So of the so called mass market lines who rates the highest
 

At least according to a compilation of scores and averages gleaned from cruise critic passenger reviews. Just for fun I averaged all the members ratings for these lines. Listed below are the averages based on the total number of reviews submitted and the total number of reviews. RCI and X lead the way:
1. RCI, 4.67, 4622 reviews.
2. X, 4.57, 1300 reviews.
3. HAL, 4.31, 1166 reviews.
4. Princess, 4.29, 2809 reviews.
5. CCL, 4.23, 5299 reviews.
6. NCL, 4.00, 2932 reviews
7. Costa, 3.88, 293 reviews.
I realize we all have our opinions and I'm not trying to say one line is better than another. For me I am very impressed with how X/RCI rated. They must be doing something very well. As we will be on the AOS in late May I hope to see it for myself. Cheers, Larry :-)
BTW regent averaged 5 across the board based on 81 reviews.

Well, Ive just booked my 4th trans-atlantic cruise on a ship that hasnt been built yet..lol..on Celebrity. We did do a RC that I cant say enough bad things about..yet their Celebrity line is qute popular. Have cruised NCL and many years ago Carnival..but right now for good deals, service, european destination and value Ill take Celebrity.. The new Equinox who is being built..their trans/atlantic in 11/09 is selling so fast as somebody said it was better than watching the stock market.. Do I need a deck covered with grass..I think not..Oh yes.. we go trans-atlantic in Sept.from Barcelona on the Constellation..

We booked the Soltice for April 19th of next year for a Transatlantic heading to Europe. We decided to go Aquaclass which was their top of the line above the suites, and the price has gone up $200 per person in less than a month since we booked. I'll have to let you know all about it.

What I see that is interesting is how RCI and CCL have changed. That is around 8 mos. ago or so I checked the numbers and found them to identical. RCI came in at 4.44 and CCl was 4.43. As the averages include all the reviews including those which tallied to the above then it means reviews since then show a rather sig. increase in RCI ratings and a similar decline in CCL. JM2C.

Very interesting scores.

However, I would like to offer the following intrepretation on the score. It is not scientific and is only my personal opinion.

There are lots of first timers on RCI and CCL. They are mass markets and their demograhics are also younger and more internet savy, and thus generated more reviews. First timers are generally less critical and gives better review anyway(maybe they have lower expectation).

HAL caters to more mature people and they may not be too computer savy and thus lower numbers of reviews. The HAL bunch is extremely loyal and they have the highest percentage of repeat customers.

I would be curious to find out how many 1's and 2's (bad reviews) by each line and how many complaints (percenatge of reviews) may be a better indicator.

Its imposible to say how may first timers there are unless you do a survey. Othrewise its speculation. There are some lower scores but the # was an overall average. I think the overall numbers speak for themselves. Again, JM2C.

The scores of user reviews are by no means significant.

There goes someone on a cruise with, say, a Celebrity ship. He/she is totally satisfied and rates the ship 5 stars - but has never been on a real 5-star-luxury ship!

I find the details of the user reviews very helpful, but for the scoring, I rely on the professional reviews.

By that logic then only those who have been on a 5* cruise line have a learned opinion. Sorry, but I just can't agree with that and besides this frame of reference is for mass market lines only. No one is comparing them to say Regent or Silverseas and none of the former scored a 5 overall anyway.

I agree with traveler 1959. The scores are subjective and don't mean a lot. You cannot judge the cruise line by one or two ships. Besides, everything is changing over time even on the same ship. I cruised the same ship within a year, and level of service or food quality were different like day and night. A lot depends on management and crew and they rotate.

Actually spurs these scores are averages of ALL ships in the lines cited which in some cases are up to about 20 or so as in larger lines like CCL and Princess.

Boy, am I insulted.. Im in my sevenies and the people on the cruise boards are so cruise savy and are all ages it puts you to shame..I just discovered that the ship we booked for 11/09 has gone up almost $1,000 a person.. Every ship and every cruise is a different experience...sure Id love to cruise Crystal and Seabourne.. but frankly I cant afford them.. Everything is subjective.. Im a pretty honest reviewer and critic and hold nothing back... I also have discovered that a five star from the proffessional cruise or travel critics isnt really a five star.. We love a particular resort in the D.R. and the company rates it as a Golden Apple of I think 5 stars... its not a five star, but who cares.. its wonderful... many ships and resorts are living on past reputatons

Wow PM! What ship had that price jump?

ParrotMom, what ship, and which category did you book that went up that much? I'm looking at a transatlantic sometime next year but not sure what direction I want to start/end.

We booked the new, not built Celebrity Equinox, a C1 Category. $3500.00 for two..two weeks fro Rome to F?t Lauderdale. As of the other day it was $2249... all suites, Aqua, etc. are gone.. Tried to upgrade a few weeks ago from that category and everything was sold out.. The only way to get a bargain(and it wi8ll contnue to go up) i find a cruise agent who is holing onto better cabins...and they are out there. For some reason this ship (check the Celebrity) site.. has caught the fancy of cruisers, they already have t-shirts designed and the board is the most active cruise board Ive ever seen.. Oh yes..many doing back to back

Do you mean $1000.00 per couple vs. PP? I mean if you paid $3500.00 for two and the price is now $2249.00 for one or $4498.00 for two then its about $500.00 more pp.

Category C1 is now $2499 pp = $5000 (rounded up). So you now have saved $1500 per cabin since signing up. That's pretty good. That'll put a nice dent into your tips/liquor account and maybe a couple of massages.

To be exact from a quote from the company on 4/16 the price is NOW $5317,66 for TWO.. copared to the original price we paid of $3517.66 FOR TWO.Your local cruise agent maybe holding onto cabins. It is expected that the cruise line will call in all cabins being held by trave/cruise agents.Interesting enough the Soltice isn[t having the interest for whatever reason as this ship...This is one cruise that we dont expect the price to go down..will be fun to see it sell out..and much higher prices..

Ouch!!

JACKETWATCH.. yu should see the activity on the ROLL CALL..pages and pages..so if your interested start callling cruise agents and see what they are offering and what they hve in stock before its called back. Frankly, the itinerary isnt perfect.but six days at sea before hitting Ft. Lauderdale and a chance to be pampered not only sounds good, but the price is right.

Thanks PM. However my better half and I like less days at sea and more time in ports. I sure look forward to hearing a TR from you if you would please. :-) Cheers, Larry