The Cruise (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

In its original American broadcast, "The Cruise" was seen by an estimated 2.38 million household viewers and gained a 1.0/3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.[1] This was a slight increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 2.37 million viewers with a 1.1/3 in the 18-49 demographics.[2] This means that 1.0 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 3 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it. With these ratings, Brooklyn Nine-Nine was the second most watched show on FOX for the night, beating The Grinder and Grandfathered, but behind New Girl, third on its timeslot and eight for the night, behind New Girl, Hollywood Game Night, a repeat of NCIS: New Orleans, The Flash, a repeat of NCIS, Chicago Med, and Chicago Fire.

"The Cruise" received positive reviews from critics. LaToya Ferguson of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B+" grade and wrote, "'The Cruise' is a good episode as a whole, but it's also one that feels at times like it's trying to rekindle the magic of the superior, previous two installments of the trilogy."[3] Allie Pape from Vulture gave the show a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "This third installment moves the setting to a cruise ship. Unfortunately, that shorts out some of the tension of the first two Pontiac Bandit installments, since it's pretty much immediately clear that Jake has no hope of capturing Judy in international waters."[4]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "While 'The Cruise' didn't offer the deliriously stupid heights of Jake and Holt's misadventures with the mumps from last week, it was one of the season's most well-balanced episodes, with something to offer from all three storylines, the welcome return of Craig Robinson as Jake's arch-nemesis Doug Judy, and the promising introduction of Niecy Nash as Debbie, Holt's temperamental opposite of a sister."[5] Andy Crump of Paste gave the episode a 8.6 rating and wrote, "Maybe this is why the sameness of the plot threads is irrelevant. Brooklyn Nine-Nine knows how to take tired material and liven it up with authenticity, whether emotional or comical. If you don't chuckle at Holt's shadowy seltzer habits, or feel your heart melt in his climactic moment with Debbie, you're more of a robot than he is."[6]