What percentage of cruisers would you say read cruise critic threads?

[Lynnees]

I believe the % is very small indeed, perhaps 1 - 1.5%. I know though that the DSM's from RCL are always mentioning CC so I suppose they are trying to turn more people towards it, I believe in a effort to gauge reaction to certain things.

 

While there is lots of good information on here there is also quite a bit of mis-information on here and that's sad because too many people believe it.

[mrpayroll]

Based on our last cruise, i say VERY low. I mentioned CC to a number of people we talked to and not a one ever heard of it..

[yogimax]

I would guess 2% for all cruisers. I think it would jump, though, for those with say 5 or more cruises... maybe 5%

[CoachT]

While there is lots of good information on here there is also quite a bit of mis-information on here and that's sad because too many people believe it.

I believe on any given board there is a ratio of 60% wrong/mis/incorrect information to 40% good information.

 

The biggest issue here is there is not one poster that is staking their professional reputation on what they write the way a travel agent does with their advice.

[Puffinater]

I don't believe using the MMs is an accurate representation. I registered with CC before our first cruise. We have been on 13 Royal Caribbean cruises, we registered and attended one MM (briefly). Surely, many people read the forums yet don't care to socialize. :)

 

I am on the boards a lot. Tons of good (and bad:rolleyes:) info here but for a few reasons pretty much avoid the roll calls and do not attend M&M's.

[harryfat1]

I know this is posted on the RCI thread, but the percentage may be different with other cruise lines. On the smaller cruise lines sailing at the more exotic ports, people may be more inclined to use cc. For example, if you are on a cruise to Vietnam or Russia, you may be more inclined to check cc to see what tours/options are available versus you sailing on carnival or RCI for a 5 night cruise to Caribbean/Mexico where some people never get off the ship as they just want to “get away”, so no need to check cc.

 

If nothing else, given how statistics works, a smaller denominator will skew the percentage. Such that 60 viewers on a cruise ship that holds 600 people represents 10% versus 60 people on 3000 passenger ship is 2%.

 

Then there’s always the unknown number of “lurkers” out there that just read the info but seldom, if ever, post any questions/comments for various reasons, including fear of sounding dumb by asking a politically incorrect question and be flamed with 20 nasty replies in 1 hour.

 

In theory, this group of lurkers could be the “silent majority” out there. Case in point is that on any given topic on the top level, cc has a counter for number of “replies” and right next to it is “views”. Compare these 2 numbers – you will likely find a big gap in number of viewers on a topic than replies/comments. You can have a topic with 50 replies on the thread, but have 2,000 views. One never knows out of the 2,000 views if those are repeater view of people that already posted to check on other responders or just more of the silent lurkers in the background reading.

 

Finally, on the cc influence, guess that depends on the cruise lines. On our HAL cruise, someone on the roll call is very active and she contacted the cruise line prior to the cruise and for our sailing, they arranged for a personal 1 hour tour of the galley by the head chef just for our roll call. On the Celebrity cruises, on the roll call meeting, they typically have various “brass” that shows up to meet with the c people. On our Alaska cruise last year, at their version of M&M, we had the cruise director, hotel director, chief engineer, assistant cruse director and various folks dropping by to meet with cc members as they recognize how loyal/fanatical the cc members are.

[tikimon]

I wonder what the percentage is for people that leave the board in a years time and never return?

 

I'm talking about people with less than 10 posts and get flamed all over the boards and also members that have been around awhile and get treated like garbbage on here and leave.

[sealeggs]

We have been on 8 cruises with Royal. We too come on here especially after we book our cruise. We don't go to the MM because as stated before we are usually doing something else. That said there is quite a bit of information that a person can receive from this board. If I had to guess the %, I would say 1% to 2% of the peopls sailing use this forum. By the way we are looking to book our next cruise. Sailing on Fredom in May 2011.

[CatgirlNC]

All that being said, I can't imagine going on a cruise blind without doing any kind of research or reading at all. It'd drive me nuts. But, that's me

 

Me too! I've met people that are just the opposite, though. They were going on a cruise, and of course I would ask tons of questions- what cruiseline, which ship, where are they going, etc. and they would not know any of the specifics! "I don't know the name of the ship. We're leaving from Miami, that's all I know." How can you not know the name of the ship?? :confused:

 

Most of the time I've mentioned Cruise Critic to people on a cruise, they haven't heard of it.

[Star_Luna]

Wow, I could've sworn that the number would be much bigger than that.

 

I'll also be a first time cruiser as well. Once we fine the time to go on Freedom of the Seas(my parents and I decided to go on this cruise after seeing it on travel channel). I'm glad that I've found this site. So much useful information and more keeps appearing every day or so.

[Richiebaseball]

I believe on any given board there is a ratio of 60% wrong/mis/incorrect information to 40% good information.

 

I am also of the understanding that 45% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

[Gonzo70]

It is interesting how much it varies from Roll Call to Roll Call as to the level of participation/activity. On my Celebrity cruise next month, there are 300 people signed up for the Connections Party (Celebrity's version of the Meet & Mingle). That represents over 10% of the passenger load and does not even factor in the people who have posted on Cruise Critic but not registered for the Connections Party.

[RenieRaider]

This is why all of the discussions/arguments on CC about such things as formal wear, Rum Runners, smuggling alcohol, chair hogs, etc., may be good entertainment for those of us on CC, but have absolutely no impact on the vast majority of the cruising population.

 

That's a good point.

 

Back to the question of percentage....... cruising is still a new industry, IMO. I don't think more than 10-12% of the travelers have ever cruised?! There's a lot of First Time cruisers out there and a lot more that say, "I've Never cruised Before."

 

I still LOVE Cruise Critic!

[negc]

Whenever someone tries to answer this type of question, I am reminded of a quote commonly attributed to Mark Twain which states that there are "lies, damned lies, and statistics". :D

[enidcruiser]

we were not first time cruisers when I discovered CC last fall before our FOS cruise in Jan.

I would say that the % is pretty small. At the FOS MM meeting there were 95 signed up and only about 40 people actually showed up. You all know how many people are on that ship so % is low.

 

The things I found out from the CC threads sure did help when we boarded the ship.

 

1. We found out you can board before 2:00 pm, and we did. We were on by 11:30 am and it was great.

 

2. DH found out about the Rum Runners and thought it was the best idea.

 

3. We have always taken a couple of bottles of Champagne with us and had no idea we could not do so anymore.

 

4. Found out we could check or change our table for dinner. We did so when we first got on board and moved to a table by the windows.

 

5. Found out we needed to get the ice show tickets the first day they were offered.

 

These were just some of the things that CC members talked about and we found the information very valuable.

One more thing.

 

On our trip to Cozumel in a few days we will take Pesos with us to use for taxi fare until we can get to a money machine. We understand the US Dollar problem down there and want to be prepared to make things easier for all of us.

 

Thanks to the CC members for that valuable info.

 

Julia

[jorapp]

I would say that 100% of ppl who FIND Cruise Critc read some posts, and I would guess about 1/3 actually register and actively participate.

[livingstone]

I agree. We generally register for the M&M ( to help make sure the minimum is met) but in all our cruises, have never gone to one. We seem to be involved in something else at the time.

M

 

you know that may be the case for many people, but I still suspect that if you count the number of people on the meet and greet registar for each ship, you would have a good idea of how many of the CC''S are on that paticular cruise. simple really. I think it is fair to say that you can not count the number that turn up to the meet and greet function, like you said it is good to get the numbers up. One example, my wife has no real interest, nor do the children but we are all registered. I think it may be just me attending the meet and greet.

[Fincheslanding]

I am really very happy that I found CC... I can't understand myself why more people don't. But on the other hand I'm kinda happy that there is a small number because I kinda feel like I'm getting the inside track on things. Granted I only have one cruise under my belt.. but I sure feel much more prepared for my cruise this time around that last time.

 

I truly appreciate CC and all it's members for the wealth of information people share.

 

D

 

My thoughts, too. It's not too great a thing to get the inside scoop on something, only to find out that the whole world knows!

 

I learned of cruise critic in the Sunday paper travel section, where the cruise ads were. I'm one of those excessive researchers who likes to educate myself before any great adventure. This site has been wonderful. And even a novice like myself can usually tell the good advice from the not so good. Or at least I hope so...

 

I watched the live CC report of the Oasis, and got the impression RCCL cared very much what CC was reporting. I can imagine, low percentage notwithstanding, that the collective "repeat business" from CC members carries a lot of weight with cruiselines.

[jumbo1]

Anyone can read Cruise Critic

Some people register and just "lurk" for info -not a bad thing ;)

Some people start posting looking for others on their sailing

Some people join roll calls

Some people will show up at the M&M

 

I think at each step , you lose a little bit of the whole number, so the M&M number would be low:D

[mets550]

The fact remains that CC is by far the best site for info, networking, and discussion about cruises. Very few other types of vacations have so many people so involved in talking about them in a single place online.

[bionicman97]

Anyone can read Cruise Critic

Some people register and just "lurk" for info -not a bad thing ;)

Some people start posting looking for others on their sailing

Some people join roll calls

Some people will show up at the M&M

 

I think at each step , you lose a little bit of the whole number, so the M&M number would be low:D

 

Agreed :)

[CoachT]

I have been reading Johns Heald's blog and it is hysterical to read comments from people who mention Cruise Critic in their comments as if that gets them some type of special treatment or recognition!

[willing292]

One more thing.

 

On our trip to Cozumel in a few days we will take Pesos with us to use for taxi fare until we can get to a money machine. We understand the US Dollar problem down there and want to be prepared to make things easier for all of us.

 

Thanks to the CC members for that valuable info.

 

Julia

 

 

Julia - can you please explain what you mean by the US$ problem in Cozumel. Thanks

[manu4evr]

According to Answers.com, roughly 34 million passengers take a cruise holiday each year. Cruise Critic has approximately 615,000 members. That includes those that have left or no longer post. It doesn't include non registered lurkers.

With those figures the percentage is about 1.8%. That means on a ship with 3000 people, you could expect about 60 CC members. Remember, figures don't lie, but liars sure can figure.:D

[didiaust]

Great topic. When we try to guesstimate and consider the M&M's we must also remember that many members a only one of a family of 4 and sometimes more

 

We have another cruise forum in Australia made up of very dedicated and nice people BUT the format is a nightmare with advertising all over it sections and subsections even many of the posters compete against one another for space and attention. I have given it a few chances but always come back to the simple format of CC