Food for thought...or my 2 cents!

[HMSDingy]

We'll be going on our 4th cruise this November on the Emerald. We are not diehard Princess fans, it just happened that the dates, prices and iternaries onboard the past Princess cruises were perfect for us. Maybe our next cruise will be with another line; who knows.

 

I really appreciate all the help I've received on this board and I have searched other websites as well. One thing newbies and everyone else for that matter, must remember when it comes to ship reviews. They are one person's experience. I've read on other sites as well as this one, 2 completely different reviews for the same ship and cruise. All cruise fans regardless of the line they perfer, should be open to everyone else's opinion and/or experience.

 

I'm no internet nerd but I learned of the word "flame" on this board. :mad: Let's all try not to flame others and respect all. Remember life is just but one large cruise ship and we are all passengers on it:D

[paul929207]

I agree. We all look at things differently and must accept that not everyone shares our opinion.

[Davey Interweb]

I must say that I don't really understand why anyone would choose to champion a particular cruise line, and at the same time get quite defensive when someone slights "their" line in any way. This is Cruise Critic, no?

 

Personally, I've never had a bad cruise in eight total on various lines. I tend to lean towards X, but a great price and/or itinerary will certainly motivate me to select an alternative. I don't harbor any sense of brand loyalty, really.

[CruiseLiz]

It's all very subjective.

Of all the cruises I've been on, none have been bad and I'd do them all again. I like certain things from certain lines, but no line is really lesser than another, just different.

[Hoosier Cruise]

Everyone has their preferences and others should not be penalized for thinking differently. Personally my DH and I prefer anytime dining or freestyle cruising as we "plan" too much in our everyday work lives and love to be spontaneous when on vacation. But others love the more rigid dining experiences. Does that mean they are wrong? heck NO!

 

I've never had a bad cruise. I've had some cruises that were worse than others - for exaample - can't even remember which cruise this was because it really doesn't matter - but it was a last minute cruise to western caribbean on a smaller ship. First time I experienced any sort of motion sickness. Took some ship supplied medicine for the motion sickness that put me to sleep while sunbathing. Ended up with a bad sunburn which led to us canceling our cave tubing shore excursion in Belize. We opted to do a city tour or something like that which took us to the Belize zoo. While I was there, I was bitten by some sort of insect which swelled my toe up to about 3 times its normal size. I had to wear flip flops with my formal dress as I could not fit into any other shoes. And since the sunburn happened on day 1 of a 5 day cruise, I had minimize the rest of my "sun" time.

 

So far, sounding like not so great of a cruise, right? Wrong! We still had a great time - because we were on vacation, on a cruise - and not in Indiana working. It's all what you make of it!

[Tom O.]

Hoosier, your story of that not so perfect cruise gave me a chuckle. It just shows, that if you don't let non-perfection get to you, you can have a good time.

I am amazed how some will say things like "terrible" food ruined their cruise. It takes a lot more than that to ruin a cruise. Some people set themselves up for disapointment by expecting too much.

[jacketwatch]

We'll be going on our 4th cruise this November on the Emerald. We are not diehard Princess fans, it just happened that the dates, prices and iternaries onboard the past Princess cruises were perfect for us. Maybe our next cruise will be with another line; who knows.

 

I really appreciate all the help I've received on this board and I have searched other websites as well. One thing newbies and everyone else for that matter, must remember when it comes to ship reviews. They are one person's experience. I've read on other sites as well as this one, 2 completely different reviews for the same ship and cruise. All cruise fans regardless of the line they perfer, should be open to everyone else's opinion and/or experience.

 

I'm no internet nerd but I learned of the word "flame" on this board. :mad: Let's all try not to flame others and respect all. Remember life is just but one large cruise ship and we are all passengers on it:D

Actually this is quite true. For example Carnival gets flamed on Fodors on a regular basis. Its a bit of a bonding exercies there I think, like when big cats rub heads for mutual support. Well there was one thread there about comparing CCL to RCI. Guess who was winning? :D I did my homework here on the members review board and totaled and averaged the comparative score for each. RCI had an aggregate score of 4.44. CCL's score, based on nearly 4k total reviews at the time was 4.43. This shows the significance of looking at all factors and sources. JM2C. Larry

[Spikesgirl]

I've never been on a bad cruise, just some that weren't as great as others. If something happens, you deal with it and go on. We like Princess - that's not to say that the other lines aren't as good or even better. At the moment, Princess suits our cruising needs.

 

This is not to say that if there is a legitimate problem, we would be disinlcined about letting Princess know. So far, we've been fortunate to not have had any trouble that the line could do something about. Yeah, the weather wasn't quite as nice, we've missed a port of two, but hey, how about that typhoon the captain kept us safe from - this is just part of cruising and will happen on any line. We fly in early to avoid problems with embarkation, we take ship tours to prevent being left behind, we read and fill out all necessary documentation long before its needed. In short, we enpower ourselves to have a good vacation.

 

Nothing is perfect, it all depends upon preception and how you chose to deal with it.

 

Charlie.

[m steve]

Some comments make the Carnival and Royal passengers less than the X, HAL or Princess, others suites and balconies vs. inside cabins. Everyone has the right to cruise, choose their line and cabin but maybe some don't want to be socializing with them or sharing a table from either point of view. We all think of ourselves in different ways but no need to slam the other, unless they do it first.

[GBeret]

Good! Now that we have that settled, whose going to start the next thread on "Do I have to wear a suit or Tux to the dinning room on Formal nights!" :eek: :D

[mek]

I think you become a cheerleader when one particular line satisfies you in more areas than not. For me Princess is that line, but that doesn't keep me from cruising other lines or enjoying them. It's just after a couple of cruises on other ships, when I get back on Princess, there is no doubt in my mind that this is my favorite cruise line.

[RascalAnn]

Everyone has their preferences and others should not be penalized for thinking differently. Personally my DH and I prefer anytime dining or freestyle cruising as we "plan" too much in our everyday work lives and love to be spontaneous when on vacation. But others love the more rigid dining experiences. Does that mean they are wrong? heck NO!

 

I've never had a bad cruise. I've had some cruises that were worse than others - for exaample - can't even remember which cruise this was because it really doesn't matter - but it was a last minute cruise to western caribbean on a smaller ship. First time I experienced any sort of motion sickness. Took some ship supplied medicine for the motion sickness that put me to sleep while sunbathing. Ended up with a bad sunburn which led to us canceling our cave tubing shore excursion in Belize. We opted to do a city tour or something like that which took us to the Belize zoo. While I was there, I was bitten by some sort of insect which swelled my toe up to about 3 times its normal size. I had to wear flip flops with my formal dress as I could not fit into any other shoes. And since the sunburn happened on day 1 of a 5 day cruise, I had minimize the rest of my "sun" time.

 

So far, sounding like not so great of a cruise, right? Wrong! We still had a great time - because we were on vacation, on a cruise - and not in Indiana working. It's all what you make of it!

 

Ditto! Where ya from in Indiana? We live in Brownsburg, just west of Indy.

[suntan]

I'm no internet nerd but I learned of the word "flame" on this board. :mad: Let's all try not to flame others and respect all. Remember life is just but one large cruise ship and we are all passengers on it:D

 

 

HMS Dingy: I have two words for you

 

THANK YOU!!

I cannot believe that others would criticize another's cruise review in the manner that some people do. Although I have not seen this on the Princess threads, I have seen in continuously on another thread. I wish the monitors of this site would reprimand those that continuously "flame" others.