Be Specific
Useful reviews mention details such as the ship, sailing date, cabin type, dining experience, service, entertainment, ports, or overall value.
CruiseGrader review standards
Review Guidelines for CruiseGrader
CruiseGrader is built to help travelers share useful, fair, and specific cruise reviews. These guidelines explain what makes a helpful review, what should be avoided, and how moderation protects the grading system.
Helpful Reviews Should Be
✓ Based on a real cruise experience.
✓ Clear, honest, and specific.
✓ Useful for future travelers.
The Purpose
Reviews should help travelers make better decisions.
A strong cruise review does more than say whether someone liked or disliked a trip. It helps future travelers understand what actually happened, what stood out, what disappointed them, and whether the cruise line or ship may be a good fit for their own travel style.
Be Fair
A fair review can include both positives and negatives. The goal is not perfection — the goal is useful feedback that other travelers can understand.
Be Respectful
Reviews should focus on the cruise experience, not personal attacks, offensive language, harassment, or comments that target individuals unfairly.
What To Include
A helpful review gives context.
Context helps other travelers decide whether your experience applies to them. A family with children, a solo traveler, a senior couple, and a first-time cruiser may all care about different things.
Cruise Line or Ship
Mention the cruise line, ship name, itinerary, or destination when possible so readers know what your review is about.
Cabin Experience
Share details about cabin comfort, cleanliness, noise, bathroom setup, storage, balcony value, or accessibility.
Dining and Service
Explain whether dining, buffet options, specialty restaurants, staff support, and service quality met your expectations.
Entertainment and Activities
Describe shows, music, onboard activities, pools, lounges, family features, quiet spaces, or enrichment options.
Value and Extra Costs
Mention whether the cruise felt worth the price, especially when considering drink packages, Wi-Fi, excursions, tips, and onboard extras.
Who It May Fit
Share whether the cruise may be better for families, couples, seniors, solo travelers, luxury travelers, budget travelers, or first-time cruisers.
Do And Do Not
Keep reviews useful, honest, and safe.
CruiseGrader is designed to support real traveler decision-making. These basic rules help keep the review system clean and trustworthy.
Good review behavior
✓ Share what happened during your actual cruise experience.
✓ Explain why you gave a high or low rating.
✓ Include useful details about cabins, dining, service, value, and ship atmosphere.
✓ Be honest about both positives and negatives when possible.
Reviews may be rejected for
! Spam, fake reviews, repeated submissions, or promotional content.
! Personal attacks, threats, harassment, hate speech, or offensive language.
! Private personal information about crew members, passengers, or staff.
! Reviews that are too vague to help future travelers understand the experience.
Moderation Process
Why reviews are held before they appear.
Review moderation protects the platform from spam and helps ensure that public grades reflect approved traveler feedback only.
1
Review Submitted
A traveler submits a review for a cruise line or ship using the review form.
2
Held as Pending
The review remains pending while it is checked for spam, abuse, duplication, or obvious misuse.
3
Approved or Rejected
Approved reviews may appear publicly. Rejected reviews do not appear on the site.
4
Grades Update
Only approved reviews should affect ratings, grades, rankings, comparisons, and review counts.
Only approved reviews should count.
Pending reviews should never change a cruise line or ship grade. CruiseGrader’s trust system depends on showing ratings, grades, and approved review counts in a clear and consistent way.
✓ Pending reviews stay out of public scores.
✓ Approved review counts stay visible.
✓ Cruise line and ship ratings remain separate.
Before You Submit
Write the review you wish you had before booking.
A strong review helps someone else decide whether a cruise line, ship, cabin, itinerary, or travel style is right for them. Try to be clear, balanced, and specific enough that another traveler can make a better decision.
Important review note
CruiseGrader may edit display formatting, reject inappropriate submissions, remove duplicate reviews, or decline reviews that do not meet these guidelines. Review moderation exists to protect the usefulness of the site, not to remove fair criticism.
Ready to share your cruise experience?
Submit a clear, helpful review so future travelers can compare cruise lines and ships with better information.