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Conde Nast 2012 Ship Ratings


curtdesilets

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FYI:

 

http://www.cntraveler.com/cruises/polls/2012/top-100-cruise-ships-in-the-world

 

I remember a few years ago when Celebrity used to have ALL OF IT'S SHIPS in the Top 10! Not so anymore.

 

Medium Ships: Constellation #16, Summit #20 (Infinity/Millenium/Century not ranked)

 

Large Ships: Eclipse#2, Equinox#5, Solstice #7

Let's discuss.

 

One observation: The M class ships are now in the "Medium" category, and competes with much smaller ships like Crystal/Regent. Also, these were rated before their "solticizing".

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I'm not a fan of their rating system. I think it's silly to compare cruise ships by size and not by market/brand. Celebrity shouldn't be compared head-to-head with all-inclusive lines such as Crystal or Regent any more than it should be compared to Carnival....in my opinion...

 

There are also some "oddities" on the list. Disney Magic above Disney Dream, X ships, and Cunard ships?

 

I'll stick to personal experience and what I hear on this board when picking ships :)

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The conde nast has a huge flaw in that it is based on "readers" rather than one set of objective reviewers throughout.

 

Consider the larger the ship, the more passengers it has as a potential to write in. So the sheer volume of passengers skews the r raitin meaningless, Mega ships are going to come in higher

 

Even in small and med ships the larger the specific passneger total the more reports from star struck passengers. It is review of emotion not reality grounded.:rolleyes:

 

In reality one could say its not good a thing is but how popular Using the same conde nast system Subway would rate higher than the French Laundry!

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also--you get eMails asking you to vote for them. The cruiselines, especially Viking, is very aggressive to get their past cruisers to vote them the best.

 

agree--comparison should be more price level than size level.

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The conde nast has a huge flaw in that it is based on "readers" rather than one set of objective reviewers throughout.

 

Consider the larger the ship, the more passengers it has as a potential to write in. So the sheer volume of passengers skews the r raitin meaningless, Mega ships are going to come in higher

 

Even in small and med ships the larger the specific passneger total the more reports from star struck passengers. It is review of emotion not reality grounded.:rolleyes:

 

In reality one could say its not good a thing is but how popular Using the same conde nast system Subway would rate higher than the French Laundry!

 

I'm sorry, but I do not follow this logic entirely. I agree that it is subjective, but the size does not necessarily alter the result as the results are reported as an average. So if 1000 people rate a ship 75, the average is 75. If 100 people rate a ship 75, the average is still 75.

 

I do note that rating ships by people who do not have a point of reference that includes a wide array of experiences (not having sailed on many different ships/lines/category) can alter the results significantly.

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The system for sized ships is wrong...but Still impressed with Celebritys Scores compared to some of the others, I think after the renovations the scores will; improve on the millennium class as Sailing Summit Last year 2 times and then just sailing on her in March after the reno, it was much much better with the updates! They needed it.

 

As for Disney LOL, Clients always comment on how food is not as good overall, but Entertainment is and some service, but the do not sail all over the world or offer what Celebrity does, or HAL or anyone for that matter. They should score high in entertainment they make movies!!! but when it comes down to all the other things Disney Cruises is permium prices but not always delever premium product. Disney fans are Hardcore and apssionate, thats a given....

 

I dont read to much into this, but whats odd is that they just did a 2011 ratings that came out in December and Celebrity as a company was number 1 9 points ahead of Princess Cruises that was in second. Disney was not in that category? so its strange

 

Cheers to all the top placers really...a few points either way are no big deal..

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One obvious flaw with these ratings is that three of the top four large ships are Disney Ships, and a Disney Cruise costs three times as much as a Celebrity cruise on a per diem basis.

 

In a few weeks, I will be taking a cruise on one of those top rated Disney ships and will decide then if I think the rating is valid.

 

In any event, comparing cruise lines in completely different price ranges is like comparing a BMW with a Nissan because they are similar in size.

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One obvious flaw with these ratings is that three of the top four large ships are Disney Ships, and a Disney Cruise costs three times as much as a Celebrity cruise on a per diem basis.

 

In a few weeks, I will be taking a cruise on one of those top rated Disney ships and will decide then if I think the rating is valid.

 

In any event, comparing cruise lines in completely different price ranges is like comparing a BMW with a Nissan because they are similar in size.

 

Conde Nast needs to re-evaluate how they rate these things. Also, I wonder how much advertising comes into play. We do not subscribe to that magazine anymore, but I bet during the years Celebrity was in the top 10 for every ship, there was some heavy Celebrity advertising as well. I also remember those articles spread all over the ships.

 

The S ships are doing remarkably well on the ratings, as they should. We were pretty impressed by Equinox 2 years ago.

 

But you know, Nissan has a very limited release sports car that may be better than the best BMW. I'll send you details.

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So in the past when Celebrity has topped the list the poll is the be all and end all of opinions but this year it's flawed? LMAO :rolleyes:

 

Cruise Junky - That is probably because a lot of people use cruise ratings to validate their preconceived opinions about how Celebrity compares with every other cruise line.

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Conde Nast needs to re-evaluate how they rate these things. Also, I wonder how much advertising comes into play. We do not subscribe to that magazine anymore, but I bet during the years Celebrity was in the top 10 for every ship, there was some heavy Celebrity advertising as well. I also remember those articles spread all over the ships.

 

The S ships are doing remarkably well on the ratings, as they should. We were pretty impressed by Equinox 2 years ago.

 

But you know, Nissan has a very limited release sports car that may be better than the best BMW. I'll send you details.

 

curtdeslets - Thank you for that information, but my BMW is only two years old, so I am not planning to buy a new car now. I just used that analogy to show that two cars that are the same size can be in completely different leagues price wise, as well as in quality, thus questioning Conde Nast's rating system.

 

In that analogy I was thinking of Celebrity as Nissan and pricier cruise lines as BMW. However, you raised a very interesting point that different models within a brand can vary quite substantially, and that a specific model (ship) may be more important than the brand (cruise line) itself.

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[quote name=curtdesilets wrote : For Bridge Maven:

 

This may be better than a BMW, depending on what you are looking for:

 

http://www.nissanusa.com/gt-r

 

 

 

I have a 2012 GTR, It's faster and has better handling than any BMW.( by far )

I've also sailed on Regent 5 times. The Celebrity Equinox, and solsticized Infinity are better inmo than Regent, even if they were priced the same.

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Or the ratings reflect things as they are? I have no idea, never having sailed Celebrity, but do have an Asia cruise booked for January. It seems most of the posts are trying to rationalize and excuse the ratings rather than think there may be some truth to them.

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Or the ratings reflect things as they are? I have no idea, never having sailed Celebrity, but do have an Asia cruise booked for January. It seems most of the posts are trying to rationalize and excuse the ratings rather than think there may be some truth to them.

 

Alidor - I agree that most of the ships rated higher than Celebrity ships probably are. At the same time, the typical Celebrity cruiser could not afford to take a cruise on them or would have to take a lot less cruises if they did. Granted there is a poster on this thread who likes Celebrity better than Regent but everyone else I know who has sailed on both cruise lines think that Regent is much better.

 

That is why I feel the rating system is flawed and it would be more meaningful to compare Celebrity to other cruise lines in the same price range.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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In addition to what I have previously posted on this thread, I think there is another factor that is very subjective. That is other passengers. Many people love or dislike a cruise based on how much they have in common with other passengers on the ship.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Our 3 favorite lines are Seabourne, Silversea and Oceania. They look more expensive than Celebrity, but are not when you add all the extras on Celebrity. We are taking a family cruise in the Baltic this summer on the Eclipse (the other lines are not suitable for kids) and Im sure it will be great. We have taken family cruises before on Celebrity and enjoyed them very much but I cannot believe they charge for soft drinks, lattes and shuttle bus in ports. The others also don't charge for the specialty restaurants. I like Celebrity but hate being nickled and dimed to death. Their drink packages are ridiculous.

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Westwindsor - totally agree with you. We are on Regent in a month (2nd time) and cannot wait. We did book a January Asian Celebrity cruise. Th eprice was incredible and the timing good. Reading many of these posts makes me hope we did the right thing. Being nickel and dimed is certainly not appealing, but the itinerary is good and we will have a good time. after that we are thinking about a Royal Caribbean with the grand kids next summer in Europe. They have an itinerary and the timing that works for all us. Having said all this,I know after the Regent cruise next month, it'll be difficult to look forward to the Celebrity cruise as much.

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curtdeslets - Thank you for that information, but my BMW is only two years old, so I am not planning to buy a new car now. I just used that analogy to show that two cars that are the same size can be in completely different leagues price wise, as well as in quality, thus questioning Conde Nast's rating system.

 

In that analogy I was thinking of Celebrity as Nissan and pricier cruise lines as BMW. However, you raised a very interesting point that different models within a brand can vary quite substantially, and that a specific model (ship) may be more important than the brand (cruise line) itself.

 

Never been a big Nissan fan. I remember my high school buddies trying to fit 3 of us in his (Datsun) 240Z, with me stuffed in the hatchback. The dumb things kids do! He always had problems with that car.

 

But you are right, different ships on the same line can have totally different ratings/feels. I feel that the Crown Princess is forever cursed. We were on her for a nightmarish Norovirus cruise last year. I noticed she was struck with Norovirus at least 4 times since, in less than a year! She was also the ship that had a sudden turn (caused by a faulty autopilot or something) on her inaugural season that sent most passengers flying!

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[quote name=curtdesilets wrote : For Bridge Maven:

 

This may be better than a BMW, depending on what you are looking for:

 

http://www.nissanusa.com/gt-r

 

 

 

I have a 2012 GTR, It's faster and has better handling than any BMW.( by far )

I've also sailed on Regent 5 times. The Celebrity Equinox, and solsticized Infinity are better inmo than Regent, even if they were priced the same.

 

Goes to show, different strokes for different folks!

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