Who reads the reviews?

[Cruisebugg]

Hi All,

 

I have enjoyed reading and learning from this great forum. My family and I are looking forward to sailing on the Voyager of the Seas later in the year. We have been on a few cruises but none with Royal Caribbean. I try not to get too alarmed about reviews but I have noted quite a few negative comments about Voyager in recent months. Comments about the state of carpets furnishings, cleanliness and food are common. (I believe a refurbishment is due in 2014). I suppose my question is about whether anyone from Royal Caribbean reads or takes note of the reviews...:confused: I would hate to think everything is allowed to deteriorate until it is refurbishment time.

 

Cheers,

Cruisebugg :)

[bazzaw]

I tend not to read reviews these days. Primarily because they often don't tell me much - and the extremes of opinion make their veracity doubtful. You get a wide range of opinion -from the negatives that you quote to a recent gushing approval (which is often the response of a first time cruiser -- but good on'em for enjoying their first cruise so much :)! ) On the other hand, very experienced cruisers can often become highly critical. Life is like a one-way ratchet -- when you have experienced the best of anything -- it is very hard to "un-experience/forget it - and hence everything after is compared to that great experience.

 

My very best cruise was a 7 dayer on the old Pacific Star :rolleyes::D:D. -- my first!! :D

 

Barry

[The_Big_M]

They do reportedly read them, but as said above, just because one person (or a few) has an opinion doesn't mean it is 'the right one'.

 

For the record, I rate my recent cruise on Voyager better than either Rhapsody or Radiance so there's evidence of varying viewpoints.

[rugbypopsie]

I would hope that representatives of the various cruise lines do keep up with opinions expressed here...feedback is important to any company. The cruise lines are certainly aware of Cruise Critic. As for the reviews themselves it is as Barry said, very subjective. The best accessory for any cruise, is a good attitude...take that along and you will have a good time, every time.

 

Sue

[dizzy1948]

A lot of negative reviews are posted by people who aren't members of cruise critic - you just need to check their "member" listing - they aren't on it - they are "one shot" posters. Not that this should make a difference - but they can give "new/prospective" members/cruisers the impression they know what they are talking about. Especially if a port is cancelled - they seem to think the Captain must sit there and say "Lets upset the people in cabin E12134 and cancel their shore trips by not docking" No thought is given to the safety issues that the Captain has to consider. Never aim too high in your expectations - and the rest is a bonus. When there are large numbers of people, not everyone will be 100% happy - just make sure you are - that's all that matters. So what - they don't have big platters of prawns or whatever - eat something else - I wouldn't ruin my cruise worrying about what is not available - or the carpets are bit worse for wear, or a shore trips has to be cancelled due to weather (yes I would be disappointed - who wouldn't be - but it can't be helped) just enjoy your cruise and the company of others, even the "overly pushy" can teach you something - like...."I hope I don't turn into one of them"..and so it goes on - your cruise..........enjoy

[Sutho]

I do not read any reviews. They are all sbjective and pick on trivial things. Pages like these are best for discussing other things about cruising not anyones personal opinion. It doesnt matter what other people think anyway.

 

You can get a better idea about what ships are best for you by looking at its statistics and size, age, number of passengers and type of people it caters to.

[lizzy77]

I read them but don't take a lot of notice of them.

 

I did a review on our last cruise on Solstice and thought that it was a great ship and we had a wonderful time but then I read other reviews about the same cruise and you would have thought that we were on different ships:confused:

[alibabacruisers]

I like reading reviews; both the good and bad. I like to try and learn at least one new thing each time. For example - if I read a "bad" item say about no seats available in theatre 5 minutes before the show starting...then I may plan to get there 15-20 minutes early. If I read a "good" item say about using the internet at 10 pm because it is quicker, then I make a note and try to log on then. I know that it can be difficult when reading a thoroughly negative review and somtimes I just cannot do it, but most of the time I try to finish. The exuberant reviews I love, because it just shows how excited and engaged someone can be over a cruise and they just want to share it with us.:)

 

Barbara

[gaechann]

As others have said, everyone has a different opinion so really it's up to you and your expectations whether or not you'll enjoy your cruise.

 

**We had GREAT weather on our 24Nov-8Dec cruise!

**We enjoyed the food in the MDR, the Windjammer and the Cafe Promenade. Johnny Rockets was NOT my cup of tea so tasted and left it.

**Portofinos Restaurant was excellect value for wonderful food and fantastic service at just $20 per head.

**The crew on the most part were very friendly and obliging

**We made lots of new friends

**We enjoyed our shore breaks

**We would recommend it to anyone who asks.

 

Gae

[joejoe 59]

I have read some reviews for Voyager, but they got a little depressing so swore off them. Theres so much talk about cutbacks compared to what we use to get, but we are paying less for our 14 night Voyager cruise then we did in 2007 for 7 nts in 2007 on Pac Sky. So i guess if we want to pay more we will get more. We are happy with todays prices. Cant wait for Voyager only 6 sleeps to go. :D

[Jacs]

I read them but keep and open mind. If someone gives a cruise 1 star then proceeds to complain about fellow passengers, the prize winnings for bingo not being high enough and the rude cabin attendant that didn't know their name on the first day, I'm not going to pay much attention. But if it seems like an honest appraisal and like something I would write, I listen to it a bit more.

 

From reviews of our last cruise I knew to expect only normal quality food (only had 1 meh meal out of all of them) slow elevators ( which was true) and slightly dated decor. None of which effected our enjoyment one little bit.

[goodycruising]

It is the same with many online reviews. People are super critical sometimes, and if you read all the reviews for any mobile phone, tablet, etc you would despair of ever finding one good enough for the average person.

 

I agree with a previous poster, I look for the tips on what to be aware of so as to get the timing right, or what benefits might be around that you don't see obviously listed.

 

It has been interesting to read that power boards are being confiscated. We took one last time and left it out in the open the whole time with no issues. Now we will just take a double usb and single power outlet thingy. Little things like that we look for amongst the reviews and threads. ;)

[fishtaco]

I like reading reviews; both the good and bad. I like to try and learn at least one new thing each time. For example - if I read a "bad" item say about no seats available in theatre 5 minutes before the show starting...then I may plan to get there 15-20 minutes early. If I read a "good" item say about using the internet at 10 pm because it is quicker, then I make a note and try to log on then. I know that it can be difficult when reading a thoroughly negative review and somtimes I just cannot do it, but most of the time I try to finish. The exuberant reviews I love, because it just shows how excited and engaged someone can be over a cruise and they just want to share it with us.:)

 

Barbara

 

I am with you:)

 

You can always find something of interest in a review even the totally negative ones!

 

Much of the time the negatives are so trivial to most its quite funny but it is a "Personal review" so meant something to the poster.

 

Just glad we dont have all the cruise company cheer leaders like on some of the USA boards:rolleyes:, Actually P&O Australia had a few some time ago:D

[Cruisebugg]

Thanks for your comments everyone!

I agree that reviews have to be viewed with an open mind and the reality can be quite different. I have enjoyed all my previous cruises and being positive and about minor hiccups can make all the difference. I hope you are right and representatives from Cruise lines do check the reviews and forums to ensure they maintain high standards. Thanks again. :)

[tillydog]

I read 2 reviews yesterday of the Jan 5 - Jan 13 cruise we've just done on Voyager of the Seas. Both reviews were so different! One was by someone who saw the cruise and ship in the same positive way as we did, and the other one was completely the opposite .... were we really on the same ship and cruise?!!

 

Hubby & I were so impressed with Voyager of the Seas, that as you can see from my sig, we're booked on her again in December!

[The_Big_M]

I read 2 reviews yesterday of the Jan 5 - Jan 13 cruise we've just done on Voyager of the Seas. Both reviews were so different! One was by someone who saw the cruise and ship in the same positive way as we did, and the other one was completely the opposite .... were we really on the same ship and cruise?!!

 

Looks like I'll be doing some reading of them then :-)

[tillydog]

Some reviews are quite amusing! The more something very trivial has ruined someone's cruise the more amusing! I love the "I didnt like being around so many children, I wouldnt have booked if I had known there were going to be children onboard" .... Clearly didnt do their research before booking a cruise at the height of school holidays (this goes for folk not just from here but across the board!)

And the people who's cruises are ruined just because the drapes in their cabin were a bit worn somewhere, or the folks that complain because they think the blinds in the MDR need an overhaul ..... OMG! Do they not have a life or anything better to do?!!!

[joejoe 59]

Some reviews are quite amusing! The more something very trivial has ruined someone's cruise the more amusing! I love the "I didnt like being around so many children, I wouldnt have booked if I had known there were going to be children onboard" .... Clearly didnt do their research before booking a cruise at the height of school holidays (this goes for folk not just from here but across the board!)

And the people who's cruises are ruined just because the drapes in their cabin were a bit worn somewhere, or the folks that complain because they think the blinds in the MDR need an overhaul ..... OMG! Do they not have a life or anything better to do?!!!

 

Your my kind of cruiser.:D One cruise i did, a lady turned to us & said how disappointed she was, as she just couldn't find any nice cake, what the...:eek:

[The_Big_M]

Reading those Voyager reviews both seemed reasonable. It's just evidence of different people doing and experiencing different things. For example, the first didn't do shore tours or have childcare, but the second did and that's where the issues were. If they didn't have those, then they may well have had less issues to deal with and so likely been more positive.

 

From what I could tell shore tours onboard were an area of weakness, but of course, many wouldn't have experienced that. I just thought I'd ask a question of them so went to the counter at 8 p.m. the day before, when the sign said open til 8:30, and there was no sign of anyone! That's pretty slack. While I was looking around some other passenger turned up and said he'd been told to come back at this time to pick up his tickets for the next day... and of course there was nobody there, which made things a mess for his plans as well.

 

So yeah, if you get messed around like that, it's going to reflect on a reviewer's ratings. But another person on the same cruise who doesn't use that service won't have that negative experience so will likely be more positive. But both reviews are fair and reasonable.