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Cruise Critic Censorship



 
 
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  #11  
Old March 10th, 2009, 02:17 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Charles[_1_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,112
Default Cruise Critic Censorship

In article
,
wrote:

You may have heard of this, sorry if it's a re-do. Cruise Critic is
now deleting anything and everything that mentions 'Royal Champions'
or an article that connects CC to a campaign where RCI is giving
certain select people percs for positive post about RCI, hence their
name 'Royal Champions.
Cruise Critic, a very well known and used cruise forum, really seems
to be doing whatever it takes to sweep this under the rug, making them
look like co-horts with RCI, which really deminishes their standing
with cruisers, and is giving anyone who is a 'Royal Champion' a bad
name and making even them look like they are not to be trusted, even
though some have been very helpful posters at CC, even before this
program.


Cruise Critic is a moderated forum. To some people moderation is a
feature. Many left unmoderated Usenet newsgroups like this one for web
forums like Cruise Critic for that feature. I prefer deciding myself
what to read. Thus I use kill files in this newsgroup to ignore posters
I don't want to read and others are free to read those same newsgroup
posters if they so choose do so.

Cruise Critic is well known for having a heavy hand in their moderation
of their forums. In my opinion they delete too many posts and threads
for unknown reasons. However it is their forum, their web site. They
own it (actually Tripadviser), and since they own it, they have the
right to do what they please in what they allow. If I don't like what
they are doing, I don't have to be a part of it, I can go elsewhere or
start my own discussion forums.

As far as the threads on the Royal Champions, the thread I read a few
posts of before getting bored with it, the gist of it seemed to be
whining that Royal Champions were getting perks at the expense of
Diamond Plus members. I detected jealousy.

As far as Cruise Critic and RCI being cohorts, there had to be
collaboration between Cruise Critic and Royal Caribbean about the
Cruise Critic members who became Royal Champions. I don't know who did
the selection, but think about it, Cruise Critic members don't post
with e-mail addresses, they post with screen names. Cruise Critic had
to give Royal Caribbean a way to contact those people who were chosen.

--
Charles
  #12  
Old March 10th, 2009, 03:39 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
NWLB
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 146
Default Cruise Critic Censorship

On Mar 9, 6:32*pm, D Ball wrote:
NWLB,

What do you mean by this?

"The thing is, some of these people couldn't see to disclose their
status as most people are taught."

Just wondering. Royal Caribbean has never 'taught' or otherwise told
me to do anything.

Diana


Diana I was simply saying in my honors English classes of High School,
college, and ethics class during the graduate course work in business
I took, all touched on disclosing at various points. And as for RCI,
no, they have no obligation to tell you or me, or anybody anything.
Mostly common sense would tell somebody not to be so dumb as to post a
review on a cruise RCI provides you with, without also noting that the
cruise line did so.

So if people were out on CC blasting these uber-positive and glow
reviews, on cruises they were offered for free, I would say people
have reason to be unhappy.

To Peters point, they've been totally above board in my interactions
with "them." Them being RCI specifically, not the marketing firm that
did any original research. My being on Liberty wasn't an offer made
with any expectations in advance.

Charles notes a couple of things I'll agree with. CC has a heavy
hand, I know CM does as well, and I have insight from a couple of
their people about how things shifted after the buy-out a year ago.
The new owner is hyper sensitive to anything which could at all be
considered to take away from "value" to their advertising partners.
That is less the lines as it is the smaller fish. And yes, there are
"Diamond" members who are livid about the Royal Champions. The thrust
of the complaints I've had express tended to be that RCI was listening
to RC's more than the Diamond Plus members. Some of the views are more
enlightened than others, but a few views I've had passed my way sound
like debutantes kvetching over somebody having the same dress.

It is a big fuss over nothing.

As George notes, RTC isn't private, and
  #13  
Old March 10th, 2009, 04:54 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
D Ball[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 518
Default Cruise Critic Censorship

So if people were out on CC blasting these uber-positive and glow
reviews, on cruises they were offered for free, I would say people
have reason to be unhappy.


NWLB, Thanks for explaining. I agree, but don't think it's an issue,
as from what I've observed, every person invited on the complimentary
LOTS pre-inaugural 2-nighter was quick to crow about the fact they'd
been invited as RCI's guest--it was just too exciting and novel not to
share! (Can't win for losing: disclosure breeds the jealousy
threads.)

Did RCI *promise* you anything for spreading the word?


Peter, no. The actual contact with RCI has been minimal. I received a
form email out of the blue inviting me to the Liberty sailing. It was
followed by snail mail paperwork and then the sailing itself. AFAIK,
there hasn't been another sailing offered to any "Royal Champions,"
although there was a land-based Oasis preview party invite (several
RTCers who live in/near Manhattan attended). The recent flurry of
discussion was prompted because Royal Champions received an email in
Feb. asking for updated contact information, which naturally caused
speculation/hope an Oasis pre-inaugural invite might be on the way.

Diana


  #14  
Old March 10th, 2009, 05:15 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Tom K
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,578
Default Cruise Critic Censorship


"George Leppla" wrote in message
...

"peter" wrote


Did RCI *promise* you anything for spreading the word?



Someone close to me is on the Royal Champions list and quite a few r.t.c.
people are also and if they are being directed by Royal Caribbean as to
what they should post or that they would receive anything for their
positive posts I have never heard of it.


I've never been asked, or told, what to post about RCI, nor have I ever been
promised anything. I'm not even sure why I was selected as a Royal
Champion. At the time I was selected, I wasn't even an RCI diamond member
because of RCI, I was a diamond member because of Celebrity. At the time I
had probably gone one 3 times as many Celebrity sailings as RCI sailings (I
wonder if my pro-Celebrity posts contributed to being a Royal Champion??? -
don't know). The only reason I've gone on so many RCI sailings lately is
because a) the Vikings like RCI, and b) Celebrity pulled out of the NYC to
Bermuda run, so instead of taking Zenith every year to Bermuda I take
Explorer. I love the RCI Voyager class ships, and I've brought a lot of
family and friends on RCI ships, but personally, the elegance of Celebrity
and Cunard are more my "cup of tea".

What I have found though, is by taking Zenith out of the NYC-Bermuda run, I
do almost no Celebrity anymore. The Bermuda run was a trigger of sorts to
do other Celebrity sailings. Without Zenith going to Bermuda, I'm doing
more RCI, but I've also migrated to the likes of Cunard. The QM2 is now my
new favorite ship.

--Tom


  #15  
Old March 10th, 2009, 05:50 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Tom K
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,578
Default Cruise Critic Censorship


"D Ball" wrote in message
...
So if people were out on CC blasting these uber-positive and glow
reviews, on cruises they were offered for free, I would say people
have reason to be unhappy.


NWLB, Thanks for explaining. I agree, but don't think it's an issue,
as from what I've observed, every person invited on the complimentary
LOTS pre-inaugural 2-nighter was quick to crow about the fact they'd
been invited as RCI's guest--it was just too exciting and novel not to
share! (Can't win for losing: disclosure breeds the jealousy
threads.)

Did RCI *promise* you anything for spreading the word?


Peter, no. The actual contact with RCI has been minimal. I received a
form email out of the blue inviting me to the Liberty sailing.


Same with me... in fact, it simply was an e-mail that said in the title,
"Royal Caribbean has an offer for you". Then it asked to call a number that
was provided. I almost tossed it thinking it was something like a "free
credit card" type thing... but it had a person's name, so that was the only
reason I looked more carefully instead of simply deleting it. I called and
that's when the person described the opportunity to take a pre inaugural
sailing out of either Bayonne or Miami.

--Tom


  #16  
Old March 10th, 2009, 02:19 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
-hh
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 420
Default Cruise Critic Censorship

Charles wrote:

As far as Cruise Critic and RCI being cohorts, there had to be
collaboration between Cruise Critic and Royal Caribbean about the
Cruise Critic members who became Royal Champions. I don't know who did
the selection, but think about it, Cruise Critic members don't post
with e-mail addresses, they post with screen names. Cruise Critic had
to give Royal Caribbean a way to contact those people who were chosen.


This is suggesting that CC disclosed email addresses to RCI

From the CC Privacy Policy, URL he
http://www.cruisecritic.com/aboutus/index.cfm?ID=11

Quote:
We have adopted the following Principles of Privacy, which summarize
and clarify that commitment: how we safeguard your privacy and how we
treat personal information. We understand that for you to take full
advantage of our interactive medium, we must do everything we can to
ensure that your privacy is secure.

1. If we at any time ask for any personal information, we will not
give it out to anyone unless you tell us to do so or unless
specifically noted on contest entry forms that it will be shared with
a contest sponsor...

2. We do not give out to others information about where you personally
go on Cruise Critic.
....
5. We will keep you informed, clearly and prominently, about what we
do with any personal information you may supply to us, and we will
advise you if we change our policy.
....
This Privacy Policy is effective as of 11/12/2008.

For additional information regarding our Principles of Privacy, please
contact
It would appear that the $64K question would be for a 'Royal Champion'
to ask RCI specifically how they got their email address?

Of course, if one happens to use a unique email address for each
website registration, etc ... then you would know without having to
ask.


-hh
  #17  
Old March 10th, 2009, 02:45 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Tom K
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,578
Default Cruise Critic Censorship


"-hh" wrote in message
...

This is suggesting that CC disclosed email addresses to RCI

From the CC Privacy Policy, URL he
http://www.cruisecritic.com/aboutus/index.cfm?ID=11

Quote:
We have adopted the following Principles of Privacy, which summarize
and clarify that commitment: how we safeguard your privacy and how we
treat personal information. We understand that for you to take full
advantage of our interactive medium, we must do everything we can to
ensure that your privacy is secure.

1. If we at any time ask for any personal information, we will not
give it out to anyone unless you tell us to do so or unless
specifically noted on contest entry forms that it will be shared with
a contest sponsor...

2. We do not give out to others information about where you personally
go on Cruise Critic.
...
5. We will keep you informed, clearly and prominently, about what we
do with any personal information you may supply to us, and we will
advise you if we change our policy.
...
This Privacy Policy is effective as of 11/12/2008.

For additional information regarding our Principles of Privacy, please
contact

It would appear that the $64K question would be for a 'Royal Champion'
to ask RCI specifically how they got their email address?

Of course, if one happens to use a unique email address for each
website registration, etc ... then you would know without having to
ask.


-hh


Here's an easier way.

You go on an RCI cruise. You do the pre-registration on line. You have an
e-mail address registered with. You register for the Cruise Critic party on
board.

Now.... They have your CC name from that CC registration, and your e-mail
address from their data... VOILA... connection made.

--Tom


  #18  
Old March 10th, 2009, 07:39 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Warren[_1_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 476
Default Cruise Critic Censorship

On Mar 10, 9:45*am, "Tom K" wrote:

Here's an easier way.

You go on an RCI cruise. *You do the pre-registration on line. *You have an
e-mail address registered with. *You register for the Cruise Critic party on
board.


They would need to reconcile email differences.

I use a different email address for online forums and this newsgroup
than my private email
which I use for cruise embarkation registration and cruiseline
websites.My Royal Champion email comes
to the address I use for public forums/RTC - not the one associated
with Crown&Anchor.

Warren
  #19  
Old March 10th, 2009, 08:57 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
Tom K
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2,578
Default Cruise Critic Censorship


"Warren" wrote in message
...
On Mar 10, 9:45 am, "Tom K" wrote:

Here's an easier way.

You go on an RCI cruise. You do the pre-registration on line. You have an
e-mail address registered with. You register for the Cruise Critic party
on
board.


They would need to reconcile email differences.

I use a different email address for online forums and this newsgroup
than my private email
which I use for cruise embarkation registration and cruiseline
websites.My Royal Champion email comes
to the address I use for public forums/RTC - not the one associated
with Crown&Anchor.

Warren


RTC is different from CC... your e-mail isn't hidden at RTC. I was trying
to figure an easy way to make the CC connection.

--Tom


  #20  
Old March 10th, 2009, 09:46 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6
Default Cruise Critic Censorship

On Mar 10, 3:57*pm, "Tom K" wrote:
"Warren" wrote in message

...
On Mar 10, 9:45 am, "Tom K" wrote:



Here's an easier way.


You go on an RCI cruise. You do the pre-registration on line. You have an
e-mail address registered with. You register for the Cruise Critic party
on
board.


They would need to reconcile email differences.

I use a different email address for online forums and this newsgroup
than my private email
which I use for cruise embarkation registration and cruiseline
websites.My Royal Champion email comes
to the address I use for public forums/RTC - not the one associated
with Crown&Anchor.

Warren

RTC is different from CC... your e-mail isn't hidden at RTC. *I was trying
to figure an easy way to make the CC connection.

--Tom


It's on CC now. The moderator was asked for the emails of certain
posters but refused due to privacy rules. She was then asked to email
the posters and get their OK for release of their information. The
ones that said OK were given, hence CC played their part in helping a
cruiseline, which doesn't surprise me, they are part of a business
afterall and it's no shock to me that they, as other businesses i.e,
PR firms, TAs, the media, etc may be offered perks from the lines once
in a while, thats pretty much common knowledge but, for people who are
just 'regular' posters to be offered perks because of this RC thing
AND not disclose them association with a PR program is wrong. RCI did
hire a PR firm to start and oversee this program and while RCers for
the most part don't think they have or would ever be influenced to
change their opinion and they may not, this program is pretty much
basic Psych 101. While RCers really have nothing to be sorry about,
who wouldn't mind being a part of a program where you MAY be offered a
perk once in a while, RCI does for not being open about this right
from the start, even to RCers who say they had no idea what it was or
what was involved, but it doesn't surprise me that a business would
try to do something under the cloak of darkness. Any other businesses
that were involved in this PR ploy and tried to hide it and/or their
part in it, before or after the fact should be sorry also but at least
one seems to want to deny, deny, deny still instead of just saying we
could have and possibly should have handled it differently.
 




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