Cruises are quickly becoming one of the most popular forms of vacation travel. While on a cruise, you get to see the world while on a large ship that is designed the pleasure of it's guests.

A few years ago, my wife and I enjoyed a wonderful week on a Norwegian Caribbean cruise. We visited 6 islands, had lots of sun and made friends with some other couples.

However, not everyone has such a pleasurable experience as we did. Nothing is worse than shelling out good money for the vacation of a lifetime, and then finding out that the trip doesn't meet your expectations. Whether it's a cruise or vacation on land, if the food isn't up to par, on-board activities are lacking, or any of the services at your hotel or cruise are slow and sloppy, you will be unhappy. If you check out the cruise ratings of your ship before you made your reservations, you could avoid trouble.

To know where to find these ratings, you need to understand what is a Cruise Rating. Ratings are usually compiled by professional cruise critics and tourists who have completed their trip and want to share their experiences. While anyone can have a bad experience for reasons that may be out of the control of the cruise line, compiling a large number of ratings can give potential travelers a good idea of the average enjoyment level that other people may have had. The rating helps someone anticipate the kind of experience that they may have on board the ship.

Many websites and guidebooks that provide these ratings also include in-depth reports so that readers can get an idea of why the cruise received the score that it did. This also helps to determine whether a negative experience was a one-time event (for example, if stormy weather caused a vacationer to have a bad time on their trip) or more typical for that particular cruise line.

What do cruise ratings cover?

While some cruise ratings give a general score for the ship, others break down the experiences into specific categories. Examples of categories include dining, entertainment, cleanliness, service, value, and room quality.

Rating categories can be helpful if there are areas that are particularly important to you. If you are willing to accept a low-level of entertainment, you may overlook the ship's lack of on-board activities. However, this may be very important to you and something that you are not willing to settle on. I recommend that you write down what's most important to you and then review these options and check the ratings.

The characteristics of good cruise ratings following are a few things to consider if you expect an unbiased ratings that will help you plan your next vacation:

* A large number of ratings - The more ratings that are offered, the more likely it is that the reviews will accurately reflect the quality of the cruise ships. If only a few ratings are available, the score might be influenced by one dissatisfied customer or by someone who had an unusually good experience on an otherwise average ship.

* Unbiased reporting - Some ratings edit reviews or cut out bad scores altogether. The best way to get a real idea of what your potential cruise will be like is if people are allowed to state their objective opinions without censorship.

* Good Breakdown of Reviews - You need to consider many factors when planning a cruise, including the cruise line, the ship, and the route you want to take. Cruise reviews that cover each of these sections help you to find the information you need more easily.

 D. Lyne is a contributor to various online travel sites, including Great cruise vacations.