What has happened to Cruise Critic?

[sail7seas]

 

 

J M O

 

[avian777]

On 3/26/2019 at 3:33 PM, sandyss said:

Isn't CC owned by TripAdvisor (or vice versa)? 

 

TripAdvisor has completely changed their format which used to be so easy to use.  They have monetized it.  When you look for things to do, you get ads for tours. It is now almost impossible to see "Traveler Ranked" things to do.

 

When you look for hotel recommendations, the first thing that comes up is "Recommended" or "Best Value" hotels.  It is necessary to use a drop-down box to request "Traveler Ranked".

 

I now use TripAdvisor much less than I used to.

 

I wonder what CC will do to monetize the CC Community Forums?

 

👍👍👍  Great Post, sandyss - thanks for sharing your insights.

[LoveHAL]

Could it be that people are tired about reading how much is missing from HAL? Could it be that people are tired about seeing the same topics/questions and answers repeated?

 

When preparing for a vacation (a wonderful cruise) I always keep in mind how lucky I am. It amazes me to see how many people look for all the bad things. It turns people (myself included) off. I see more and more of that on Cruise Critic. Shouldn't we just consider ourselves lucky that we can take a vacation?

 

By the way, on the Wdam's Trans-Atlantic crossing (April 28th) there are currently 158 names on our roll-call. I am expecting one heck of a turn out for the Meet and Greet that I am coordinating. It is true, sea days equal a more active roll-call because many people like to  share activities (book groups, cabin crawls, card games, tours). 

 

Having said that, I grow weary reading all of the negative posts and attitudes. Often I mumble to myself, "if HAL is so bad and/or isn't like it use to be, why don't they move on to another cruise line?" Sorry for the venting - 

[Chickadee910]

Venting is good...you just aren’t preaching to the choir..maybe someone out there will take heart and just enjoy themselves...lol

[WpgCruise]

I’ll put this out there as food for thought as to why the H.A.L. Board and Roll Calls may not be as active as others.

 

I don’t think the changes to the format is a significant impact, given the  continued volume of posts on Cruise Critic Boards such as Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, N.C.L. to name others I follow.

 

Instead I suspect the decline in H.A.L. Cruise Critic postings from new and existing members is simply resignation. People ask a question or post an opinion and are denigrated by the regulars who seem to do their best to run off new members. This carries over to Roll Calls as perhaps people would prefer not to associate with bullies who appear to be give the impression they are interested in discussing how much they know, Mariner status, their posting numbers on Cruise Critic, and how much better things were in the good old days.

 

I challenge some of those who are blaming the change of Cruise Critic format for the decline in participation to actually read their own posts, and those of some of the other long time posters.   Try and put yourselves in others position and ask yourself if you are the type of person people reading your posts would want associate with on a vacation ?

 

Perhaps rather than telling Cruise Critic to change, some should look in the mirror and ask if perhaps they are a part of the reason for people not posting on Cruise Critic or participating in Roll Calls.

 

There is an old saying along the lines of “Misery Loves Company” and if a newcomer to the H.A.L. Board follows the threads I can understand why they might just as soon not participate in a discussion or Roll Call with many frequent long time posters.

 

Just some food for thought for whatever use can be made of it.

[avian777]

1 minute ago, WpgCruise said:

I’ll put this out there as food for thought as to why the H.A.L. Board and Roll Calls may not be as active as others.

 

I don’t think the changes to the format is a significant impact, given the  continued volume of posts on Cruise Critic Boards such as Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, N.C.L. to name others I follow.

 

Instead I suspect the decline in H.A.L. Cruise Critic postings from new and existing members is simply resignation. People ask a question or post an opinion and are denigrated by the regulars who seem to do their best to run off new members. This carries over to Roll Calls as perhaps people would prefer not to associate with bullies who appear to be give the impression they are interested in discussing how much they know, Mariner status, their posting numbers on Cruise Critic, and how much better things were in the good old days ...

 

 

 

 👍👍👍  Thank you for the excellent Post, WpgCruise - very insightful and IMO 100% on target!!!  Unfortunately, I doubt that it will produce any meaningful improvement, as IMO those CCers who are responsible for the uninviting/hostile atmosphere on CC either do not recognize their complicity in making it so or do but just don't care.  In any event, I'm not going to stand on one leg or hold my breath waiting for them to change their online behavior.  Thanks again & smooth sailing.

[harryw]

I find the analysis insightful too.

While CC remains an invaluable tool for

me, the ugly or egoistic posts have often been distracting. I can understand how they chase many away. They do deflate my sails. Thank God I haven’t met the offensive souls onboard (yet)! Or not to my knowledge.

[BarbinMich]

My 2-cents:  we have done 52 cruises, starting in 1994, on HAL, Celebrity and Princess.  I have been a CC member for 15 years and I don't see any significant changes, at least on the msg boards.  We haven't been able to cruise since Apr 2017 so haven't been involved in any RCs lately thus I'm not familiar with what's going on there.  It was a bit bumpy during the transition, but things have been smooth since, as far as I'm concerned, re the msg boards.  BTW I access the site via my mini laptop; can't imagine trying to use the site on a phone.  Finally, there has not been a thread like this on either the Celebrity and Princess boards.  In my experience, the Princess board has always been far more active than either HAL or Celebrity, probably because it has more ships/destinations.

[richstowe]

3 hours ago, WpgCruise said:

Instead I suspect the decline in H.A.L. Cruise Critic postings from new and existing members is simply resignation. People ask a question or post an opinion and are denigrated by the regulars who seem to do their best to run off new members.

I have found the HAL board especially the New to Holland America? This is for you...AKA "HAL For Dummies" thread to be filled with kind informative people . This is especially true when compared to the other mass market CC boards . There are loyals (especially Royals) on all but my experience is that they are more ferocious on the other boards . 

[HamOp]

On 3/26/2019 at 2:03 PM, harryw said:

I wish that there was a way to quantify how much traffic has changed on CC.

i would like to add that I started a roll call many month’s ago for my upcoming June cruise, and not one person has replied. This lack of response may have been unthinkable a year or so ago.

 I also miss the old format. Why fix something that wasn’t broke.

Go here https://www.similarweb.com/website/cruisecritic.com

Shows CC traffic is down 18.23 percent in the last 6 months. And a whole lot more information about the site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

2 hours ago, HamOp said:

 

 

That's a very interesting site! Thanks bug's dad! 

[stevec999]

There are only five on the roll call for our next HAL cruise. Of course it isn't until 3/21/20 so that may be part of it 😀