Cruise Critic's 2013 Cruisers Choice Awards

[soapbxking]

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.

 

 

That sounds awfully elitist!!!! I agree with you should get more if you pay more, but mine was a simple question, not bringing socio-economics into it. I realize the differences between Carnival and Seabourn, but if you pay 2x the price for a cruise is it substantially better, always??

 

Brian

[Houst]

I have loved all three of the Carnival cruises I have been on. That said they don't hold a candle to Disney.

[Crusin Kelly]

1) if all you eat is Appleby's then you don't know IF Ruth Chris' is better or if Luby's is worse.

 

2) people's choice is based on review points - IF you want Carnival to rate better, then write reviews and give them good values.

 

3) price is not the deciding factor - You can certainly find great deals on price on any/all cruise lines. . .

 

 

I have just recently sailed on Cunard and Carnival (within 3 months of each other). These are 2 completely different ships/experiences. The Carnival product is a fine vacation event - the food is good enough, the drinks are good and accessable, there is a comedy club. But we noticed the reductions of staff (waiters/bartenders), production shows, room steward interaction, and quality of food. Cunard, on the other hand, has a live orchestra for dancing each evening, an afternoon tea (waiters with white gloves), hordourves each evening in the bars for your before dinner drinks with live jazz, formal events with tuxedos/gowns, serenity areas which are very quiet, amazing food in the MDR and specialty restraunts. A different product that receives higher values on the reviews. Celebrity has unique dining venues - Qsine - which is always highly rated. Carnival Victory does not even have a specialty dining venue. Carnival 2.0 has Guy's burgers which I have not had the opportunity to try. Celebrity steak venue served flaming bananas foster for desert.

 

They are all good products... just different. Carnival does not rate high compared to the others.

[T. Advisor King]

The awards appear to be based entirely on member reviews, as a result, they don't really reflect any sort of objective comparison, although I do think the review results are statistically valid.

 

But given that they're based on reviews, I think it is fair to expect that Carnival's only hope would be to win the "value" category. They won't win any of the categories that are based strictly on the product/service without any consideration of price.

 

However, given all the threads commenting on the "cutbacks", it is no surprise that a significant portion of Carnival passengers are unhappy with even the value.

 

Looking at the results, I see that most of the top finishers had a rating of 4.7 to 4.9. That's on a rating scale of 5 stars, I think. It is unclear how they value the 5-plus rating (is that considered a 6 or is it a 5.5?). However, setting aside the plus rating, to be in the top 2 or 3, you need a perfect rating (5 out of 5) from about 80% of the writers and a very good rating (4 out of 5) from the other 20%. Whether or not that's realistic for Carnival, I don't know. But I approach the ratings with the view that 3 out of 5 is average (which means I try to rate half my cruises at or above that level and half at or below). Consistently achieving fours (let alone fives) seems unrealistic for a discount cruise line.

[skyeman27]

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

 

Look at my profile and you can see the ships..answer still is,experience,research and opinion...

[MrPete]

Look at my profile and you can see the ships..answer still is,experience,research and opinion...

 

Not if I have siggies turned off.

[janetz]

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

 

 

 

Best Overall? Its Carnival for goodness sake. ;)

[Tapi]

...but if you pay 2x the price for a cruise is it substantially better, always??

 

Brian

 

I still haven't paid more on another cruise line and said: "Dang, I should've saved my money and sailed on Carnival". HOWEVER, I have cheapened out selecting Carnival a few times and said "Dang, I should've spent a little more and gone on a different cruise line".

 

If the difference is prohibitively expensive, Carnival will do the trick. But if the difference is within the budget, I will choose a different cruise line. That's why we are sailing on Holland America for our next cruise. It's actually cheaper than Carnival!

[deborahjo]

Have cruised Carnival and Disney. My Disney cruise was not paid by us. Husband won at work. I loved Disney don't get me wrong but I just saw they have a 3 night Bahamian cruise on SALE for $499. I have cruised Carnival for 7 nights cheaper then that.

 

Carnival is my cruise line of choice because they offer me a great vacation value. I do not think that just because they did not win any award does not make them a bad cruise line. So what. Does not mean anything to me.

[skyeman27]

Not if I have siggies turned off.

 

Click on any ID then Click on public profile, have my siggies turned off also...

[skyeman27]

Best Overall? Its Carnival for goodness sake. ;)

 

Best overall has 3 categories, with each category listing 10 ships for a total of 30 listed ships, thought that the Dream or the Breeze would have been listed near the bottom of the large ships, I did not mean #1 but #8,#9 or #10 in the listing....

[soapbxking]

My thread shows MOVED?? What the??

Anyway lots of good replies here, thanks everyone!!

[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...

[mojitodiva]

The award winners sounds right!

 

Carnival is way behind in entertainment and live music compared to Royal and NCL. Top notch shows and a choice of different areas for music and dance on both Royal and NCL. Music and dance is VERY limited on Carnival.

 

Looks like the winners were chosen by reviews in which case Royal's big twins rate at around 88% and the Disney Fantasy at about 95%.

 

Breeze finally made it out of the 50's and into the low 60's......

 

not to worry if your favorite ship did not make the cut whichever line it is....:cool:

[skyeman27]

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

 

I see that you are still actively posting on CC, but you still won't answer my question about your above post. So I must believe that you were being recklessly flippant with your words and can't backup why CC polls often have a built in bias...