The Berlitz Cruise Ship Rating
What The Ratings Mean
The Berlitz rating: Overall Ship Scores | What the ratings mean | Rating the Ships | Rating the cabins | Rating the Cuisine | Rating the Service | Rating the Entertainment | Rating the Cruise
1,851–2,000 points  
You can expect an outstanding luxury cruise experience – it doesn’t get any better than this. It should be truly memorable, and with the highest attention to detail, finesse, and personal service (how important you are made to feel is critical). The decor must be elegant and tasteful, measured by restraint and not flashiness, with fresh flowers and other decorative touches in abundance, and the layout of the public rooms might well follow feng shui principles.
Any ship with this rating must be just about unsurpassable in the cruise industry, and it has to be very, very special, with service and hospitality levels to match. There must be the very highest quality surroundings, comfort and service levels, the finest and freshest quality foods, including all breads and rolls baked on board. Highly creative menus, regional cuisine, and dining alternatives should provide maximum choice and variety, and special orders will be part of the dining ritual.
Dining room meals (particularly dinners) are expected to be grand, memorable affairs, correctly served on the finest china, with a choice of wines of suitable character and vintage available, and served in the correct-sized sommelier glasses of the highest quality (Reidel or Schott).
The service staff will take pleasure in providing you with the ultimate personal, yet unobtrusive, attention with the utmost of finesse, and the word ‘no’ should not be in their vocabulary. This really is the very best of the best in terms of refined, unstructured living at sea, but it is seriously expensive.
1,701–1,850 points
You can expect a truly excellent and memorable cruise experience, with the finesse and attention to detail commensurate with the amount of money paid. The service and hospitality levels will be extremely high from all levels of officers and staff, with strong emphasis on fine hospitality training (all service personnel members must make you feel important).
The food will be commensurate with the high level expected from what is virtually the best possible, while the service should be very attentive yet unobtrusive. The cuisine should be memorable, with ample taste. Special orders should never be a problem, with a creative cuisine of a very high standard. There must be a varied selection of wines, which should be served in glasses of the correct size (not simply a standard size glass for white and one for red wines).
Entertainment is expected to be of prime quality and variety. Again, the word ‘no’ should not be in the vocabulary of any member of staff aboard a ship with this rating. A cruise aboard a ship with this high rating may well cause damage to your bank statement, particularly if you choose the most spacious grades of accommodation. Few things will cost extra once you are on board, and brochures should be more ‘truthful’ than those for ships with a lower rating.
1,551–1,700 points
You should expect to have a high-quality cruise experience that will be quite memorable, and just a little short of being excellent in all aspects. Perhaps the personal service and attention to detail could be slightly better, but, nonetheless, this should prove to be a fine all-round cruise experience, in a setting that is extremely clean and comfortable, with few lines anywhere, a caring attitude from service personnel, and a good standard of entertainment that appeals to a mainstream market. The cuisine and service will be well rounded, with mostly fresh ingredients and varied menus that should appeal to almost anyone, served on high quality china.
All in all, this should prove to be an extremely well rounded cruise experience, probably in a ship that is new or almost new. There will probably be less ‘extra cost’ items than ships with a slightly lower rating, but you get what you pay for these days.
1,401–1,550 points
You should expect to have a very good quality all-round cruise experience, most probably aboard a modern, highly comfortable ship that will provide a good range of facilities and services. The food and service will be quite decent overall, although decidedly not as “gourmet” and fanciful as the brochures with the always-smiling faces might have you believe.
The service on board will be well organized, although it may be a little robotic and impersonal at times, and only as good as the cruise line’s training program allows. You may notice a lot of things cost extra once you are on board, although the typically vague brochure tells you that the things are ‘available’ or are an ‘option.’ However, you should have a good time, and your bank account will be only moderately damaged.
1,251–1,400 points
You should expect to have a decent quality cruise experience, from a ship where the service levels should be good, but perhaps without the finesse that could be expected from a more upscale environment. The crew aboard any ship achieving this score should reflect a positive attitude with regard to hospitality, and a willingness to accommodate your needs, up to a point. Staff training will probably be in need of more attention to detail and flexibility.
Food and service levels in the dining room(s) should be reasonably good, although special or unusual orders might prove more difficult. There will probably be a number of extra-cost items you thought were included in the price of your cruise – although the brochure typically is vague and tells you that the things are ‘available’ or are an ‘option.’
1,101–1,250 points
You can expect a reasonably decent, middle-of-the-road cruise experience, with a moderate amount of space and quality in furnishings, fixtures, and fittings. The cabins are likely to be a little on the small side (dimensionally challenged). The food and service levels will be quite acceptable, although not at all memorable, and somewhat inflexible with regard to special orders, as almost everything is standardized.
Crew attitude could certainly be improved, the level of hospitality and cleanliness will be moderate but little more, and the entertainment provided will probably be weak. A good option, however, for those looking for the reasonable comforts of home without pretentious attitudes, and little damage to their bank statement.
951–1,100 points
You should expect to have a cruise experience that will be average in terms of accommodation (typically with cabins that are dimensionally challenged), quality of the ship’s facilities, food, wine list, service, and hospitality levels, in surroundings that are unpretentious. In particular, the food and its service will probably be disappointing.
There will be little flexibility in the levels of service, hospitality, staff training and supervision, which will be no better than poor. Thus, the overall experience will be commensurate with the small amount of money you paid for the cruise.
801–950 points
You should expect to have a cruise experience of modest quality aboard a ship that is probably in need of more attention to maintenance and service levels, not to mention hospitality. The food is likely to be quite tasteless and homogenized, and of low quality, and service will leave much to be desired in terms of attitude, which will tend to be mediocre at best. Staff training is likely to be minimal, and turnover will probably be high. The ‘end-of-pier’ entertainment could well leave you wanting to read a good book.
651–800 points
You can expect to have only the most basic cruise experience, with little or no attention to detail, from a poorly trained staff that is probably paid low wages and to whom you are just another body. The ship will, in many cases, probably be in need of much maintenance and upgrading, and will probably have few facilities.
Cleanliness and hygiene may well be questionable, and there will be absolutely no finesse in personal service levels, with poor attitude from the crew, and dismal entertainment as significant factors in the low score and rating. On the other hand, the price of a cruise is probably alluringly low.
501–650 points
You can expect to have a cruise experience that is the absolute bottom of the barrel, with almost nothing in terms of hospitality or finesse. You can forget about attention to detail – there won’t be any. This will be the kind of experience that would equal a stay in the most basic motel, with few facilities, a poorly trained, uncaring staff, most of whom will have undergone a hospitality bypass, and a ship that is in need of better maintenance and upgrading.
The low cost of a cruise aboard any cruise ship with this rating should provide a clue to the complete lack of any quality. This will be particularly true in the areas of food, service, and entertainment. In other words, this could well be a totally forgettable cruise experience.
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