FoS makes UK Press

Biker group on board..... sigh. Link here.

It looks like everyone except the family that was complaining had a great time. :)

Not good press for Royal Caribbean at all.

 

Had I been onboard that cruise with my family, I would also been absolutely horrified.

 

I am relatively good with doing picture reviews. You would certainly be seeing my picture review of that cruise right here on cruise critic!!

Bikers cruises are from what I heard lots of fun. have been hoping I would eventually luck into one of their cruises, though I'm not going to go out of my way looking for the charter.

The video looked like the same one that Royal does but with more spectators!!

 

Just goes to show-It's not your ship and other people may be on, in large groups having a great time.

 

Great press for Royal. Loved this:

 

A spokesman said: ‘We welcome all groups who choose to sail with us and we are not prejudiced against any guests.

‘On this particular sailing, the majority of customers had a great holiday.’

 

 

If Royal would only cater to the Mrs.Empsons of the world, that would be bad press!!!

That is alot of bikers and looks like they were the majority on the cruisers, however, all cruises have groups on board where the ship blocks sections or rooms for "private events". Every ship, regardless of cruiseline, does this.

 

Royal is knows for its belly flop, Miss Bicep, Sexiest Man, hairiest leg contests. And I have seen some complete strangers (female judges) getting very frisky with the competitors. I look forward to these fun afternoons, although I admit sometimes I cringe at the behavior, but its all good in the end. I've also seen some couples get amorous (no sex though) in the hot tubs and pools. She didn't exactly say she saw that so why its been reported is vague.

 

I sympathize for the complainant, although she and her kids look a little uptight in the pictures, and wonder if this was their first cruise. Cruising is no longer for the newlywed and nearly dead. She expected a cruise filled with retirees??? Where has she been the last 10 years. I think it was nice of Royal to give them anything.

I happened to be in Panama City Beach FL during an annual bike rally. There were a lot of professional people, doctors, lawyers, teachers etc. that were part of the group and spent more money on their bikes and trailers that I spent on my car. So contrary to popular belief not all bikers are not Hell's Angels.

What she doesn't realize is that the High Seas Rally is an extremely succesfull fundraiser. There are a number of dialysis patients on board getting a great vacation and their needed treatment (nurses, equipment etc...) provided by the money raised by that "rowdy" group. That group also pays a premium for their cabins in order to take part, raise money etc... I am waiting for the time I can catch one of those trips and plan on having a ball. Just goes to show you can't please everyone. When is the next one??

Is she serious? I am all for "family cruising" but she was "disgusted by the bellyflop contest". She needs to stay away from any mainstream cruise.

 

I can imagine that ANY group that size would take over a cruise but come on - she seems a little dramatic.

 

And they are a fundraiser cruise.

 

Am I the only one who googles my sailing date and ship name before I leave to make sure we don't have large groups?

she seems a little dramatic.

 

Considering the article wasn't exactly printed in the New York Times, I guess we need to consider the source. Gotta love the UK press. (No offense, Brits--we have our share, too!)

 

Teddie

Considering the article wasn't exactly printed in the New York Times, I guess we need to consider the source. Gotta love the UK press. (No offense, Brits--we have our share, too!)

 

Teddie

 

I was thinking the same thing - isn't the Daily Mail like our National Enquirer?

I was thinking the same thing - isn't the Daily Mail like our National Enquirer?

 

I think you are correct :)

 

Teddie.

She sounds like a stuck up prude to me....

 

Can't wait to see the fall out from the Carnvial Drag Queen cruise

she sounds like a stuck up prude to me....

 

Can't wait to see the fall out from the carnvial drag queen cruise

 

lol!!!

I have a good friend that cruises annually on this Hogs of the High Seas fundraiser. While it may be a tad intimidating, the bikers on these cruises are all fairly wealthy professionals and generally are paying rates 2 and 3 times the amount that the rest of us pay. It really is a very charitable group doing some great work. I know some of the activities may be unconventional, but I could not imagine them being out of line. I think this woman's complaints might be on some of the activities that normally occur on cruises (like the belly flop contest and other pool side activities). I do believe the dress code is changed though to be more casual.

 

Their work with Dialysis patients is wonderful. Among other things, they pay for some patients to come onboard with them:

"We also bring approx.16 bikers onboard every cruise that are on Kidney dialysis machines. Since they are unable to travel, we pay for and bring the dialysis machines and medical staff onboard for their treatments, give each of them a Balcony Suite, pay for their round trip airfare and give them $400 to spend during the week….all FREE. Because, they need to have fun too."

I agree with you all - nothing in the description or photos is over the top or unusual for a Royal Caribbean cruise. Of the many times that we've sailed Royal Caribbean, we've never seen the belly flop or sexiest man contests because they're just not our thing, but we've been able to successfully avoid them by doing something else on the ship. I wonder why this family didn't do the same? It's way too easy to find alternative activities - one of the many reasons we love RCI.

 

@crusinmama06: Nope, we google our cruises as well to see if there are any large groups or themes. Our next cruise turned out to be a Cajun Music cruise, which might be fun!

 

PS - that's so great that the Biker group was raising money for a good cause.

I hope she didn't go to The Quest. It can be quite shocking. :D

 

I sympathize with someone who planned a relaxing cruise and found themselves surrounded by a specialty group that booked out a large number of cabins. It as not the vacation they planned. But I think they missed a chance to discover a vacation unplanned by talking and getting to know some of the group members and finding out why they like doing such a cruise.

 

Bikers, Christians, and many, many more groups take over cruise ships, hotels for a weekend, and so on. If you really do not want to cruise with such a group, you need to do your own research. Cruise lines make money off these groups. They know if they disclose, others will not want to book the remaining cabins. So you need to use a search engine and determine yourself if that ship and date coincide with any special group offers.

Well... If you book a cruise on a +3.500 passenger ship... There are gonna be some other passengers onboard.

 

Frequent CC board readers realize it could just as easily have been a group of noisy teenagers blocking the stairs who ruined her cruise.

 

Of course one could easily argue a group of bikers tend to be a bit louder than your average stateroom neighbor. But a cruise is a cruise. There are gonna be a lot of people with other values than you onboard.

 

If it's that important not to be disturbed by people pushing the limits of fun, maybe cruising is the wrong kind of vacation.

 

With that said I'm sure I would have made a lot of new friends and have the time of my life on that cruise. :cool:

We were on a Freedom cruise with a bunch of bikers, had a great time. On the cruise from the OP, Twenty five hundred of them, wow, what a party and who ever was the travel agency who booked them, almost a full ship. I wonder how far in advance this was booked.

I was thinking the same thing - isn't the Daily Mail like our National Enquirer?

 

I think you are correct :)

 

Teddie.

I wouldn't consider the Daily Mail anything like the National Enquirer which, according to Wikipedia is considered a supermarket tabloid. The Daily Mail is a daily national newspaper, although also considered a tabloid, but a middle market one, whatever that means :D

 

They got a full credit for a future cruise, so they just need to be careful next time, not bad though 2 cruises for the price of 1

She sounds like a stuck up prude to me....

 

What a sanctimonious thing to say

Good job its the season of goodwill.

I wouldn't consider the Daily Mail anything like the National Enquirer which, according to Wikipedia is considered a supermarket tabloid. The Daily Mail is a daily national newspaper, although also considered a tabloid, but a middle market one, whatever that means :D

 

 

Thanks, Pete, for the clarification. I guess, then, the Daily Mail is a few steps up from the old "News of the World" :)

 

Teddie

Not good press for Royal Caribbean at all.

 

Had I been onboard that cruise with my family, I would also been absolutely horrified.

 

I am relatively good with doing picture reviews. You would certainly be seeing my picture review of that cruise right here on cruise critic!!

 

Why would you have been absolutely horrified? Is there something wrong with people gathering together to raise money for dialysis patients? Are you often horrified by charity groups?

looks like a fun time to me!

The article made it seem like the Biker group initiated their own belly-flop (or belly-smacker, I think they called it, lol) contest--it's been a while since I've sailed with RCI, but isn't that on every cruise?

 

They looked like they were all having a good time. Having sex in the hot tub is most definitely a no-no, but, unfortunately, one doesn't have to be cruising with bikers to see inappropriate behavior while on board.

 

I can sympathize with someone who is not used to being around bikers being a little intimidated, but most bikers I've been around are friendly people. When I was a teenage rebel hanging out in Hollywood, the bikers were the ones watching out for us, making sure we weren't harassed by anyone.

 

I do think that, with such a large group, it's only fair for RCI to let other passengers know ahead of time. There were a number of Carnival cruises recently "taken over" by youth dancing competitions, and while the participants had a blast, others who reviewed the cruises weren't thrilled to be sharing the ship with the contestants and their groups.

 

I'm inspired to hear about the fundraising for dialysis. Good stuff!