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#301
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Couple more questions... HAL's new tipping policy - Here'sHow...
George Leppla wrote:
"Tom & Linda" wrote in message But George, you seemed like you SO wanted Mickey to take the Princess to the ball. Actually, I would have much preferred that Carnival Corp take over NCL. As a supplier, Princess was doing very well on their own and were easy for TA's to work with. (That hasn't changed). NCL was a nightmare to deal with and since Star bought them out, they have become even worse. Their cruise product isn't bad but dealing with them on a daily basis continually reinforces my opinion that they are the most inefficient, mismanaged company in the cruise industry. Fair point. There's concern about Carnival owning too much, so if not Carnival who else? RCI? In the long run, I am not sure that any of this matters. Cruise lines policies... whether it be pricing, tipping, commissions, advertising, etc... are all customer driven. If enough people dislike HAL's tipping and NCL's service fee, they will move to other lines and these companies will change their policy. If enough travel agents dislike NCL's back office ineptitude, they will promote other cruise lines. The mass group of people not liking various policies will tend to grumble for awhile and then be appeased by something else. It is all a numbers/majority game, IMO. We're ruled by popularity, achieved through influence and repetition of visibility/audibility. Now you are lumping cruise lines together, which influences my feeling about this. Customer driven--or a skillfully controlled audience? Some of both. Corporations produce what's provided, they make up the ideas, tests what they can get away with and make reasonably popular, and makes it the norm, especially if they catch the audience at the right time. Throw out some ideas, test them, measure the responses, habits, how much are they willing to pay for it? The majority of cruise surveys look like this. They aren't blank slates, they tend to be based on trends. The audience can branch out from the ideas provided. I think when customers vote no, then they wield some power, but deprivation isn't a compromise many accept. I don't know how many customers ask for more advertising, yet it has grown steadily. I don't know if customers that ask for something more inclusive will be provided if, carefully presented, a majority of them can be shown to prefer a la carte. What actual drive is in the customer's hands that produce variety? I haven't found customers to be very diverse on a pie-popular overall large scale, a lot of people seem to follow the trend. Large outfits seem to accurately represent follow the trend, are more than happy to provide stock. But, there is diversity in raw numbers, if not the percentage of the total and growing number of customers. To bring this to HAL, it wasn't a large outfit. It is significant in raw numbers but not a majority-pie popular attractor. So I don't believe HAL's newer policies are HAL-customer driven. IMO, they are swing customer driven and the idea to go swing was a corporate directive, IMO, based on expanding the line which gained more momentum with the Vista ships and is in the form of the Vista ships. Focus on a generic customer shields this important distinction. Ben S. Things have a way of shaking out. |
#303
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Couple more questions... HAL's new tipping policy - Here'sHow...
A Thu, 12 Aug 2004 00:36:48 GMT, "Tom & Linda"
escribió: You might have a better chance of pursuing an FTC-related issue by asserting oligopoly (in this case duopoly). However, Carnival's acquisition of Princess was reviewed by the FTC. Here's what the experts said: George W. appointed a moron who was pro merger. So casually you dismiss anyone you disagree with? It was a commission of experts, not one person. Read up a bit more. -- bicker® http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/D...ry_040602.html |
#304
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A Thu, 12 Aug 2004 00:36:48 GMT, "Tom & Linda"
escribió: You might have a better chance of pursuing an FTC-related issue by asserting oligopoly (in this case duopoly). However, Carnival's acquisition of Princess was reviewed by the FTC. Here's what the experts said: George W. appointed a moron who was pro merger. So casually you dismiss anyone you disagree with? It was a commission of experts, not one person. Read up a bit more. -- bicker® http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/D...ry_040602.html |
#305
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Couple more questions... HAL's new tipping policy - Here'sHow...
A Thu, 12 Aug 2004 02:49:57 GMT, Benjamin Smith
escribió: Cool it, Bicker. Charles uses the word in that way as short for "virtual" monopoly. No, it isn't the "strict" definition of the term. I'm not claiming that Carnival is a monopoly. The argument is impact on consumers, Carnival's savvy enough not to break the law, yet. In other words, you can't defend the hyperbole posted earlier. If you can't defend it, you should probably not call attention to it by posting that you can't defend it. -- bicker® http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/D...ry_040602.html |
#306
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A Thu, 12 Aug 2004 02:49:57 GMT, Benjamin Smith
escribió: Cool it, Bicker. Charles uses the word in that way as short for "virtual" monopoly. No, it isn't the "strict" definition of the term. I'm not claiming that Carnival is a monopoly. The argument is impact on consumers, Carnival's savvy enough not to break the law, yet. In other words, you can't defend the hyperbole posted earlier. If you can't defend it, you should probably not call attention to it by posting that you can't defend it. -- bicker® http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/D...ry_040602.html |
#307
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Couple more questions... HAL's new tipping policy - Here'sHow...
A Wed, 11 Aug 2004 20:41:20 -0400, Charles
escribió: In article , *bicker* wrote: What I think is irrelevant; what you think is also irrelevant. Status as a dominant supplier is a decision made by legal authorities. Carnival was investigated. They're clear. I guess you don't have a mind of your own. I do indeed. I think you're blinded by your own perspective, and unwilling to recognize that the commission investigate both sides of the issue and, as experts, determined the truth. Y'know this self-serving blind bias of yours and Ben's doesn't actually *help* customers. It just spreads irrational discontent. -- bicker® http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/D...ry_040602.html |
#308
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A Wed, 11 Aug 2004 20:41:20 -0400, Charles
escribió: In article , *bicker* wrote: What I think is irrelevant; what you think is also irrelevant. Status as a dominant supplier is a decision made by legal authorities. Carnival was investigated. They're clear. I guess you don't have a mind of your own. I do indeed. I think you're blinded by your own perspective, and unwilling to recognize that the commission investigate both sides of the issue and, as experts, determined the truth. Y'know this self-serving blind bias of yours and Ben's doesn't actually *help* customers. It just spreads irrational discontent. -- bicker® http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/D...ry_040602.html |
#309
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A Wed, 11 Aug 2004 20:41:20 -0400, Charles
escribió: In article , *bicker* wrote: What I think is irrelevant; what you think is also irrelevant. Status as a dominant supplier is a decision made by legal authorities. Carnival was investigated. They're clear. I guess you don't have a mind of your own. I do indeed. I think you're blinded by your own perspective, and unwilling to recognize that the commission investigate both sides of the issue and, as experts, determined the truth. Y'know this self-serving blind bias of yours and Ben's doesn't actually *help* customers. It just spreads irrational discontent. -- bicker® http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/D...ry_040602.html |
#310
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Couple more questions... HAL's new tipping policy - Here'sHow...
A Thu, 12 Aug 2004 02:52:18 GMT, Benjamin Smith
escribió: *bicker* wrote: What I think is irrelevant; what you think is also irrelevant. Status as a dominant supplier is a decision made by legal authorities. Carnival was investigated. They're clear. Scary. Sounds Borg like. So I guess you also don't have any rationale for your objection to what I posted, besides your personal dislike for what is happening. As I said to Charles: This blind bias doesn't actually *help* customers. It just spreads irrational discontent. -- bicker® http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/D...ry_040602.html |
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