Cruise Reviews on Tripadvisor and Other Review Sites
The big review communities, what each does well and how to filter them down to your trip.
Get Free Cruise QuotesCruise Reviews on Tripadvisor, Cruise Critic and Cruiseline.com
Search for cruise reviews on Tripadvisor and you will find three big names doing similar work. Each collects reviews from guests, and each lets you narrow them down. Knowing how they differ helps you use them together.
Cruise Critic
A cruise-only community with member reviews of ships and sailings, very active forums and staff-written guides. Tripadvisor bought Cruise Critic in 2007.
Tripadvisor
Its cruise section links to reviews of cruise lines and ships alongside reviews of the ports and attractions you will visit ashore.
Cruiseline.com
Cruiseline.com publishes guest reviews of cruise ships and sailings from many lines.All three let you sort and filter. The filters are the point: they turn thousands of opinions into the few dozen that match your trip.
How to Filter Cruise Reviews So They Fit Your Trip
- Ship first, then date. Pick the exact ship and sort by most recent.
- Match the itinerary. A seven-night Caribbean sailing and a two-week transatlantic on the same ship are different holidays.
- Match your travel style. Many sites show whether a reviewer travelled with family, as a couple, solo or in a group.
- Read the middle scores. Three- and four-star reviews tend to weigh pros and cons; the extremes are often about one event.
- Check the reviewer’s history. Someone who has sailed many lines can compare; a first-timer tells you how it feels to a newcomer.
The Size of the Fake Review Problem
Review sites are open about the fact that some submissions are fake. According to news coverage of Tripadvisor’s 2025 Transparency Report, the company found about 2.7 million fake review submissions in 2024 out of 31.1 million submitted, roughly 8%. More than half of the fakes were “boosting” — positive reviews posted by or for a business — and over 200,000 suspected AI-written reviews were removed. Those figures cover all of Tripadvisor, not just cruises, but they are a useful reminder that a glowing review is not automatically a genuine one.
The ports matter too. When reviews of a ship mention a disappointing shore excursion, look up the port itself: Shore Activities and Caribbean Cruise Ports describe what there is to do ashore, port by port.
Cruise Review Sites: FAQ
Is Cruise Critic independent of Tripadvisor?
Cruise Critic is owned by Tripadvisor, which bought it in 2007. It runs as its own brand with member reviews, forums and editorial content.
How do review sites deal with fake reviews?
They use a mix of automated screening and human moderation. Tripadvisor’s 2025 Transparency Report said about 2.7 million of the 31.1 million reviews submitted in 2024 were fake, roughly 8%, and were blocked or removed.
Reviews Say Yes? Let Us Check the Price
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