Cruisers not happy with cruise lines

How happy were you with your last cruise?
Did you have a major complaint?
A minor complaint?
More than one complaint?
Would it surprise you to know that 18%, nearly one in five cruisers, were unhappy with some aspect of their cruise?
This is according to a report by JD Power in a cruise survey called Cruise Line Satisfaction report released last week.


The studly asked people about seven key aspects of their cruising experience -
Service received;
Cabin;
Food onboard;
Embarkation/disembarkation;
Entertainment;
Cost;
Excursions.
Overall the 18% figure amounted to 1.8 problems with their cruise per cruiser and the report also reflected that these problems would have serious repercussions about whether people would book with a particular cruise line again.

"Passengers experiencing zero or one problem (61% and 55% respectively) said they “definitely will” take another cruise with the cruise line they most recently used. When two to three problems are experienced however, the likelihood of customers re-booking with same cruise line drops dramatically (33% and 28% respectively). Among the brands above the industry average, 68% of passengers indicated they “definitely will” recommend their cruise line to others, surpassing the report average of 61%".

Now when ever I read a report like this I'm always tempted to take it with a pinch of salt. After all I know if someone stopped me in the street and asked what problems I'd had on my last holiday I'd probably rack my brains trying to think of something to tell them; even if it hadn't bothered me at the time.
However what these reports are good at  indicating, (I think anyway), is which cruise lines provide the highest level of customer satisfaction.
If someone can't come up with a grumble about a cruise even after been asked to think of something, no matter how minor, then you know it must have been a pretty good cruise.
So who was best?
Well Disney Cruise lines scored highest in the report followed closely by Holland America and then Royal Caribbean.

So whilst I'd take that 18% of unhappy cruisers statistic with a fairly large pinch of salt it's a good bet that booking a cruise with Holland America, Disney or Royal Caribbean should give you a great holiday.

What do you think? Do you have any experience with one of these brands? Would you have rated them the top three best cruise lines out there? Or do you prefer another cruise line? If so why?

Happy cruising