What do you like to see in a review?

[Ryancoke]

I like pics of the food, tours, and the decor of the ship. And the people encountered so as to help settle dress code questions. And bikinis.

 

Also one thing many people don't add is the departure port. Not all of us know what ports the various ships sail from. If you say Port Everglades, say what city it's near.

 

What I don't like is the responses to the review when they take up lots of space. ie when you post 6 pics and some guy does a quote in the next post, shows all 6 pics again and adds a short phrase or so at the bottom which is maybe related to one of the pics. Or maybe none. Then they have one of those long sigs at the bottom of their posts which takes up even more space. Is that some kind of game?

[adriennerm]

I enjoy a review from beginning to end. My problem is when people don't finish. :(

 

I'm reading a review of a 7 day cruise and after the 4th day.....nothing. We all have lives outside of CC, but please please finish the review. I enjoy all reviews...but I enjoy finished reviews more LOL ;)

 

Oh, food porn is a must :D

[my3boysmom]

- Do you prefer that we post our review on this board?

- Or at the official Member Review? I don't like that people can't respond over there.

- What about in our blog with a link from here? I suggest that only because I'm thinking the photos would take up pages here even if uploaded sparingly.

 

Thanks.

 

I did a member review, pretty straight forward. Then I posted it here but embelished it to better match the "tone" on the boards. Also, I tried to write what I wanted to read and looked for when planning our trip:

What activities worked well for personality types (active 12 yo boys vs. quiet balcony reading husband).

Progression of the week (tame first excursion in Jamiaca; exciting final one) If the progression had been backwards they would not have enjoyed the one in Jamiaca.

Options (MDR, buffet, theme resturants, room service)

[TaraLynne]

I may just be reiterating some things (I only read two pages of this thread) but here are my thoughts:

 

1) Pictures pictures PICTURES! I will quit reading a review if there isn't at LEAST one picture in every post. The full 6 allowed is preferable.

 

2) That said...OMG WITH THE FOOD PORN. I can only see so many pictures of shrimp cocktail or filet mignon before I lose interest. I'm okay with including some pictures of meals you really enjoyed, or meals that grossed you out even...but when a person writes a 20-post-long review and 90% of the pictures are food...just...NO.

 

3) Continuing with picture hints...show me what you look like! At least once. And I'm okay with more than once so long as you're showcasing something about your cruise in the picture - a great backdrop from an excursion, for instance, or a view of the dining room/lobby/etc. on the ship.

 

4) DOUBLE SPACE YOUR PARAGRAPHS. Please. I know that CC forces you to actually press "enter" twice to do this, but it just makes posts so much easier to read. On that same note, keep your paragraphs brief-ish. I'd say 10 lines is the max but I try to keep it in the one to maybe eight line length. Also...grammar grammar grammar. And punctuation. :D

 

5) Just...generally good organization. I don't know as if I did this with my one lengthy review on here, but I think it would be a good idea to start each post with a line that states the day of the week, the date, whether it was "at sea" or if it was a port day, which port. I.E. "Monday, 11/2/2010, Cozumel".

 

6) If something went wrong or if you didn't particularly care for something, don't be afraid to tell the truth. I've always had an amazing time on my cruises, but that doesn't mean that everything was OMG UTTERLY PERFECT I HAVE NOT ONE TINY COMPLAINT WHATSOEVER and sometimes I wonder if people are just afraid to post anything that's not super positive cheerleading in these reviews.

 

7) Tell me about the ship and its crew. Everything you can logically remember. Where it was clean, if you found any place that was dirty, if you thought the service was lacking a bit (i.e. on my Carnival Dream cruise the bartenders on the Lido deck were borderline rude) or if you thought it was just amazing (our room steward wasn't necessarily the most talkative guy, but our room was always spotless and his towel animals were outstanding).

 

8) Onboard activity descriptions please! What you did, whether you liked it or not and WHY, *when and where it took place*. I swear half the time I read reviews and see some activity I'd like to try, but the person never mentions what day it was, or where it was, or...anything. And then sometimes people will ask for the details, but if the reviewer responds at all you often have to scan through replies to find the response and...well...you catch my drift.

 

9) Leave out talking about other passengers. Unless they were part of your group, or really super awesome and you want to give them a shout out, or so bad that you just can't resist a quick dig...every cruise is different, passenger-wise, and spending half your review complaining about others doesn't do you or the reader any good ;)

 

10) Try to finish your review in a timely manner. I'm okay with reviews for 7-day cruises taking a couple of weeks to complete, and of course sometimes life gets in the way, but I've actually subscribed to reviews two or three months before a cruise only to go on my cruise and the person still has a couple days left to review...which means I lost interest a couple of WEEKS before I even went on my own cruise and therefore stopped reading :(

[jerseygirl79]

I have a very short attention span and I tend to skim as I read. Because of this, I like pictural reviews with clearly defined paragraphs. Huge run-on reviews lose me quickly.

 

Also, if the review takes more than a 2-3 days to be completed, it's difficult for me to find where I left off and I stop reading.

 

I agree with others that more reviews of the ports and vendors is needed. It's such useful information!

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Seago2]

A sense of humor!! That is key for me.

 

This is the best review I have ever read on CC: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=679082&highlight=sailorjack&page=11

 

It's well worth the time it takes to read- its the perfect review. I want to read a funny travelogue, not some deadly boring, heavily detail oriented review.

 

You can leave out the pics of food, which always look gross, and leave out five paragraphs on the hotel.

 

Just take me with you! That's the feeling I want to get. ;)

[Seago2]

Also- I really love the "live from" threads. It takes a lot of work and money to do a good live from. I just did one on Westerdam and it was my fourth. I like them because they capture the excitement and silliness of being on a cruise :p. Also, I never read the comments until I get back so I don't get bogged down and lose my train of thought.

 

The way to save money doing a live from is to write the posts (hopefully daily) off line, then sign on and quickly upload the post and sign off. If I had to pay for all of the minutes it takes me to compose one it would be a fortune!

[hansolosmom]

I like to know the ages of the people in your party

The type of room you were in

Activities you did on ship, including other members in your party, i.e. I did trivia while my 15yo did xx,y,z in the teen room

I love to know what people did in port

 

Of course for all of these I like to know what you didn't or didn't like about each activity.

 

Oh and 1 more - if you've been on the ship and/or cruise line before

[jakeHOU97]

I like to see a List of things that were Better Than, Pretty much as, and worse than expected. And ways carnival can make the line and facination better, with pictures. I know someone who does reviews like that and I really appreciate it.

[GetNby]

A sense of humor!! That is key for me.

 

This is the best review I have ever read on CC: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=679082&highlight=sailorjack&page=11

 

It's well worth the time it takes to read- its the perfect review. I want to read a funny travelogue, not some deadly boring, heavily detail oriented review.

 

You can leave out the pics of food, which always look gross, and leave out five paragraphs on the hotel.

 

Just take me with you! That's the feeling I want to get. ;)

 

The only thing that could have made the review shared here is that there would be some images that could be viewed...though some of his verbal imagery was outstanding my eyes were getting bored.

[cruzlovr75]

I like to see photos of the ship and ports of call excursions.

 

I have to say, sorry to be a downer here, but I won't waste my time writing another review. I wrote a review for our recent Dream cruise with photos and info about the ship and the excursions we did and it didn't seem like anyone cared for it. I'd just love to know what I did wrong with the review? I see on here some cruise reviews get pages and pages of responses. :confused:

[rockraiders]

I love reading reviews with photos. I don't mind a few food photos but PLEASE no photos of half eaten plates of food. It's soooooo gross. I don't understand why people post half eaten plates of food.

[bungee]

I like to see photos of the ship and ports of call excursions.

 

I have to say, sorry to be a downer here, but I won't waste my time writing another review. I wrote a review for our recent Dream cruise with photos and info about the ship and the excursions we did and it didn't seem like anyone cared for it. I'd just love to know what I did wrong with the review? I see on here some cruise reviews get pages and pages of responses. :confused:

 

I found a couple port call posts that you did. I did not find your review of the whole cruise. Did you remove it?

[cruzlovr75]

I found a couple port call posts that you did. I did not find your review of the whole cruise. Did you remove it?

 

 

I didn't remove it, it's just burried now within the CC pages!

[baylovesduke]

I like to read reviews that have good punctuation, spelling, and grammar. I also like to see double spacing and a legible font and font color.

 

Ohhh, you mean what do I like to see IN a review? :)

 

Pictures and Details

[LUPY48]

I'd like to see people FINISH a review! They get us hooked, and never come back.

[my3boysmom]

I have to say, sorry to be a downer here, but I won't waste my time writing another review. I wrote a review for our recent Dream cruise with photos and info about the ship and the excursions we did and it didn't seem like anyone cared for it. I'd just love to know what I did wrong with the review? I see on here some cruise reviews get pages and pages of responses. :confused:

 

 

I understand! I did write mine entirely before I posted (copy/paste) here as much for me as anyone else. It is kind of disappointing.

[APDMOM]

I found a couple port call posts that you did. I did not find your review of the whole cruise. Did you remove it?

 

I didn't remove it, it's just burried now within the CC pages!

 

Here is the link to the review... thank you for taking the time to post it. I hope more people will read it. It may just have been a "busy week at the office". :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1620410

 

[APDMOM]

I didn't remove it, it's just burried now within the CC pages!

 

By the way... Your review had 3,604 views to date. In my opinion, that is a pretty good compliment :D

[ib4cruzn]

I like to read reviews that have good punctuation, spelling, and grammar. I also like to see double spacing and a legible font and font color.

 

Welcome to the Carnival forum!

[cruzlovr75]

 

By the way... Your review had 3,604 views to date. In my opinion, that is a pretty good compliment :D

 

 

Thank you so much for putting that link to my review and your kind comments. :) I did see that is a very high number that viewed my review, but then when you look at the replies (half are mainly mine lol) I think it was only around 47! :o Oh well.

[RWolver672]

I like to see the poster's family and friends having fun in the photos. I think it more personal knowing what the people look like.

[Andoria]

LOL OP are you sorry you asked? So many different opinions.

 

I love all reviews of the ship I'm going on, even the negative ones.

 

What I hate is when the reviewer posts tons of pictures in one thread and people respond by copying all the darn pictures again before they write "Great review!" Seriously?

[Dogresqer]

Some post way to many pictures of the sunset, one will do.

[EpcotBill]

I like to know the room category and see pictures of the room from different angles. I won't read reports that don't have pictures to break up the text a little. I also need paragraphs. If it's one huge clump of text I can't read it.