cruise critic loved it rating a good benchmark?

[tobiasds]

I admit I may be putting to much stock in these numbers but I've been in my mind disqualifying almost any ship that is not in at least the mid 80's. It would stand to reason that the highest rated ships are great but are the lower rated ones that bad?

[beachbum53]

I admit I may be putting to much stock in these numbers but I've been in my mind disqualifying almost any ship that is not in at least the mid 80's. It would stand to reason that the highest rated ships are great but are the lower rated ones that bad?

 

I suppose it would depend on what categories were included in the ratings, and what your own personal attitude is towards what is acceptable and what is not. Obviously, a ship that is kept clean and well maintained is very important. Having a friendly, knowledgeable and helpful staff is also important. But what about things like on board amenities, entertainment, food quality and bar service (to name a few)? What is important to one person may not be so to someone else. Another thing to consider, is a ship that got a lower rating consistently poor, or did the people rating the ship just happen to be on board at a time when things were a bit off that week? And I would think that a ship that gets consistently poor reviews would lose a lot of customers. The saying "Word of mouth is the best advertising" holds true for cruise ships just as it does for any product or service. I've read reviews from two different people that were on the same ship at the same time. One person gave a very good review, while the other gave a very bad review. Which makes you wonder, who's right and who's wrong? Or does the truth lie somewhere in the middle?

[crystalspin]

To remember: CC'ers are a very small percentage of all cruisers. Number 2, it's possible if not certain that people are more moved to write reviews if they have complaints than if everything went well!

 

The ship we sailed on through the Panama Canal and up the Mexican Riviera last month has "71% Loved It" rating. We loved it! But it was a TravelLodge not the Ritz.

 

The important thing is having reasonable expectations for the specific ship/trip.

 

We got a terrific deal on a well-located balcony cabin. I knew from CC that it might not be quite the luxury of our previous experiences on HAL, but that it would probably be much higher than our last two experiences on a Russian river boat (now THERE'S a small cabin!). Both were right. We made the choice to have a balcony on a 3 or 4 star ship for less than an inside on a 5 or 5+ ship -- but lots of people subscribe to "better a cheap cabin on an expensive ship than an expensive cabin on a cheap ship" philosophy.

 

You will have to decide for yourself -- one thing you might do, when you find a ship with an itinerary that REALLY interests you -- READ the reviews, not just look at the numbers. See if there are specific things that MANY pan. Decide if those things make or break it for you.

 

Prior Cruises

1995 Marco Polo, Cape Town to Buenos Aires

2000? Statendam, Ensenada to Hawaii and back

June 2009 Statendam, Vancouver to Seward, Alaska

June 2011 MS Russ, St.Peterburg to Moscow

Sept/Oct 2012 MS Russ, Astrakhan to Moscow

Dec 2013 Norwegian Star, Panama Canal & Mexican Riviera

Edited January 10, 2014 by crystalspin
tag line.

[tobiasds]

 

You will have to decide for yourself -- one thing you might do, when you find a ship with an itinerary that REALLY interests you -- READ the reviews, not just look at the numbers. See if there are specific things that MANY pan. Decide if those things make or break it for you.

 

 

 

You would laugh and shake your head if you knew how many reviews I've read.

 

Taking into account that many people do review to complain, I find it amazing that there are a couple of ships who 95 percent of the people review and rave about. They must be amazing ships and crews

[SuitCaseBears]

I would think twice (but not necessarily reject) a ship or cruise with an under 80% rating. But ... I check the categories. We don't care about some of them.

 

 

• Dining - that's somewhat important to us
  
• Entertainment - Couldn't care less
  
• Service - really important
  
• Value - I can do my own assessment I care about value but not what someone else says about it.
  
• Shore excursions - I arrange them myself or sometimes we don't leave the ship.
  
• etc.
  

So yes I do look at the overall, and a cruise would have to offer specific things I couldn't get elsewhere for me to spend a lot of time looking at a below 80% rating, but I still would look at it.

[tobiasds]

 

• 
  
• Entertainment - Couldn't care less
  
• 
  

 

what do you for fun on the cruise?