Can you trust Cruise Critic, Cruiseline and TripAdvisor Reviews on Ships and Hotel Rooms?

 The quick answer to whether or not you can trust Cruise Critic, Cruiseline and TripAdvisor's reviews of 

Cruises - is Sometimes but your better options are RECENT Cruise Passenger Videos posted on u tube. 

Heres some suggestions if using the cruise passenger reviews on the three major Cruise Critic, Cruiseline and Tripadvisor sites

- Only a few passengers post their review on these sites. Most of the typical 2000 plus passengers on any cruise don't post about their experience.  So you are not  getting the full picture of what your might experience 

- You mostly get the extreme points of view on these sites - they loved it or hated it. The haters have usually had a bad experience with their cabin, their bill or the food. The lovers are often newbies or frequent guests for that cruise line.  

- Most cruisers review the food offered and I always think that is to personal taste so don't pay much attention to them .  I do listen  to whether or not the service or temperature of the food was good. I often find that reviewers are right about speed of service and food temperature.  They also give you forewarning on the buffets (crowds, variety of food). 

- Most cabin reviews are about the size, cleanliness, room steward service, showers and bed comfort.  I like the tips people provide on getting bed toppers (always as must on MSC and RCCL as they have very hard mattresses).  Whether or not showers leak and provide good hot water.  Very few passengers have issues with Room stewards, but when they say they never see their room steward or its poor I make sure I watch for this onboard.  I prefer the walk thru videos on cruise mapper or u-tube as these are usually in-depth. I find the Harr Travel videos on cabins particularly useful.

- Overall ship reviews often help you with how badly maintained a ship is including rust, old furniture, old mattresses and whether or not they have a decent promenade deck.  

I like the videos posted on line the best as you can visually see the cabins, shared spaces and often they show menus and the food. I find the commentary is sometimes helpful but not always.  Look for the most recently posted videos and avoid the ones posted by the cruise lines as these are professionally shot and often don't depict current  reality.

As for Hotel reviews I like the ones on Booking.com and Expedia as they are from guests that have stayed there. Again go for the most recent reviews and watch for tips on location, how to get to the hotel from the airport, restaurants nearby and of course any issues with cleanliness and or bed bugs.  I also like posted videos and pictures of the rooms and area around the hotels.  I always book hotels with average ratings of 8 and above out of 10.  I also always read the worst rated reviews as these give you insights on possible issues. 

I hope this helps

Marcia

 

How a solo can get a 2 week cruise for under $2000 Canadian - its about timing and research

 I have tried to keep my cruise cost to under $2000 CDN  including taxes for each cruise this year. Not an easy feat for a solo traveller who likes ocean view or balcony cabin.  This year cruise costs have risen dramatically especially on Princess HAL and RCCL.  These are the three cruise lines I have used the most.  I don't use NCL, Costa nor Carnival anymore as I have experienced serious cleanliness and mechanical breakdown issues on each of these cruise lines.  

Transatlantic, TransPacific and Hawaii (one way cruises) are always a cheaper option for Solos. This year my HAL ocean view transatlantic for 14 nights was the most expensive at $2000 CDN, The RCL interior promenade view for 13 nights transatlantic was $1700  (as its ocean view was sold out) and my 9 night solo ocean view on Cunard in western Caribbean is $1600 ($1188 USD).  Note all came with $50 to $75 USD OBCs.  So it is still possible for a solo traveller to get a decent price on a cabin.   

Below are some tips

Book at least 6 months before the cruise departs.

Watch for sales with OBCs as they will help pay for your Gratuities (note I always pay the gratuity unless the service has been truly awful).  Note as does the stock ownership benefit which I have. 

Sign up for the cruise line promo emails or texts to watch for deals

Use Expedia or Vacations to Go as they will often have OBCs (on board credits) and other offers.

Don't be loyal to just one cruise line as yes there are some on board loyalty perks but you will pay a higher overall price for the cruise

Compare Cruise line offered flights and doing it on your own.  I have used both with success when I compare and book  the cheapest or most convenient.  Note I have kept transatlantic flight costs to under a $1000CDN and US to about $600 CDN (including seat choice and baggage).

Be flexible on time and cabin type but AVOID guarantee cabins. Note now with the up bidding process the cruise lines give the guaranteed cabin reservers the absolute worst cabins in the category.

Hope this helps 

Marcia

 

Who am I - updated to 2025

Strangely I ca not update the "who am I"  section of this blog that I first completed in 2018.  So I am adding a new post.

I am a frequent solo traveller with over 40 years of travel, about 100 countries visited and over 50 cruises completed including a world cruise.  I am not a professional travel agent and therefore if you read my blog you are just learning something from a fellow traveller.  Please use professional travel agents for expert advice.

 I like to travel well but not expensively. I really enjoy cruises (particularly a yearly transatlantic), and in-depth city escapes.  I often combine them.  I use a combination of travel agencies and do it on your own techniques to get the best price as travelling solo comes with  marked up prices especially on cruises.  I find hotels are better for decent pricing for solos. 

I am always trying new airlines, cruise companies and hotels to get a better view of my travel options.  As for cruise lines that I have tried they include Costa (don't recommend), Carnival (don't recommend),  NCL (don't recommend), Princess (as an elite level member I recommend them and their loyalty program), Holland (not my favourite as I have experienced issues with my cabin on the last 3 cruises), Royal Caribbean (recommend but with cautions), P&O (recommend but  hard to book for North Americans).  I will be trying Cunard this year and will post about it.

As for airlines, Canadians have limited Canadian airline choices - Air Canada (expensive), West Jet (unreliable and not a lot of flights out of Ontario), Porter (not tried yet) and Air Transat which I have had good experiences but the flight times often don't work for me.  I have used American Airlines and Delta both which were good and United which I also seem to have problems on. I seldom take the US or Canadian cheap charter airlines as I have had the same delays and bad experiences that you read about. 

As for European Airlines I like British Airways, Iceland Air and KLM (but not their inter Europe flights  with this airline as they have very old and problematic planes).  I am trying TAP later this year.

I have only taken Singapore and Malaysian Airlines to the Far East. 

I like to use this blog to review my experiences of specific cruises, cities and hotels. I hope you find it helpful.

Marcia

Updated: Why are ship shuttles to and from the airport now more expensive than taxis in Miami and not in New Jersey

 I had a shock yesterday when I learned the Cunard airport transfer to and from the ship in Miami was 70usd each way per person. A cab or uber runs 40usd plus tip for the car. So it’s much cheaper especially if there is more than 1 passenger. 

 In actuality in Miami - a standard small cab on meter will cost about $40 to 45 USD and then tip.  If you get a van it's 50USD per person. I was ripped off by a Van Cab in Miami in December as he picked me up from the airport hotel and then half way thru told me he was stopping for more passengers and yet still charged me the $50USD. It added 45 minutes to the drive.  Be careful in Miami and only take metered cabs.

 Recently I found that in Fort Lauderdale again it was 45 cdn and the taxi with a 5 usd tip was 25 usd for a taxi. There were 3 of us so we gave him 30usd.  Please do your homework as before ship shuttles were a better more convenient deal than taxis.  Ask your travel agent for the cost of the shuttle and then use a taxi fare calculator online and compare. I always add a 10% buffer in case of tolls/delays on taxis.  I don’t use uber in the USA in these ports as when ships are in there is always surge pricing. 

Well another shock but in a good way.  RCCL is only charging me $40 CDN each way from EWR - Newark airport to Liberty cruise port for their shuttle. Supposedly it's a 15 to 20 minute ride from the airport.  I also booked my flights thru them as they were cheaper than Air Canada direct.  A taxi costs about $75 plus tip Canadian to get from the airport to the ship.  One piece of good news.

So... Miami take a metered cab and not a van. In Fort Lauderdale take a taxi.  In Newark take the ship's shuttle.  I also found Princess shuttle was about $45 Canadian from Laguardia to their New Jersey port.  

Hope this helps 

Marcia