Cruise Critic's 2013 Cruisers Choice Awards

[H82seaUgo]

As always I logged on to Cruise Critic like I do everyday and noticed the 2013 Awards had been announced. It is glaringly evident that Carnival is all but absent in almost every category. I begin wondering about why that is/would be?? Any thoughts or ideas as to why this is the case. I notice that R. Carribean and Disney are heavily awarded. Could it be that Carnival is the big kid on the block and people just wanna knock them?/

 

Let me preface this by saying I am not knocking Carnival. I have taken 4 cruises with Carnival(and had a blast everytime!!!) and have my 5th booked on the Liberty for April 6. and am counting down the days :-)

 

Brian

 

it seems so simple.

 

the people polled simply like the other lines and ships better.

 

those that never tried the other lines, being that some are out of their league, may not understand. carnival has never ranked high either among the fine travelers that read conde naste. perhaps it would rank higher among the readers digest and star readers.

 

those that disagree with the results will express disdain at the poll itself.

[Tapi]

I just finished reading the awards. Personally, I think that they are spot on.

 

The fact that Carnival didn't grab top awards in most categories doesn't mean that Carnival is a bad cruise line. On the contrary, I still think that Carnival is a great cruise line, BUT unfortunately for them, other cruise lines have truly geared up their product, giving Carnival VERY stiff competition.

[CdrescherRBL152]

CCL has as many ships if not more than RCI and they each have about the same number of berths, so when it comes to volume, they are about equal. Also, it doesn't appear you realize how the ratings are arrived at. The ratings are based on Cruise Critic Members, which you are one, reviews of their cruise. You will not be asked to rate the ships, you have to write a review for your voice to be heard in the ratings. So the members that have written reviews must feel RCI, Disney, Celebrity and the other highly rated ships are better than what the members who have rated the Carnival ships think of them.

 

Gregg

 

Yes the so called poll is based on members reciews and the number of posative and negitive thaerds. And given that there has been "members" who have started negitive thraeds about Carnival, who have found out tobe employees of other lines, namley RCI and NCL, not hard to see that Carnival would be low in the polls.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

I have yet to see a scientific poll on CC. They are all defective in some way and often have built in bias.

 

Would you still be saying that if Carnival took a lot of awards?

[Rottweiler Puppy]

Yes the so called poll is based on members reciews and the number of posative and negitive thaerds. And given that there has been "members" who have started negitive thraeds about Carnival, who have found out tobe employees of other lines, namley RCI and NCL, not hard to see that Carnival would be low in the polls.

 

So Carnival fans dont do the same? LOL If the others do it, you can bet Carnival acolytes do it as well.

[maggieworkman]

Yes the so called poll is based on members reciews and the number of posative and negitive thaerds. And given that there has been "members" who have started negitive thraeds about Carnival, who have found out tobe employees of other lines, namley RCI and NCL, not hard to see that Carnival would be low in the polls.

 

I have been on Cruise Critic for a long time and have never seen this about other cruise line employees posing as carnival guests and bashing them. Can you point me to this information? I'm really interested in it.

 

Maggie

[gtalum]

Carnival gets an undeserved bad reputation among most cruise aficionados. On the bright side, it keeps fares down.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

I have been on Cruise Critic for a long time and have never seen this about other cruise line employees posing as carnival guests and bashing them. Can you point me to this information? I'm really interested in it.

 

Maggie

 

Its a popular conspiracy theory here "a friend of a friend who is a TA for xxxxxx said blah blah blah".

 

And if true, you can bet Carnival and its fanatics do the same.

 

Most dont cruise based on awards anyway so its not a huge deal.

[gelo7]

Maybe it means they are better

 

Bingo.

[MargieWY]

LOL, gotta love all the "conspiracy theories", :rolleyes:

If all you eat is Applebee's, then you won't understand why Ruth Chris is rated higher. If all you cruise is on Carnival, then you won't understand why Royal, Disney, Celebrity, etc are rated higher either.

[SoundsOfSand]

As always I logged on to Cruise Critic like I do everyday and noticed the 2013 Awards had been announced. It is glaringly evident that Carnival is all but absent in almost every category. I begin wondering about why that is/would be?? Any thoughts or ideas as to why this is the case. I notice that R. Carribean and Disney are heavily awarded. Could it be that Carnival is the big kid on the block and people just wanna knock them?/

 

Let me preface this by saying I am not knocking Carnival. I have taken 4 cruises with Carnival(and had a blast everytime!!!) and have my 5th booked on the Liberty for April 6. and am counting down the days :-)

 

Brian

 

Maybe because Carnival is the "less expensive" alternative, and therefore doesn't have the biggest or the best anything...Doesn't mean that Carnival ships or bad, but they are saying that those ships that have higher fares are offering better food, entertainment, ect. I would assume this is correct, but that won't stop me from cruising with Carnival (which is the only line I've cruised to this point)

[sparky1964]

Different strokes for different folks. Carnival is the only cruise line I've been on. I have a friend telling me once I go on a RCI cruise I'll never cruise Carnival again. I'll be on my 4th Carnival cruise in June. I have had a blast on the other cruises. So why pay more if you are pleased what you a currently spending? Awards mean nothing, having fun is everything!

[emelvee]

When you're double the price, I would hope you're better! From what I hear it's pretty darn close.

When I've priced Disney, it's right about twice the price of Carnival for similar itineraries. RCI is sometimes substantially more, sometimes about the same.

[stewpapa]

I can't understand why it is so hard for some people to believe that other more expensive cruise lines get better reviews than the cheapest one. Makes perfect sense to me. And I love Carnival, but the more I pay the better the experience has been. Why is that so offensive or not to be believed?

[DarthGrady]

I've had 18 great cruises on CCL, but I can understand why they aren't winning any awards. As someone else posted, Super Troopers was a great comedy, but it didn't get any awards. CCL offers a good vacation experience at an excellent price. We can all appreciate that type of business model, even if it doesn't make them superlative in any one area.

 

I didn't bother reading that awards atricle, but I have seen them in the past. Usually there is a category for best line for cruising on a budget (or something like that). CCL would normally win that hands down. Was there no such category this year?

[skyeman27]

I have yet to see a scientific poll on CC. They are all defective in some way and often have built in bias.

 

Please expand on the comment about "built in bias" (against Carnival?) so I know what to look for and not be naive. Wasn't the Cruise Critic awards based on reviews by cruisers and not a poll? I am somewhat confused. I am not a Carnival hater, as most of my cruises are on Carnival ships and have 2 Carnival booked for this year...

[emelvee]

I can't understand why it is so hard for some people to believe that other more expensive cruise lines get better reviews than the cheapest one. Makes perfect sense to me. And I love Carnival, but the more I pay the better the experience has been. Why is that so offensive or not to be believed?

 

Wait...do you mean that you would expect a Four Seasons hotel to get more awards than La Quinta? :eek:

 

;)

[detroitlions]

I find it odd that the Breeze has the lowest (3.9) rating of all Carnival ships.

I think because of all the negetive review I see. I have not been on the ship it looks awesome. People complained so much about the crowds and poor MDR service and food quality. All the food is the same on CC so I dont get that either. I can see maybe the crowding and not enough staff.

[detroitlions]

Wait...do you mean that you would expect a Four Seasons hotel to get more awards than La Quinta? :eek:

 

;)

If Carnival was rated high in a lot of these they would raise their prices so I am glad they did not win anything. They should win for the cheers program.

[gelo7]

Based on what?

[skyeman27]

Based on what?

 

 

Based on my experiences, research and personal opinion, not necessarily in that order...

[MrPete]

No Carnival ships won in any category for best overall? Would have thought at least the Dream or Breeze would have been listed...

 

Why? Have you been on the ships that ranked high?

[Georgiagolfer]

Different strokes for different folks. Carnival is the only cruise line I've been on. I have a friend telling me once I go on a RCI cruise I'll never cruise Carnival again. I'll be on my 4th Carnival cruise in June. I have had a blast on the other cruises. So why pay more if you are pleased what you a currently spending? Awards mean nothing, having fun is everything!

 

Not sure why "a friend would say this", but for DW and I not true. We are Platinum on CCL and RCI, and like both lines equally. Have found prices almost equal for room category and dates we have sailed. In fact, our FOS cruise was $50 less than for the Dream, same week.

[MrPete]

If Carnival was rated high in a lot of these they would raise their prices so I am glad they did not win anything. They should win for the cheers program.

 

Exactly. If Carnival could command the higher rates, they would charge the higher rates.

 

Right now, they seem to have given up their value leader status and replaced it with a price leader one.

[soapbxking]

Same here, looking forward to it.

 

 

Have you joined the Roll Call??