This was my 107th cruise. That sounds like a lot, but if you consider that I have been sending clients off on luxury cruises for three-and-a-half decades, that I take our annual vacation on a ship once or twice every year and that I worked for a major cruise line prior to all of that, it’s not surprising that I would be at sea a few times each year.

But past experiences are not what really motivates me to continue to test, evaluate and investigate the ships our clients are likely to take. Rather, it’s an important part of our business model.

For almost two decades, our firm has been evaluating the world’s top cruise lines. We publish an annual list, World’s Top 10 Cruise Lines, and the lines on it are the only ones we choose to represent. Our stated goal is to create the most unbiased, ad-free consumer ratings. We take no promotional money of any kind for these efforts, and we do not accept complimentary travel in conjunction with this ongoing project.

Several years ago, we expanded our concept to try to counter the lack of credible information that might lead a client to select one cruise line over another. We know that online reviews, as many as someone could want, can be purchased quite easily. We also know that there are firms that will remove unfavorable reviews.

So how do we get around that? We decided to establish our Cruise Ship Inspector (CSI) Program. Every CSI applicant must be well-traveled, with keen observation skills. They must have experienced a number of top-tier products for purposes of comparison. We do training, and we provide carefully designed evaluation forms that require specific examples to most questions. In essence, we try to create mini-me’s to do the kind of personal inspection we would do on a voyage. Our CSI participants pay full fare for their cruises, and they are never identified.

For example, we put together an Unaided Recognition Test that involves walking on decks other than the one where the inspector’s stateroom is located. Careful records are kept of the number of staff members passed in the hallways or in public areas and the number of times guests are pleasantly acknowledged, and especially if they are recognized by name. 

Last month, we escorted a group of 37 clients on a Silversea cruise to the Dalmatian coast; 22 of our guests were in our CSI Program. This was an important evaluation experience because Silversea is currently No. 1 on our list of lines appealing to American guests. (Overall, German line Hapag-Lloyd tops our rankings worldwide.)

It was clear to all of us that there is a Silversea mantra that translates to “Never refuse a guest request.”

One of our CSI participants was at a table when another guest asked the waiter for mint chip ice cream. “My wife lives for mint chip,” he announced to the table and to the waiter.

The waiter told the chef and returned later to inform the guest and his wife that the chef would be personally creating enough mint chip ice cream to last them through the entire voyage. It would be kept in cold storage and labeled with their cabin number so it could be ordered anywhere on the ship at any time.

When everything was tabulated, Silversea maintained its position as our pick for the world’s top cruise line in the American market. 

Source: Read Full Article