NCL Cruise Critic rating is falling.....

[mediccruzin]

When I read reviews I also look at the date the person joined CC and how many forum posts they have.

 

If you look at that information you will see that most of the poor reviews are from people that joined in 2015 and have zero forum posts.

 

That makes me question their credibility. I get the impression that they just joined CC to bash - no matter what ship or what line.

 

Many do not discover CC till after their cruise. People that frequent CC make up a tiny portion of cruisers.

[RNRcruisers]

But that would be true for all cruise lines so it doesn't explain why NCL's rating is the lowest and going down.

 

Exactly. I read a lot of reviews and often laugh at the ridiculous things that people complain about, but that is true of all cruise lines. Overall, NCL is less favored and that says something.

[rg24601]

More often than not, a review also reflects on the person writing it.

 

Case in point: the person that wrote the blazing 1-star review because they booked a port-side room but awoke to the port on the opposite side of the ship, resulting in an unusable balcony and a ruined vacation.

 

Nevertheless they wrote it and other's will read it. It may be given little weight but it ads to the narrative about the Escape and NCL which is taking shape.

[13seth]

I think the poor reviews are the result of the recent changes to nickel and dime us . First the no food taken out of restaurants which was reversed, and the ridiculous high new auto tip suggestion, room service fees and a la carte dining and the list goes on.

 

Ding ding, ding,.....We have a winner!

[rg24601]

This is one of the reasons why you don't take ratings/reviews into account.

 

This is one of the reason's you don't perhaps take ratings/reviews into account but your view on what weight to give reviews is hardly going to effect someone else. They will decide what weight to give the review.

 

Practically, everyplace offers reviews to be given. Or comment sections. And every item has reviews. Most businesses want reviews.

 

Apparently someone reads reviews otherwise they wouldn't be so prevalent.

 

Why would this board even exist if not for reviews?

[antas901]

I like the reviews... sometimes they are helpful and other times they are not (like the person who complained about being on the wrong side of the ship, that's nothing to do with the cruise ship or the cruise line - that's not a helpful review).

IMHO, NCL has made some sudden and (arguably) drastic changes in what they offer (room service for a fee, a la carte at certain restaurants, etc.)

The changes that NCL made (and continues to make) must impact people's perception of the brand. For example, in May when we cruised on the Getaway, our dining package allowed us to have dinner in Moderno and then a fondue dessert at Le Bistro. We liked that. The changes in the dining package no longer allow that. But for us, it's not a big deal; that was something that I did enjoy previously and will not be able to enjoy next time. I can see how some people would reduce NCL's marks over things like this reduction of services - and I'm not even speaking to the quality of the service after it's been reduced).

I think it would be disingenuous for NCL to say that customers today get the same services and same quality that customers received as recently as a year ago. NCL has made some "positive" changes (like no fee for the noodle bar) that, IMO, balance out the other stuff.

All of that to say, I agree that many people whine and complain. I also agree that the company is giving people things to whine and complain about. Even if you throw out the glowing reviews from the "cheerleaders" and the venom-filled reviews from the "haters", I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of us in the middle like NCL a little less than before. I do look at the reviews and ask myself "why are the ratings dropping and do the comments reflect anything that I'd care about?" Disclaimer: even with the changes, I booked the 14-day Breakaway and have no immediate plans to cruise another cruise line. :)

[Manbo]

Cheerleader response: I often wonder if there's an organized effort to slander NCL on cruise critic. I see and read all the negativity, and when I step on board the ships I just don't get it. Some of the negativity is so embellished it's humorous (imho).

 

As a long time NCL customer, I have not been as happy with NCL recently. They have drifted away from customer service and loyalty. Not to say we have abandoned them, but we are going on RCCL next month because NCL was not worth the price of a comparable cruise.

 

No organized effort to slander, just loyal customers reacting to the new management at NCL.

[GUEST080219]

On my last cruise even a crew member brought the topic to the new management and recent changes and how I feel about them. What I heard is that a lot of regular NCL cruisers bring up concerns about the changes, prices and attitude so it is not just a few people on cruise critic.

And as you can imagine they do not just do all that stuff to guests but the crew members have to live with lots of changes impacting them as well.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

I was over at the Cruise Critic member review section reading reviews and was some what taken back by the volume of bad to middling reviews NCL is receiving lately. I noticed that NCL's over all member rating is tanking because of this. I do recall that NCL's rating was once at 74% and now it has dropped to 68%, which is the lowest of any of the USA based large cruise lines. I have to wonder if this is negative response to the direction the new management has taken in the last year or other issues. Either way not good.

 

From my reading it appears the new Large ships are receiving the worst reviews, especially the Escape (36% "Loved it"). I don't like the large ships so I don't have basis for an opinion as I don't cruise on them anymore. I have cruised 3x time in the last year on the Jewel(2X) and Dawn and didn't notice horrible issues other than the irritants the new management has instituted. What's causing the ratings to drop?

 

FYI, the current rankings of the main stream lines are Azamara 86%, Disney 85%, Celebrity 83%, Princess 78%, Holland America 75%, Royal Caribbean 75% Carnival 74% and NCL 68%. And just for grins, NCL's sisters Oceania is 74% and Regent 71%.

 

You know, I have only been on NCL twice (both this year) and I found the Jewel, a larger ship, to be decent but the experience I just had on the Sky this past weekend was the worst I have ever had on a cruise (18 in total across all lines). They offer these promotions then try to bait and switch and confuse you with what is and is not included, and will not work with you to correct errors that they may have made in your account or reservation. And don't get me started on the disaster that this last weekend was. Even if it was not 100 percent their fault, they handled it about as poorly as was possible and it made their company look terrible to their pax and to outsiders. I will surely get on about this cruise in a review sometime this week, just know it was horrible. And hey, I know there was a thread about it on this board this week and now it is gone today, hmmm. But yeah, overall with their new pricing schemes, they seem to be losing a lot of goodwill from the cruising public.

[bluehawks47]

I have been reading the reviews of the Jade in the Western Caribbean out of Houston because we will be on her in January. Most of them are pretty negative.

 

They are all from November, when the Jade returned from Europe, and I understand the first cruise after the TA was pretty rocky -- lots of crew, service, bar, tendering, embarkation, disembarkation, etc. issues. It's hard to tell exact dates, but it looks like several are from this initial cruise.

 

I am hoping that they get lots of these things ironed out between now and January.

 

Agree...we are sailing on the Jade in March and the recent reviews have been horrible. I am hoping it is just figuring out the kinks and then ironing them out.

[detroitlions]

First off there are a lot of folks on CC that hang out on the NCL site and throw haymakers at people who have anything negative to say about NCL. Most of them are cowards that hide behind a fake internet name and tell you things they never would have the guts to say it to your face. I like cruising I have liked the last 2 I sailed on NCL. Would I say everything was perfect no way. I do notice since I spend the extra money for the extras I have a lot more fun on NCL. With out the drink package and specialty restaurants pay for them or not I would probably not find them my favorite. I like them a little more than carnival because of those reason. A lot of the bashing is about things that are petty to me and a lot of it are from people who are not some one who should cruise in todays world because they are expecting things that don't exist anymore.

[rg24601]

I see the first review was posted that mentions Margaritaville was changed from complimentary to a la carte. And how disappointing this was.

 

It was not a review that will help NCL's position.

 

I imagine that may not be the first.

[abe3]

First off there are a lot of folks on CC that hang out on the NCL site and throw haymakers at people who have anything negative to say about NCL. Most of them are cowards that hide behind a fake internet name and tell you things they never would have the guts to say it to your face. I like cruising I have liked the last 2 I sailed on NCL. Would I say everything was perfect no way. I do notice since I spend the extra money for the extras I have a lot more fun on NCL. With out the drink package and specialty restaurants pay for them or not I would probably not find them my favorite. I like them a little more than carnival because of those reason. A lot of the bashing is about things that are petty to me and a lot of it are from people who are not some one who should cruise in todays world because they are expecting things that don't exist anymore.

 

 

Works both way Detroit. I have many times been bashed for supporting something just to be called a cheerleader.

 

It's my money and if I want to spend it on a product like NCL which I strongly believe in and want to support that's my choice. Other people can do whatever with their money. Ultimately it comes down to how you feel your money is spent and is it worth it. And to me every time I go on an NCL vacation I know I am getting a great deal and value for what I am paying for. Others might disagree with me call me a cheerleader but so be it.

[david_sobe]

This thread is very misleading: NCL Cruise critic rating is falling.

Escape is brand new and has low reviews. Go and check every new ship. This happens on most of them. RCCL Quantum was 24% after 2 months. Epic was less than 50% for the first 4 months. Nothing new there.

NCL has always had the lowest rated ships on cruise critic. Anyone that has been around here over the years knows this. This is debated often with no clear reasons why.

I notice reviews of all ships on all lines have went down considerably. Look at RCCL Oasis of the seas. It had the HIGHEST rating for years. It was 89% to 91% "love it "for years. Consistently 5 stars from almost all reviewers. Oasis is down to 81%. Taking this information the OP could write the same thread on the RCCL board.

I don't believe conspiracy theories from some cheerleaders that the masses are making fake reviews ONLY for NCL ships. That's pretty silly. And if you did believe that it must be true for all the other cruise lines too.

Having said that, I like NCL but not happy with NCL lately. Way too many cut backs while price increases. The customer is getting less. But I am very experienced with NCL. The average cruiser who writes reviews for NCL ships may not have the experiences that I have to compare them to.

Edited December 8, 2015 by david_sobe

[geegee1]

The reviews for the Breakaway were terrible before both my trips. The first time I was very concerned that it was going to be horrible vacation. Then NCL screwed with my room assignment 2 days before we boarded and I was convinced it was going to be awful. When we boarded the room assignment was cleared up after a little bit of a hassle. After that the cruise was fantastic, all of the concerns I had after reading the reviews proved false for us.

Then before our last one this past February the same thing. Then as someone else mentioned, I looked at how many posts some of the reviewers had. This was eye opening, because a lot of them were complaints that were based on unreal expectations that NCL would have no control over. ie weather, cabs available, people near them, etc.

But saying all that, I do not doubt that people are having diminished experiences by all of the last minute changes to charges and availability. I'm sure the Gem reviews are going to start to come in as awful if they don't get the slide up and running asap.

[jingle5616]

This thread is very misleading: NCL Cruise critic rating is falling.

Escape is brand new and has low reviews. Go and check every new ship. This happens on most of them. RCCL Quantum was 24% after 2 months. Epic was less than 50% for the first 4 months. Nothing new there.

NCL has always had the lowest rated ships on cruise critic. Anyone that has been around here over the years knows this. This is debated often with no clear reasons why.

I notice reviews of all ships on all lines have went down considerably. Look at RCCL Oasis of the seas. It had the HIGHEST rating for years. It was 89% to 91% "love it "for years. Consistently 5 stars from almost all reviewers. Oasis is down to 81%. Taking this information the OP could write the same thread on the RCCL board.

I don't believe conspiracy theories from some cheerleaders that the masses are making fake reviews ONLY for NCL ships. That's pretty silly. And if you did believe that it must be true for all the other cruise lines too.

Having said that, I like NCL but not happy with NCL lately. Way too many cut backs while price increases. The customer is getting less. But I am very experienced with NCL. The average cruiser who writes reviews for NCL ships may not have the experiences that I have to compare them to.

 

David, I'm the OP. The fact is in the last year NCL's rating has fallen 6 points. When put into context of the thousands of reviews that make the rating that is a pretty steep decline. It takes a lot of reviews to move it one point, not to mention 6 points. There are 16,000 plus NCL reviews that figure into the rating. It takes a lot of bad and middling reviews (or good to great reviews) to move a percentage point. This is a significant shift.

 

It is the steepest I've ever witnessed on Cruise Critic. I believe it's a combination of the new Management and the large ships being disappointing to more on average than the smaller ships. Escape only has 103 reviews which is a tiny slice of the survey of 16000+. People may hate, disregard, or explain away the reviews, but the numbers of this size of sample don't lie.

[DMH15]

I like the reviews... sometimes they are helpful and other times they are not (like the person who complained about being on the wrong side of the ship, that's nothing to do with the cruise ship or the cruise line - that's not a helpful review).

 

IMHO, NCL has made some sudden and (arguably) drastic changes in what they offer (room service for a fee, a la carte at certain restaurants, etc.)

 

The changes that NCL made (and continues to make) must impact people's perception of the brand. For example, in May when we cruised on the Getaway, our dining package allowed us to have dinner in Moderno and then a fondue dessert at Le Bistro. We liked that. The changes in the dining package no longer allow that. But for us, it's not a big deal; that was something that I did enjoy previously and will not be able to enjoy next time. I can see how some people would reduce NCL's marks over things like this reduction of services - and I'm not even speaking to the quality of the service after it's been reduced).

 

I think it would be disingenuous for NCL to say that customers today get the same services and same quality that customers received as recently as a year ago. NCL has made some "positive" changes (like no fee for the noodle bar) that, IMO, balance out the other stuff.

 

All of that to say, I agree that many people whine and complain. I also agree that the company is giving people things to whine and complain about. Even if you throw out the glowing reviews from the "cheerleaders" and the venom-filled reviews from the "haters", I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of us in the middle like NCL a little less than before. I do look at the reviews and ask myself "why are the ratings dropping and do the comments reflect anything that I'd care about?" Disclaimer: even with the changes, I booked the 14-day Breakaway and have no immediate plans to cruise another cruise line. :)

 

 

I am sure that it was just as "drastic" when NCL switched to freestyle from traditional. I can only imagine the chatter!

 

And last year when NCL and other lines changed the smoking policies this board was on fire.

 

People have long complained about not having an option for a jot breakfast in their cabin. Now for $4 each for 2 it is possible.

 

People seem to like the UBC AND DSC. Nice changes. Albiet after FDR.

[DMH15]

Meant to say before FDR.

[david_sobe]

David, I'm the OP. The fact is in the last year NCL's rating has fallen 6 points. When put into context of the thousands of reviews that make the rating that is a pretty steep decline. It takes a lot of reviews to move it one point, not to mention 6 points. There are 16,000 plus NCL reviews that figure into the rating. It takes a lot of bad and middling reviews (or good to great reviews) to move a percentage point. This is a significant shift.

 

It is the steepest I've ever witnessed on Cruise Critic. I believe it's a combination of the new Management and the large ships being disappointing to more on average than the smaller ships. Escape only has 103 reviews which is a tiny slice of the survey of 16000+. People may hate, disregard, or explain away the reviews, but the numbers of this size of sample don't lie.

I smell what you are cooking but what you discovered is not exclusive to NCL. I thought the title of the thread is a bit misleading for that reason.

RCCL Quantum - brand new state of the art ship at 46% "love it" on Cruise Critic

RCCL Oasis - largest cruise ship in the world has dropped 7 or 8 points to 81% approval

NCL Jewel - 77% approval - not far behind the Oasis but a much older ship but also dropped from 84% a few years ago.

NCL Sky is NCL's lowest rated ship and I have been on her twice and think she's great.

Why are all ships on all lines lower on Cruise Critic? That should be the question. Maybe more people are aware of cruise critic now. My theory is the people that do those reviews on the reviews section are more likely to be one time cruisers and not impressed with cruising. I was not overly impressed on with first cruise. It took me my second cruise to catch the cruising bug.

[Cauzneffct]

I read the reviews but don't place much stock in them, particularly the ratings as often people will rate the cruise a 2, with all of the individual ratings 3+. I'm much more interested in the reviews posted here on the board where one can get more info or clarification from the reviewer.

 

I'd also note that I'm not concerned with what could be considered "one-offs" but if many reviews over many weeks have similar concerns, I take note.

Edited December 9, 2015 by Cauzneffct

[hawkeyetlse]

There are 16,000 plus NCL reviews that figure into the rating. It takes a lot of bad and middling reviews (or good to great reviews) to move a percentage point.

Do you know how CC calculates that "loved it" score? Does it simply include all reviews from the very beginning, weighted equally, or is the formula more complicated than that?

[Seafan22]

I like NCL, but I would say for my taste, that the larger ships have not been as enjoyable as the smaller ones. Yes, they have some more things to offer, but that have a crowded feel that I found to be unappealing. I will not go back on a large ship in the future.

In general I think the quality of the food has gone down over the years. The entertainment is good. The itineraries are very good. Prices are getting to the point where loyalty to NCL doesn’t matter, I will look at others.

[CruisinHarvey]

David, I'm the OP. The fact is in the last year NCL's rating has fallen 6 points. When put into context of the thousands of reviews that make the rating that is a pretty steep decline. It takes a lot of reviews to move it one point, not to mention 6 points. There are 16,000 plus NCL reviews that figure into the rating. It takes a lot of bad and middling reviews (or good to great reviews) to move a percentage point. This is a significant shift.

 

It is the steepest I've ever witnessed on Cruise Critic. I believe it's a combination of the new Management and the large ships being disappointing to more on average than the smaller ships. Escape only has 103 reviews which is a tiny slice of the survey of 16000+. People may hate, disregard, or explain away the reviews, but the numbers of this size of sample don't lie.

 

I agree 100% No matter how you slice it, NCL is at the bottom now. It's all relative. Even if other lines are going down, NCL is the winner in the steepest fall contest. 6 points is huge in such a short time given the number of reviews used in the calculation. I'm guessing NCL probably won't to react to it though, unless bookings start to fall.

[xriva]

Do you know how CC calculates that "loved it" score? Does it simply include all reviews from the very beginning, weighted equally, or is the formula more complicated than that?

 

I think it is (Excellent + Very Good) / Total Reviews

[abe3]

I agree 100% No matter how you slice it, NCL is at the bottom now. It's all relative. Even if other lines are going down, NCL is the winner in the steepest fall contest. 6 points is huge in such a short time given the number of reviews used in the calculation. I'm guessing NCL probably won't to react to it though, unless bookings start to fall.

 

 

Lol