When Can You Trust an Online Review?

Hi again, yup it’s me, Sailor.  I just had to write about a review I came across this week.

A client called my Dorothy and asked about going on a Sound of Music cruise that sailed the Danube. My Dorothy & I started to do some digging and found a fair bit of information about Uniworld River Cruises’ “Sound of Music” themed sailings* and also about a river cruise boat named  the MS Sound of Music.  

One of the reviews for the MS Sound of Music was from a passenger who claimed she had just returned from a Danube cruise aboard the MS Sound of Music from Budapest to Amsterdam.  She detailed problems with having the ship meet her dietary requirements, then complained about the passenger mix on board (too many Austrians).  And then …

“One other problem which I encountered was that if the water levels were high, the ship could not go under some of the canal bridges. We were held up for 18 hours at one port. Although efforts were made to bus us to ports en route, we were still late in reaching Amsterdam and we only had rushed and poorly timed tours at Koblenz and Cologne as well as having our activities in Amsterdam curtailed. This was something the ship could not avoid but I can see there being many disappointed river cruisers where the water levels are really high.” (Emphasis added).

Here’s the problem, the Danube doesn’t go to Amsterdam, that would be the Rhine.  Koblenz & Cologne are also located on the Rhine.  Although the author may have had a pre-or post-cruise land extension in Amsterdam, that would not have affected tours to Koblenz and Cologne.  Or perhaps she was actually on a Danube/Main/Rhine river cruise … who knows?

And this is the nature of reviews – you don’t know who wrote them and how accurate they are.  Was that glowing review done by an employee of the company being reviewed?  Was the lousy review written by a competitor?  Here are my (Sailor’s) recommendations: 

• Check the professional reviews like Fodor’s, Frommer’s, etc. – these are written with a more practiced eye.  I especially like Frommer’s because the writers  do not advise the cruise line that they will be on board – thus no special treatment. Other reviewers may be on board courtesy of the cruise line, which will naturally wine & dine them and provide an idyllic experience.

• Look at the whole body of reviews -  if there are a great many of them select a few at random from different pages.  If I am looking at a resort that has over a thousand reviews, usually the general consensus is pretty reliable.

• Check details: recently a client did not want to book a very good resort because one review claimed the bathrooms were open to the bedrooms, no doors.  Now that would be awkward (at least!) for her family trip.  Many of the other reviews from families claimed they loved the resort, everyone had a great time, etc.  But this one review put her off.  This made my nose twitch.  If the bathrooms were contiguous with the bedrooms wouldn’t other family reviewers mention that?  I took up the scent, dug a little deeper and found photos of the rooms taken by guests ... showing doors to the bathrooms.

Getting down to the meat of the matter (yummm, meat!), read reviews with a grain of salt.  Check them with a travel professional you trust. Then go and have a great vacation!

Keep your nose to the wind and all four paws on deck!

*The "Sound of Music" theme cruise simply includes a concert in Vienna by Elisabeth von Trapp, a descendent of the von Trapp family while the ship is visiting Vienna, other than that it is the same as all of Uniworld's other "Enchanting" Danube itineraries.  As of this writing all departures are sold out.

Dorothy Flannery is president of Top Sail Journeys, Sailor C. Flannery is Director of Public Relations and all around dogsbody.  If you would like to learn more about European river cruises, check out their sites at http://cruisethedanube.com and http://cruisetherhine.com or for special event cruises go to http://eventcruises.co. 

Which River is Best?

Sailor again.  Just hangin’.  Taking walks, getting my tummy rubbed, snoozin’ on the couch.  Stuff like that.  Oh, my Dorothy passed the Sell River Cruises Specialist Program last week, so don’t forget to congratulate her!  She does a lot of these courses.

This morning my Dorothy decided to let me go whichever way I wanted when we took a walk.  Decisions, decisions!  Sniff the potted plant or the corner shrub?  Head for the lake or leave a “message” over at Annie’s house?  I couldn’t decide whether to take the nature walk with the boardwalk through the woods or hunt for those turtles again.

Believe it or not there’s a similarity there with river cruising.  So many options … where do you start?  Well, here’s the poop on river cruise destinations:

•  Most river cruises are a week long although you can book longer ones – 9, 10 , 12, 15 nights - even up to 24 nights!
  
•  River cruises usually start and end in fantastic cities like Amsterdam, Paris and Budapest.  You should take some time either before or after the cruise (or both) to visit these cities more thoroughly.  Usually pre- and post-cruise packages are available through the cruise lines.
•  For first time river cruisers, the Danube or the Rhine are the most popular – after you’ve cruised those you may want to branch out to more exotic river cruises like the Nile, the Yangtze, the Douro (Portugal) or even the Chobe in Africa!
• Something to keep in mind, river cruises are seasonal ( for example, European river cruises run from March through December) but rivers are finicky, if they flood in the spring you might be unable to get beneath some of the bridges (in which case you would be taken there by bus) or if there is a drought in the summer or fall you may also have to resort to buses for some sections of the cruise.  Nothing we can do about mother nature! 

The “Cliff Notes” River by River

• Rhine/Moselle/Main – Think of fairy tale castles, endless vineyards and some of the oldest and most historic cities in Germany, France & Luxembourg.
• Danube – Learn about the Austro-Hungarian Empire and countries that were behind the Iron Curtain for over 40 years.  As they say in Budapest “The communists saved us from the Nazis, but then they forgot to go home.”
•  Rhone/Saone – Passing through Provence & Burgundy, come taste the wine!  And dine in Lyon, one of the gastronomic capitals of the world. Add a pre-or post-cruise stay in Paris, the city of lights via one of France’s fast TGV trains.
• Douro – Ah Portugal! From Porto to the border of Spain the Douro twists  in lovely, winding, turning loops.  Spend some extra time in Lisbon before or after and try the port wine in a centuries old bodega.
• Seine – Enjoy the best of both urban and rural culture in France.  The Seine springs from beautiful Burgundy, flows through Paris and into the orchards and fields of Normandy.  Art and culture enthusiasts, wine lovers, history buffs and architecture admirers will enjoy their time on the Seine.

No matter where you go, there are wonderful things to see, sniff (my favorite) and do on every river cruise!  There are no wrong decisions!

Keep your nose to the wind and all four paws on deck!

Dorothy Flannery is president of Top Sail Journeys, Sailor C. Flannery is Director of Public Relations and all around dogsbody.  If you would like to learn more about European river cruises, check out their sites at http://cruisethedanube.com and http://cruisetherhine.com or for special event cruises go to http://eventcruises.co.