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Guide to submitting a review

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS before entering your review. Reviews that are entered incorrectly will be discarded. So please take a couple minutes to read and follow these instructions. Correct grammar and spelling are a must - use a spell checker! Please also read the instructions on the form regarding numeric entry and the use of quotation marks on the comments section.

We're happy to add your review to the database and assist other travelers in making an informed decision. We reserve the right to reject any review that does not meet our format requirements or is entered incorrectly. Reviews must contain at least one paragraph of comments. The longer and more informative your review is, the more likely it will be included. Reviews in ALL CAPS are difficult to read and will not be included.

Reviews that the writer really takes some time to compose are the ones that are the most beneficial to other cruisers. Reviews of just a few sentences are now being discarded. Our recommendation: compose your review first in a word processor (this will help eliminate spelling and grammatical errors, too), then copy and paste the review into the box below after entering your numeric ratings. Please also note these guidelines:

There is a limit of one review per person per ship. In other words, no ballot stuffing! If you have gone on many cruises, you are welcome to submit one review for each ship.
Keep your comments balanced. List both the positive aspects of your trip, and the aspects you were disappointed with. Also, you must provide at least one paragraph of comments to give a full description of your trip. We want to publish reviews that will be beneficial to other travelers - the longer and more detailed, the better. Reviews with less than this amount of comments will be discarded.

We ask your age and occupation not to get personal, but to better show other travelers the context in which you view the cruise (for example, a retired couple will probably find different aspects important than a college student would).
Reviews must include your full name and e-mail address so others may respond to you. No anonymous submissions will be accepted! Please also include your sailing date, in case we need to verify with the cruise line that you were indeed on the sailing you're reviewing.

The 0-100 rating scale
Each category receives a rating of 0-100, with 100 being the best possible score, and (as you may have guessed) 0 being the lowest. Note - if a certain category does not apply to you, do not enter any number into the box! Since many cruises provide excellence, here is a guideline to what the numeric ratings mean:

100-90: Excellent. This means outstanding service or quality, with higher ratings in this category reserved for truly extraordinary service or quality. Like gymnasts almost never score a perfect 10, it's the exception that a category receives a perfect 100.
89-80: Good. Service or food quality is still very good in this category, comparable to what would be expected at a mid/upper scale restaurant in a major city.

79-70: Fair. This means the item in question was acceptable, but nothing amazing. This category might include ho-hum service from a preoccupied bartender, or a dry prime rib that should have been tender and juicy.
69-0: Poor. Unacceptable service or quality. Fortunately, this is the exception on almost all cruise ships today. If you do have a category that receives this rating, please make a note in your comments to explain why.

Explanation of each category

Food-Dining Room: All your dining room meals. Consider taste, freshness, and presentation.
Food-Room Service: The quality and promptness of your room service orders.
Food-Lido Deck: Includes all the breakfast and lunch buffets.
Food-Midnight Buffets: Did everything taste as good as it looked? Was there a good variety?
Food-Variety: Were there enough selections to please everyone, or "just" prime rib?
Good For Honeymoon: Was it good for honeymoon or a young (e.g., first-cruise) couples?
Good For Families: Were there things to keep the kids busy while the parents play?
Good For Seniors: Were there activities and services geared toward seniors?
Wheelchair Access: How good was cabin and public area wheelchair access?
Overall Ports of Call: Some ports may have been better that others, but give an overall rating.
Cruise Activities: This means the variety and quality of activities available on the ship (usually while at sea), like cooking demonstrations, bingo, lectures, games, etc.
Medical Facilities: If applicable (hopefully not!), rate the quality of the ship's facilities.
Disco/Nightclubs: Was it hopping or dead? Did the DJ know what you were asking for?
Shops On Board: The selection, appearance, and relative value of the shops.
Cruise Director: How entertaining (and accessible) was the cruise director?
Cruise Staff: This includes the purser's staff, hotel staff, etc. Were they friendly and helpful?
Dining Room Service: Were your waiter and busboy outstanding, or only great?
Cabin Steward: Funny shaped towels on your bed or not, did they do their job well?
Deck Service: Those singing waiters.
Casino Staff: Were they friendly and professional?

Lounge Service: Service of the bar staff.
Beauty Salon Staff: Were they pleasant?
Exercise Facilities: How were the facilities and the staff (you went every day, didn't you)?
Beauty Salon: Was your spa treatment enjoyable?
Casino: Variety of games and casino layout.
Ship Cleanliness: Were the hallways vacuumed? Was the brass polished?
Deck Space: How crowded was it when you wanted to catch some rays?
Space Ratio: Did the interior public areas of the ship feel crowded, or was there plenty of room?
Cabin Comfort: Was the layout of the cabin good? How was your bed?
Cabin Amenities: Did it have what you needed?
Cabin Quietness: Includes both soundproofing from surrounding cabins, and a lack of annoying cabin squeaks while the ship is moving.
Shore Exc. Variety: Was there a good variety of choices, whether you wanted wild water sports or a leisurely shopping trip?
Shore Exc. Value: Were the excursions fairly priced, compared to doing it yourself?
Private Island: Rate the ship's private island - a highlight for many passengers.
Tender Service: Was it organized and smooth? Or did you feel queasy, and smell like diesel fuel by the time you made it to shore?
Entertainment-Lounges: The singers and other entertainers in the lounges around the ship.
Entertainment-Show Lounge: The entertainment quality and variety (and appropriateness for the target audience) in the ship's main show lounge.
Entertainment-Poolside: Were the outdoor bands and activities worthwhile?
Air/Sea Program: Your flight and transfers.
Embark/Disembark: Did you have to wait a long time, or was it done in an orderly fashion?
Stabilization: Smooth sailing, or rock and roll?
Overall Cruise Value: Your overall rating.

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Cruise Review Form

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Number of cruises you've been on:   
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Ship        
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Cabin Number/Category

Note - if a certain category does not apply to you, do not enter any 
number or any characters whatsoever into the box!  If you enter "n/a", "--",
or numbers that are not between 0 and 100, your review will be deleted.

Food-Dining Room:	Cruise Director:	Cabin Comfort:
Food-Room Service:	Cruise Staff:	Cabin Amenities:
Food-Lido Deck:	Dining Room Service:	Cabin Quietness:
Food-Midnight Buffets:	Cabin Steward:	Shore Exc. Variety:
Food-Variety:	Deck Service:	Shore Exc. Value:
Good For Honeymoon:	Casino Staff:	Private Island:
Good For Families:	Lounge Service:	Tender Service:
Good For Seniors:	Beauty Salon Staff:	Entertainment-Lounges:
Wheelchair Access:	Exercise Facilities:	Entert.-Show Lounge:
Overall Ports of Call:	Beauty Salon:	Entertainment-Poolside:
Cruise Activities:	Casino:	Air/Sea Program:
Medical Facilities:	Ship Cleanliness:	Embark/Disembark:
Disco/Nightclubs:	Deck Space:	Stabilization:
Shops On Board:	Space Ratio:	Overall Cruise Value:

Comments - describe the positive and negative aspects of your trip.
YOU MUST INCLUDE AT LEAST ONE PARAGRAPH OF COMMENTS WITH YOUR REVIEW!
Reviews with inadequate comments will be deleted. Please do not type
your review in ALL CAPS.  You may want to enter comments in a text editor,
then copy & paste them into the box.

Note for Netscape users - text does not wrap automatically on screen.
Continue typing even though the line of text is longer than the box.
Hit <enter> only when you want to start a new paragraph. 
This does not occur when using Internet Explorer.

Finally, please DO NOT type quotes (double quotation marks, like "this")
in the text of your review - it messes up our database.  If you need to enter
quotes, please use the single quotation marks, like 'this'.

Review Submission

Thank you for taking the time to submit your review. We will add your ratings to the database, and your comments will be added to the ship's page, as soon as possible. Please press the "Submit Review" button ONLY ONCE, as pressing it multiple times submits multiple reviews to our database, all of which will be deleted.

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