Length Matters???....AKA What Kind Of Review To You Prefer?

[stormyc]

...What I cannot abide is the 'fortune cookie' review; you know them: "Food good; service bad."

 

Also, it goes without saying, (so I'll say it): please for the love of all that is good and decent give the reasoning behind the grade. "The water was too wet" comments cause my head to explode.

Cheers

MarkB

 

I completely agree! - LOL! :p

[starysacz]

I agree with Roz. Excellent suggestions.:)

[dougnewmanatsea]

Long and detailed. I am guilty of these myself so it is not surprising what I prefer ;) . But short and sweet is fine too. I appreciate everyone's opinions, be they long, short, or somewhere in between.

 

That said, I can't stand reviews like this:

 

"I had an absolutely fantastic cruise. Everything was perfect. I am in love with this ship and the cruise line. I wanted to take home the entire crew. There is absolutely, positively, no way that anything could be improved upon..."

 

or this:

 

"This was the cruise from hell. I believe the entire crew worked for the devil. The food was so bad, I vomited just being in the same room. My room steward threatened to murder me if I did not give him a tip of $10 million in cash..."

 

If the reviewer fails to mention even one remotely positive or one remotely negative (or at least neutral) thing, I tend to find the review somewhat implausible.

 

Just my $0.02. Keep writing those reviews everyone!

 

PS: Is it me, or is this board gone poll-happy lately? Suddenly I walk in and I'm being asked for my opinion on more things than I can imagine! I half expect someone to ask what color bedspread I prefer in my cabin ;) ! Not a criticism, just an observation.

[cactuslady]

I like getting all the details about the ship and the experience that are relevant to others traveling on the same ship or itinerary.

 

However, you can skip the long stories about how early you got up in the morning, the long cab ride to the airport, how badly the cabbie drove, what the flight was like, how much you paid for your sandwich on your layover in Kansas City, what the grouch at your dinner table said, etc. I'm not likely to duplicate those aspects of your trip, so your detailed review of those matters is not helpful to me.

[stormyc]

...what the grouch at your dinner table said...

 

Howdy, My Tucson Neighbor!

 

I'm sorry, but I must admit to a strong fascination with disfunctional dinner companion stories! Also grumpy fellow passengers, etc.

 

Some of those stories are just riveting!! :D

[Bucky3]

I love the long and/or short of all of them! Just keep them coming, and thanks to all those who take the time to write.

[kruzkeen]

I ony come to CC every couple of days and skim throught the new reviews. I like those where it seems that I might get some interesting info on ports of call where I have not been.

 

I have been on 16 (I think) HAL cruises on a variety of ships and for the most part know what to expect with staterooms, meals, service etc.

 

I have never written a review and appreciate the time spent by those who do.

[kruzkeen]

duplicate, sorry

[lougee1043]

i like detailed reviews but as posted numerous times on this thread i dont need to know what they ate at the stuckeys rest stop on route 40 and that the waitress name was maizie

 

also if its good enough for ee cummings its good enough for me

[bcc99]

For the same reason that I torture myself by looking at all the pretty vacation pictures...a nice, long review is the next best thing to being there. I'll admit to skimming the epic-length reviews, but I like to pick up all the information and details that I possibly can. I find that more of the cruiser's rationale comes through in a longer review--if I know what the reviewer liked or disliked and why, it's easier to apply my grain of salt and draw my own conclusion. A well-constructed and clear argument (either pro or con) carries more weight with me. Poor Zuiderdam has been subjected to a lot of those short reviews, and they nearly scared me out of booking her. But all the "worst cruise ever" reviews led me to believe that I'd probably like her, since I usually enjoy things that others despise (and for any Simpsons fans out there, the phrase "worst cruise ever" made me think of the Comic Book Guy--hardly the most reliable source of information :) ).

 

Also...I'm one of the sticklers for spelling, grammar, and punctuation. I'll confess that I overuse ellipsis dots, though... :D

[Sweetdreams]

Personally, I really enjoy the detailed reviews but since I just joined this board a few weeks ago I have not read more than a dozen or so reviews. The more details the better to get a real feel for the cruiser's experience. That being said, I've enjoyed some of the short but well written reviews as well. Of all the reviews I've read on this board the most memorable will be the very first one I read-"The Grumpy & Slinkie World Cruise Review" which is in a class of it's own!

[Himself]

I like the reviews that are complete. And, I really like the ones posted while the poster is at Sea.

[kryos]

I love reviews! I love reading them (all of them) and I love writing them. I have noticed that some reviews on Cruise Critic are long and very indepth and others are very short and concise. I myself prefer long, detailed, and indepth reviews. However, I am sure there are those who prefer shorter reviews. So, the question is, which do you prefer?

The longer the better, as far as I am concerned. When I read a review, I like to imagine that I am on the cruise with the author. It's a cheap way to get to cruise almost every day!

 

So, if the review is very detailed, containing all types of little tidbits about what the reviewer did each day, in addition to their description of the ship, it makes it very easy to feel as though I was on the cruise with the author.

 

So, keep 'em coming, and I'll be sure to do the same for my cruises.

 

Just as a sidenote, a great site for some really detailed reviews is Tom Ogg's cruisereviews.com. His mega reviews are very lengthy and very, very detailed. I get a lot of joy from them and always anxiously await the addition of new ones.

 

Just imagine the size my review will be on my upcoming 30-day Hawaii/South Pacific cruise next year! LOL ... I'm bringing a laptop on that one (something I normally don't do) so I can keep notes! :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita