Shocking - Looked At Current Cruise Critic Reviews

[NMTraveller]

OK.  So I just looked at some current Cruise Critic Reviews for Celebrity.  They have dropped significantly.  What is going on?  I expected some drop, but more than expected...

 

Is there a way to compare and look at specific ships and see which ships have the best cruiser ratings across all lines?

 

I would like to compare an Oceania ship to a Celebrity ship to a Viking ship to an Azamara ship to a HAL ship to a Princess ship.  How do I do this and find the best ship and service?  I can do this for land vacations...

 

I have seen the reviews on THIS board,  but not the general reviews until now...  And shocked...

Edited June 3, 2023 by NMTraveller

[TMaine]

That is an excellent question and one that many seem to be looking for an answer to, including myself.  We have an August cruise on Reflection and will be taking a hard look at if we will continue to cruise on Celebrity.   The drop in service and quality and rise in price is significant and while some are willing to accept that, we will be looking elsewhere. 

I am following your thread!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Time to look at other social media website for reviews 

i help moderate a roll call , one question if they are member on this forum, and about 80% answer is no 

Regarding the Reflection, we did the April TA , and had an excellent time , it was 100% better than the Apex TA in 2022 

 

 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

People are far more likely to report on bad experiences than on positive ones. So until this website or any other one finds a way to make every single cruiser complete a review, they're always going to be skewed to the negative.

[ymncruise]

Celebrity will notice if passengers stop booking. The ships I’ve been on lately have been full, so most passengers have accepted the way things are on board. This is a good opportunity to try something different. 

[mayleeman]

2 minutes ago, ymncruise said:

Celebrity will notice if passengers stop booking. The ships I’ve been on lately have been full, so most passengers have accepted the way things are on board. This is a good opportunity to try something different. 

 

Most people cruising now probably booked in 2022 or 2021. The Quality/Demand correlation is not apparent immediately.

 

Let's see what happens to bookings from, say, this October through 2024. I suspect there will be many sales to inveigle new customers to venture on board. But it is clear from this site that there are many X veterans dropping out. 

[TMaine]

1 hour ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

People are far more likely to report on bad experiences than on positive ones. So until this website or any other one finds a way to make every single cruiser complete a review, they're always going to be skewed to the negative.

I disagree, there are many positive reviews on this site and every negative thread on here is followed by an onslaught of dismissal and berating.  Granted some negative experiences are subjective and should be taken as such but that does not negate the individuals experience.

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

Not to harsh anyone's buzz on being down on Celebrity (and I'm neither an employee of Celebrity nor biased one way or another), but the average score on said review site is 4.1.

 

Cunard is 3.8. This is the White Star Line legacy and only rates 3.8!

 

I believe some small "ultra" luxury review averages come in at only 4.2, maybe 4.3. Perhaps read them for grounding.

 

IMO, if you are coming in with the belief that you will receive St. Regis level service short of staying in an EV or Iconic, you might need to revise expectations.

 

My (albeit limited) experience to date with Celebrity has been what I expected. True, I wasn't in an inside stateroom, but I read reviews and experiences and compare across competing brands.

 

I know what I am walking into...

 

Every brand is going through all the same (or similar) changes. Just read their reviews for comparison. 

 

I do not intend to harsh your buzz, but instead offer another perspective.*

 

*not intended to upset, anger, enrage, provoke, prod, or inflame anyone.

 

Peace to all.

Edited June 3, 2023 by 4-2-N-8

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

Not to harsh anyone's buzz on being down on Celebrity (and I'm neither an employee of Celebrity nor biased one way or another), but the average score on said review site is 4.1.

 

Cunard is 3.8. This is the White Star Line legacy and only rates 3.8!

 

I

A 4.1 is a low average score for Celebrity.  Most Celebrity ships pre pandemic were a 4.5 or better.  My next Celebrity cruise is on a ship that ranks a 3.7.  When I purchase a product from Amazon,  a restaurant,  a hotel,  a 4.0 is my bottom line cut off point (I may not be thrilled with it but it will get the job done).  I have noticed that the other cruise ships have dropped significantly as well in their cruise rankings.

 

So therefore how do I compare ships across different lines and find the best ship?  I can do this easily on TripAdvisor.  I can find the best 10 or 20 hotels in a city.  How do I do this for cruise ships?  In years past we just accepted that Celebrity was the best value for our money and booked another cruise on the last cruise.  Celebrity does not seem to be producing that same consistency and product that we have all come to love as shown by the current review rankings..

Edited June 3, 2023 by NMTraveller

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

31 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

A 4.1 is a low average score for Celebrity.  Most Celebrity ships pre pandemic were a 4.5 or better.  My next Celebrity cruise is on a ship that ranks a 3.7.  When I purchase a product from Amazon,  a restaurant,  a hotel,  a 4.0 is my bottom line cut off point (I may not be thrilled with it but it will get the job done).  I have noticed that the other cruise ships have dropped significantly as well in their cruise rankings.

 

So therefore how do I compare ships across different lines and find the best ship?  I can do this easily on TripAdvisor.  I can find the best 10 or 20 hotels in a city.  How do I do this for cruise ships?  In years past we just accepted that Celebrity was the best value for our money and booked another cruise on the last cruise.  Celebrity does not seem to be producing that same consistency and product that we have all come to love as shown by the current review rankings..

I'm an air and land traveler historically, and primarily due to my S.O.'s avoidance of anything that could cause seasickness.

 

We're "passing through" the cruise realm of experiences for the moment. We have a few more experiences booked on Celebrity, two transatlantic crossings on Cunard, plus one RCL for a family trip scheduled. We'll never make status, but never the intent.

 

I can appreciate that for cruise loyalists, you've seen a lot of change. I get it.

 

Ultimately for us, as way leads inevitably on to way, we will return once again to air/land experiences only. But, this will have been an interesting sojourn.

 

Hopefully, you find the ship and cruise line that suits.

 

Peace to all.

[George C]

We book suites and have done 4 cruises since Covid penthouse, two royals and a sky suite , first cruise right after celebrity started cruising was perfect others had issues with quality of food in both suite and specialty restaurants.

[Purplsmurf]

5 hours ago, TMaine said:

That is an excellent question and one that many seem to be looking for an answer to, including myself.  We have an August cruise on Reflection and will be taking a hard look at if we will continue to cruise on Celebrity.   The drop in service and quality and rise in price is significant and while some are willing to accept that, we will be looking elsewhere. 

I am following your thread!

We have sailed on Reflection four times in the last 18 months. We just got off June 1. We loved every sailing and the last was probably our favorite cruise ever. Everything was wonderful!

[OC PAT]

4 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Time to look at other social media website for reviews 

i help moderate a roll call , one question if they are member on this forum, and about 80% answer is no 

Regarding the Reflection, we did the April TA , and had an excellent time , it was 100% better than the Apex TA in 2022 

 

 

We will be leaving for our Greek Cruise 8/14 with a group and hope the negatives are few and not quite what the preception may be.

 

[TMaine]

9 minutes ago, OC PAT said:

We will be leaving for our Greek Cruise 8/14 with a group and hope the negatives are few and not quite what the preception may be.

 

We hope so too!  

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, Purplsmurf said:

We have sailed on Reflection four times in the last 18 months. We just got off June 1. We loved every sailing and the last was probably our favorite cruise ever. Everything was wonderful!

OC Pat, TMaine 
You do have 2 very good recommendation for the Reflection from the month of May 

Hopefully it will just as good for you come August 

[mahasamatman]

Online reviews are not worth the paper they're printed on.

[Markanddonna]

I looked just this morning for the reviews on a different cruise line. I wanted to see if reviews since mine were overwhelmingly negative. They were. 38% rated the target ship a one star.

 

Here's my takeaway. Cruise Critic ratings probably should be modified because of the "age factor."  Older ships that are/were well-loved have inflated ratings. More up-to-date reviews are often more negative because the industry continues to suffer from the lingering problems from the pandemic and permanent cutbacks. Cruising also is more mainstream, and society hasn't become more refined and agreeable.

 

I recommend anyone looking at reviews to do a statistical analysis. Look at the last 33-34 cruises and make a simple tally record of the ratings. Then, just multiply their totals by 3 and get a percentage. Examine what the reviewers say and look for typical comments. I used the OMNI calculator and discovered the overall satisfaction rate in the past half year was 47.7%.  Since the ship's beginning sailing, the ratings were about 76% satisfaction. The CC editor gave it a  4.5 out of 5. 

 https://www.omnicalculator.com/math/average-percentage#the-weighted-average-of-percentages

 

Shows you how the reviews are now quite inaccurate!

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

I think Cruise Reviews can be like reviews on Amazon -  15% hate the product even if 85% rate it exceptional. 

 

On both I enjoy to read a perspective and discount the really high and really low reviews and find the most accurate reflection somewhere in the middle.   It is also interesting that two people review the exact same cruise and have 180 degree reviews.       A review is simply one's person perspective and may be jaded in either direction depending on many small factors that may build up to either a really good cruise and one that was disappointing.

[chemmo]

11 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I think Cruise Reviews can be like reviews on Amazon -  15% hate the product even if 85% rate it exceptional. 

 

On both I enjoy to read a perspective and discount the really high and really low reviews and find the most accurate reflection somewhere in the middle.   It is also interesting that two people review the exact same cruise and have 180 degree reviews.       A review is simply one's person perspective and may be jaded in either direction depending on many small factors that may build up to either a really good cruise and one that was disappointing.

Totally agree.

 

Also, with reference to reviews, different things matter more to different people. For example, I can live with a bit of rust but not with shabby bedding, good service is important to me but I can cope with more indifferent shows…

 

In the ideal world cruises would be 5* across all parameters…With cut backs and a cost aware climate in cruising I guess the important thing to do when you read reviews on any line is to focus on what is important to you…

Edited June 3, 2023 by chemmo

[NMTraveller]

29 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I think Cruise Reviews can be like reviews on Amazon -  15% hate the product even if 85% rate it exceptional. 

 

On both I enjoy to read a perspective and discount the really high and really low reviews and find the most accurate reflection somewhere in the middle.   It is also interesting that two people review the exact same cruise and have 180 degree reviews.       A review is simply one's person perspective and may be jaded in either direction depending on many small factors that may build up to either a really good cruise and one that was disappointing.

Agreed.  That is why my cut off point is at 20% or a 4.0.

 

Perhaps you can explain why the reviews have decreased from 4.5 to much much lower.  What did Celebrity do to make so many people unhappy?

 

My favorite steakhouse only gets a 4.8.  Yet they cook every steak to perfection.  Nowhere the reviews Celebrity is currently getting.

 

One would assume that the current experience is not matching the previous?  What did Celebrity do to these people?  

 

From 4.5s to 4.1s to 3.7s on my booked cruise...

 

We are not talking about a restaurant where I can try it out, and if it does not work out I will not go again.  We are talking vacations that are in the realm of 10k or better and multiple weeks.

 

 

At one point in time Celebrity was better than anything on land period.  I am not sure that is the case now.

 

My favorite hotel gets a 4.5.  Yet my next cruise ship on Celebrity gets a 3.7.  Why?

Edited June 3, 2023 by NMTraveller

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, mahasamatman said:

Online reviews are not worth the paper they're printed on.

So what is your source of ranking cruise ships?

 

While I do not look at each review individually I do consider the average rankings...

[BridgeMates]

We were on the Silhouette with another couple last November having cruised Celebrity with them several times.

We had a couple of misses here and there in the DR but there were always other choices.

Then our friends went on the Oceania Regatta this past April and when I asked them how the food was, they said they "thought the food was better" on Celebrity!  Obviously, they did enjoy their cruise tho as they've booked another one on Oceania in October and we are all booked again on the Reflection in November. They did not try to convert us to Oceania. 😁

Just thought it was interesting as I've always heard how far superior Oceania is to Celebrity. 

 

 

[WNCtourist]

While I enjoy reading reviews from those in higher-level cabins (suites, Aqua, and Concierge on Celebrity), I screen out those from consideration as their cruise experience differs greatly from passengers in insides, oceanview and verandas, especially related to dining. 

[Oceangoer2]

24 minutes ago, WNCtourist said:

While I enjoy reading reviews from those in higher-level cabins (suites, Aqua, and Concierge on Celebrity), I screen out those from consideration as their cruise experience differs greatly from passengers in insides, oceanview and verandas, especially related to dining. 

The only difference in dining experience would be Aqua and Suites with their designated dining rooms.  All other cabin classes from inside to concierge 'enjoy' the main dining room.  I should also add, the dining experience doesn't differ 'greatly' IMO, having dined in all rooms.  The menu is different, but in Luminae, on occasion, I've requested the MDR menu and Blu if possible.

[NMTraveller]

2 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

I looked just this morning for the reviews on a different cruise line. I wanted to see if reviews since mine were overwhelmingly negative. They were. 38% rated the target ship a one star.

 

Here's my takeaway. Cruise Critic ratings probably should be modified because of the "age factor."  Older ships that are/were well-loved have inflated ratings. More up-to-date reviews are often more negative because the industry continues to suffer from the lingering problems from the pandemic and permanent cutbacks. Cruising also is more mainstream, and society hasn't become more refined and agreeable.

 

 

And yet I found the newer ships to have higher rankings and the older ones to have lower rankings.

 

If my M class cruise that has a 3.7 ranking is inflated I would like to know...

Edited June 3, 2023 by NMTraveller