Power of word of mouth

[morebeaches]

I wonder as I read these boards if the execs of the cruise lines appreciate the power of these boards.

 

I am an avid reader of these boards even though I have only been on 2 cruises (RCCL and CCL) which i enjoyed both thoroughly. What's more important is I will be cruising in the future, hence a source of future income for the cruise lines. I enjoy doing in depth research for any vacation I take, drinking in any scrap of info i can find. I value the information I get on these boards far more than the advertisements by the vendors or travel agents, since both the good and the bad are pointed out by consumers like me. Now granted you can throw away the best and the worse that is said about a given ship or cruise, but if you filter intelligently, I think you can get a pretty realistic expectation of your experience. I feel this opinion is shared by the majority of the thousands and thousand of members of this board. All in all, this board represents a very large number of informed consumers who obviously is the market cruise lines would want to target.

 

All this being said, I have read numerous times that the cruise lines do read these boards. However I have never seen any direct response from the cruise line, nor I’m not sure if that would be in their best interest, which finally brings me to my point.

 

(This is just an example of the impact of these boards) I would like my next cruise to be a 2 week round trip to Hawaii, I have been researching Celebrity and Princess, both of which seem to be very fine lines and I’m sure either would thrill me. However, bad things can happen, we all know this, and to me what makes a company shine is how they respond to adversity. Both Celebrity and Princess have had adversity recently and from reading the boards, Princess seems to have handled it much better. My own personal taste, these boards had pretty much sold me on Celebrity, however due to all the negative comment by very loyal Celebrity cruisers have made me rethink, now I am more open to considering Princess again. And I'm sure I am only one of very many who take these things into consideration when considering how to spend my vacation dollars.

 

I have been in a service oriented industry for 30 years, and I have been taught that 1 negative comment easily wipes out 10 positive comments, and if the Cruise lines did indeed read these boards they would quickly respond to this board's concerns over customer service and try to capture these informed consumers loyalties.

 

I would say don't underestimate the power of these boards.

[GMoney]

huh?

[morebeaches]

Ok maybe I rambled, what has become clear in reading these boards, is (with possibly some exceptions) Princess did a better job with customer relations with the fire than Celebrity has done with the Mercury. I learned that on these boards, and it is making me consider taking Princess instead of Celebrity on my next cruise. If these boards impact me like this Im sure they have the same effect on others. And the execs should take more note of these boards. Hopefully that cleared it up.

[suzeyQ]

I agree with you about the power of the boards. Comments that I've read on here have significantly influenced some of my decisions regarding which cruises to take.

 

I'm not sure though that it's fair to compare the "adversity" that has been experienced by Princess and Celebrity. Unless I've missed something, the main issue that Princess has experienced was the fire. Celebrity's main issue has been the norovirus outbreak. Those are really different issues and one (the fire) is a heck of a lot easier to come out of looking good.

 

From what I've read, Princess was very good about offering refunds/credits, while Celebrity hasn't done any such thing. But Princess really didn't have much choice - everyone had to leave the ship early - if they hadn't offered what they did, they would have been sued (legitimately) by thousands of people. The passengers on the Mercury, however, continued on with their vacations and many of them (from reviews and comments I've seen on here), had a great time. If Celebrity started offering people refunds/credits, how on earth would they decide who to offer them to? Surely the people who didn't get sick and had a great vacation shouldn't have their cruise fare refunded. It would also open a HUGE can of worms for them to offer refunds and credits - would they (and every other cruiseline) then have to do the same thing every time some sort of outbreak happened?

 

I'm not defending Celebrity or trying to criticize Princess - I have yet to sail on either line. But I wouldn't write off Celebrity (or be sold on Princess) based on how they handled one incident.

[morebeaches]

Suzy I agree that Princess had little choice nor do i suggest that Celebrity offer refunds, however between the Mercury and the damaged luggage thread, there seems to be just a general lack of response at all by Celebrity, which isn't a good thing.

[GMoney]

Ok maybe I rambled, what has become clear in reading these boards, is (with possibly some exceptions) Princess did a better job with customer relations with the fire than Celebrity has done with the Mercury.

 

Can you cite some examples?

 

To each their own, but I'm a bit surprised to see someone base a decision about whether to cruise on these rare and very different incidents.

[tangerinebunny]

I've had a similar reaction.

 

We'll enjoy our upcoming Mercury cruise with an open mind, then we'll be moving over to HAL. They handled the same norovirus problem with much greater customer satisfaction.

[morebeaches]

I realize these are very different and unusual events, and it has not for sure switched me. But when I see a very loyal Celeb fan like Tuggers not receiving any response or like Host Andy not receiving any response, it will have an impact on my decision making process, how can it not. I would think if Celeb execs were to follow these boards, which considering it is made up of their target market, at least a letter to respond to the incidents would go a long way. My point was these boards do effect my cruising decisions and the cruise lines could benefit by paying attention to the boards.

[bububr]

Princess has had its boughts of NORO this past month also. You can find posts relating to them on the princess boards. We tend to pick up on what the media tells us. there could be a RCCL ship with an outbreak of 500 a Princess cruise with an out break of 150 and aCelebrity ship with an out break of 50...if the media picks up on the 50...we tend to disregard all the others....because we don't hear about them. Plus how the situations are handled affect how we respond to the news.

 

Dave:eek:

[GMoney]

I realize these are very different and unusual events, and it has not for sure switched me. But when I see a very loyal Celeb fan like Tuggers not receiving any response or like Host Andy not receiving any response, it will have an impact on my decision making process, how can it not. I would think if Celeb execs were to follow these boards, which considering it is made up of their target market, at least a letter to respond to the incidents would go a long way. My point was these boards do effect my cruising decisions and the cruise lines could benefit by paying attention to the boards.

 

OK I understand your point better now; sorry for being slow. I love the boards for info but they do not impact my cruising decisions. But I can understand how they might sway some folks.

[BB5953]

I posted this on a thread before but will post again for what it is worth.

 

While in Islamorada I connected with a very nice woman who happened to be a Sr. Director for RCCL (she gave me her card so I know she wasn't fibbing). Anyway I mentioned cruise critic and asked if she or anyone else in Miami followed these boards and she said NO - that the % of people that write on these boards are very small and without being able to determine if they are there target market it was not reliable.

 

Now many people have mentioned that the ship crew come on and read in their spare time which may happen, personally I think they would be too busy.

[morebeaches]

I posted this on a thread before but will post again for what it is worth.

 

While in Islamorada I connected with a very nice woman who happened to be a Sr. Director for RCCL (she gave me her card so I know she wasn't fibbing). Anyway I mentioned cruise critic and asked if she or anyone else in Miami followed these boards and she said NO - that the % of people that write on these boards are very small and without being able to determine if they are there target market it was not reliable.

 

Now many people have mentioned that the ship crew come on and read in their spare time which may happen, personally I think they would be too busy.

 

 

I would think these boards would be a wonderful tool for the cruise industry, you get realtime feedback from people who love cruising. The format is already established, and it is free! I'm sure there would be alot of business that would jump at the chance to hace such a source of information on their customer base.

[Host Kewlguy]

I have no loyalty to any cruise line. I go wherever I get the best deal. There are many cruising options these days which is a great thing for the consumer. If a cruise line does not provide quality customer service and does not appreciate it's loyal customers it will find it's customers spending their vacation dollars elsewhere. The customers have the power because we have the dollars which these cruise lines need to survive. If you feel the cruise line you sail with does not appreciate your business there are many other cruise lines who would be more than happy to have you sail with them.

[flashdog_1]

The bus accident was NOT one of X's shore excursions, but X went out of their way to help the victims' families who were on the Millenium. I don't like the bleåch solution on Mercury, either, but certainly was impressed with how they handled every facet in Chile.

[cavkc]

Whilst we all accept that sometimes things go wrong, it is generally how that matter is dealt with that leaves a good or bad lasting impression.

 

I note from these board that Princess have given a full refund plus 25% off a future cruise to those affected by the recent fire.

 

In comparison, we were booked on Infinity for our honeymoon last year, however due to pod problems, our cruise was cancelled 48 hours prior to sailing. Celebrity immediately offered all passengers a full refund plus a 100% credit for a future cruise of the same duration, in the same category of cabin. We are in fact going on our 'replacement' cruise in 6 weeks.

 

I appreciate that Princess have had to cancel more than one sailing, however I would have thought that passengers more directly affected, ie those actually onboard at the time of the fire and those that were cancelled at 48hrs notice should have been treated as we were.

 

Just my observation.

[morebeaches]

I think I still have not be as clear as I should have been with my winded previous post. I was just trying to use the recent Princess and Celebrity incidents as examples of how these boards can effect the decision process of a potential cruiser. I have read both stellar and not so stellar reports on both companies. My thinking is the cruise lines could benefit by paying more attention to these boards to see problems that otherwise might slip through the cracks, in addition to developing new marketing strategies, cutomer service policies etc.

[excitedofharpenden]

The bus accident was NOT one of X's shore excursions, but X went out of their way to help the victims' families who were on the Millenium. I don't like the bleåch solution on Mercury, either, but certainly was impressed with how they handled every facet in Chile.

I agree that Celebrity certainly went above and beyond for the families involved in the terrible accident in Chile. Call me a cynic though. That was a high profile story and worthy of some great PR for Celebrity. The same is true of the Princess fire too. It was very frightening for those on board, I'm sure. It just seems as though the more "mundane", but nevertheless important issues for cruisers has been missed as far as the Mercury bleaching story goes.

 

Phil

[tuggers]

Gosh, Phil, it seems like FOREVER since I've heard from you!

I have to admit that I am beginning to think that I may join the

I have no loyalty to any cruise line. I go wherever I get the best deal.

 

school of thought. I have been EXTREMELY loyal to X for two and a half years, doing many, many X cruises.

 

This lack of response has certainly got me thinking that my loyalty may be misplaced. Not the fact that it happened, not the way they handled it, but THE TOTAL LACK OF ANY EMPATHY AND CONCERN FOR ANY OF THEIR PAX both on board and since we have left the ship! TOTAL LACK OF RESPONSE TO ANYONE'S QUERIES!

I am thinking they only handle things well when they get good publicity. If the only thing in it for them is keeping past passengers happy, they don't seem to care.

[excitedofharpenden]

Gail, that is the really sad part about it as far as I am concerned. There were a lot of unhappy people on your cruise and those prior (in different degrees), but the lack of action and acknowledgement by Celebrity to address your concerns is so amateur. Perhaps they think if you shut up, you'll go away. I wouldn't. It would strengthen my resolve. I really hope that something is done for you all.

 

Phil

[bassque]

We have been extremely loyal RCCL and X cruisers (starting 30 years ago on Song of Norway, Sun Viking and Nordic Prince) and have strayed only once--a year ago August to Alaska on HAL. Having had our safe burglarized in our suite on our sailing last month on Century we thought X would at least investigate and give us a report. They have shunned us like the plague. No one will talk, answer or even say "we're sorry." Our insurance company covered most of the minimal loss but I don't care if it was $20, $200, or $20,000 we should have at least been able to talk to someone of athority on the ship or at the main office regarding this. Before the burglary we had booked a Hawaiian 2 week cruise on Infinity for next Spring. Since the poor treatment from X we have booked a concurrent 15 day cruise on the Island Princess. If someone in the upper offices of X simply contacts us and appologizes for our loss and takes some responsibility, we're off on the Infinity. If not, it's aloha Island Princess.

[Host Kewlguy]

Gosh, Phil, it seems like FOREVER since I've heard from you!

I have to admit that I am beginning to think that I may join the

I have no loyalty to any cruise line. I go wherever I get the best deal.

 

school of thought. I have been EXTREMELY loyal to X for two and a half years, doing many, many X cruises.

 

This lack of response has certainly got me thinking that my loyalty may be misplaced. Not the fact that it happened, not the way they handled it, but THE TOTAL LACK OF ANY EMPATHY AND CONCERN FOR ANY OF THEIR PAX both on board and since we have left the ship! TOTAL LACK OF RESPONSE TO ANYONE'S QUERIES!

I am thinking they only handle things well when they get good publicity. If the only thing in it for them is keeping past passengers happy, they don't seem to care.

 

I can totally sympathize with what you experienced both during the cruise and after you returned home. The attitude I have now is exactly because of a terrible experience we had on the Zenith last year as well as a previous nightmare cruise on Carnival. I learned the hard way that there is no loyalty on the cruise lines part so why should I be loyal to them? Of course the level of service can vary greatly from ship to ship within the same cruise line. Now I just go wherever I get the best price/itinerary, etc. Although I would NEVER sail with Carnival again. :)

[zaandam_2]

Tuggers -you're correct. the cruiselines don't care. they don't have to.

 

Carnival and RCI own most of the ships out there. If one doesn't want to do business with them, the choices are few. What we have here is approaching a monopoly.

 

Until consumer protection laws are passed, the cruiselines will get away with whatever they can. Sad but true.

[morebeaches]

Tuggers -you're correct. the cruiselines don't care. they don't have to.

 

Carnival and RCI own most of the ships out there. If one doesn't want to do business with them, the choices are few. What we have here is approaching a monopoly.

 

Until consumer protection laws are passed, the cruiselines will get away with whatever they can. Sad but true.

 

 

And this is my point, this thread has had over 600 reads already, assuming it averages 2 people behind every name, that would mean over a thousand people have read what zaandam just said. And there are threads with far more activity than this one. What business can possibly ignore negative publicity like this?

[mmp13]

I agree with everything that is said about a lack of response from Celebirity customer service but as far as the cruise lines really taking these websites seriously.... I always thought they would until I considered that each cruise line is moving on average 10.000 Passengers a week at least. when you consider that number, the number of posts on cruise critic is really a small number. I'm sure they get plenty of customer feed back without having to rely on these boards! consider the fact that just 3 rccl ships carry a total of close to 9,000 passengers and then add in the rest of the fleet...It's an overwhelming number of people.

[morebeaches]

well thats true MMP....but aren't the members of this board the "cream of the crop"? ;)