Reviews - Based On What Benchmarks?

[ABoatNerd]

A good morning Cruise Addicts:

Question - When Undertaking A Review - What Benchmarks Do You Use?

I am a Celebrity and Crystal cruiser. I am intrigued as to why cruise reviews can be so varied.

I suspect:

1) Most folks provide a review based on THEIR view of what they SHOULD receive VS

2) Reviewing on what they ACTUALLY received based on THE ADVERTISED product offering from official cruise lines information only

My cruise review is based on highlighting the VARIANCE between the advertised product offering and what I actually received. I do not include information on what I thought I should have got.

A different approach from most of the cruise reviews I have read over the years.

WHAT DO YOU THINK FOLKS?????????
_____________________________________________

Some background on why this is interesting. I believe most consumers are entirely too lenient on the providers of products, consumers excuse poor product delivery because most consumers are timid/consumed by political correctness/lazy/worried about creating a scene - and generally refuse to demand their entitlements. This of course, allows the service providers to extract maximum price while continually providing less value.

This is not me, see below.

Having cruised since 1989, I have provided many cruise reviews.

Warning to people reviewing this post, I am a very informed and highly demanding consumer. I stand up for my entitlements that I purchased and I adhere to the parameters of the cruise product (dress code, courtesy, timeliness etc) without complaint. I show no mercy for those with poor attitudes or those who are ill informed in the basics of their job or for lazy service providers.

Before booking a cruise, I examine the precise attributes of the cruise lines product, service, and experience offering from the web site, brochures, ads. I identify key words that seem to describe the experience that I CAN PURCHASE - ie like quiet ambiance, discreet service, attuned to your every need, exquisite food etc, etc, etc, etc. I then decide if this is what I want to purchase.

I take a copy of the promotional information to ensure I have a hard copy of the product offering I purchased. On numerous cruises I have used this promo information to extract concessions from the line when I did not get what I was promised. Handing over the promo information at the customer desk is quite intimidating and usually gets immediate attention.

Note, THIS IS KEY!!!!

Customer Expectation - I expect the cruise line to provide me their advertised product offering from the moment I set foot on the ship - every single time - all year - on every cruise. Unless the cruise lines makes it clear in their advertising that certain times of the year the product will not be exactly as offered or in stated extenuating circumstances, I will not release the cruise line from providing exactly what they said they would and what I paid for.

I will not exempt a cruise line from every deviating from their advertised product offering due to the typically offered excuses:

1) It is the summer/holidays - To excuse away the nusiance of hords of out of control kids
2) We need group bookings - To excuse away the lack of use of public rooms/dining rooms to service large group bookings

The excuses from the cruise lines go on and on and even customers repeat them.

Consumers, demand your entitlements and do not let the cruise lines off the hook.

Ann Landers said it best - "No body can abuse you without you having given them your permission"

Good sailing to all

ABoatNerd

 

[Cruizer]

People write reviews based on their own benchmark. Let me give you an example. I had to take some pictures of a car. The owner was standing right there. The camera did not work. So, I put in fresh batteries (which I carry with me for exactly this reason) and took the pictures. On a survery I got a low mark because my camera was not ready to work.

In another case there was a difference between what I thought it should cost to fix the car and what the shop thought it should cost. The owner of the car call me. I called the shop and we reached an agreement. When this car owner received the survey I got a high mark. Why? Because it only took one call to resolve the problem.

In each case there was a small problem. In each case the problem was resolved with very little effort on the part of the car owner. Yet one gave me a low score and the other gave me a high score. Why? Because each had a different view of how the world should work.

Well, it is the same with cruise reviews.

 

[sailboat]

Most people write their reviews based on whether they had a "grand" time or a "miserable" time--both emotional responses that are not much help to someone trying to find out more than just the marketing copy you get in cruise brochures. When I write reviews, I try to give a good overview of the ship and its services. Cleanliness, responsiveness to requests, how problems are resolved, and value for the dollar are all criteria I use. I also try to give a heads up when I sense that a cruise line's offerings might not fall into the general standard--for example, smaller cabins on older ships vs. roomier cabins on newer ships. I include an "I didn't expect that" section--for both bad and good things. However, I still feel that the main ingredient in having a "grand" cruise is the passenger and how he or she responds to life. If you are a negative person, you'll fall on any problem, large or small, and enlarge it. If you have a postive outlook, you may tend to gush more than is necessary. I aim for a balance. Every cruise I've been on has had its "issues," but they tend to be more than balanced out by the positives.

 

[Ted_D]

Nerd --

I generally agree with you that many of the reviews I have read are based on the writer's expectations
rather than some more factual basis like what the cruises lines' terms & conditions were. But, in my
experience, a couple of major factors in my enjoyment of a cruise are not directly controlled by the cruise line. Good weather on an Alaskan cruise is never guaranteed, for example, but having it can add
significantly to the ease and comfort of the experience. Another example is how the local people behave during port calls. My enjoyment of stops in Barbados, for example, has diminished over time as aggressive peddlers and petty criminals have become more common. I usually don't get off the ship at all in Jamaica. Finally, one of the largest factors in our enjoyment has been the random draw of dinner mates. We have had a number of interesting and fun groups that added significantly to the cruise, but once we were the only English speakers at a table. I don't think that is the cruise line's "fault" and it certainly wasn't in the contract terms, but it made dinner difficult and awkward for them and us.

For me, because there are so many variables in someone's personal expectations and in the other
uncontrollable factors, I read reviews with a grain of salt.

Ted

 

[mikesteg]

Grain of salt... pound of salt... who's counting?

I think there are 4 factors:

(1) There is no standard for a review. Some people post what amounts to a personal diary or travellog. No problem with that, but it is less useful for assessing the ship and making plans. (In fact, I find these more interesting than a dry, emotionless review.)

(2) As mentioned above, some people gush or complain about the bad trip they were probably determined to have from the start. Aside from we @ddicts who like to routinely write reviews, these two groups are probably greatly over represented in respect to the average cruise experience.

(3) Some people allow one event to ruin their cruise. Now, if you're one of those people who are prone to that type of outlook the review might be useful, but for most of us not so much...

(4) Most of us are just poor writers. I know many people with higher education, some even with a master's degree, who just can't communicate well using the written word. The intention may be for a very useful and balanced review, but that is not the result.


FWIW, I think reviewing based on what the line advertises versus what they provide has very limited value. If they neglect to provide something basic, for instance closing the buffet and providing no other means to get food easily through the day, that is fair. If you critique based on the oversell that every company in America does (e.g. "A million ways to have fun on every Carnival ship"), then you're telling people something they already know.