Question About Acceptance

[davekathy]

4 hours ago, Cdncruisecpl said:

This has nothing to do with being thin skinned.

This has to do with a certain group of people here.  The ones who jump on a positive post because it goes against what they believe.  And those same ones that will call a negative post 'honest' because it confirms what they already believe.  

Most, if not all, of these people haven't even been on a cruise yet this year.

 

In your case it does. Why does it bother you what others say. 

[Jim_Iain]

5 hours ago, Cdncruisecpl said:

This has nothing to do with being thin skinned.

This has to do with a certain group of people here.  The ones who jump on a positive post because it goes against what they believe.  And those same ones that will call a negative post 'honest' because it confirms what they already believe.  

Most, if not all, of these people haven't even been on a cruise yet this year.

 

 

I have to agree with you.   Over the years I've seen some posters that are negative about everything an can often go over the top of what I consider appropriate or desire to continue reading.    For these few I gladly use the "IGNORE" feature and I don't have to continue reading their negativity.  Ok --- I'm a 3/4 glass full type of guy.  

 

I definitely enjoy reading both Positive as well negative opinions and remarks about personal experience.     I do have a tendency to skip over threads of some that are highly critical from a perceived issue when they haven't been on a cruise in years.   I give much more weight to someone that has actually sailed and noticed a deficiency or changes that made their cruise less than stellar. 

 

 

[C4HCG]

6 hours ago, davekathy said:

In your case it does. Why does it bother you what others say. 

It bothers me what others say, why wouldn’t it? Don’t lose any sleep over it but seeing the board become ridiculously and disproportionately negative or equally ridiculously and disproportionately positive makes the board pointless. As novice cruisers (4 since 2019)), we have learnt a lot of good stuff from being here, not so much now though. 

Edited February 1, 2023 by C4HCG

[hubofhockey]

14 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Because there are people that cannot accept that a cruise can be perfect for the people experiencing it.  And an honest review is one where everything is related as perceived by the reviewer.  That it is honestly as they perceived/experienced it.  EM

Wait, what?  You mean two people can be on the same cruise, similar cabins, spend similarly, and have totally different opinions of their vacations?  I’m shocked.  😄 

 

Seriously, frame of reference is so important.  My preference for types of cruise ships has totally changed as I have gotten older and my tastes in itineraries has changed.  

[Bibblejw]

While I'm definately noticing a negative tint, and I'm not going to touch on the arguing against the veracity of reviews based on their perspective, rather than their content, I will contribute something that I'm aware of when I'm reading these, and many other reviews:

 

Positive reviews are things that I tend to treat more like sales spiel. I'll read them, and use them to influence a decision, but I'm aware that a positive spin is heavily subjective, so I'm keeping an eye out for "you enjoyed that, but I wouldn't" items.

 

Negative reviews are things that I tend to get more value out of, both in the "one mans' trash is another man's treasure" sense, but also in that I'd prefer to be forewarned of the bad aspects than the good.

 

What I'm meaning is that, if I read nothing, and find that, for instance, a room is noisy, or a buffet is underwhelming, that's going to have a negative impact on my experience, which I could have mitigated or avoided by knowing it in advance. If I find out that a room is better equipped than expected, or that a venue is of much higher quality, then that's going to give me a much better experience than if I head about it beforehand, and then expected it.

 

It's better to plan for the bad things, and have the good ones as a surprise than the other way around.

[C4HCG]

13 minutes ago, Bibblejw said:

While I'm definately noticing a negative tint, and I'm not going to touch on the arguing against the veracity of reviews based on their perspective, rather than their content, I will contribute something that I'm aware of when I'm reading these, and many other reviews:

 

Positive reviews are things that I tend to treat more like sales spiel. I'll read them, and use them to influence a decision, but I'm aware that a positive spin is heavily subjective, so I'm keeping an eye out for "you enjoyed that, but I wouldn't" items.

 

Negative reviews are things that I tend to get more value out of, both in the "one mans' trash is another man's treasure" sense, but also in that I'd prefer to be forewarned of the bad aspects than the good.

 

What I'm meaning is that, if I read nothing, and find that, for instance, a room is noisy, or a buffet is underwhelming, that's going to have a negative impact on my experience, which I could have mitigated or avoided by knowing it in advance. If I find out that a room is better equipped than expected, or that a venue is of much higher quality, then that's going to give me a much better experience than if I head about it beforehand, and then expected it.

 

It's better to plan for the bad things, and have the good ones as a surprise than the other way around.

Fair point. I have to say though if I had been aware and looked at this site before our first Celebrity cruise in 2019 we would probably not have booked. So glad I wasn’t and we did. We’ve loved our cruises all on the Equinox and will continue to sail Celebrity until we have a cruise that we judge not to be value for money. That’s not me cheerleading for them, that’s our plan and is not intended to influence others at all.

Edited February 1, 2023 by C4HCG

[Bibblejw]

8 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Fair point. I have to say though if I had been aware and looked at this site before our first Celebrity cruise in 2019 we would probably not have booked. So glad I wasn’t and we did. We’ve loved our cruises all on the Equinox and will continue to sail Celebrity until we have a cruise that we judge not to be value for money. That’s not me cheerleading for them, that’s our plan and is not intended to influence others at all.

Yeah, this is kind of a mindset thing that's needed when reading user comments and the like. You kind of need to read it more dispassionately and work out whether the thing that they've spent the last 3 paragraphs whining about is actually something that you care about, or something that you'd prefer. Kinda the same thing with the positive and marketing stuff "Fun, family friendly atmosphere" is great for some people, but probably something that me and my partner would avoid.

 

I'd also reccomend pushing a little past "a cruise that we judge not to be value for money". No one bats a thousand, and there are going to be times when things go wrong. How that's handled, and whether it's a blip, or a trend are the things that would usually impact our thinking. 

[C4HCG]

13 minutes ago, Bibblejw said:

Yeah, this is kind of a mindset thing that's needed when reading user comments and the like. You kind of need to read it more dispassionately and work out whether the thing that they've spent the last 3 paragraphs whining about is actually something that you care about, or something that you'd prefer. Kinda the same thing with the positive and marketing stuff "Fun, family friendly atmosphere" is great for some people, but probably something that me and my partner would avoid.

 

I'd also reccomend pushing a little past "a cruise that we judge not to be value for money". No one bats a thousand, and there are going to be times when things go wrong. How that's handled, and whether it's a blip, or a trend are the things that would usually impact our thinking. 

It would have to be really bad for us to walk away. Each cruise we’ve been on has its issues, but the time we walk off the ship saying never again will be it. To be honest, I doubt that will ever happen as we love the whole experience. But you never know.

[jean87510]

19 hours ago, Cdncruisecpl said:

I"m curious why a positive review is labelled as being from a cheerleader, and why a review that is 100% negative is viewed as 'honest'?

 

I am my suspicions as to why this phenomena exists, but I am curious what other people thing

You need to give a few examples of these reviews.  Based on my experience, I see a positive review as they had a great time which could mean the whole experience (travel partners, excursions, onboard...).  A 100% negative personally for me says this person must be a real joy to travel with let alone work or live with.  I'd hardly call them honest.  I think most of us who like to research beforehand use multiple sources like reviews (google, yelp, TripAdvisor, viator, Carnival website excursion reviews to name a few) and tend to go towards the 2, 3 and 4 star reviews which are to me the most honest.  The one stars unless the traveler was left in a ditch somewhere or ate a cat instead of a steak, are a little over the top and not to be relied on.  I will give an example of a recent experience on Carnival.  I was on a 5 day over Labor day weekend to Bermuda with 3 of my kids plus my daughter's bf and my husband.  We had 2 balcony rooms.  Ship was mobbed.  Lines were ridiculous.  A few fist fights.  Many kids.  My family had a great time.  We are actually going BACK on Carnival out of Jacksonville on the Elation in August for a 4 day as we like the ports.  People think we are nuts to do Carnival.  We look at it as a way to get together as other family are joining us.  Yes, I would probably not pick Carnival as my favorite cruiseline but I had a great experience with my family and truthfully, if you have fun people to hang out with, it does help with any issues like rust on the ship, chair hogs, or other small issues.

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

9 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

You need to give a few examples of these reviews.  Based on my experience, I see a positive review as they had a great time which could mean the whole experience (travel partners, excursions, onboard...).  A 100% negative personally for me says this person must be a real joy to travel with let alone work or live with.  I'd hardly call them honest.  I think most of us who like to research beforehand use multiple sources like reviews (google, yelp, TripAdvisor, viator, Carnival website excursion reviews to name a few) and tend to go towards the 2, 3 and 4 star reviews which are to me the most honest.  The one stars unless the traveler was left in a ditch somewhere or ate a cat instead of a steak, are a little over the top and not to be relied on.  I will give an example of a recent experience on Carnival.  I was on a 5 day over Labor day weekend to Bermuda with 3 of my kids plus my daughter's bf and my husband.  We had 2 balcony rooms.  Ship was mobbed.  Lines were ridiculous.  A few fist fights.  Many kids.  My family had a great time.  We are actually going BACK on Carnival out of Jacksonville on the Elation in August for a 4 day as we like the ports.  People think we are nuts to do Carnival.  We look at it as a way to get together as other family are joining us.  Yes, I would probably not pick Carnival as my favorite cruiseline but I had a great experience with my family and truthfully, if you have fun people to hang out with, it does help with any issues like rust on the ship, chair hogs, or other small issues.

You have such a great outlook on life!

[jean87510]

12 minutes ago, Funky Fusion FoodsJ said:

You have such a great outlook on life!

I have to.  Life's too short.  I couldn't afford all these cruises when my 5 kids were younger.  We had long weekends in Wildwood and day trips to Island Beach state park.  Yes, it could be an experience with diapers, sand, sunburns but we valued those times together.  I do most of our cruises with just my husband and although we don't really like the pool area or dressing up for dinner, we love the ports and have fun just relaxing on the ship on sea days in a shaded quiet area on our phones or just talking.  I have been complaining about the OVC dinner situation recently on these boards only because we like the ease of quick eating so we can relax and do our thing.  I leave in less than 3 weeks on the Equinox and although I'm disappointed about the OVC dinner cuts, I refuse to let it define my vacation as being a failure as it's a small part of the overall experience for me.  The ABCs and Grand Caymen with great snorkeling.  How can anyone complain?!!

[TeeRick]

Here is how I view things.  Fell free to scroll past if you do not care.  There is an Ignore Button too.

 

Yes this is called Cruise Critic but in reality it is an open discussion board for all cruise topics.  I read and also post both positive and negative opinions on all types of topics.  But my opinions are trying to be honest and balanced (to me) but of course the members here will judge for themselves.  I expect that and welcome the feedback.  I try not to be nasty or dismissive but again you are all the judge.  Some days things might come across the wrong way.  Sorry for that in advance.

 

As for reviews on cruises or topics, I try to use the idea that the trend or majority of similar posts holds the most weight to me.  No one post or opinion is a review.  Just a post. Except there are certain long time posters here that I listen to just a bit more because over time I have learned to value their balanced opinions.  I still learn a lot here and enjoy it- or why come here at all?  Happy cruising.☺️

[cgolf1]

11 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I have to agree with you.   Over the years I've seen some posters that are negative about everything an can often go over the top of what I consider appropriate or desire to continue reading.    For these few I gladly use the "IGNORE" feature and I don't have to continue reading their negativity.  Ok --- I'm a 3/4 glass full type of guy.  

 

 

 

Back when we sailed Disney, there were folks saying one of there older ships should be scrapped due to some rust on the railings on the promenade deck, a stain or two on the wall and the stateroom bathrooms looking a little dated an worn, it was ridiculous. We had a retreat level room once on a newer ship that had latches in our room that were broken and our response to each other was people on such and such board would scrap the ship;)

 

I am dreading the response to my next review as the changes impact us little so I will likely end up in the happy camp. We do have a couple of nights in the OVC as of right now, so they will see comments from us on the comment card. 

 

I will say that I ignore the ignore feature because some of the folks that really annoyed me leading up to the early edge sailings have provided very helpful information since then.

Edited February 1, 2023 by cgolf1

[Bo1953]

10 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

 

Back when we sailed Disney, there were folks saying one of there older ships should be scrapped due to some rust on the railings on the promenade deck, a stain or two on the wall and the stateroom bathrooms looking a little dated an worn, it was ridiculous. We had a retreat level room once on a newer ship that had latches in our room that were broken and our response to each other was people on such and such board would scrap the ship;)

 

I am dreading the response to my next review as the changes impact us little so I will likely end up in the happy camp. We do have a couple of nights in the OVC as of right now, so they will see comments from us on the comment card. 

 

I will say that I ignore the ignore feature because some of the folks that really annoyed me leading up to the early edge sailings have provided very helpful information since then.

cg - I look forward to your review...

 

bon voyage

[lexmiller]

16 hours ago, C4HCG said:

Agree. Think constructive debate between people with opposing views is healthy and helps keep this board interesting. But certain posters take it to an unnecessary extreme.

Agree and I am happy to see this thread.  I have become fearful of posting due to a few writers - I've already had to block one of them - they just jump down your throat immediately.  In particular, there was a thread that has since been closed - thank you, admin, a bit late to close it off but it finally was - the thread about the you tubers who made a film of the reduced evening buffet offerings.  Oh man, the posters I'm referring to were on patrol on that thread, reaming anyone that disagreed with them or were trying to post a balanced comment, constantly adding their self-righteous snarky "laugh" emojis to whatever people wrote and then posting angrily and insultingly, against you.  Yes, thank you, OP for staring this thread.

[bikerunner]

4 hours ago, Bibblejw said:

It's better to plan for the bad things, and have the good ones as a surprise than the other way around.

I refuse to go into almost all situations with a pessimistic attitude anymore, family gatherings are the exception (joking).  My vacations are optimistic outlooks.  My vacations are also for me to reset and get away from my day to day "regular stuff"  I do not focus on negatives, and really only take into account threads that people are actually on the cruise then people who are not and commenting their negative perception of the situation.  There not on the cruise but yes they can perceive it how they want, but will not let it affect me and my thoughts on the cruise.  Ill admit have not sailed since the changes beginning of the year, but last year and when they started up have done 3.  But different threads here and other places I see many people having a great time.  I completely understand shortages as having ran many resorts/hotels for 25 years.  Rates for every type of vacation and goods have gone sky high, I just got back from an all inclusive and it was up more than 40% from when I last went.  Supply issues still exist unfortunately.  I have 3 cruises booked over the next year, 2 10 day ones, refuse to take 7 days as it does not let me reset and relax, and one TA April next year.  Im very excited about them.  I also have sailed celebrity about 20 times, not as much as many on here but a good subset overall.  

[davekathy]

6 hours ago, C4HCG said:

It bothers me what others say, why wouldn’t it? Don’t lose any sleep over it but seeing the board become ridiculously and disproportionately negative or equally ridiculously and disproportionately positive makes the board pointless. As novice cruisers (4 since 2019)), we have learnt a lot of good stuff from being here, not so much now though. 

Exactly. Everyones threshold of pain is different. Over the years of cruising and being a long time member of Cruise Critic I've learned to pick and choose. Take the good with the bad. There are still a few posters on CC that post some very helpful info and others have cruised on and never returned. I like to read and respect all the positive and negative opinions and experiences of others. And everyone has that right to post those on CC. But in no way would I ever let those positive and negative opinions and experiences influence our decisions. Our glasses are always full and always wear our rose colored glasses. Of course I'm only speaking for myself and don't expect anyone on CC to agree with me.  IMO, the CC mod squad does a good job ensuring we all aren't stepping out of line. 😇

[Cdncruisecpl]

13 hours ago, davekathy said:

In your case it does. Why does it bother you what others say. 

It doesn't bother me what others say.  It bothers me that a certain set of people will not allow other people to have the opposite feeling as them.  That's the whole point.  This group ONLY wants to hear things that confirm what they think.  And at the moment, it seems like they think that Celebrity is the devil and only want to hear/read things that confirm that.  In their minds, there isn't room for the thought that someone might have actually had fun.  

 

This is a real example:

 

Person 1:  I had fun on my cruise.  I enjoyed the food.  The crew was great.  Service was great.

Person 2:  Thank you Celebrity Marketing Department

 

Really?  It isn't possible that person 1 actually liked it?  To be sarcastic and demeaning and totally discount what someone thought about their experience?  Yet the same people do this:

Person 3:  My cruise wasn't good.  The waiter didn't have my drink waiting for me when I sat down.  They wouldn't cook me something that was off the menu and may or may not have actually had on the ship.  And I think my room attendant used my toothbrush to clean the toiler but I have no proof of that.

Person 2: Thank you for your honest review

Also Person 2:  Starts new thread titled "Celebrity saving money by using toothbrushes in cabin to clean toilers"

Edited February 1, 2023 by Cdncruisecpl
Addition

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, Cdncruisecpl said:

It doesn't bother me what others say.  It bothers me that a certain set of people will not allow other people to have the opposite feeling as them.  That's the whole point.  This group ONLY wants to hear things that confirm what they think.  And at the moment, it seems like they think that Celebrity is the devil and only want to hear/read things that confirm that.  In their minds, there isn't room for the thought that someone might have actually had fun.  

They have a right to say what they want positive or negative and if it bothers you ignore their post(s) or put them on your CC ignore list (3 dots, upper right hand corner) and all that goes away. If someone wants to rain on my parade, so be it. Doesn't diminish that fact we had a great cruise. If the CC mod squad feels it's outside of the CC guidelines they will remove the post or shut down the thread. Been going on since I've been a CC member.

[RMac713]

Let's be honest that CC in general has a reputation for negativity.  My sister has cruised Disney, NCL, Carnival and mostly Princess.  Based on my Equinox trip lsat summer she has booked an Equinox trip next spring.  I told her to avoid this board for a month or so and she said she hasn't been on here in 2 years because "everything is negative."  So while January has been flaming hot here for the cuts on all of the lines, to an extent it is par for the course.

[TeeRick]

8 minutes ago, RMac713 said:

Let's be honest that CC in general has a reputation for negativity.  My sister has cruised Disney, NCL, Carnival and mostly Princess.  Based on my Equinox trip lsat summer she has booked an Equinox trip next spring.  I told her to avoid this board for a month or so and she said she hasn't been on here in 2 years because "everything is negative."  So while January has been flaming hot here for the cuts on all of the lines, to an extent it is par for the course.

Tell your sister that I just came off Equinox two days ago.  We had a great cruise!

[RMac713]

Just now, TeeRick said:

Tell your sister that I just came off Equinox two days ago.  We had a great cruise!

Thanks, I will!  She is doing Cayman and ABC, and I am doing the same in November on Equinox because we loved her last summer.  Also doing Beyond in April.  Such a nice change now that the kids are grown--did Disney 6x.

[Oceangoer2]

7 hours ago, Bibblejw said:

While I'm definately noticing a negative tint, and I'm not going to touch on the arguing against the veracity of reviews based on their perspective, rather than their content, I will contribute something that I'm aware of when I'm reading these, and many other reviews:

 

Positive reviews are things that I tend to treat more like sales spiel. I'll read them, and use them to influence a decision, but I'm aware that a positive spin is heavily subjective, so I'm keeping an eye out for "you enjoyed that, but I wouldn't" items.

 

Negative reviews are things that I tend to get more value out of, both in the "one mans' trash is another man's treasure" sense, but also in that I'd prefer to be forewarned of the bad aspects than the good.

 

What I'm meaning is that, if I read nothing, and find that, for instance, a room is noisy, or a buffet is underwhelming, that's going to have a negative impact on my experience, which I could have mitigated or avoided by knowing it in advance. If I find out that a room is better equipped than expected, or that a venue is of much higher quality, then that's going to give me a much better experience than if I head about it beforehand, and then expected it.

 

It's better to plan for the bad things, and have the good ones as a surprise than the other way around.

I so agree with you.  Over many years I've learned from posters which is what I hoped for when I joined.  But....lately it's 'I'm one up on you' or 'my way is best because I said so' slants to the posts.  There are so many opinions, not helpful real information.  The back and forth and competition in comments is pulling this site down...JMHO....if that's ok after what I said about opinionated posts🤐 . Another but....I'm seeing a swing toward (or back) to what largely 'used to be'. Maybe more of us are simply getting tired of the negativity and slamming.  There can be critiques and also positive comments without seemingly going at a poster 'just because' we can....anonymously.

[TeeRick]

1 minute ago, RMac713 said:

Thanks, I will!  She is doing Cayman and ABC, and I am doing the same in November on Equinox because we loved her last summer.  Also doing Beyond in April.  Such a nice change now that the kids are grown--did Disney 6x.

We took the 9 night cruise out of FLL that did Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Curacao and Bonaire.  Really great cruise.  Equinox is a high service, friendly ship.  We had about 2500 on board.

[cachouonacruise]

I joined the Cruise Critics Community to be in communication with people who are passionate about cruising and if possible to learn from them and, who knows to get the opportunity to meet them on board. And I am so glad, I did! Some cruisers on these boards are so generous with sharing their experiences and expertise! 

 

Our little cruise community, in my opinion, is very diverse, yet it is reflective of our societies in general. The pandemic, the war, the inflation and the associated political discussions, sadly, have put people on edge, and I have observed, at times, a lack of patience from people agreeing to disagree. In my opinion, there is no need to be rude, with someone writing a different opinion than mine...I just have to go read something else...

This lack of patience or flexibility is also at times expressed against changes made by the cruise lines and is reflected on these boards.
 

To survive the pandemic and subsequent inflation pressures, cruise lines have had to make decisions, sometimes very tough. And understandably, these changes are difficult to accept from people accustomed to what used to be. I was also the kind of person reluctant to accept changes....until one of my former bosses told me point blank: better get accustomed to change, because the only thing that will remain constant, is change itself...

 

Positive versus negative feedback regarding Celebrity experiences, is only information to me; as long as the poster clearly describe "why", it was positive or negative. Food appreciation, show appreciation, service appreciation can be very subjective. Something positive or negative can be written on the same experience, based on their perspective. It only becomes pertinent to me if they explain "why". I can then ascertain if I would have also been disappointed? Or also overly satisfied? And then prepare accordingly.

 

In short, I still enjoy reading information on these boards. I still learn so much.
 

Thank-you so much Cruise Critics Members and keep writing!