is the reating. But what do those fish things mean? Presumably the more the better but what do the symbols mean? Can't you give us something more meaningful? Compared to what? Likewise the numbers ... completely meaningless ...is 4.0 good or bad? Are the best ships 100 and are the worst ships -100? or what???

Other suggestions: Put the sponsored listings on the bottom. Clean up the all-over-the plave stuff. Use only one column (except for the commercial side bar - that's in a place where we can skip it easily) forget the ten different colors and as many different type faces. For long blocks of text use a Roman style type - it's easier to read than a sans-serif face. And make all type a couple of points larger - computer monitors are not Cinamascope screens.

TAILSKID

[i guide the sky]

The one thing I have always thought you should add is more High RES photos of all the different areas of the ship, I'm always going to other sites to find pictures, it would be nice if they were all here!!

[jgw321]

Some topics to get you started:

 

If you were sailing on Celebrity Millennium, do we have everything you need to make a decision about the ship?

 

 

• I think the Find a Cruise would be nicer with the last two years cruises included as well as the forward season, these can have an extra column to link to reviews specific to that itinerary.
  
• I was confused by the celebrity profile link. I expected to see a list of the other ships but got only those in the Solstice class, and Millenium was not listed. I would expect to see all ships listed by their classes. I am not familiar with the Celebrity line.
  
• Some of the Why Go reasons were a bit cryptic. e.g Splurge on a "Concierge" stateroom -- standard balconies with a twist. What does this mean? Either expand on the statement to explain what the twist is or make the statements links to further explanations.
  

Is there too much of something on the page? Too little?

• About right, need lots of links to further detail but with the ability to find everything one might need on the first page.
  

What about the colors? Do you like them? Any suggestions?

• OK apart from the navigation bar at the top, a bit too obtrusive to me, I prefer pastel colours, (though this is a site wise standard). On my browser the Navigation bar overlays the top of the cruise critics logo, I suspect that the CSS code needs a bit more care. You haven't been using absolute pixels I hope, these do not work without very careful coding, as you have no control over the viewer's browser settings.
  

 

If there were one single thing you could change on the page, what would it be?

• Don't split the photos into Photos (handled well) and more photos (not large enough), put them all in the one system. In the photo display have them come up around 640 x 480 but then have them clickable to give a larger size say 900 x 675. Don't have the Photos under Why Go? Make them a main heading in their own right. Bring the main headings up along side the ships image and put the why go reasons down where the main headings are currently, with a link to them as a main heading.
  

[Justgottago]

Laura

 

I agree with earlier posters - get rid of the sponsored links here.

 

I would suggest that you include a brief program, of the form:

Summer Alaska 7 day round trip ex Vancouver

Winter Carribean 7-10 day round trip ex Ft Lauderdale

Spring & Fall Repositioning cruise Ft Lauderdale-Vancouver via Panama Canal & vv.

[Philly Steve]

I agree with those here who would like to see more cabin pics. It really would enhance the review. :)

[Cruiser 4 Life 66]

The main page for the ship should have a section with all the ship's facts, such as length, height, year it went into operation, etc. On the current page I cant even find a link to find those facts.

[bythehex]

Hi everyone!

 

We're in the early stages of redesigning our ship review pages, and we'd really like your input, because it matters to us.

 

For example, take a look at our existing Celebrity Millennum page.

 

Then, tell us anything and everything; we really want to know what you think! Some topics to get you started:

 

• If you were sailing on Celebrity Millennium, do we have everything you need to make a decision about the ship?
  
• What other information would you like to see on the page?
  
• Is there too much of something on the page? Too little?
  
• What about the colors? Do you like them? Any suggestions?
  
• If there were one single thing you could change on the page, what would it be?
  

We're really interested in your opinions and ideas, so let it out!

 

Oh, and thanks!

 

Laura

 

For the most part I like it, but I think the sponsored ads should be a link on the right hand side with the other ads, rather than in the middle of the review. To be honest, I would have stopped reading the review at that point if you hadn't been asking us to critique it. Just my opinion, of course!

 

Sharon

[DustFSU]

One thing that would be good in the section where you have the photos of the ship which only included 11 photos, would be to have passengers photos on that slide show. I think some people pick a ship do on how it looks and others pick where the ship goes. I think some people would be more influenced to take a ship or try a new cruise line if they could navigate photos. I think if you could some how put the fleet wide menu up because some people are picky eaters and some like to see what other lines have to offer, because all the lines have totally different menus. That's what I think would be nice. I know the message boards do that, but some people can navigate the Internet better then others.

[marconi]

It would be very nice to see actual sample menus of lunch and dinner in the main dining rooms of all the cruise ships.A proper rating system as per frommers or other rating companies.

Regards Frank.

[Host Caroline]

Purposely looked at the Millenium review w/out looking at any posts here and

• one thing that immediately stood out (too many years proofing legal briefs:rolleyes::confused:) was that "Gratuity" looked odd - shouldn't it be "Gratuities" since that is how they are referred to in the body of the text?
  
• a picture or two in each section of the "Quick Links" where appropriate i.e. of the spa, dining venue (1 of them at least)... would make those pages more visually appealing
  
• assume the big gap under "sponsored links" is going to be filled up with something
  
• maybe a tad more about meet & mingles.. it's kind of buried..
  

I think it looks great overall.:) We really don't cruise on Celebrity but if we were making a decision as relative "newbies" on which cruise line to sail on and which ship, this would give us a lot of info to make a decision in a readable but not too "long winded" manner.

[C Cruise Dude]

Hi everyone!

 

We're in the early stages of redesigning our ship review pages, and we'd really like your input, because it matters to us.

 

For example, take a look at our existing Celebrity Millennum page.

 

Then, tell us anything and everything; we really want to know what you think! Some topics to get you started:

 

• If you were sailing on Celebrity Millennium, do we have everything you need to make a decision about the ship?
  
• What other information would you like to see on the page?
  
• Is there too much of something on the page? Too little?
  
• What about the colors? Do you like them? Any suggestions?
  
• If there were one single thing you could change on the page, what would it be?
  

We're really interested in your opinions and ideas, so let it out!

 

Oh, and thanks!

 

Laura

 

Laura,

I think the Millennium page is very good and provide great information about the ship. A couple of problems: I'm new to CC this year and am still finding new areas on the boards. The main area that I look at is each board for the individual cruise lines. With that in mind, I would look in the Celebrity board for reviews of their ships. I enjoy the input from average cruisers and could not wait to return and write my review, unfortunately I didn't realize that when you write a review (in the boards) that you keep the same thread and I made a mess of it. It would help to have something in the boards for each line pointing to reviews like the one above. Pictures are always great to get a feel for the environment of the ship. The same is true of excursions for specific ships. Thank you. :D

[maray]

I like that the deck plan is there along with pictures of ship. Great new way to look at reviews.

[lac]

Would love more candid larger pictures.

 

Also would like to see each review with their individual ratings for Food, Entertainment, etc -- not just the overall ratings.

[OES]

I love cc!! So much useful information. I'd like to reach out to anyone that's cruising on the Equinox 10/5 Holy Land cruise. This must be cc's first one, I don't see any postings for this cruise on cc. I also would like more info on the meet and mingle, I'm cruising with my hubby, but meeting other people is the great thing about cruising. We've met and stayed in touch with many previous cruisers!!

[The Flying Pirate]

The review is excellent and well written. I can see it being very helpful especially for the first time cruiser, since there is that great excitement when you first book your first cruise where you try and research everything before you go. I would love to see more pictures and agree with those comments that asked for the pictures to be larger.

 

I love the Voyager-Class.com site with the virtual Tour. I spent hours looking on that site before our first Voyager Class Cruise and it felt like I was a returning guest since I already knew my way around! But I also realize what a tremendous amount of work that site was to build!

 

I like the overall ratings for the food, the trouble with the individual ratings is some people are so in love with the cruise that everything is wonderful and others are never happy, so somewhere in the middle is the truth!

[LauraS]

 

Sorry, but you asked. :)

 

No need to be sorry; and we're definitely listening!

 

Laura

[LauraS]

T

 

I love the Voyager-Class.com site with the virtual Tour. !

 

That's one of my favorite 'ship(class) specific sites as well!

[delmar2010]

I'm a lover of facts and info....so ship size passenger count crew ratio definitely is useful. Links to larger, and not just canned pics is good.....just don't clutter the main page with slow loading large stuff on first blush!!

 

Ads not approriate on that particular section....unless the ads in question are directly related to that ship.....

 

Need better layout....but don't make "busy" just cuz you can. Different font size and Some color variation as appropriate

 

The different lines have their own editorial slant, of course. Maybe post some of that, but add some review language that is beyond the canned.

 

Have a click link to passengers' dated reviews to augment.

 

WHen discussing fees, are you intending to update each of these review pages as the fees change? You need to manage that and or have links to the fee schedules sources so that these review stumps can serve as a jumping off place for various research both within CruiseCritic website and other relevent sites outside this site. Will keep them timely and accurate if you link to current elsewhere rather than typing that dated info into the page.....

 

My first and only cruise so far led me to research and I ended up at CruiseCritic. I was reading up on what makes a cruise since the tickets had already been purchased. I would want to start future research and planning here as well.

 

You are on the right track in getting some feedback....... look forward to see the next iteration!!