Wow! Conde Nast readers rate Celebrity 6th

[TomTN]

I have never been able to make much sense out of Conde Nast ratings for travel.

 

With all these rankings and awards not just at Conde Nast I wonder sometimes whether other things are at play.... Conde Nast always just comes across as a glossy travel brochure with lots and lots of advertising space to fill.

 

Often awards and rankings are less than transparent on how they reach their conclusions - Public vote / trade experts / Publications own inspectors - some hybrid

 

I subscribed to Conde Nast for several years. I finally came to the conclusion that their recommendations were worthless after staying in two hotels they reviewed. Not good.

 

I don't know of a good travel mag. As you pointed out they are mostly ads.

[BrendaJ]

On-line polls asking people to rate their favourite cruise line will never provide any useful information as to the quality of the cruise line, since very few people have cruised on every line, and the majority will just give the cruise line they have actually experienced the top rating. So, if more people are cruising Carnival and Norwegian than Celebrity, they will have a higher rating.

[Cruise Junky]

This is the same poll that Celebrity has ranked #1 for years correct? a reader poll and nothing to do with Conde Nast's opinion? maybe other lines got on the bank wagon to promote voting like Celebrity did for years? maybe CN's reader demographic has changed? Maybe a lot of X cruisers have made the switch too other lines. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Hlitner]

Kind of a shocker poll, although I believe that the magazine does their poll based on submissions from their own readers (a limited cross-section). That being said, even though we might be called "Celebrity Lovers" we do have issues with some of the X cut-backs in the recent few years. As an example, the rapid increase and current price for the alternative restaurants has gotten out of hand! The lack of a decent piano bar (and piano bar player) is something we miss on Celebrity. And having loud music blasting in the atrium on a S-Class ship does defeat the purpose of having a library (which is open to the atrium) or The Hideaway which is intended to be a quiet venue.

 

Hank

[helen haywood]

I have two observations: 1) Conde Nast did what they intended. Count how many times their name was mentioned in this thread and imagine how many people clicked on to read the article which generates hits for them they can show to their advertisers.

 

2) Celebrity remains my favorite line and Reflection my favorite ship. But I just sailed Getaway on my first NCL cruise ever and I absolutely loved her. Booked two Escape cruises for next year.

[POA1]

This is the same poll that Celebrity has ranked #1 for years correct?

 

That's what I was wondering. If you scroll back to past years, were people on the Celebrity board questioning the Conde Nast results when X was on top? (I'll save you the trouble. The answer is no.)

 

NCL, like them or not, innovated with their Haven product. Your average CN reader isn't a bargain oriented traveler, so I'm sure that it helped Norwegian. Royal Caribbean has serious wow factor with their ships. Disney, while not our cup of tea, really does family travel well. DCL's entertainment and service scores are off the charts.

 

Celebrity's new suite initiatives for suite guests, particularly Luminae, should help. However, they're too new to have impacted the ratings. Give it a year and see how things shake out. Just remember that if Celebrity comes out on top next year, there's a good chance that someone could throw your words back at you based on what you said in this thread.

Edited October 21, 2015 by POA1

[bar_20]

I am amazed they included Holland America as a midsize cruise line. It is not. We took two cruises with them in 2013 and found they had made many cutbacks compared to a cruise we took with them a few years back. If NCL or Carnival are the only cruise lines you have experienced then that's who they would vote for. Tastes change over the years. What I liked about Carnival or NCL a few years ago no longer interest me.

[DYKWIA]

Ok, so Royal Caribbean scores 82.734 and Celebrity 81.729

 

By my reckoning that means according to the Cond Naste poll RCL is better than Celebrity by 1.005

 

Could someone tell me what that means? Should we be worried by the 0.005? Is 1.005 a lot?

 

Why is it necessary to score down to 3 decimal places it implies some sort of scientific accuracy vital to the circumstances - perhaps over egging it when effectively you're asking someone what they thought of the Buffet on that cruise they did 6 months ago.

 

A case of BS baffling brains!

 

For years Michelin has been able to differentiate it's recommendations for restaurants with 0, 1, 2 and very occasionally 3 stars. They haven't felt the need to say that this is a 2.786 star restaurant but that one is a 2.837 star restaurant.

 

I like Which magazine for their reviews - very consumer focused - no advertising, no freebies. no "market research".

[richsea]

It's interesting how when, for years Celebrity was voted at or near the top in the Conde Nast readers poll, there was so much preening on the Celebrity boards. Now, when Celebrity slides to number six, so many are quick to point out the flaws in the poll, or insinuate Cone Nast skews the poll according to advertising dollars spent.

Could it possibly be that Celebrity has slipped? The boards are filled with complaints about the erosion of food, service, etc., much more than in the past.

Celebrity is still my line of choice, & while my only other experience is with Princess, Royal, & NCL, the gap is closing between Celebrity & the others, particularly Princess.

[Olive1950]

I've sailed on all of the top 5, except for Disney. And I can tell you that, in my opinion, Celebrity has all of them beat!!!

 

I left NCL after they announced "Freestyle" cruising; NOT FOR ME.

 

I left Cunard after they sold off Vistafjord and Sagafjord; never had a warm and fuzzy feeling for those QUEENs....

 

I do sail annually on RCI, but that is because RCI sails out of Galveston, which is only 136 miles from my home.

 

I only sailed Princess once; and never went back....

 

Have never been interested in Disney, because of the kiddos.

[Cruise Junky]

So for all the people saying Celebrity is their favorite line. Did you vote?

[POA1]

It's interesting how when, for years Celebrity was voted at or near the top in the Conde Nast readers poll, there was so much preening on the Celebrity boards. Now, when Celebrity slides to number six, so many are quick to point out the flaws in the poll, or insinuate Cone Nast skews the poll according to advertising dollars spent.

Could it possibly be that Celebrity has slipped? The boards are filled with complaints about the erosion of food, service, etc., much more than in the past.

Celebrity is still my line of choice, & while my only other experience is with Princess, Royal, & NCL, the gap is closing between Celebrity & the others, particularly Princess.

 

Clearly the flaws that caused Celebrity to drop also made them top of the heap. ;)

 

There's a lot of flux in the premium segment. It's got to be tough to be Royal Caribbean's auntie, but RCCL is getting awards. Celebrity is not. For whatever reason, the Conde Nast Traveler survey, based on magazine subscriber's feedback, favors Princess. It's not the end of the world.

 

BTW - For all of you who lump Celebrity in with "mass market" - You're essentially equating X with Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian.

[ginak1112]

We hadn't sailed on Princess in many years and went on a Caribbean cruise last year on the Regal Princess which was brand new. It was an amazing experience, I have to say. The entertainment was very, very good with such different shows than we had seen recently. There was music of every variety all over the ship all day and night. The food was good as well with a wonderful international cafe. We loved movies by the pool during the day and also at night with blankets and popcorn. There was a fabulous deck party and lots of fun activities in the atrium areas every night. We were very impressed with the overall experience and will definitely give them a try again. I have also heard some very good things about NCL lately with the new ships but their smoking policy makes me have 2nd thoughts.

[BosoxI]

And it's great to have choice, but it seems "odd?" to me, that someone who doubts they'll ever cruise on Celebrity would be reading this board?

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

Why would that be, Jenna. I visit boards for lines I've never tried just to check things out periodically,

 

Polls are guaranteed to get out the apologists for all the lower graded businesses, teams, items etc. I once owned an American Motors Javelin. I thought it was a great car and could never understand why others didn't agree

 

The next time X is rated higher, watch how great CNT will be on these boards:p

[mafig]

Last year Conde Nast rated Celebrity #1.

Conde Nast was great!

 

This year Conde Nast rated Celebrity #6.

Something is wrong with Conde Nast. (can't be problems with Celebrity ... no never that!).

 

:o

[C 2 C]

Last year Conde Nast rated Celebrity #1.

Conde Nast was great!

 

This year Conde Nast rated Celebrity #6.

Something is wrong with Conde Nast. (can't be problems with Celebrity ... no never that!).

 

:o

 

Was meat loaf on the MDR dining menu last year? ;)

[Andy]

Hi Arno,

 

Thanks for the information. Gotta say that I'm surprised that X would rate #6. Doesn't seem right to me. We just debarked Princess today, and had a very nice cruise, but Celebrity remains #1 in our book :)

Edited October 21, 2015 by Host Andy

[L454S]

I would agree with the rankings. We love Princess and RCI, but have only one sampling of Celebrity. The 2 weeks on Summit were not bad at all, we enjoyed it, but I give the edge to Princess and RCI overall.

 

Next month, we will try Equinox and get a better idea. We booked the Summit and Equinox to give Celebrity a try and the itineraries were what we were looking for. Just an opinion.......

[ORV]

How much respect can you have for a magazine with Gwyneth Paltrow on the cover? I'm sure some can.

[ShawninFL]

As I see it, the only poll that matters is my own. I've sailed on Princess, Carnival, Royal, and Celebrity; the latter three within the last 12 months. At this point of my life Celebrity is my favorite. Five to ten years ago I would have said Royal was my favorite. That being said, I'll cruise on any line. To me a cruise is what you make it. Personally, I don't worry about what others think about a specific cruise line. I know what I like and that's all that matters when I'm spending my money.

[Oxo]

Was meat loaf on the MDR dining menu last year? ;)

 

Don't forget the Pork and Beans! LOL

[riredsox]

Was meat loaf on the MDR dining menu last year? ;)

 

That actually was a choice in Blu last week! I'm sure eating in Luminae makes for a great dining experience but I will never reach Zenith because of the way the calculated my 9, 10 and 11 night cruises like they were 3 night ones! OR Maybe Conde Nast tried to use their web site!

[need2bespoiled]

That actually was a choice in Blu last week! I'm sure eating in Luminae makes for a great dining experience but I will never reach Zenith because of the way the calculated my 9, 10 and 11 night cruises like they were 3 night ones! OR Maybe Conde Nast tried to use their web site!

 

Zeneith doesn't provide access to Luminae, unless they're invited by a suite guest.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[Nachosdelux]

As I see it, the only poll that matters is my own.

 

exactly

[neverbeenhere]

I will never reach Zenith because of the way the calculated my 9, 10 and 11 night cruises like they were 3 night ones!

 

This statement confuses me. One credit/point for cruises of less than 12 nights was the rule for a long time. Two credits/points for 12 or more days. Not including when Concierge class joined the team. If a cruiser had 100 credits/points then they would be qualified for Zenith. Am I confused?:confused: