LinssenDutch Sturdy 320 Evergreen Ursula (2005) for rent

We use the Average with Prior (also known as Bayesian Average) to calculate the total rating for each sailing cruise

Since new cruises could have very few reviews, each review can significantly impact the average score, potentially leading to misleading representations of the total score (e.g., one very positive or very negative review skewing the overall rating). To mitigate this, we use a "prior" or "default" score.

This means that each cruise, by default, starts with a rating of 4, which is calculated from 5 hypothetical reviews, each rated 4. This assumption provides a baseline level of performance that is neutral-to-positive.

For example, if a new cruise receives a 5-star review, the total rating will be adjusted to 4.17. Here's how it is calculated: (4 × 5) + 5 = 25 and then divided by the total number of reviews 6 (5 default + 1 actual review), resulting in 4.17

As more reviews come in, the weight of the actual reviews increases, and the influence of the prior diminishes.