Vacation Guide and Tips for Interpreting Cruise Reviews

Introduction:

These days it’s common practice to read reviews before making any significant purchase. In this informative guide, we'll dive into the world of cruise line and cruise ship reviews, exploring how to interpret them and make informed decisions when it’s time to book a cruise.
 
One Person’s Trash is Another Person’s Treasure:

What one person loves, another person might hate. As you explore reviews about cruises, keep in mind that people write cruise reviews based on their own preferences. As an example don’t decide against one particular cruise just because one person’s review mentioned how it seemed like there were hardly any people on the ship.
For a ship that has a capacity of 4,000 people, some won’t be satisfied if the ship sails at any less than 100% capacity. Those people might place more value on the bustling vibe often associated with large cruise ships, so they could get bored if there’s not a big crowd. On the other hand, another person might enjoy that their cruise was calm and relaxing because there were less people.  

This concept also comes into play in reviews about cruise activities and entertainment. While some review writers will criticize a cruise ship’s activities and entertainment, others will rave about the very same activities and entertainment being the reason for the best vacation they’ve ever had.
 
People Have Different Standards:

The overdose of individual preference is enough to make cruise reviews difficult to interpret, but Mister Preference also has a cousin named Miss Standards. While preference tends to cover review subjects such as cruise ship atmosphere and cruise entertainment, standards are more associated with the food, cleanliness, and service offered by a cruise ship or cruise line.  

Even on the best cruise ships, it’s inevitable that you’ll encounter cruise ship food reviews that bash the food, while the very next review you read will praise it. Likewise, millions of reviewers could never agree on the quality of a cruise ship’s activities or entertainment, so the reviews will range from poor to excellent when reality often resides somewhere in between.

I’m often called a clean freak. Having personally been on A LOT of cruises, I can say I’ve never been assigned a cabin that I thought was unacceptably dirty. Yes, I know it does happen occasionally, even on some of the best cruise lines. I know people who spent hours complaining to cruise ship staff for reasons as minor as finding a single hair on the desk in their cruise cabin. For some people, an incident like this can set the tone for a very nasty review that influences other aspects of their cruise, regardless of how nice those other aspects were.
 
Unreasonable Expectations Could be a Factor:

If you thought the complexities ended at preference and standards, let’s touch briefly on expectations. When trying to interpret cruise line reviews, it’s also wise to remember that people have a wide range of expectations. Experienced cruisers are generally aware that cruises must be approached with reasonable expectations. This comes from the understanding that cruise staff lives in the process of accomplishing a mammoth task that most places of business would never even attempt. That’s the task of servicing thousands of anxious passengers, in one place, all at the same time.

Based on proper expectations, a cruise review will be a bit more lenient. But those who don’t understand this are likely to blast a cruise ship waiter for taking more than three minutes to deliver their dessert. Similarly, someone writing a cruise line review might fluff the negativity because their ship chose to close their rock-climbing wall for a few hours due to high winds. On cruises, “ship happens” – and reasonable review writers know the cruise line is not always to blame. Keep this in mind when reading (and writing) reviews about cruises.   
 
Tips to Help Interpret Cruise Reviews:

• Consider that people have different preferences and standards.

 

• Try to assess whether a reviewer approached their review with reasonable expectations.

 

• Read a range of reviews that cover various aspects of a cruise, including the ship, the staff service, the food, the activities, and the entertainment.

 

• Many people only write reviews when their experience is extremely poor or extremely good. Don’t ignore the extremes, but also place emphasis on reviews that seem to be in the middle.

 

• Place less value on reviews that are more than three years old. Things change fast in the cruise industry and what was good or bad more than three years ago might not be good or bad today.

 

• Use specific search terms to find reviews for cruise lines you are interested in, for example, "Carnival Cruise reviews", "Royal Caribbean cruise reviews", "Disney Cruise reviews", etc. Do the same for cruise destinations, by searching terms such as "Caribbean cruise reviews", "Alaska cruise reviews", etc. You can also use this method to find reviews of cruise ships by including specific ship names.

 
Conclusion:

As a wise vacationer, it’s human nature to want to know what other people think about the cruise line, ship, or destinations you are considering. Wading through the sea of online reviews requires a discerning eye and a clear understanding of your travel priorities. By carefully interpreting reviews and considering the factors that matter most to you, you can confidently make cruise booking decisions that lead to a memorable cruise experience. If the reviews aren’t making your cruise vacation decisions any easier, a good travel agency like Epix Cruise and Travel can help you make sense of it all.