Conde Nast Traveler's annual readers' poll -- RESULTS ARE IN

[richsea]

I am not a fan of CN's polls. As others have stated well, it is a poll of the people who read Conde Naste, not a critical poll of cruises. Conde Naste is a fun magazine but it skews to a particular demographic, to be sure. You only have to look at the ads in the magazine (all from lines who do well in the poll) to see that the lines who are at the top of these ratings are also the lines to whom the magazine is targeted. It's all a little self-congratulatory. It's like saying "the line I sail is the line that people like me like!!! Woo-hoo!!!!"

 

To be sure, the CN poll are flawed, but like all polls, they ARE fun to read & they help sell magazines.

 

Personally, I let my subscription to CN expire because it's too difficult to find the actual articles hidden among the 75% of the magazine that is advertising; primarily for Rolex, Mercedez & other products that I'll never be able to afford! Too much snob appeal for me!

[Aquahound]

What's the criteria for this poll? Does anyone know?

 

It's just a readers poll and it is very subjective. But that being said, the results are pretty much in line with opinions here on CC and in other magazines. Constellation is typically a favorite of X cruisers and Mariner of the Seas is typically a favorite of RC cruisers.

 

But yea, in truth, who has actually been on all these ships and can give a fair vote?

[Estelle]

We've actually sailed on 4 of the top 25 ships - as you can see from my signature and loved all 4 - but had completely different experiences and in no way would we rate the Wonder so much better than the QM2 (the only ship we have sailed on twice).

 

The only ships that I would even compare side by side would be Infinity and QM2 but the first time we did a T/A on QM2 - we loved it but I know many people who couldn't last 2 days let alone a week at sea.

 

Wonder was great - it hooked us on cruising but you have to like Disney and be ready for lots and lots of kids.

 

Mariner (and our other RCL cruises) were fantastic for a family with 2 teenagers - great ships, lots to do onboard for all age groups, great service and food - we keep going back to them for our family vacations.

 

I just find it hard to "rank" ships that were so different - but in each case they fit exactly what we were looking for on that cruise - I wouldn't take QM2 to Caribbean or Disney to Europe or my teenagers on a T/A.

 

In the end I'm happy to see our favorite ships are so highly regarded - not that I need anyone to convince me of my own taste!

[Schplinky]

To be sure, the CN poll are flawed, but like all polls, they ARE fun to read & they help sell magazines.

 

Personally, I let my subscription to CN expire because it's too difficult to find the actual articles hidden among the 75% of the magazine that is advertising; primarily for Rolex, Mercedez & other products that I'll never be able to afford! Too much snob appeal for me!

 

 

I think travel magazines tend to be aspirational. Folks want to see what is just beyond their reach (or way beyond their reach).

 

I think that the problem with the CN poll is that Celebrity quotes it OVER AND OVER as though it were the holy grail of travel. I think the best ship is such a subjective thing. We hated HAL (a floating waiting room) and have enjoyed Celebrity on Century but not so much on Constellation (because of service issues that seem particular to our sailing) but how would a poll ever catch those nuances?

[rolfecms]

To the extent a poll is created from user-generated input rather than gathered as a random sampling by the poll taker, it is so far from unbiased as to be laughable. Add in the fact that the poll only consists of CN reader input and all that's left is fodder for the publication's advertisers to quote in their own advertising. The readers too can feel vindicated that their choices are/were the 'correct' ones.

 

An even worse (or better, depending on your point of view) example are the daily reader polls in the latest dumbed-down incarnation of the venerable Chicago Tribune newspaper. Every day the paper asks a simple yes/no poll question and you then go online to register your 'vote'. The next day it prints the results as if this is somehow newsworthy.

 

So the end result is a totally unscientific and totally un-newsworthy poll taking up valulable space in a page-reduced tabloid masquerading as a serious newspaper! :(

 

My point is that any poll of this nature must be viewed entirely as entertainment - because it not serious journalism.

[Schplinky]

The readers too can feel vindicated that their choices are/were the 'correct' ones.

 

 

I agree. The number of posts about how "our" line has done is proof of that.

 

In the past few days, I have received many emails asking me to go to the Freddie awards web-site, which are given for the travel industry. Each email was to remind me to go and vote for that airline or hotel chain's loyalty program. One presumes that the winner will be the program with the biggest mailing list.

[cruise47]

The Galaxy over the Century something is wrong?

[DeepWaterMariner]

As with most magazine polls, it says more about the magazine's subscribers than it does about the subject to the poll. What amazes me is that cruise lines will pick this up and put it in their advertising.

[scandinavianvoyager]

I'm not surprised that Celebrity SPA's aren't listed on the top ten list. Celebrity cruises has year after year downgraded their SPA's like removing thalassotherapy pools. It's not enough to add teeth whitening or acupuncture. The hardware has to be constantly upgraded to be abel to compete and here Celebrity has failed. I think it's strange that Celebrity doesn't have more elaborate SPA's since they for the most part uses architect firms specializing on land based hospitality business and should had picked up the latest trends on land. they totaly missed out to be first with SPA cabins for instance. I was really dissapointed when I saw the plans for the Solstice class SPA's. They doesn't seem to be any more elaborate then previous classes and are way behind other cruises brands today. My hope lies in the future when Celebrity cruises launches the next class around 2015.

[rolfecms]

To the extent a poll is created from user-generated input rather than gathered as a random sampling by the poll taker, it is so far from unbiased as to be laughable. Add in the fact that the poll only consists of CN reader input and all that's left is fodder for the publication's advertisers to quote in their own advertising.

 

http://www.rclinvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=103045&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1249967&highlight=

[Sky Sweet]

http://www.rclinvestor.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=103045&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1249967&highlight=

 

Hi rolfecms :)

 

Thanks for including the link to that article.

 

Based on what it says - the poll is even less valid than I thought because if everyone who voted for a specific ship gave it their highest rating, but the ship didn't have the minimum number of responses it wouldn't be included.