Cruise Critic Overhaul

[Tina99]

Gosh, I hope I don't get kicked off Cruise Critic for this topic.  It's only meant to open a discussion about changes to the site that may be helpful, and it comes about because I just read a new post that mentions the "search" field and how ineffective it is to find what you're looking for.  Did you know the Celebrity board goes back 6329 pages to April 2004?  I would not even want to rely on information that's that ancient.  Maybe we could come up with some ideas for a more up-to-date Cruise Critic site.  

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Yes , they need to get in 2020s , 😁

[daytona]

I always look at the dates. Have found valuable information from many(10) years ago especially in the ports categories.

[mom says]

Gosh, did you know that every post has a date? And that NO ONE is required to read any post that they consider outdated? Just scroll until you find a post with a date you deem acceptable. 

 

You honestly think the entire website needs to be revamped because you don't want to read old posts?

 

How about not using a chainsaw to trim a  handrail? You could suggest to the site administrators or webmasters that they consider adding  an optional search filter to limit threads less than a year or 2 old. 

 

Oops. I made a mistake, for which I apologize. Under 'more search options', after first entering the search terms  there already exists an option to limit the latest date for previous entries. I wonder how many people aren't careful with precisely wording their search, and then  neglect to use any of the advanced features.

Edited January 31 by mom says

[deliver42]

I ususally don't look at the original date, but only look at things that were answered within one day.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I think the should remove the time limit to edit a post and add a delete button 

[Mark_K]

2 hours ago, Tina99 said:

Gosh, I hope I don't get kicked off Cruise Critic for this topic.  It's only meant to open a discussion about changes to the site that may be helpful, and it comes about because I just read a new post that mentions the "search" field and how ineffective it is to find what you're looking for.  Did you know the Celebrity board goes back 6329 pages to April 2004?  I would not even want to rely on information that's that ancient.  Maybe we could come up with some ideas for a more up-to-date Cruise Critic site.  

You can select a date range on your search, both for when created and last updated.

[bEwAbG]

There was a pretty major overhaul about 5 years ago.  I think this version works just fine & added functionality that I would miss were it to go away.  The software is on an established platform used by many companies.

 

The search issues are often user error.  The search function is pretty robust.  There's a lot of content, though, and lots of duplicate topics, even if you're limiting your search to the recent past.  Many people don't seem to want to read the first few pages as they'll start a new topic for something that is asked and answered just a few posts below. 

[JRG]

1 hour ago, bEwAbG said:

There was a pretty major overhaul about 5 years ago.

 

Warning - The Surgeon General has Determined that Sudden Changes to your GUI may be hazardous to your Health.

 

Based on what I saw in the "What's Going on Thread"   last week I was genuinely concerned for some of the older folks who struggled with the Test Format change; and a warning label like this might be just what the Doctor ordered.

 

.And please don't ask   "HUH?  What's a GUI"

 

 

Edited January 31 by JRG
minor edit

[OldTymeCruiser]

I don’t think this post is a violation. I actually enjoy looking back years to read old posts and they bring back memories of old ships and traditions.  I do wish they would monitor the influencers who wear fancy costumes post glowing reviews and you know are getting upgrades, free cruises or are otherwise paid by the cruiselines. Additionally, some posters are full of themselves such as on another line where a president club member thinks he is above the rest referring to his fellow passengers as a thundering herd. That is wrong. I tried to block but it still appears when they post. I would prefer you never see them again. It is the influencers however that dilute the veracity of the boards.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, OldTymeCruiser said:

I don’t think this post is a violation. I actually enjoy looking back years to read old posts and they bring back memories of old ships and traditions.  I do wish they would monitor the influencers who wear fancy costumes post glowing reviews and you know are getting upgrades, free cruises or are otherwise paid by the cruiselines. Additionally, some posters are full of themselves such as on another line where a president club member thinks he is above the rest referring to his fellow passengers as a thundering herd. That is wrong. I tried to block but it still appears when they post. I would prefer you never see them again. It is the influencers however that dilute the veracity of the boards.

Remember growing up and you were told to beware of influencers as they are trying to scam you out of your money 🤬😁

[Georgia_Peaches]

If the CC search function is found to be overwhelming by some, they could always pose their question on Google and then click on the relevant links that pop up on CC…with the dates clearly visible. 
 

I did this yesterday:  in Google I typed:  Do Celebrity signature suites get the same perks as the Royal and Penthouse suites?  A wealth of info popped up…mostly all from CC and it was also dated. 

[DaKahuna]

2 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

If the CC search function is found to be overwhelming by some, they could always pose their question on Google and then click on the relevant links that pop up on CC…with the dates clearly visible. 
 

I did this yesterday:  in Google I typed:  Do Celebrity signature suites get the same perks as the Royal and Penthouse suites?  A wealth of info popped up…mostly all from CC and it was also dated. 

 

 And on Google you can limit the responses to post within the last 24 hours, week, month, year, etc... 

 

[mahdnc]

11 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I think the should remove the time limit to edit a post and add a delete button 

 You mean the kind where you can delete other people's post?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 minute ago, mahdnc said:

 You mean the kind where you can delete other people's post?

Just Your own post, when you accidentally post on the wrong thread 😁

 

[CruisinShips]

Veering a little off topic, and maybe it's me, but I always get lots of irrelevant replies when I do a search.  For example, I wanted to see if I could find a recent menu for Luminae on the Apex, and regardless of what combination I tried, I couldn't get to what I was looking for. I use some of the common Google tips (using quotation marks, or adding AND between the words), and I still get much irrelevance.

 

Any tips?

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

And on Google you can limit the responses to post within the last 24 hours, week, month, year, etc... 

 

15 hours ago, Tina99 said:

Did you know the Celebrity board goes back 6329 pages to April 2004?  I would not even want to rely on information that's that ancient. 

 

13 hours ago, mom says said:

Under 'more search options', after first entering the search terms  there already exists an option to limit the latest date for previous entries.

 

one can also sort the search results by date:

 

[Charles4515]

17 hours ago, Tina99 said:

Maybe we could come up with some ideas for a more up-to-date Cruise Critic site.  

I think you have not explored all the search options, there are many tips in the thread. As far as overhauing or updating the software used is not custom made. it is off the shelf software used by many businesses. There are certain modifications possible but Cruise Critic did not write the software. Search and the way it is done s going to be built into the software. Changing anything could  cause unintended consequences. 

[LauraS]

Just letting you all know we are listening.....

[sparks1093]

21 minutes ago, LauraS said:

Just letting you all know we are listening.....

Don't you mean "reading", Laura?🤣 Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

As for older posts there is a delimiter that shows up in threads that says something like "posted 3 years later". It can be missed, but the date of the original post also appears on the main page under the thread title (and it also shows who the original poster is). I did suggest one time that posts be automatically locked after a certain passage of time (say, 6 months) but it wasn't adopted. 

 

A few threads down from this one I found:

1. Flying to cruise with only personal bag 1234

   By nycruise3, July 22, 2021
   • 82 replies
   • 2.3k views
   • i-think-i-thank-i-thunk
   • 6 hours ago

 

From this we see that the thread was started by nycruise3 on July 22, 2021, has a recent reply of 6 hours ago, 82 replies and 2.3k views.

 

Edited February 1 by sparks1093

[njhorseman]

30 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

I did suggest one time that posts be automatically locked after a certain passage of time (say, 6 months) but it wasn't adopted. 

I've also advocated for this change, which is what Cruise Critic's parent, Tripadvisor does. 

[*Miss G*]

Would love if they would bring back being able to narrow search to a specific member.  It used to be easier to find an old post where I had already responded to the same question someone is asking again, or where I knew a certain member had done so.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

Don't you mean "reading", Laura?🤣 Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

As for older posts there is a delimiter that shows up in threads that says something like "posted 3 years later". It can be missed, but the date of the original post also appears on the main page under the thread title (and it also shows who the original poster is). I did suggest one time that posts be automatically locked after a certain passage of time (say, 6 months) but it wasn't adopted. 

 

A few threads down from this one I found:

1. Flying to cruise with only personal bag 1234

   By nycruise3, July 22, 2021
   • 82 replies
   • 2.3k views
   •  
   • i-think-i-thank-i-thunk
   • 6 hours ago

 

From this we see that the thread was started by nycruise3 on July 22, 2021, has a recent reply of 6 hours ago, 82 replies and 2.3k views.

 

Locked after 6 months that would be silly , some cruises only happen once or twice a year , and the information still be relevant after a couple of years 

[sparks1093]

29 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Locked after 6 months that would be silly , some cruises only happen once or twice a year , and the information still be relevant after a couple of years 

The way things change I doubt that much is valid after a couple of years, but I should have added "6 months of inactivity". If a thread is routinely active there is no need to lock it. But my suggestion wasn't adopted so it's a moot point.

[ldubs]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

I did suggest one time that posts be automatically locked after a certain passage of time (say, 6 months) but it wasn't adopted. 

 

 

I  really don't see any harm in someone quoting an old post.   Worst case someone might not realize it is an old thread and won't get an answer.  But we can rest assured there will be plenty of folk pointing that out to them.🙂  On the other hand posting in an old thread can generate a whole new discussion.