Cruise Critic Editors Announce Best of...For Cruising

[hondorner]

Twice you have mentioned the Pacific Princess is a "luxury" ship. It is not. It is what Berlitz refers to as "Standard".

Dan was being sarcastic. He's well aware that Pacific Princess is far from a luxury ship.

[hondorner]

Don

Since most editors that I've met in my life are human beings they are subject to all of the failings that we all are. Nevertheless to dismiss their findings out of hand without any facts seems without merit to me. I am sure the editors of CC are hard working journalists trying to do the best job they can possibly do. Carolyn Spencer Brown the editor in chief of CC has a fine resume http://www.cruisecritic.com/about-us/press-releases/9/ in travel journalism.

While I don't personally agree with most of their choices I will use their findings to consider future cruises. My own tastes favor Oceania and Celebrity for now but in the future I may try other lines. Just as a point of information my wife's first cruise was on the Rotterdam in 1952 and mine was on Premiere Cruises Big Red Boat in the 1980's. We have sailed Princess, NCL, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Azamara, Oceania and Crystal and have enjoyed every cruise without exception.

 

What you say is partially true. I have met Carolyn Spencer Brown on a couple of occasions, had dinner with her In Genoa. She is the epitome of integrity and knowledge. Unfortunately, she is just one vote among the editors. She is likely to be one of a very few who have been on board a wide selection of ships and Cruise lines.

 

I can't speak to the motives of the others, but they have obviously not experienced the food on Oceania or Crystal (the other cruise line most often mentioned for food.)

 

Or, they have experienced it and the voting is political.

Edited October 7, 2015 by hondorner

[ORV]

And beware of best restaurant lists on Trip Advisor, some lists have a shave ice,hot dog stand or ice cream establishment as the number one eatery. We have learned to pay little attention to lists.

 

A couple of years ago I was going to Orange Beach AL for a month, I had a good laugh when I saw the #1 restaurant on Trip Advisor was Waffle House.

 

They actually have some good restaurants there, I didn't make it to the Waffle house though.

[CHUCKIE50]

Don

Most managing editors I have met in my working career have tightly controlled the editorial content of their publications. I would like to believe that is how CC operates since I too have met Ms Spencer Brown but not in a private context like you. It was a public forum at the New York Times Travel Show and she seemed quite knowledgeable.

I understand that many people have become suspicious of the objectivity of the press in recent years. For me it happened when I discovered that there had been a blurring of the lines between editorial content and advertising in many major publications.. While this might have happened with these awards all I am saying we will never know how they actually came about. But for sure they were not determined by a public poll which I agree with all of you is worthless in this context.

[wripro]

CC continues to list Oceania and Azamara on the luxury cruising board. Oceania and Azamara will be the first to tell you they are not luxury lines. (Please, no posts that say they are luxurious enough. I agree, they are.) My point is to take CC's editors' opinions with a huge grain of salt.

[cbb]

Maybe folks will read this poll, head to those ships, leaving cabins available for those who love O. I hope many, many people heed these poll results!

[Hawaiidan]

Twice you have mentioned the Pacific Princess is a "luxury" ship. It is not. It is what Berlitz refers to as "Standard".

 

But the editors at CC have given it awards and named it as best small luxury ship.... and go on to pile the manure higher and higher.... That's even more disgusting than the ship is

[BillPizzaiolo]

Don

I discovered that there had been a blurring of the lines between editorial content and advertising in many major publications..

 

Most folks don't realize how controlled information is by those that provide it. Just follow the money and influence. In government, politics, or life in general. We must be informed readers of information from many varied sources in all areas, print, internet, cable, TV, radio, podcasts, personal experiences, education, etc. Don't make up your mind from just one source. Gather them all glean out the speck of truth in each and then make up your mind. We are being controlled by nefarious purveyors of information trying to win hearts and minds.

[Brittany C]

Hello,

 

I just want you to know that Cruise Critic editors take the time to read the boards when we can, and I felt it was important to clarify here how the awards are determined. Our staff of editors sits in a room and discusses our experiences from the past year sailing onboard these ships and based upon that discussion, we determine the year's winners. We try to be as objective as possible based on our collective experience, but as was mentioned before, we are a small group of human beings with unique opinions and biases. Unfortunately, it's not physically or logistically possible for every single staff member to sail onboard every single ship out there, so we pool our overall experience as an editorial staff when making these decisions to the best of our ability. They are not influenced by cruise lines, advertisers or a political agenda.

 

We appreciate healthy discussion by our members, and acknowledge that everyone's opinions differ and those might be different than our picks this year. I just hope this clarifies that the decision was ours and ours alone.

 

All the best,

 

~Brittany Chrusciel, Associate Editor, Cruise Critic

[StanandJim]

With all due respect, I believe that Bill was closer to the truth than Brittany.

 

Being Editors, the voting group at Cruise Critic have a vested interest in the winners of their Contest having some newsworthy aspect to them, preferably of the happy-clappy variety.

 

Elegant surroundings, great food and wonderful service may be paramount to most real life passengers, but listing those qualities continuously may result in repetitious copy.

 

Thus the "Best Inside Cabin" goes to Disney because they feature (I kid you not) an oversized LCD "porthole" broadcasting a feed from the bridge-cam and occasionally enhanced by random acts of Disney animation!

 

While Celebrity wins best Dining on the merits of their adding a new gourmet Restaurant exclusive to Suite Passengers....while the addition of a late night Room Service Fee for anyone not in a Suite goes unmentioned.

 

[LHT28]

so basically as I said before it is the personal opinions of those voting

 

I still do not take any heed in the polls

 

 

[hondorner]

Hello,

 

I just want you to know that Cruise Critic editors take the time to read the boards when we can, and I felt it was important to clarify here how the awards are determined. Our staff of editors sits in a room and discusses our experiences from the past year sailing onboard these ships and based upon that discussion, we determine the year's winners. We try to be as objective as possible based on our collective experience, but as was mentioned before, we are a small group of human beings with unique opinions and biases. Unfortunately, it's not physically or logistically possible for every single staff member to sail onboard every single ship out there, so we pool our overall experience as an editorial staff when making these decisions to the best of our ability. They are not influenced by cruise lines, advertisers or a political agenda.

 

We appreciate healthy discussion by our members, and acknowledge that everyone's opinions differ and those might be different than our picks this year. I just hope this clarifies that the decision was ours and ours alone.

 

All the best,

 

~Brittany Chrusciel, Associate Editor, Cruise Critic

Thanks, Brittany, I respect that the decisions were made with good intentions. It's just that having sailed many times on both Oceania, where food is reputed to be the best at sea (arguably a toss-up with Crystal, according to those who have been Crystallized), and having sailed on Celebrity, it's perfectly obvious to many of us that the decisions of the editorial board are blatantly affected by lack of experience. This is not a matter of cheerleading, but repeated consensus of a much larger sample than your editors.

 

Decisions like these, those mentioned by Jim and Stan, and many others, are so obviously flying in the face of facts that your poll is effectively rendered useless. That's your privilege; we are just saddened by the many who will make poor decisions based on the article. Praising Pacific Princess, for example, when her identical sister ship Ocean Princess will require $40 Million in refurbishments before being acceptable to the Oceania fleet where she will reside in the future (as Sirena).

 

It's very much like the editors of car magazines making their "best of..." choices every year -- to be treated with a grain of salt, also, although the companies chosen certainly do spend a lot of money advertising the results.

[BillPizzaiolo]

With all due respect, I believe that Bill was closer to the truth than Brittany.

 

Being Editors, the voting group at Cruise Critic have a vested interest in the winners of their Contest having some newsworthy aspect to them, preferably of the happy-clappy variety.

 

Elegant surroundings, great food and wonderful service may be paramount to most real life passengers, but listing those qualities continuously may result in repetitious copy.

 

Thus the "Best Inside Cabin" goes to Disney because they feature (I kid you not) an oversized LCD "porthole" broadcasting a feed from the bridge-cam and occasionally enhanced by random acts of Disney animation!

 

While Celebrity wins best Dining on the merits of their adding a new gourmet Restaurant exclusive to Suite Passengers....while the addition of a late night Room Service Fee for anyone not in a Suite goes unmentioned.

 

 

+1 we must remember that $$$$ is a very sneaky outside influence on statistics and complete honesty on how the data is collected must be present. One cannot indicate something is best from limited data collection and possible advertising $$$$$. Editorial info is very different from scientific data collection and statistics. Been there and done that both ways in my past work life.

Edited October 8, 2015 by BillPizzaiolo
typo

[TERRIER1]

I enjoy cruising on Oceania evidenced by taking my 9th cruise this Spring. I take all polls with a grain of salt since statistics and polling can be manipulated. However, if you take a look at the Member Reviews for Oceania (especially Insignia) you will see there has been a drop in the percentage of cruisers "loving it" versus when the cruise line first started sailing. In looking into and reviewing cruise lines to sail you have to start somewhere and between the editors and members reviews you may be able to make a decision for yourself. I wonder how this thread would have panned out if Oceania had won some rewards.

[Paulchili]

Thanks, Brittany, I respect that the decisions were made with good intentions. It's just that having sailed many times on both Oceania, where food is reputed to be the best at sea (arguably a toss-up with Crystal, according to those who have been Crystallized), and having sailed on Celebrity, it's perfectly obvious to many of us that the decisions of the editorial board are blatantly affected by lack of experience. This is not a matter of cheerleading, but repeated consensus of a much larger sample than your editors.

 

Decisions like these, those mentioned by Jim and Stan, and many others, are so obviously flying in the face of facts that your poll is effectively rendered useless. That's your privilege; we are just saddened by the many who will make poor decisions based on the article. Praising Pacific Princess, for example, when her identical sister ship Ocean Princess will require $40 Million in refurbishments before being acceptable to the Oceania fleet where she will reside in the future (as Sirena).

 

I have to agree with you Don (& others).

I have sailed on Princess enough times to be Elite (many times on their R ships) and on Oceania enough to be Platinum very soon. I will continue to sail both - Princess for itineraries (Japan cruises) and Oceania for everything else - so I have no vested interest in this poll.

While I like Princess well enough for their value and itineraries there is absolutely NO comparison between the two other than the identical size of the R ships. They are not only not in the same class for food (or anything else, for that matter) - they are not even in the same Universe as far as I am concerned.

Of course, this is just MY opinion :)

Edited October 8, 2015 by Paulchili

[MVPinBoynton]

I have to agree with you Don (& others).

I have sailed on Princess enough times to be Elite (many times on their R ships) and on Oceania enough to be Platinum very soon. I will continue to sail both - Princess for itineraries (Japan cruises) and Oceania for everything else - so I have no vested interest in this poll.

While I like Princess well enough for their value and itineraries there is absolutely NO comparison between the two other than the identical size of the R ships. They are not only not in the same class for food (or anything else, for that matter) - they are not even in the same Universe as far as I am concerned.

Of course, this is just MY opinion :)

 

I couldn't agree more.

[ORV]

Hello,

 

I just want you to know that Cruise Critic editors take the time to read the boards when we can, and I felt it was important to clarify here how the awards are determined. Our staff of editors sits in a room and discusses our experiences from the past year sailing onboard these ships and based upon that discussion, we determine the year's winners. We try to be as objective as possible based on our collective experience, but as was mentioned before, we are a small group of human beings with unique opinions and biases. Unfortunately, it's not physically or logistically possible for every single staff member to sail onboard every single ship out there, so we pool our overall experience as an editorial staff when making these decisions to the best of our ability. They are not influenced by cruise lines, advertisers or a political agenda.

 

We appreciate healthy discussion by our members, and acknowledge that everyone's opinions differ and those might be different than our picks this year. I just hope this clarifies that the decision was ours and ours alone.

 

All the best,

 

~Brittany Chrusciel, Associate Editor, Cruise Critic

 

Hi Brittany, thanks for taking the time to explain the process to us. Also thanks for the interest you've taken lately in the Oceania forum.

 

What I'd like to know, to put this into perspective is;

 

How many CC editors participate in this exercise?

 

Out of that number how many of them had cruised on Oceania in the last couple of years?

 

What ships did they cruise on?

 

I appreciate the information. I have to agree with the people that think Celebrity is one of the better mass market ships, with Oceania a cut above them in many things, but not all. Food would definitely be one of them, probably the biggest. But I think the Celebrity food is very good.

[oceanbill457]

We recently completed a cruise on Regatta. The inside stateroom was 160 sq ft. The Disney inside stateroom shown was 200 sq ft. Maybe that explains why they were chosen.

[LuAnn]

Pacific Princess is currently in Singapore for a 2 week dry-dock...not sure what is being done regarding the interior of the ship? LuAnn

[BillPizzaiolo]

Hi Brittany, thanks for taking the time to explain the process to us. Also thanks for the interest you've taken lately in the Oceania forum.

 

What I'd like to know, to put this into perspective is;

 

How many CC editors participate in this exercise?

 

Out of that number how many of them had cruised on Oceania in the last couple of years?

 

What ships did they cruise on?

 

I appreciate the information. I have to agree with the people that think Celebrity is one of the better mass market ships, with Oceania a cut above them in many things, but not all. Food would definitely be one of them, probably the biggest. But I think the Celebrity food is very good.

 

I would also add were any of them comp'ed or treated differently from the other passengers? Up grades, drinks, dinners, flights, etc?

[orchestrapal]

The CC editor's explanation sounds like a picture of a camel described as " a camel is a horse drawn by a committee."

Edited October 9, 2015 by orchestrapal

[MVPinBoynton]

My goodness folks, lets don't jump on poor Brittany who came on the thread to clarify how the awards were chosen. We should appreciate that CC replied. I guess no good deed does go unpunished. Polls are polls and flawed by their nature. As has been mentioned, they should be taken with a grain of salt.

[wripro]

Or better yet ignored.

[LauraS]

Hi Brittany, thanks for taking the time to explain the process to us. Also thanks for the interest you've taken lately in the Oceania forum.

 

 

 

What I'd like to know, to put this into perspective is;

 

 

 

How many CC editors participate in this exercise?

 

 

 

Out of that number how many of them had cruised on Oceania in the last couple of years?

 

 

 

What ships did they cruise on?

 

 

 

I appreciate the information. I have to agree with the people that think Celebrity is one of the better mass market ships, with Oceania a cut above them in many things, but not all. Food would definitely be one of them, probably the biggest. But I think the Celebrity food is very good.

 

 

I will see that you receive the answers to the above Editors Picks questions next week.

 

I will also nab a statement about our editors and how they cruise.

 

In the meantime stop the insinuations about lying or the integrity of our staff. That is totally unfair, unfounded and quite frankly unnecessary.

 

 

Laura

[ORV]

I will see that you receive the answers to the above Editors Picks questions next week.

 

I will also nab a statement about our editors and how they cruise.

 

In the meantime stop the insinuations about lying or the integrity of our staff. That is totally unfair, unfounded and quite frankly unnecessary.

 

 

Laura

 

Thanks for your response to this. I certainly hope your last statement was a blanket statement in general to some of the responses to this thread, as I can't see where I've done any of those things. If it appears I did please point it out to me, as that was never the intent of my post.

Edited October 10, 2015 by ORV