The perfect reviews. What do YOU look for?

[AZ Ocean Lover]

While I love to hear about the ins and outs of the ship experience, I feel I can do that myself. What I find particularly useful are descriptions about the ports. For example, when someone says you can take a shuttle to xxx beach for $5 per person or a cab for $25. This is information I would not be able to find out for myself until I was there. I also like to hear about the specialty restaurants and why or why not you would recommend.

 

In general, I love to read all reviews regardless of opinions. It just gets me excited for the next cruise.

[dna1990]

Simple and consistent formatting. As many have said 'paragraphs' and others state various details. So use paragraphs and label sections like Food, Cabin, Port, etc. Use some simple color or bolding for headings. That way people who only want Port info, can quickly skip to it.

 

For me, I want some basic info on you and your group. Demographics, age, etc. So I can guess as to how you and I might relate.

 

I like the details that will help me plan something. Like times for an excursion, or length of certain activities. I like specific cabin location information. One-time events that are gems that are easy to miss in the Compass. Uncrowded locations to do "fill-in-blank". Debarkation tips, shuttle pick up times/locations, etc.

 

It doesn't help me much to know about quality of staff, things change all the time. But it does help show trends. I don't care much about the food, any one day can be different. Pre/post cruise items are not that valuable to me, but as said before - organize and label them well and each ready can decide to read, skim, or skip.

 

But yes, do your whole review offline and post in one effort, or even to the CC Review section. I hate the segmented threads where it skips days and 20 people ask a bunch of silly questions in between. And in general I hate people who quote when there is no reason to quote or to set that reference point...especially posts with pics. My scroll button is worn out.

[LandlockedCruiser01]

I like reviews that make the reviewer's demographic status clear. That is, if they were a solo, a couple, a group of friends, or a family; and what age group they fit into. I read more into reviews from people of demographics similar to mine (solo, age 30).

 

Point-of-view photos of seemingly mundane things: the cabin's bathroom, the decor in the hallways, the whale tail (this is Carnival-specific), the entrance to the embarkation port, etc. I'll be seeing those things for the entire cruise, so knowing what they're like in advance helps.

 

Photos of food. It's one of the things I enjoy most on cruises.

 

Descriptions of the pre-cruise stay. Doesn't need to be anything really detailed: just the name of the hotel, an overview of the nieghborhood (what stores, how safe, etc.), and a description of the transfer shuttles.

 

Travelogue-style descriptions of what happened on each day. I like to feel like I'm reading someone's personal account, rather than dry point-by-point lists of each day's events. It helped me visualize how my cruise is going to go.

 

List of organized activities on the ship. Solo or otherwise, putzing around decks or lying on the chair by the pool is fun for an hour or two, maximum.

 

Things I visually skip over: casinos and kids' clubs.

[marshhawk]

I could care less how old the person is, or how long the drive was-I do want to know where they stayed the night before the cruise-where they ate-because I want information about the port. I dont want to book a room somewhere when 3 reviews say they have mice and bedbugs.:eek:

I too want to know how the meals were on the ship , I like checking zydeco's pictures, but new food pictures are nice. I want to know about the cabin, and the #-if the elevator makes noise all night I dont want to book that cabin.

I really could care less if Jose is your steward, if you love him let the company know, it's the nicest thing to be in customer service and be recognized for your good work, but the chance that I will get Jose, by the time I get on the ship is a mute point. I want pictures of the ship-the lido, the hall ways, decorated doors, I want to be able to feel that I am on the ship with you.

I do agree that I hate a one time post, that is full of anger or everything is great, because once I have been on the ship, I usually figure out, that they who posted had never ever been on the ship. Tell me about the ports-what did you do, what company did you do it with, the cost, etc. And most of all, I like to read about a ship that I want to go on, or one I have been on. But to any one who has written a review, an honest review (not one of those made up ones) thank you.

[donaldsc]

1. I want a review that is 2 pages max, not a long blog or a diary that tells me what you did every minute of each day on the cruise. There is a difference between a review and a diiary.

 

2. No food pictures. No meal-by-meal description of what you ate every day unless an item you ate was exquisitely good or excruciating bad.

 

3. No pictures of your family. No information about your family except as it directly related to your cruise experience.

 

4. No pictures of the hotel you stayed at pre-cruise, where you ate pre-cruise, and how you got from your home to the embarkation town.

 

5. No details about why you are taking the cruise, how far in advance you packed, what you took, or anything else that is it not directly related to the time you spent on the ship.

 

6. No personal information about you except as it is directly related to your cruise experience. If you are 65 years old, live in Dallas, and have 2 kids - I do not care.

 

7. No multipart posts.

 

8. No long comments about your waitstaff or cabin attendant unless they were either consistently really good or consistently really bad.

 

I realize that I may be in a minority here but I want to know briefly what was good, what was bad and not have to wade through tons of irrelevant verbiage.

 

DON

[lor74]

In a review, besides hearing about what was good, I want to hear about what was bad, but coming from a positive point of view: " I had a wonderful vacation, but......". I find that most of the negative reviews are coming from people that you can envision having a black cloud over their heads. Of course there will always be people that have a legitimate reason for being completely negative, but out of thousands of passengers, they are the minority, and should be posting a rant instead of a review that other people will use to make decisions based on without necessarily having proper context.

 

When it comes to the IMO category, I don't want to see blanket statements "the food sucked, the entertainment sucked, etc...". I want to see " I didn't like this because...."

 

I don't care about frivolous things such as "the carpet is worn, I saw a rust stain"

 

On another note, I do enjoy cruise diaries, but those should be for the forums and not the member review section.

[Warm Breezes]

From all the responses it looks like you could write a review anyway you want to and someone will like your style and someone else won't :D. Just like everything else in life, you can't please everyone....

[Markanddonna]

I thought I was the only one that disliked the reviews in the individual cruise line sections. The ones that take 2 weeks to write and each posting is sandwiched between 25 trivial comments. I feel that reviews take a while to write and posting them in the review section helps to keep them visible and accessible for a long time.

[Nebr.cruiser]

I don't like the long rambling reviews either, the only exception being someone like SailorJack, who has the funniest, most entertaining reviews I've ever read. If you are a great writer, like he is, I don't want it to end.

 

I've said it before, he needs to write a book!

[UKBayern]

We own a hotel, and that way see a lot of reviews, either about ourselves and about collegues or competitors. We always encourage guests to write reviews online, because this is an important part of the decision process for new guests to select our business (or not). If people come with the right expectations, their experience will be more enjoyable for themselves, for the staff and for other guests, as it does wonders for the general atmosphere.

 

The worst (luckily for us, very rare) reviews are the ones where people smile all through their stay, at check out claim everything was won-der-ful, and then get home and stick a knife in your back by posting the most absurd, factually incorrect rant ever. Like some of the first-time posts we sometimes see on here. Mostly, people write a pages long review over one tiny small little thing that could have been easily resolved if only people would have said something.

 

I think it is important to mention certain personal things IF they mabe are relevant to others. We once had an old couple with walking problems in our hotel. They can give a unique perspective which can be helpful for those who are not able bodied, and it will clarify the remark "there were a lot of steps from the car park to the entrance". I do not have to hear how great the kiddie club on the ship was, I have no kids and never will have. I will just skim over that part, but it could be useful for somebody with a family.

 

Be careful with comparisons. Your readers might not know the other product, or have a different opinion about it. Or you could be comparing apples with pears. Comparing an inside cabin on a bargain basement cruise line with an excutive suite with aft balcony on a high-end line is not fair.

 

Balanced reviews are always the best. Like others have already said, there is no way all is bad. There is also no way everything was fabulous, please do not post the saccarine sweet sickly reviews.

[mitsugirly]

I'm the type of person that LOVES to read a review that is full of details (whether it be good or bad) and full of YOUR perspective. While it may not be the same as others felt, or even the way I may have experienced it, I still like to hear their thoughts and views. I WANT PICTURES....AND TONS OF THEM! I'm a visual person. If you are giving me a review, I want to be able to "see" the review through your eyes.

 

I started doing reviews back in 2010. They started out simple. For each port I would post the entire review in 1 post and attach the number of photos allowed per post...then a link for all of the rest of my pictures.

 

Then last year I read a review by a great member on here, Gambee. His review was so detailed and LOADED with pictures of everything. It gave me a new perspective of the type of reading I like to do. Then I also read a review by our beloved "Kev" (Luv2cruise53 who has since passed). His humor kept me laughing the entire time I would read any of his reviews. It was unique, it kept me glued to my seat, I would go to bed at 4am and start right back again the following day....I couldn't wait for more.

 

So, I decided to start writing my reviews like Kev and Gambee. After all, they fit me perfect. I'm a pictureholic!!! I take THOUSANDS of pictures while on vacation. I like to share my experience. I'm a positive person with a twisted sense of humor. If you want detailed reviews that will "put you in our shoes" during our cruise, that's what you'll get with me. :p

 

I do EXTENSIVE research prior to each cruise and the ports with visit. If I can find a review that has a complete description with pictures...I'm in heaven.

 

I'm here on these boards to help people in any way that I can. When someone ask a question on here, I not only give an answer, I usually try to give a picture to describe it. If I don't have a personal picture to share, I will find one and even take it into a program and draw an arrow to point to something the poster had a question on. I like to be helpful. Therefore...I take pictures of EVERYTHING possible so that I am able to use it in my review when I return. :)

[lor74]

Gambee's reviews are the best! If you haven't seen, he has newer ones from the Silhouette & the Breakaway

[HappyCruiser383]

By looking at all the responses, almost everybody agrees that details are important as well as organization and paragraphs.

 

I enjoy the live reviews although I agree that they do get rather congested with reader comments and quotes.

 

 

Wouldn't it be nice if everybody was a great writter with a good sense of humor? :rolleyes: