Cruise Survey Questions, Explained
What the post-cruise questionnaire covers, and how to make your answers useful.
Get Free Cruise QuotesWhat Cruise Survey Questions Usually Cover
Every line words its questionnaire differently and changes it from time to time, but most cruise survey questions walk through the trip in the order you lived it: booking, embarkation, your cabin, food, service, entertainment, ports and getting off the ship.
| Part of the trip | What you are typically asked |
|---|---|
| Before you sailed | How easy it was to book, check in online and understand what was included |
| Embarkation | Terminal wait, check-in staff and how quickly you reached your cabin |
| Your cabin | Cleanliness, comfort, noise and your cabin attendant |
| Dining | Main dining room, buffet and any specialty restaurants, plus individual waiters |
| Onboard life | Shows, activities, pools, kids’ clubs, spa and bars |
| Ashore | Shore excursions bought from the line and how the port days ran |
| Overall | Whether you would sail again and recommend the line to a friend |
Some questions ask you to score a named person or venue. Those answers matter more than most guests realise: reports from cruise blogs and crew interviews describe guest scores being looked at in crew reviews and promotions, although each line handles this internally and does not publish its rules.
Reading the Scale: Why a 10 Is Not a Bonus
Many lines use a scale where only the top box is treated as truly satisfied. On a ten-point scale, a guest who thinks an 8 means “very good” may be dragging a waiter’s average down without meaning to. That is why some crew politely mention the survey near the end of a cruise.
The fair approach is simple: give the top score when the service genuinely met or beat what you expected, and save lower scores for real shortfalls — then explain them in the comment box. A short sentence such as “dinner service was slow on both formal nights” tells the ship far more than a number on its own.
How to Answer a Cruise Survey So It Counts
- Fill it in within a few days, while names and details are fresh. Jot crew names in your phone during the cruise.
- Separate the ship from the weather. A cancelled port because of wind is not the dining staff’s fault.
- Be specific: date, venue, what happened. Vague anger is easy to file away; a precise note gets passed on.
- Praise in writing. A named compliment is one of the few things a guest can give a crew member that follows them into their review.
- Keep complaints that need a remedy separate — take them to Guest Services on board, then to the line’s customer relations team after the trip.
- If you booked through an advisor, tell them too. Advisors hear from many clients and can raise patterns with the line.
What Happens After You Click Submit
Lines do not publish how they use guest feedback in detail, so treat any confident claim with care. What the lines themselves say is that surveys are read, and what crew members and cruise journalists consistently report is that feedback is shared with ship management and that named compliments reach the people involved. Patterns across many sailings — a slow embarkation process, a tired buffet, a show that never fills — are the kind of thing surveys are built to catch.
If you have never sailed and are wondering what to expect from each stage the survey asks about, First Time Cruise walks through a cruise from booking to the last morning.
Cruise Survey Questions: FAQ
When does the post-cruise survey arrive?
Usually by email in the days after you disembark. Royal Caribbean’s own help pages, for example, say an email survey follows the end of your cruise. Check the email address on your booking, including the spam folder.
Is the survey anonymous?
It is linked to your booking, so the line knows which sailing and cabin you were in. That is what lets it pass comments to the right ship and the right crew.
Should I name crew members?
Yes, if someone was excellent. Use their name as it appeared on their badge, say what they did and which venue they worked in.
What if I had a serious problem?
Report it on board first, while it can still be fixed, and keep any reference number. The survey is a record, not a complaints desk.
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