Have you ever been excited about going on a cruise only to be put off after reading bad cruise reviews? Reviews are not always what they seem, so before you get too disappointed, you should take a closer look at them.
The first thing to consider when reading bad cruise ship reviews is the reviewer himself. There are some people in this world who are never satisfied with anything and just like to complain, even when they are on vacation. You also have another group of people who want something free and complain from left to right in an attempt to receive a discount or something free. Being a former hospitality employee, I know this all too well.
On the other hand, you have people who are laid back and rarely complain about anything. These are the complaints that should talk to us the most, because if these people complain, it is usually for a good cause.
So how do you know when to take bad cruise reviews seriously and when to dismiss them? You have to look at each complaint individually. For example, if you read a review and the reviewer has a lot of good things to say about a particular cruise line, but then complains about the rudeness of a room attendant, chances are they really perceive the room attendant as rude. room is rude as that is the only complaint they had. Now, that’s not to say that a completely bad cruise review isn’t warranted. If a reviewer makes a lot of complaints about service, quality of food, etc., but still mentions positive points, it’s probably a legitimate review.
However, if you read bad reviews of cruise ships where the complaints are about small, irrelevant issues, such as not liking the color of the carpet in your stateroom or not mentioning any good points, the reviewer probably likes to complain. One sure way to determine if that’s the case is to read other reviews of the same cruise.
Also look at the structure of bad cruise reviews. True reviews should mention the good and bad points. Even the worst vacations have their good points, so you should be a little hesitant to make any decision based on a completely negative review. Especially if all the other reviews in this category are good cruise reviews.
When it comes down to it, your vacation is what you make it! So while you should give the reviews some thought, you should also consider whether the issues raised in the review are enough to make you not want to take a particular cruise. Personally, I’m very laid back when on vacation, so it would take several horrendous cruise ship reviews to change my mind. I’m on vacation and I’m going to have a great time no matter what the reviews say!