A simple question but probably many answers

[bmwman]

I read lots of reviews (but never write one) either here or other travel websites with a passing interest.

 

I always wonder why there is such variation and i have come to the conclusion is that each and everyone of us will have a different level of expectation and as a further variable experience very different things week each week and even on the same ship and week.

 

Therefore my question is what is the value if any of these reviews. I would love to be told I am wrong but I certainly would never make a judgement based on someone else's holiday experience!

[Solararc]

I see the value of these reviews as first hand experience of those who have been and seen, readers can extract what's important to them and possibly use the information to make decisions on what to do or see ect

[geegee1]

It's like with any review of anything, it's totally subjective to that persons POV. When I buy something on Amazon, I check out the 3 star reviews first, I then check out a couple of 5 and 1 star reviews. I feel that way I get all of the info I would need to base my decision. Same thing if looking at reviews of hotels or cruises.

[NLH Arizona]

I love reviews and read them all the time. I think you can find some really good information and also so very bad information. I usually discount the really, really good ones and the really, really bad ones and pay most attention to the ones in the middle.

 

I was reading reviews at lunch today and was laughing out loud because of some of the things people say and do. On passenger was upset because the guest services person was upset when he wanted to take his picture, because he said he couldn't read his name badge and said he must be hiding from something (my guess was that he was in the witness protection program LOL). Another said that the crew didn't all wear uniforms, some just had name badges on...come on, the guy was astute enough to notice they had badges, so you know he knew they were crew members. Another complained that there were barf bags by the elevators and that the ship was rocking and rolling, I guess they would have preferred that they just barf in the elevator on the floor. Another was happy because they were moved to a table next to one that US citizens sat at. One started out that they are not picky, easy going, kinda going with the flow kind of people and then trashed everything. I'm always amazed. BTW, all of the above gave the ships 1 or 2 stars on their reviews.

 

I always think that we get what we give and I would bet that some of these folks were not very kind to the crew.

 

You can discount all the reviews, but you will miss out on some interesting reading. BTW, I have never booked a cruise based on anyone's reviews....I do research!

Edited February 14, 2015 by NLH Arizona

[cadien]

I don't find the actual reviews in the reviews section very useful. They're pretty dramatic. But the review threads in here are invaluable for the photos.

[xriva]

I always ignore the glowing "everything was perfect" and the scowling "everything was crap" reviews and read the rest to see what the common threads will be.

[FitchburgWIFamily]

Reviews are usually a combination of facts and opinion. There are details about cabins, public spaces, etc. that I can't get other than from the first hand accounts. The comments about the food are strictly opinion, so they don't weigh heavily in my assessment. With the very critical reviews, I always try to decide if the thing that bothered the reviewer would even bother me.

 

I only ever complained to NCL one time, and it wasn't even a complaint, it was just perceived as one. While dining in one of the specialty restaurants, we got a little forgotten....no one came to clear our dinner plates or offer us dessert. We had to go to the hostess stand to ask for our check. The ship's staff went way over and above to try to make up for something that didn't even bother me that much.

 

Now, I know that isn't a statistically significant example, but I can't help wondering what or how the people who get no recourse when they bring something to the attention of the ship's staff are representing their issue.

 

So, with my biased view, I suppose I think that if someone on board really had that bad of a time, they must own part of the blame themselves, either for not reporting it while on board, or not being happy with what the ship tried to offer to appease.

 

So, yeah...the facts are good, the good opinions I think I let affirm my choices, and the negative opinions I think I pretty much discount. I suppose that is because I didn't join CC and start reading reviews until after I booked my first cruise.

[ncklhaus]

I don't find the actual reviews in the reviews section very useful. They're pretty dramatic. But the review threads in here are invaluable for the photos.

 

I agree with this completely. I rarely read the ones in the review section.

[Sue Do'nym]

I love to read reviews...but for entertainment...I appreciate everyone who comes back and writes a full review. My favorites are the day by day ones...

[mitsugirly]

I'm a big reviewer on here and I also love to read reviews. However, I always keep in mind that they are subjective.

 

I feel that I'm a pretty positive person and try to make the best out of any situation that I can...even on the worse days. (I've been known to break several bones while cruising. I have missed flights due to my oldest daughter and I keep on going and having a good time. . We made the best of it and we arrived finally. Would you get that same review out of someone else? Maybe, maybe not.)

 

Reviewers can only report how THEY see their cruise and everyone is not the same. I'm very observant and love photography so something I may see wrong on a ship, others may not even notice. It's not a complaint, just an observation. I have been on plenty of cruises where maybe something wasn't right and someone else that was on the same exact cruise didn't find the same situation. It's all about your personality, your outlook on things, your expectations, your background...it's a variety of things.

 

I always tell everyone that I do my reviews for fun, a good read, to be informative, to show everyone pictures of everything...but NEVER do anything based on that review (or anyone else's). Do what's best for YOUR family, your interest and always form your own opinion.

 

I'm a visual person, I'm looking for those pictures during a review to make a conclusion. Someone can report having the absolute worse day at such-and-such place...but if I see the place and it looks like something I'm looking for...you better believe I'm going to try it out myself and form my own opinion. :)

[SeaShark]

I read lots of reviews (but never write one) either here or other travel websites with a passing interest.

 

I always wonder why there is such variation and i have come to the conclusion is that each and everyone of us will have a different level of expectation and as a further variable experience very different things week each week and even on the same ship and week.

 

Therefore my question is what is the value if any of these reviews. I would love to be told I am wrong but I certainly would never make a judgement based on someone else's holiday experience!

 

 

Not for anything, but . . .

 

If you honestly would never make a judgement based on someone else's experience, then exactly what is the purpose of THIS thread? :confused:

[Annmeat]

We have absolutely changed our plans based on info that we received in the CC forums.

 

While I read the " member reviews" for entertainment, I don't take much of what either extreme says seriously.." my trip was ruined because they wouldn't send me my own personal photographer to take a picture of me in my very best sari!!! I want my money back!"

 

Before we moved and before I was Annmeat, we changed our ship on an RCL cruise. I had one set of info from RCL, but the in- forum reviews that I was reading here on CC were not meshing with the RCL info. We ended up switching ships and are happy that we did.

 

I really have to hand it to reviewers like mitsugirly- her AMAZING detailed review of Getaway gave us lots of

 

 

pointers. 52marv was kind enough to share very in- depth information with me for our particular Haven- we even had the same butler.

 

Would I make a change based on one strangers review? No. But if I kept reading over and over about issues with a certain ship, then yes, the reviews would influence me to change my plans.

 

After a while on these boards, even if you don't join and ask questions, you even know which members have Points of view that mesh with yours, so their opinions may hold some weight. And more than an opinion, just reading an EXPERIENCE may lead you to realize that perhaps a certain ship or itinerary just isn't your style.

 

Lord knows that if we had been on CC back in the late 90s, a very BAD experience may have been avoided.

 

We are fortunate to have so much info available today, although I miss the days of thick, glossy cruise catalogs, we were really going in blind back then.

 

To the OP- if you came on here and read a 90 % BAD reviews or comments about a particular trip-you are saying that this would not give you pause ? Cause you to investigate more? If other's opinions mean zero, why is there even a Cruise CRITIC?

 

Yes, we need to make our vacation decisions based on what is best for our family

With so many cruising choices, I absolutely have incorporated other's opinions into my vAcation choices. Not just for cruises, but for all or vacations.

 

I also don't think that there is any person out there who reads one reviewer's comments and says" well- dang! Gotta cancel that Getaway cruise cuz Hate my Steward said he had a cold bowl of soup".

Edited February 15, 2015 by Annmeat
Can't correct my typos on this iPad!

[OCruisers]

I always ignore the glowing "everything was perfect" and the scowling "everything was crap" reviews ....

So true! Things are never ALL good or bad.:rolleyes:

I especially like it when they include what they did in their ports of call. :)

LuLu

[PCLMassachusetts]

When two people are telling the same story there three sides. Person #1's version, person #2's version and somewhere in the middle is the truth. It is human nature.

[spacewoman]

I think the reviews here are great. This forum certainly would not have lasted as long as it has if we all were not checking in and posting all these years.

 

Some can give you a heck of a chuckle or a are they nuts response.

 

Some days the flame throwing alone is the best entertainment here ;)

 

Been flamed myself. The one time I deserved it as I led with my temper instead of asking many of the kind folks here how to resolve my issue.

 

Kim gives some of the best reviews I have seen on these boards. Mike and Tracy give some of the best on the Carnival boards.

 

Most people here will provide what they saw, did and ate and you glean from it what you will.

 

I chuckle when people say there was absolutely nothing edible on the ship. My DH is one of the fussiest eaters I have seen in my life. He may eat a lot of repeat meals but he has NEVER been unable to find something to eat.

 

Even reviews with photos do not give you the glory of how beautiful some areas really are. BUT - they most certainly give you an idea of what you are in for.

 

The only thing one has to always remember - vacation is what you make of it. Be flexible because SHIP happens. If a meal gets screwed up so what, they'll bring you what you want and will go out of their way to see that you are happy.

 

Kathy

[bradleyk]

I have found that the best reviews are written from a more detached point of view. More like Dragnet, just the facts ma'am.

Here is the best one that I have found for the Getaway

http://norwegiangetaway.weebly.com/

[davesgirl51]

Reviews by mitsugirly and Bird Travels and many others are awesome. I would NEVER take a cruise because of someone’s subjective opinion of that person. That would be as erroneous as judging a book by its cover.

[Maya1234]

I love reading reviews and I find them very helpful. But you have to consider where the person who is writing the review is coming from. You can usually tell that from detailed reviews and can figure out if you might be somewhat likely to feel the same way. For example, although I adore reading Mitsugirly's reviews which are wonderfully written and filled with details, I know that how she feels about things may not be necessarily how I am going to feel about them. She does tons of cruises and I get the vibe from her that she is an "almost any day on a cruise beats a day elsewhere' kind of gal (Mitsugirly...I think that's true). That's not me. I'm not really a person who loves getting away from home and when someone does so as much as Mitsugirly (or Jim Zim) I know that the lens they view things through won't necessarily be like mine, but I still find her reviews helpful because they let me know alot about what a ship is like.

 

I do look to the super-picky people reviews because I am super picky and when those people have things they don't like I try to see if they would bother me and when they like things I filter that through what they have complained about.

 

I am also a person who needs privacy even when traveling with loved ones. Let's put it this way, you literally could not pay me the cost of the cruise to go in an Epic 'split bathroom' room. I wouldn't have known that if the complainy people hadn't explained why it bothered them so much.

[Peachypooh]

The reviews are most helpful for the hard and fast facts like how long to the pier from the airport, what hours are the kid's clubs open. Then I look at things like is there a lot of secondhand smoke (subjective to a point), which cabin areas are the most noisy, etc. Lastly I look at quality of food and attitude of staff which can very much vary. There is an exception that if everyone says the staff was rude then I know on that particular sailing or sailings in that time frame the staff was grumpy. They are helpful to me if I separate in my mind what is hard and fast and what is someone's opinion. An example of that is I like it when the Captain makes his mid-day announcement and sometimes notes an area of interest. The one cruise I took where the Captain was silent I missed hearing from him but as long as he kept us safe I was OK with that. Some people would like more announcements or less.

[Maya1234]

Then I look at things like is there a lot of secondhand smoke (subjective to a point), which cabin areas are the most noisy, etc. .

 

I read a lot of hotel reviews and I find that when reviwers tell me wheere they are coming from it makes it much more helpful. The person who says "I'm very sensitive to the smell of smoke, and felt like it was everywhere " tells me more than someone who just says "the smell of smoke was terrible."

[BirdTravels]

Different people with different expectations on a vacation. People who feel empowered by nit picking every flaw in a vacation. People who have never been confined in a small space with 4700 other passengers.

 

We spend 20 weeks a year traveling worldwide to different places, different hotels, different cruises.

 

Our expectations for an NCL Freestyle cruise (even in the Haven) is vastly different than a Grill Class cruise on Cunard (we're platinum members on both cruise lines). We understand the differences when traveling on a megaship vs. a 1000 person ship. And that factors into our expectations and the resultant reviews. I would rather talk about the good things on the cruise and not dwell on the fact that my room steward forgot to empty the trashcan on the 3rd night of the cruise.

[scopewest]

I appreciate everyone who takes the time to post a review. I just want to comment that DH told me after our last cruise "I never really liked the food." Huh? Judging by what he ate all day long I wouldn't have guessed that!!

 

I ignore all review food comments but I love the photos!

[newmexicoNita]

I read lots of reviews (but never write one) either here or other travel websites with a passing interest.

 

I always wonder why there is such variation and i have come to the conclusion is that each and everyone of us will have a different level of expectation and as a further variable experience very different things week each week and even on the same ship and week.

 

Therefore my question is what is the value if any of these reviews. I would love to be told I am wrong but I certainly would never make a judgement based on someone else's holiday experience!

Often questions people have will be answered when they read a review. I, personally enjoy hearing what others have to say about points I am interested in. Of course some reviews are so biased they lose any credibility and everyone has his/her own idea about good versus bad. I still think it helps to get a cross section of opinions on issues.

 

There are 2 types of reviews that do bother me, 1-again the ones that are 90% negative and 2-the ones that are too detailed. But even then, it is still a matter of opinion. BTW I do usually write reviews. I think it helps others to see how I felt about my experience and I am helped by what others have to say. Again, as long as it is fair and somewhat balanced. Also it is important to take into consideration how people word things. If the review is too flowery, I just smile and think to myself, well at least he/she had a good time. When the use words like food was uneatable or talk about how bad it was, based on one or two items they did not like, I blow it off as well.

[GA Dave]

Just the tip I read in a recent Getaway review about “Do NOT push the snowflake button on the A/C!!!” is worth my time in reading all the trip reports/reviews. :')

Seriously, I read all I can to look for trends, important info, etc. If someone says “my steak was too raw”, that could mean to them that it had a think, pink line down the middle, whereas to me it would mean it is still mooing. Tastes, particularly with food, are too subjective. But, knowing not to push that dreaded snowflake button is technical information that will save my DW and I from sweating to death!

[wdsted]

To me, trips reviews have value for the information and pictures shared. Whenever I run into one that starts out with what, IMO, is a minor grip that "ruined a cruise," I move on. I also skip the ones that assess the entire crew as awful, the food inedible, the ship filthy, etc.