Happy passenger statistics?

Has anybody ever seen a survey result, that tells what percentage of cruisers are happy about their cruise? I know that there will always be unhappy people, but what percentage of the total will that be?

We are taking a very large group (700 people) on a cruise. I am trying to anticipate how many people are going to be unhappy that they went. If 1% end up mad, then I have 7 customers to worry about, and I can handle that. If it is 10% then I have 70 unhappy customers and that could be a problem.

Any Ideas?

I wonder if the cruise line could give you a hand with that? They should have a really good idea.

I would be happy if someone else was paying regardless of the ship :D

But seriously, It may also help to do a little research on the demographics and what your average "customer" wants in a trip. are we talking about 700 retirees? 700 college students? 700 families w/ kids? 700 outdoor adventurous types? For example, if I had to book a trip for 700 retired people, I don't think I would book them on Carnival during Spring Break regardless of what the ships ratings are on paper.

The type of people in your group (sample) will likely have a significant effect on their perceived satisfaction. In other words, does one already have a positive disposition to cruising? People who freely chose to go on a cruise are much more likely to report in a survey a positive experience. In particular, one survey found "Nine out of 10 people who cruise say they'll cruise again." (http://www.cruisedirectonline.com/Insidecruising.htm) This implies that the satisfaction rate is high. However, without the benefit of looking at the methodology, one cannot necessarily translate that finding to any individual who happens to be on a cruise.

Thanks for the replies. These are small business owners and their spouses, mostly well traveled, ranging from 30 to 60 years old. The inside cruising site has given me enough ammo for my presentation tomorrow. Thanks, I'm pretty sure we are going to have a good time.

So, is it a self-selecting group or more or less mandated? If they are self-selecting (i.e. you're presenting to 2000 people and expecting a group of 700) you should be OK. If they are being mandated due to some conference or something, and especially if they have to pay, there will be a good number of grumpies before and even after.

It's not clear if you're a TA or someone who's been tasked with this on behalf of some organization. If you're a TA and you don't think you can handle the group, maybe work out a split with a larger agency that can. If you're part of the organization, the TA should be doing that work. You're likely giving them $75,000-$100,000 in commissions and dealing with a handful (or more) of unhappy people is part of the job. ;)