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

[Typhoon1]

I like what I see.

 

Just the right amount of information,

[Minoushka]

I really like pictures of ships public rooms in members reviews esp after ships have been upgraded or modified .Perhaps members should be encouraged to INCLUDE pix of staterooms public rooms excursions without necessarily putting people in them just to give others clues as to what to expect

I for one read CB was refurbished and certain areas have been altered I have searched for recent pix with no success I would appreciate a slide show of ships After upgrading or drydock

[V'sGirl]

I like having the deck plans and both the official Cruise Critic review and member reviews so handy. I would like to see lots of pictures: photos of bathroom sinks and mirrors, placement of hair-dryers and magnifying mirrors when they are available, and storage places and closets with items and clothes in them to give perspective. Having these concrete images of important spots in the cabin would help in choosing a ship and planning our packing. The moving advertisements are annoying, but I guess we just have to put up with them.

[spiritkat090909]

Since you already have the data, an average reader review score (*-*****) as of “x” date that updates automatically would be REALLY spiffy! (Your computer geek/web guru would be able to do this?)

 

I agree with princesscubamom that clicking to read the complete review is aggravating, especially when reading from a blackberry. (I read every Caribbean review I can get my hands on…and it’s important for the link to load at one time. If someone reviews ports separately for example…yes, it’s great that they will sort to each individual port, but if the reviewer is short winded, it’s irritating to have waited for the page to load for a single line of information about the port. )

 

Other than that… I like the current format.

[cruiseaholic777]

The site is great the way it is. I just wish we could get abetter rating system. I have cruised on the Millennum and found the food and service to be top of the line. But it is rated a 4, the same as many other ships i have cruised on. The service was at least .5 higher than every other ship i've been on. The more pictures the better as far as the site goes. Thank you and good luck ;)

[KCcruisin07]

I think the reviews are very informative. It would be helpful if they were dated with when they were done and then have a notation of how often the reviews are updated. That has always been my primary question left unanswered when I read them. Would I cruise on the Millenium after reading the review? I don't base that just on the review so, maybe, depending on the cost, ports, etc.

Agree with multiple comments about having dates for the reviews

[lj77346]

Although I think that the ship reviews provide lots of useful information, I think that they are pretty mundane and read like something that you could find on a cruise line's website. I think that the page could be improved by noting when ships are going into dry dock or are getting out of dry dock because cruises around those dates can be a bit dicey.

 

I know that Cruise Critic doesn't want to antagonize cruise lines (I guess you leave that to the members), but you could at least make the reviews appear that they are not lifted directly from cruise line propaganda.

 

While member ratings of ships are subjective - different cruisers enjoy/dislike different aspects of a cruise, it might be a good idea on your ship reviews page to note if member reviews of a ship have either improved or gotten much worse in the recent past.

 

Overall, I enjoy all the features Cruise Critic offers.

[Going Coastal]

Thank you for asking. I am another who uses member reviews almost exclusively because ones like this example are pretty generic and quickly outdated.

On the plus side, the cabin info and deck plans are great additions.

Ads are distraciting but I could still find editorial content without too much trouble.

Colors are fine to me and it is a good thing that they are visible to at least one spectrum of color blindness, as noted by someone previously.

[Himself]

I like what you are doing!

[gusandgidgetsmom]

Enjoy having the deck plans right at hand. Like the soothing colors and every thing is easy to find. Reviews help me decide between some ships but for me I will have already checked prices, itinerary, and length of time before I look at the reviews.

[TexBear]

Here are some suggestions I have: move the ads to the sides of the page. This will allow for easier reading of the review sections. Then, instead of listing the entire review on one page, if a viewer wants more information about a section, let the person click through to a full-page dedicated to the area of interest and stay in the current window, but let the link open in a new tab for browsers with that feature. Finally, I would add graphics related to the review section (Dining, Itineraries, Family, etc...) to break up long sections of text.

[amysb]

When looking at reviews, I would love to see a box close to the top with the ship facts (year built, latest updates, size, number of passengers, crew ratio, etc). Other than that, I like the added deck plans & the format is fine with me.

[dancing bear]

The ship review pages have proved very helpful to me in the past, and the numerous requests for larger photos makes sense to me as well.

[RUDIMAY1]

enjoy the format but more pictures, more updated information, and more specific room information.

[PAPALAPIN]

I have read some of the other comments here, and I agree with most of them. However, I know you will never be able to accomodate all requests.

 

One thing I really like is the ability of posters to write their own very biased opinions. We need to read through them and take the good with the bad and make our own decisions about what is important.

 

Some post like cheerleaders for the line, some are redicuously negative. I take some with agreain of salt but I think I am smart enough to weed out the truth from the hopelessly dissatisfied.

 

It's like Abe Lincoln said..."you can please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you will never please all of the people all of the time".

 

This goes for what the message board provides, as well as the cruise lines.

 

Just my thoughts.

[beenthere4u4]

Please add a section reviewing the internet experience during the cruise including connection speed and cost. Is WiFi available (wat here on ship and how good is it).

What Movies or other enterntainment is offered on in cabin TV's.

[judy3972]

Enjoy having the deck plans right at hand. Like the soothing colors and every thing is easy to find. Reviews help me decide between some ships but for me I will have already checked prices, itinerary, and length of time before I look at the reviews.

At least the size of the deck palns are big enough to actually see the cabin numbers.

 

I like having the deck plans and both the official Cruise Critic review and member reviews so handy. I would like to see lots of pictures: photos of bathroom sinks and mirrors' date=' placement of hair-dryers and magnifying mirrors when they are available, and storage places and closets with items and clothes in them to give perspective. Having these concrete images of important spots in the cabin would help in choosing a ship and planning our packing. The moving advertisements are annoying, but I guess we just have to put up with them.[/quote']

I agree. I've been on different cruise lines and in different cabins but it's always nice to see what you can expect in a cabin.

 

I would suggest more pictures of the ship, so that when you click on one, a portfolio might open up. I love that if you look at the deck plans, there are cabin reviews. After the cruise review, I wish you would add port reviews(the Carnival Legend had that), so that the writer could write the ship/cruise review, and then tie it in to the ports of call reviews. Thanks for asking our opinion.:)

This would be great.

 

Overall the page is great and with all good things sometimes just a little update is all that is needed.:)

[cullinp]

Hi Laura - I love Cruise Critic....the wife thinks I'm having an affair on here!

 

The ship review pages are awful though, bland, difficult to navigate......I just don't bother with them anymore and head to sites such as Shipparade and NauticalCities.

 

You guys seem quite innovative with regards to new media etc.....I think the pages need a severe rethink, you're talking about Cruise Ships, some of the most technologically advanced machines on the planet.....the ship review page should reflect that IMHO.

[scapel]

The Cruise Critic ship reviews seem very helpful. They seem well written and give a good description of the ship. Links could be included in the body of the message where appropriate to describe the ships tonnage etc. A link to describe what tonnage, is since that has changed, could also be included.

Links to deck plans.

Links to pictures both official and past passenger pictures selected by cruise critic. Possible members might start putting pictures of cabins, and public lounges on the photography section. As they say “one picture is worth 1000 words”, and these would not be professional doctored pictures.

Links to the ships usual itinerary could be included or at least to the web site of the cruise line.

[patinwv]

Reading the review provided the sort of information you'd get from the usual "positive in order to generate business" travel magazine article. I want to know the following: 1) If I do luxury cruises will this ship disappoint me and why; 2) What about prices for drinks, special food, services compared to other cruise lines? ; 3) Are there lines everywhere or does it feel comfortable even if the ship is full? ; 4) What is the average amount billed to my credit card at the end?

 

If I have never been a guest on the cruise line I want to know about the cruise in comparison to other cruises I have made. If a luxury passenger then I want to compare to a luxury experience or if I'm considering a larger cruise line, will I be very disappointed?

 

What I don't want is an adjective-wordy article that mimics the cruise line brochure. These cruises are expensive and when you have an experience that does not meet your expectations it hurts. Spending money based on mis-representation posted at a trusted source (look at any brochure) makes one very hesitant to spend that amount of money again.

[smtcan]

Many good comments - I agree that the photos are too small, even when I click on them they are not big enough to see properly. The links to member reviews and the ratings would be better after the review in my opinion. It detracts from the review when you have to go past so much clutter to get to it. Also a date for the review would be helpful. The deck plans are a good feature, but again would be better after the review. Give us the overview first, then have the detail stuff afterwards.

[the doo mob]

We are booked to go and really excited.. We were wondering if any of you went on the 2010 world cruise. We would appreciate any thoughts. We have been on Sun Princess - round aus and another just completed to Asia.

[the doo mob]

I like the ship reviews. Gives us ideas on what the ships are like.

[Lois R]

Hi,:) I agree the pictures could be enlarged...the older we get the

harder it is to see those small items:eek:

[PACRUISINNANA]

I just love having the deck plans right at our finger tips and also I'm able to see the numbers of the rooms which is great.

 

I didn't care for the review like some of the others it reads like a book and it is too close together I personally wouldn't take the time to read it.

 

I use the reviews to get feed back from others who cruised before but it doesn't change my mind about going or not. There is lot of useful info on these board. I agree they should have dates on them.

 

Thanks for asking my opinion.