Topic: Cruise Ratings on this site vary greatly.

I always enjoy reading a first time cruisers review they often come with no preconceived ideas and remind me why we cruise which is to have a nice holiday usually in very nice company. We all view thing differently and have different taste in food entertainment ECT and rate everything from our own point of view.
First thing I look at when reading a review is the age?? and and take it from there,and you know what coming when you read the well worn phrase Bit of a Curates Egg .
Do people really spend all there cruise looking for worn carpets bits of dust ,rusty bits ,peeking under tables or having there holiday ruined because the waiter did not smile.

Of course it's all subjective, but there are a couple of other points that are relevant:
1) How it meets your expectations, however reasonable or otherwise they are, and
2) What matters to you, and how important it is. For example, I'm not particularly fond of lying out in the sun, so if I can't get a sunbed it doesn't bother me, so long as I can sit outside somewhere. To some people it would ruin their cruise.
One things for sure though, I don't think there's a ship, or a line, that hasn't had one star from some reviewers, and five from others :-)

This is an excellent question and in my opinion needs to be answered in two sections.

There is no doubt the standards have dropped over the years and that is, I believe, mainly due to the aggressive marketing to fill the enormous amount of new "cabins at sea". If your main aim as a cruise line is to fill your ships then the price paid for a berth is highly relevant and the lower the price the more likely you are to attract passengers. To do this, however, the quality of certain product provided will fall. It is kept so close to the knife edge that now and again it goes beyond that which is acceptable and the quality level has had to be raised again.

As Wilba and others have said if you are not happy with the quality of the product you are purchasing; move up a notch until you find your accepted level

The second section is that of new passengers, most of whom come into cruising and are amazed at the difference between what they have normally experienced and the delight of a moving, beautifully laid out hotel that has such varied and interesting facilities just outside their cabin and a beautiful resort out there at every stop.

The practiced cruiser sees all this as a familiar scene and is much more blasé about it and often more picky. It doesn't mean that they moan about it more than the new-comer but they certainly notice any change to a cruise or a cruise line and will examine it in a way that a new passenger cannot.

Do we still get good value for money? Of course we do but are we willing to accept a higher price for our cruises? I tend to think not, that is human nature but what most people fail to do is look at like for like and when one does one can see that cruising is brilliant value, sheer and unadulterated luxury and an extremely uplifting experience. .....Neil

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Do we still get good value for money? Of course we do but are we willing to accept a higher price for our cruises? I tend to think not, that is human nature but what most people fail to do is look at like for like and when one does one can see that cruising is brilliant value, sheer and unadulterated luxury and an extremely uplifting experience. .....Neil

Hi Neil
Good answer as usual. On a personal level I have decided to pay more (not in real terms) for my cruises. When I first started cruising regularly (about twenty years ago) it was difficult (although not impossilbe) to sail for less the £100 pound per night (that would be approximately £180 into day's costs) and on a ship like P&O's Canberra you had to shared bathroom facilities at that price in a small inside cabin! Today I can have a small suite (no balcony) on a Silversea cruise with hardly any onboard extras for around £220 per night. Allowing for inflation the price is similar but the level of service is better and without doubt much better value.
When I rate cruise lines I do take into account the cost of the product into my assessments (I quite rightly do not expect P&O, Fred Olsen etc to compete with the smaller luxury vessels) and maybe the review site should include a value for money option it may prove to be very informative.

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Hi Neil
Good answer as usual. On a personal level I have decided to pay more (not in real terms) for my cruises. When I first started cruising regularly (about twenty years ago) it was difficult (although not impossilbe) to sail for less the £100 pound per night (that would be approximately £180 into day's costs) and on a ship like P&O's Canberra you had to shared bathroom facilities at that price in a small inside cabin! Today I can have a small suite (no balcony) on a Silversea cruise with hardly any onboard extras for around £220 per night. Allowing for inflation the price is similar but the level of service is better and without doubt much better value.
When I rate cruise lines I do take into account the cost of the product into my assessments (I quite rightly do not expect P&O, Fred Olsen etc to compete with the smaller luxury vessels) and maybe the review site should include a value for money option it may prove to be very informative.

The ship is my main concern when I read a review and not the ports of call. The food, service, ambiance, cabin and most important would I cruise again within the month if offered a cabin were in my mind when I wrote my one and only review so far. http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-revie..._review_30329/ If yes to those five then the ship got 5* with caveats to any possible inconsequential niggles. I'm not bothered about shows, so one poor show won't colour my review. Not too bothered about excursions either so can't get excited about over priced tours.


This then begs the question, my expectations. Am I used to burger king, pizzas and ready made value meals or did I have enough experience to know that the food offered really WAS 5* etc...

Objectivity is all...and to be objective, one has to have enough experience to deliver. Equally, one has to retain a sense of proportion in order to also be realistic.
Value for money. Great idea but how does one rate value for money without the experience on a few levels of cruising! Minefield.

Berlitz anyone?

If there had been anywhere to post a review our very first unresearched cruise (think it was 16 yrs. ago) My rating would have been 5 stars for everything. But then again everything was better.
Times change, cost cutting.
But I do love reading first time cruisers reviews. Not really bothered about niggly things like entertainment, rough seas, lack of sunbeds.. they are par for the course.
I am interested in their opinion of the ship, cabins, whether the dress code is adhered to and if they will end up hooked like the majority of us.

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I dismay when I read 'Standards have fallen'!!!!!!! Of course they have, along with ticket prices.

What the hell do people expect? If folks want to experience the same standards of 10 years ago then book a higher grade cruise and pay the relative additional amount.

Personally I have enjoyed the drop in standards over the last 10 years, cruising two or three times a year as a result, instead of the once a year of 10 years ago.

Add to that, some want a 5 star cruise then moan about 5 star prices for drinks and services onboard.

Then we get OMG! We had to pay $5 for a shuttle bus!!!!!! So what?

The fact the cruise probably cost quite a few hundred quid less than their previous sailings doesn't enter their heads..........Wilba

So very true Wilba, totally agree prices have fallen vastly even if I do state in some of my reviews standards have, I try to make clear that when I first cruised like for like prices for todays cruises would be double what we now pay.

Example Costa Magica ten days from Dover in June this year outside cabin £520, Costa Marina fifteen years ago outside cabin 7 days £998

I guess the two things that are most important on any holiday whether it's a cruise or ashore are the accommodation and the food. I'm not someone who lies out in the sun so if I can't get a sunbed it doesn't worry me although I'm sure it would devalue a cruise by a lot for a sun worshipper. I prefer to dock in a busy commercial port rather than a cruise terminal but again, that's because I really enjoy sitting on deck and watching what goes on. Other people will like the small shops and touristy stalls that come with a cruise terminal.

I think entertainment's quite important as it's nice to have something to do in the evening but at the same time if it isn't brilliant I'm not going to complain because we enjoy walking around the decks when there's nobody else around, enjoying sunsets and distant dolphins.

Pretty much all the major lines and all the major ships go to the same destinations but I like good organisation so if I was taking a trip I would mark a cruise down if an excursion was too expensive or the guide wasn't very good.

They always say your first cruise is the best and it was for us on IoTS three years ago. However, every ship has things which are better than others so we also like Ventura and Balmoral. I doubt I would ever only want to travel with one cruiseline, I'd feel I was missing out on other experiences.
Liz
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It is all subjective after all and the old adage of " familiarity breeds etc..." certainly plays a factor.
Standards are bound to fall as the "headline price" is what attracts most people, and the market is much more crowded than even 5 years ago.
I have just been clearing some drawers and came across a P&O promotional VHS and brochure sent to me in 2000 - the prices were about 20% higher than today!

with inflation since 2000 at 35% and the price back then 20% higher that means a cruise that cost £1000 back then should cost £1630 now!

Cruise reviews and ratings can be very good. Readers of reviews do however have to understand that they are written, in the main, by passengers who have chosen whatever level of cruise line for that review and are generally those who are happy with that level of product.

It is just crazy to think that 5* for food on a Thomson ship is of similar value to a 4* assessment on Celebrity.

Food aside, I try to look for the interesting 'meat' in a review.