Cruise Critic Review

I found cruise critic (cruisecritic.com) a couple of years ago when I was hoping to find an answer about a specific port. What I found was not only the answer to my question but a great little website! While it is not perfect, cruise critic is a site worth checking out before, or after, booking a cruise.

At Cruise Critic you can read reviews from other cruisers, book one of their cruise specials, find information on ships and ports you can visit. However, the best part about Cruise Critic is their boards. You will need to register before you can post a question or a response. I have not been swamped with spam after doing so.

On the Cruise Critic boards, you can go under the specific cruise line you are booked on or are just thinking about booking. You can ask specific questions such as, "Are there any cabins to avoid?" Or "What are the not-to-miss desserts?" Other cruisers who have sailed on that ship will then give you their opinion. The food questions will especially get many opinions! LOL It was here that I found out about my cabin on the Mercury as well as the to-die-for almond croissants, so you can learn some good little tidbits here.

Cruise critic will give you long and short reviews from their cruisers and nothing beats an honest review from a person just stepping off the ship. Thing is, you can take two people coming off the same ship and get two very different reviews! Take them in stride, getting what you can out of each remembering a person's attitude is usually a big part of any cruise (or vacation) and know that may be affecting their review. Read all the cruise critic reviews for your ship (do a search) and then ask specific questions.

You can also go to the Ports of Call board to ask about a specific port or if you are the friendly type, the roll call area. In this board, you connect with people on your specific sailing. If they have a specific number (maybe 8?) they can hold a Cruise Critic party where everyone meets, there is a couple crewmembers, drinks, snacks and a pin. I dropped by to get the pin for my daughter who likes that kind of thing, but usually don't go. Many people love this cruise critic board and enjoy knowing others on the ship that they can chat with, eat with and even go off shore together. This is a great way to do that, you can get to know each other a bit beforehand at this board, and I assume would be nice for solo travelers.

Really, there is only one little negative about Cruise Critic and it is easily ignored. The only downside is also often the upside: the other posters! Sometimes these posters seem to forget that cruising has changed! When I was a child, we would take transatlantic cruises in June and September. It was very different than it is now with a great deal more formality: we always had to dress for all meals. There were a lot less ships and the cost to sail was much higher. Now, there are multiple lines, ships and destinations, which have dropped the price tremendously. Cruising has become an affordable vacation option for families and the cruise lines have adapted with less strict dress codes and more family (and children) activities.

Thing is, at Cruise Critic there are still a few posters that have not accepted that! For example, one time a poster asked about their 15 year old not wearing a tuxedo or black suit on formal and semi-formal nights. Then she had the gull to ask about him wearing jeans to lunch! This poor woman was slammed by posters telling her they would not be admitted into the dinning room and one even went so low as to say maybe they'd be happier at a Hotel 6 and McDonalds! I had just gotten off the ship she was asking about (Celebrity), there were multiple people (kids and adults) in jeans at lunch, and many teens simply wore a nice sweater or jacket over a T-shirt to the formal nights. To which someone responded they would ask him or her to be removed since they weren't following the dress code! Can you believe that! They felt it would ruin their dinner to view a diner in jeans! OMG! Don't let those stuffy jerks scare you away from the site; nobody is going to freak out if you are not in formal wear. How what someone else is wearing affects their vacation blows my mind! Oh, on all ships you can wear jeans to breakfast and/or lunch.

I will also mention that Cruise Critic offers some good cruise deals but when shopping for a cruise do just that, SHOP! There are so many wonderful deals available and so many places vying for your sale that by just searching, comparing and searching some more you are able to find amazing deals. In addition, after you have the very best deal available, you can enjoy the fact that most of the ship paid a lot more than you did and that always makes the effort worth it! Do check Cruise Critic's deals against other deals you have found on the net and they just may have the best deal.

Cruise Critic is a great website for getting cruise information about specific cruise lines and even specific cruise ships. You can read reviews, book a cruise and talk with cruisers going on your sailing. I think the best part about Cruise Critic is the fact you can ask specific questions and get answers quickly, helping to assure a smoother cruise.