What do the post cruise surveys actually do?

I searched on here and outside of possibly, using the 1-10 scale to allow Cruise companies know if there's any issues with certain departments of their ships, it doesn't seem if you compliment or complain about crew members, that they really ever go anywhere? Anyone provide any additional information on this?

Individual crew members have been promoted, retained, or let go depending on guest comments and ratings. The surveys are taken very seriously. Also entertainers have been booked for multiple future gigs, or dropped because of guest feedback. You do have careers in your hands when you fill out a survey - so be fair and honest. I do suggest that if you have a problem early in the cruise to bring it to the attention of management immediately so that there is a chance to remedy the problem right away.

Individual crew members have been promoted, retained, or let go depending on guest comments and ratings. The surveys are taken very seriously. Also entertainers have been booked for multiple future gigs, or dropped because of guest feedback. You do have careers in your hands when you fill out a survey - so be fair and honest. I do suggest that if you have a problem early in the cruise to bring it to the attention of management immediately so that there is a chance to remedy the problem right away.

 

Agree...wish there was a "Like" button.

We have heard back from crew members and/or entertainers that we've met, thanking us, because we took the time to write a nice review or survey....they were promoted. :)

I agree that they serve a purpose and are reportedly read by Corporate as well as ship staff - that is when they want to hear the good reviews in what you have to say about the service personnel. Used to get them emailed to me within 3 days after every cruise. And we would always respond with the great comments.

 

On our last RCI cruise, however, we had some legitimate negative issues that warranted discussion with certain members of the Security and Hotel Operations staff while on board. Made our feelings known appropriately and the situations were ultimately dealt with. But the overall process was not handled as well as it could have been and we left the ship disappointed overall with RCI's ship staff. First time ever, BTW.

 

Speaking of fist time, funny thing - no survey card in the email after that one. Guess they didn't really want our feedback that time as it would have been less than glowing about the Staff......

We had an incident a couple of years ago and discovered that very few surveys are actually read which I have mentioned several times on the HAL in previous years.

HAL questioned our TA as to why we were cancelling a couple of cruises -- months after DH had done his online survey. I stopped filling them out years ago.

The agent that our TA talked to was stunned and said she was going to turn over our case to a supervisor and hoped that they could find DH's survey. They admitted that they do not have the time to read the thousands of surveys they get.

So if you have an issue with a cruise, it is best to write a letter to corporate.

After our 2015 WC on Sea Princess, we completed the port cruise survey, providing a balanced positive and negative feedback. We received a call from Customer Service within 2 weeks wishing to discuss in detail some of the concerns.

 

Reading blogs from the 2016 WC, many issues seem to have been addressed.

They DO look at these--easiest ways to tweak issues, many they may not even be aware of.

We won a bottle of champagne & luggage tags in a survey drawing on our first cruise!

This happened to us after a Princess cruise a while back. We were very thorough and mostly complementary, but there were a few points we brought to their attention that we thought needed some improvement. They called, we had a lengthy discussion and later I got an e-mail that pretty much said, "Thank you for your objective and candid thoughts regarding your resent cruise. As a special thank you, you will receive a $25 OBC on your net sailing with us." And we did. So.....I guess in some instances they do read and take seriously what's said.

What cruise survey? :mad:

 

We sailed with MSC earlier this year and both completed the card requesting a survey, but neither of us has received one.

 

Customer service with MSC seems non-existent, so I wouldn't expect them to take any notice. Two emails to the UK CEO remain unanswered and without an acknowledgement even. If that is the example set at the top of the food chain, it's not surprising that others lower down cannot be bothered

I searched on here and outside of possibly, using the 1-10 scale to allow Cruise companies know if there's any issues with certain departments of their ships, it doesn't seem if you compliment or complain about crew members, that they really ever go anywhere? Anyone provide any additional information on this?

 

Both complaints and praises go somewhere, its just that passengers don't hear about them, unless you raise the issue while on board. The surveys are used in deciding who gets promotions, who gets rehired, who doesn't get invited back, etc. The ones dealing with shore excursions help the company decide which operators to contract with the next year, and similar things. The ones about the ships help with maintenance issues that might be overlooked by the crew.

 

 

They are very helpful, but not like you would think. The comments are more important than the 1-10 scales.

I searched on here and outside of possibly, using the 1-10 scale to allow Cruise companies know if there's any issues with certain departments of their ships, it doesn't seem if you compliment or complain about crew members, that they really ever go anywhere? Anyone provide any additional information on this?

 

 

I believe they all wind up in the round file.

There are two blanks on the form where you can input text. I compose in Word what I want in those blanks, the good and the needs improvement. I put my name, email and phone number in, and I copy those passages into those text blanks.

 

Without fail, I am contacted by someone at Guest Relations or Corporate. They ARE read.

I searched on here and outside of possibly, using the 1-10 scale to allow Cruise companies know if there's any issues with certain departments of their ships, it doesn't seem if you compliment or complain about crew members, that they really ever go anywhere?

There's no sound basis on which to reach that conclusion. Businesses don't publish their operational decisions publicly and random consumers on the Internet are as likely as not going to read into what happens in whatever manner best fits their own bias rather than the reality. The biggest disconnect afflicting consumers is that our instinct is to think our experience is singular and important all by itself, while the reality is that in the mass market only experiences that are corroborated by other experiences can rise to the level of true significance.

The last post sums it up. If a post cruise survey is sent at all,the questions are on topics that are of general and predictable interest for the cruise line. There is usually no place for individuals to communicate their issues.

The last post sums it up. If a post cruise survey is sent at all,the questions are on topics that are of general and predictable interest for the cruise line.

In other words, gathering normalized data, suitable for analysis.

 

There is usually no place for individuals to communicate their issues.

Which would result in non-normalized data, which is practically useless for analysis.

"What do the post cruise surveys actually do?" On Holland America, they are way too detailed and take way too long to fill out. My eyes glaze over and I do not submit them.

 

 

 

I do fill out comment cards when onboard and they get action.

If you bother to do the survey, be specific in your compliments ("Pedro, the bartender at the Atrium bar, was particularly welcoming and efficient. Knew my special drink order and greeted me by name.") Reinforce the specific behavior that you want them to continue.

 

The casino staff brings any that mention a specific dealer/supervisor to their team meetings and read them aloud (the positive ones). Negatives that name an individual are shared just with that person.

 

But, general complaints or comments about 'everyone' or 'nobody' aren't actionable.

 

I am a market research professional, so I've asked about how they treat the survey data.

We've been told on Princess by many the absolutely best thing we can do for them is to respond to the "post cruise survey" and mention their names. :)

Just their reply when we have ask ... not something any have ever requested without our asking.

We had an incident a couple of years ago and discovered that very few surveys are actually read which I have mentioned several times on the HAL in previous years.

HAL questioned our TA as to why we were cancelling a couple of cruises -- months after DH had done his online survey. I stopped filling them out years ago.

The agent that our TA talked to was stunned and said she was going to turn over our case to a supervisor and hoped that they could find DH's survey. They admitted that they do not have the time to read the thousands of surveys they get.

So if you have an issue with a cruise, it is best to write a letter to corporate.

 

We completed the usual HAL post-cruise survey after an August 2016 cruise on the Zuiderdam. While most of our survey was very positive we did mention an issue that caused us some real grief for a few days of our cruise (and this was also handled onboard). Like you, we assumed that nobody pays attention to these surveys. A few weeks later we received a very nice personal letter from the President's Office along with a very generous credit to our account that would be used against any future booking. To be honest, we were surprised that anyone read our survey and even paid attention to this one issue which was a small part of the overall survey. Go figure.

 

Hank

We always mention by name those employees that made our trip special--I can NEVER hurt, only help. If they toss them, so be it. But if I even helped one employee get a raise or promotion--WORTH IT.

The best time to praise special employees is while still on your cruise. Every cruise line has forms (usually at Guest Relations) where you can write-up a comment about any employee and those forms make a real difference in the life of the crew member. On most lines there are incentive programs/awards for employees and a positive note from a passenger can help the crew member get extra time off or other recognition. A few years ago, while cruising on HAL's Prinsendam, we wrote up a very positive comment on the bar/waiter staff in a particular lounge where we we would hang out on a daily basis. A few days later the ship's Beverage Manager (a personal friend) plopped down at our table and thanked us for the kind words about his staff. A few minutes later the ship's Captain (recently retired) stopped at our table and also thanked us for the kind remarks. I later mentioned to the Captain my surprise that he was even aware of our remarks since the form is quite common on HAL. The Captain explained that he reads all those comment cards :). Perhaps that is what made him one of the best cruise line Captain's we have encountered in forty+ years of cruising....or perhaps most Captains do the same.

 

Hank

I think the cruise companies do look at the survey results. It's one way they can determine if there's a problem on a particular ship if it's getting significantly lower results on questions than the other ships in the fleet. I like to mention particular crew members who were great. If I have a complaint, though, it's something I'd like to have fixed on board the ship ideally. If not fixed on the ship, then it's something I'd write directly about. I wouldn't expect it to be dealt with from a survey response.