Cruise Director bashes Cruise Critic at Meet & Greet

[The_Big_M]

Everyone has the right to different opinions and impressions.

 

Indeed. Glad you accept mine now. :)

[The_Big_M]

BTW, I was not talking about that particular incident, with my comments.

 

Well, that's very odd given you quoted me and then began your post with "I don't look at it as..." when I was commenting on the statements presented in the incident.

[The_Big_M]

Celebrity Shore Excursions:

Why would you trust your experience to anyone else?

 

 

1 Guaranteed

first off the ship

 

2 No cancellation

penalty

 

3 Guaranteed

return to ship

 

 

 

Guests on our tours enjoy priority departure in port

 

A change in plans is hassle-free

 

If your tour is delayed, we won't sail without you*

 

The only thing is I've seen the ship sail without a shipboard excursion group. Granted there was a good reason, and they flew them on to make the next port of call, as I'd expect, but it does make the above untrue.

Edited July 18, 2014 by The_Big_M

[The_Big_M]

I'm confused:confused: When did HIDING problems start equally transparency?

 

I agree that there are times to not bring up problems. However all the definitions I can find for transparent (beyond transmission of light) deal with open and honest, which is NOT hiding problems.

 

Welcome to modern marketing and spin. ;-) Words may mean whatever the writer/speaker wants them to...

[ReneeFLL]

The only thing is I've seen the ship sail without a shipboard excursion group. Granted there was a good reason, and they flew them on to make the next port of call, as I'd expect, but it does make the above untrue.

Maybe that is why there is an asterisk at the end of the sentence where they won't sail without you.

Sailing without them and then flying them to the next port is so not the same thing as sailing without them and then they are on their own.

[ny cruisequeen]

We are elite plus and know that shore excursions are given priority over priority tender. This was especially so on the Solstice although perhaps not as noticeable on the millennium class ships. We asked at the time and were told shore excursion guests are priority for tenders. I had never seen this in writing until I saw it in a flier I received in the last month from Celebrity. I have cut and pasted it below:-

 

 

Celebrity Shore Excursions:

Why would you trust your experience to anyone else?

 

 

1 Guaranteed

first off the ship

 

2 No cancellation

penalty

 

3 Guaranteed

return to ship

 

 

 

Guests on our tours enjoy priority departure in port

 

A change in plans is hassle-free

 

If your tour is delayed, we won't sail without you*

 

 

We had Celebrity excursion tickets for the Flam Railroad. The day before, we were so exhausted, (this fabulous cruise was very port intensive) that we decided to turn in our tickets so we could sleep late and rest. We felt walking around town was just perfect for us for that day.

 

My DH went to turn in the tickets and was told they would decide later whether we would still have to pay for them. They want 24 hour notice. As it turned out, they accepted the tickets with no penalty.

 

Had we turned them in later, they would have made us pay. Which I totally understand. But do not think that a "no cancellation policy" and a "change in plans is hassle free" does not mean you can cancel last last minute and not have to pay.

 

I think it is fair, but not clear enough. Everything should be explicitly written out...transparency! You would have to pay any private guide if you cancelled last minute on them, too!

 

As to "first off the ship", many many times we have had to wait (up to 45 minutes and a few times even longer) in the auditorium, (past our printed tour meeting time), with those stickers on our shirts, for the ship to announce our tour is leaving. That is one of the unpleasant aspects of a large group tour.

 

People get anxious and antsy and they rush to pass you across the ship to go down that gangplank and get first choice of seats on the bus. We would much prefer to get off and just get onto the bus, but I guess they have to control and organize so many people that this system works for them. I just do not enjoy it.

 

As to priority tender, I can understand that they need to get whole bus loads of people off together so that everyone can board the bus for their ship excursion. Tendering is always a problem. Good tour guides know about this. I suggest that you discuss this with potential tour guides and those you share the excursion with. That you arrange to meet onboard and get off together, and the guide knows your time on shore might be compromised. You have to factor that in beforehand, so your tour will not "be ruined".

Edited July 18, 2014 by ny cruisequeen

[NLH Arizona]

Well, that's very odd given you quoted me and then began your post with "I don't look at it as..." when I was commenting on the statements presented in the incident.

I quoted you, because you made this statement: Whatever happened to the free market? Who knew that we were compelled to book excursions with the cruise line? And I said, I don't look at it as they are trying to compel everyone to book their excursions, even though they would love if everyone did. I look at it as they don't want someone selling someone else's product on their ship that they sell. It would be like someone selling dresses inside Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus at a lower cost than what the stores sell them for. There are many ways to still set up alternative (non cruise line) shore excursions, one just doesn't have to do it in the face of the cruise line. And I was voicing my opinion that I understood how a cruise line would feel about someone selling a product they sell on their premises (just like any other company) and that there is a way to still continue to do it without doing it in front of the cruise line knowing, which obviously the cruise line knows this is done, otherwise the comment would not have been made. For all we know, the CD's comment could have come from something that happened on a cruise previous to the one where the incident happened, but it doesn't change the facts that no company wants products they sell, sold to their customers while on their property by someone else.

[RDC1]

The following is a clause in the cruise contract that everyone must agree to before they cruise:

 

Nothing in this Agreement shall grant to Passenger any right to sell products to or provide services to other guests

onboard the Cruise or CruiseTour and Passenger shall be prohibited from doing so

 

Now usually the ships staff pretty much ignores small scale stuff, but the language is there in the agreement.

 

No one is saying that people cannot or should not do private tours. The place where it crosses the line and violates the agreement is when people are recruited or business is transacted on the ship (as in exchange of money). When one person pays a tour provider and collects money from others (outside of their booking group) for the tour they are providing a service.

 

The cruise line does not restrict someone from taking private tours, they do however, have language in the contract that forbids someone from making arrangements to do so in an organized fashion on board ship.

 

Keep your private tours arrangements off ship and low key and no issues. Put it out there in a blatant fashion, with noticeable transactions on ship and you will probably get similar reactions.

 

I am not surprised that a CD might be sensitive to the revenue question considering, as I understand it, that the CD staff has recently been significantly downsized. The cuts taking place with the change in spa providers with some functions, such as zumba, that were recently donw by the CD staff at not cost becoming fee based and done by the spa staff.

Edited July 18, 2014 by RDC1

[ORV]

I've asked that question twice, without a response. If the set-up crew overheard the shore excursion planning, they could have mentioned it to one of the officers or CD.

 

Highly Unlikely.

 

I'm confused:confused: When did HIDING problems start equally transparency?

 

I agree that there are times to not bring up problems. However all the definitions I can find for transparent (beyond transmission of light) deal with open and honest, which is NOT hiding problems.

 

LOL, I thought the same thing when I read that.

[NLH Arizona]

Highly Unlikely.

 

Well, something set the CD off, why do you think he made this inappropriate rant? The CD didn't do it on my last cruise or on any cruise I've ever been on, so something had to set him off. Edited July 18, 2014 by NLH Arizona

[Cindy]

We had Celebrity excursion tickets for the Flam Railroad. The day before, we were so exhausted, (this fabulous cruise was very port intensive) that we decided to turn in our tickets so we could sleep late and rest. We felt walking around town was just perfect for us for that day.

 

My DH went to turn in the tickets and was told they would decide later whether we would still have to pay for them. They want 24 hour notice. As it turned out, they accepted the tickets with no penalty.

 

Had we turned them in later, they would have made us pay. Which I totally understand. But do not think that a "no cancellation policy" and a "change in plans is hassle free" does not mean you can cancel last last minute and not have to pay.

 

I think it is fair, but not clear enough. Everything should be explicitly written out...transparency! You would have to pay any private guide if you cancelled last minute on them, too!

 

 

I am looking at the Shore Excursions Order Form that was in my cabin on the Constellation in May when we boarded. Under Important Information it states, "Exchanges: The deadline for exchanges is 24 hours before the tour is scheduled."

 

 

 

How did they know who was on their tours and who wasn't? Where did they stop the people? Did they have a list of names that they checked when people were trying to get off? On the cruises (Celebrity and RC) that I have been on I have never seen this. Either it didn't happen or I wasn't aware of it. On my cruises they would get the ship tour people to gather off of the ship and then march them off to their bus. Also, the ship tours were scheduled at different times since there were several in a day. All the passengers were coming and going as they pleased. Didn't someone complain? I would have been super ticked and they would not have heard the end of it from me. That is just plain wrong. I would also never, ever sail on that cruise line again.

 

I think you just seriously shortened the list of cruise lines you will consent to cruise on!:eek:

 

We had heard/read much about ALL cruise lines trying to give their tours a head-start on the immigration process in St. Petersburg, with the worst offender apparently being Princess a couple years ago when they were physically barring independent passengers from disembarking. We had also been encouraged by our tour company to try to get off as early as possible.

 

Here's our experience...

 

We were up very early and met our group down in Café al Bacio as pre-arranged at 6:45. We knew the ship had arrived early, and at about 7:15 we were a little puzzled that the only announcement had been there would be an announcement when it was OK to disembark. My husband went and looked out the window, and saw they were taking the Celebrity tours off from the theater and out the forward gangway.

 

We went ahead and mixed in with those passengers and we were through immigration and on our van/bus ready to start touring right at 8:00. I did hear later that some of the people who waited for an announcement were stuck on the stairs for 30 minutes and the earliest anyone met their guide was at 8:30.

 

Celebrity wasn't doing anything wrong -- they certainly weren't prohibiting anyone from leaving the ship -- they were just trying to give their tours an advantage in the immigration lines by failing to announce disembarkation. I don't have a problem with that. It's a little sneaky, but the cruise line has the right to try to honor their commitment to passengers that Celebrity tours will disembark first. That said, I'm glad we were informed and savvy enough to investigate so that we could disembark and start our tour.:)

[In Retirement]

I would suggest that following this experience and complaint, most of the initiative would go away if there was a post that this was an "unfortunate mistake" and that this specific cruise line wishes to promote the vacation experience of all of its passengers, regardless of cultural and other individual characteristics. Likewise, it only offers, but does not coerce, selection of any of its supplemental services (port excursions, beverage service, casino, photography, specialized dinning, spa, shops, etc.). Although some people think that we misinterpreted our CC meeting experience, I would like those who continue with this position to also indicate whether they were in attendance at this specific meeting. I can tell you that many of us, well-trained in the understanding of human behavior interpreted this experience in the same negative manner and were shocked. This was not one of those "internet rumors" and was not seen by anybody as an attempt at humor. Don't give either the captain or the cruise line an easy pass here. Celebrity knew many Cruise Critic members who were on board: all who registered received invitations, remember? Nobody (that I know of) received any harassment following this meeting, but I certainly had no interest in forming a bond with the CD (don't care why he left HAL or why he no longer led a jazz band and certainly considered that he had no limits to his sense of self-confidence or self-worth). I believe that people who wondered what my question to the captain was, also engaged in "mind-reading." Actually, my question had to do with identification of navigational challenges during our cruise (very non-paranoid, content-appropriate). The captain is not the President of the United States, and I am not a cruise ship "groupie." Subsequently, I was told elsewhere about the Norwegian control of the ship and also had a very sweet experience with the Hotel Manager on the floating dock at Geiranger. He saw me taking a picture of my wife and approached me offering to take a picture of both of us (much appreciated). I am not paranoid about this experience. If Celebrity does not want CC business, there is plenty of competition.

 

As what happens because we are just human and the topic is emotion-provoking, people (not on the ship, not at the meeting, not participating in any non-cruiseline outing) are commenting. "Seems that people present just "misunderstood" British humor, etc." And then there are hundreds of statements for the value of individually-planned port excursions. This has almost devolved into what happens with a discussion of the dress code here.

 

Please understand that all who paid attention took this as a serious and personal threat. We had a A- (at least) Roll Call in which a variety of private and other port activity options were mentioned online, but discussion of individual issues were discussed off-site by email. I have never participated in a transatlantic cruise Roll Call where this activity was not prevalent. So far we don't know what we did wrong. I can tell you that JC arrived and he had this prepared tirade and in totality it was against Cruise Critic (yes, a site where Celebrity posts ads, and through the miracle of the modern internet and maybe Google, I receive more than my share of communications shot from this company.

 

This has been a useful discussion of OUR specific experience, a comprehensive discussion of ship excursions, and some one-way discussion of Cruise Critic and its use. Certainly all commercial interests would just prefer we read ads and send in our money, but these very profitable web sites seem to attract people who want to learn more in their travel experience -- and specifically TripAdvisor promotes itself as the "thinking person's" resource. I really don't care how much its CEO makes in a year if it helps me plan and achieve my travel objectives. Indeed, on this trip (four weeks) I located/booked my hotel in Basel, learned about travel options in Belgium, learned that a stay at the Amsterdam Marriott provided access to washers/dryers (at our trip midpoint) and allowed reading of what people found "fun" at about two dozen locations. Obviously, much of this information promotes private decisions and educational activity. We can all agree that effective use of our brains is a good idea amongst the 65+ crowd?

 

My basic position is that none of us can accurately assume what JC was out to prove and until we hear from Celebrity about their expectations, our ability to adjust this experience in our memories is problematic. As an aside, I can only say that Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, in my personal last-year experience, fails in its pre-cruise communication with its passengers: don't provide email addresses and then staff the service so that meaningful responses do not appear in a timely manner! I can only compare my last efforts (last winter, this spring) with last summer's communication with Princess. In this regard, I always had private email communication with specific people at their corporate headquarters, with at least an 80% improvement as a result. Can't imagine why Celebrity has moved its Call Center away from Florida (this way their assigned people can only be useful if you can't read and understand their website).

 

It seems that TA/CC provides useful information that does not support all cruise line motivations, but focuses on the quality of an individual's vacation experience? In this regard, I'm a TA/CC advocate, you bet!

DJ

[NLH Arizona]

If Celebrity does not want CC business, there is plenty of competition.

 

Other than this CD, who I believe most have said made an inappropriate comment, who else from Celebrity has said that they don't want CC business? I don’t know, I’m now starting to think that some are protesting too much. Not in any way saying the incident didn't happen as stated, but really wonder what happened prior to the time the meet and greet started or during the meet and greet. Edited July 18, 2014 by NLH Arizona

[patty1955]

Other than this CD, who I believe most have said made an inappropriate comment, who else from Celebrity has said that they don't want CC business? I don’t know, I’m now starting to think that some are protesting too much. Not in any way saying the incident didn't happen as stated, but really wonder what happened prior to the time the meet and greet started or during the meet and greet.

It sounds like you're asking "what did you do to deserve it?". I'm sure that's not what you mean, but that's how is coming across.

CDs are trained public relations people. There shouldn't be ANY passenger behavior that could provoke such a response to an entire group.

[Kevnzworld]

I just wish that the ship scheduled the CC M&G's at more convenient times. I'm not a fan of them anyway.

Many roll calls set up sail aways after the muster drill, it's much easier to meet people and work out planned excursions in that environment.

[spiritdfilly]

Hubby and I were also among those attending this particular CC M&G and found the CD's deliberate comment to be in really bad form. Just want to reiterate what others at that mtg. have confirmed- There was NO active solicitation, nor money handling taking place during the course of this distasteful and subsequently brief mtg. No, the CD was not trying to disarm us with his version of amusing repartee; he was insulting and whether his words were his own or he was following the cruise line's directive, we were all too taken by surprise to publicly comment at the time. Indeed, you COULD have heard a pin drop in the room following his ill-chosen remark. >It's not rocket science, that it is hardly an advisable marketing ploy- to bite the hand that feeds you!

All private tour reservations were handled discreetly off-line via private e mail, prior to boarding this ship and the few that required pre-payment were handled in a corner with equal discretion earlier than AND away from the area the cc mtg was to take place in. Except for a dance class going on where the mtg was set to take place an hour later, (and of course I could be wrong about any attention we drew to our small group), no staff seemed to be visibly circulating that would have overheard/seen anything that transpired. The person(s) who both researched and took responsibility for organizing said small,<non-profit> tours, saw them through execution with as much prudence and as privately as could reasonably have been expected either from CC monitors or, Celebrity itself and are to be commended for their effort and energies on behalf of interested and involved CC travelers.

 

A separate, but extended issue, are shipboard tour offerings....We are among those seasoned cruisers who prefer to avoid the overpriced cruise tours, which are nearly always more restrictive/regimented in terms of itineraries and timing. Often, these cruise ship tours are little more than crowded cattle calls, replete with shopping stops that kick back monies to the cruise lines for patronizing them. We take seriously our time in each port and weigh our options- all of them, carefully and I guess, we are among a growing group of people willing to take the very small risk of missing the port departure time because of our private tour. If Celebrity and other cruise lines choose to whine about revenues lost from the paltry number of CC members opting to explore shore stops on their own, then they need to share responsibility for this dip in revenue and become more adaptive in type/style and price point, in order to survive and rise above these purported losses. It's that simple. When they can organize far more reasonably priced small group excursions, less prone to arbitrary cancellations because they don't fill quotas, then other more sophisticated travelers will stop doing their job for them! I respect each person's right to take advantage of travel and touring that best appeals to them and in turn, expect others and the cruise lines to respect my right to cherry pick through the offerings and opt for alternatives when/if it suits me....Different strokes for different folks people. ~Happy trails all

Edited July 18, 2014 by spiritdfilly

[In Retirement]

Other than this CD, who I believe most have said made an inappropriate comment, who else from Celebrity has said that they don't want CC business? I don’t know, I’m now starting to think that some are protesting too much. Not in any way saying the incident didn't happen as stated, but really wonder what happened prior to the time the meet and greet started or during the meet and greet.

 

Unless you attended this specific meeting or are an organizational consultant with Celebrity, what is the goal for your quest for other interpretations? This experience happened -- this experience represented the total meeting: it was not a brief quip taken out of context, the CD had our undivided attention and took no questions/comments. The only content we remember starting with JC's arrival was a discussion of how CC is having a negative effect on the cruise industry to CC members who were motivated enough to show up. A secondary discussion was about how CC members discuss issues not using their actual names and how this was problematic and didn't "we" want to know who some people were? Obviously we would be concerned. Three names were put forth, two of us were there and foolishly raised our hands! It didn't take previous experience with the East German secret police (Stasi) to become unwilling to express any opinion (therefore this outpouring a couple of weeks later).

 

As I now see it, my possible reactions to this experience include: (1) avoid CC meetings onboard; (2) avoid generally useful postings, such as those who identify internet alternatives and comments from other sources, such as TA or just readings from previous passengers, and (3) taking the vast majority of useful planning information off-site. Obviously RC does not remain my favorite option, all other things being equal. Truthfully, since 2008 this has been my only negative experience directly related to cruise line management. We were quite lucky to have consistently good weather and sea conditions and the itinerary was remarkable. Interesting that we were on the last of these planned voyages.

DJ

[NLH Arizona]

It sounds like you're asking "what did you do to deserve it?". I'm sure that's not what you mean, but that's how is coming across.

CDs are trained public relations people. There shouldn't be ANY passenger behavior that could provoke such a response to an entire group.

You are right and if you look at my post, I said that the CD was inappropriate. I just don't understand what set him off. I don't think it came out of the blue. If they were selling the excursions or collecting money and the CD saw them, he should have taken the person aside after the meeting and in a private conversation said what they were doing was against the rules and if they were seen doing it again, they could be put off the ship.

 

What got my dander up was this comment: If Celebrity does not want CC business, there is plenty of competition. First off, I don't think Celebrity, as a company said in any way shape or form, that they didn't want Cruise Critic members' business and secondly, I'm a member of Cruise Critic and I don't think anyone can speak for Cruise Critic management or the other members (mainly me), in saying that we would consider Celebrity's competition.

Edited July 18, 2014 by NLH Arizona

[Tony UK]

It would be nice if Celebrity moved to put out this fire before the weekend, but it looks like that isn't going to happen. A pity because that's when lots of cc members get time to read the boards.....

[NLH Arizona]

Unless you attended this specific meeting or are an organizational consultant with Celebrity, what is the goal for your quest for other interpretations? This experience happened -- this experience represented the total meeting: it was not a brief quip taken out of context, the CD had our undivided attention and took no questions/comments. The only content we remember starting with JC's arrival was a discussion of how CC is having a negative effect on the cruise industry to CC members who were motivated enough to show up. A secondary discussion was about how CC members discuss issues not using their actual names and how this was problematic and didn't "we" want to know who some people were? Obviously we would be concerned. Three names were put forth, two of us were there and foolishly raised our hands! It didn't take previous experience with the East German secret police (Stasi) to become unwilling to express any opinion (therefore this outpouring a couple of weeks later).

 

As I now see it, my possible reactions to this experience include: (1) avoid CC meetings onboard; (2) avoid generally useful postings, such as those who identify internet alternatives and comments from other sources, such as TA or just readings from previous passengers, and (3) taking the vast majority of useful planning information off-site. Obviously RC does not remain my favorite option, all other things being equal. Truthfully, since 2008 this has been my only negative experience directly related to cruise line management. We were quite lucky to have consistently good weather and sea conditions and the itinerary was remarkable. Interesting that we were on the last of these planned voyages.

DJ

What is the goal for other interpretations, simple, because you brought up the subject on a public form and we are able to find out what happened, since in at least one case, you seem to be speaking for all Cruise Critic members. If you read my posts, I in no way ever said the incident didn't happen and also said it was inappropriate. One person who posted said that all the excursion business was done before the meeting started and then another said it was not done there....it is a little confusing when there is different information from people who were attending and I was very curious as to what set off the CD to make such an ignorant rant. I don't think he just woke up that morning and said I'm going to make a fool of myself.

 

I just don't understand saying that Celebrity doesn't want Cruise Critic member's business, when one and only one person obviously said some stupid ignorant statements, and then to insinuate that Cruise Critic members would go to Celebrity's competition.

 

Are you now equating Celebrity to the East German secret police (Stasi), do you really think that by them knowing your real name, they are going to retaliate for something you said. On my last meet and greet (with another cruise line), they had a sign up sheet with our Cruise Critic name and real name and 100 percent filled in the information with no thought of any malic by the cruise line.

 

It is your decision what you will do in the future, I've always found the Cruise Critic meet and greets to be great, been able to speak my mind freely and have been able to meet some wonderful people, many that I still keep in touch with.

[Celebrity Cruises]

It would be nice if Celebrity moved to put out this fire before the weekend, but it looks like that isn't going to happen. A pity because that's when lots of cc members get time to read the boards.....

 

Hi Tony,

 

Not sure what else we can say.

 

Hi all,

 

We're currently looking into this, and will be sure to address any issues that we have been made aware of. We have a great relationship with the Cruise Critic community, which is why we have Roll Calls, and arrange Meet and Greets.

 

This should not be an issue on any future sailings, and we thank you all for bringing this to our attention.

[cpj]

It's possible that Celebrity is not selling as many tours as they think they should. Maybe the pressure is filtering down to the staff now. After all Celebrity could not be doing anything wrong. They have to put blame somewhere. I don't remember the last time I took a ship tour and don't plan on it until they make it somewhat desirable again. People who cruise a lot know there are better options.

Edited July 18, 2014 by cpj

[Onessa]

If X really wants to re-capture the excursion market, they must revamp their product to something that the pax want to take.

1. smaller group sizes. I do not want to be herded onto a coach bus with 50-60 other pax.
   
2. thoughtful planning. At the very least, when my coach bus with 50-60 pax drops me off at the Acropolis, I don't need to see 8 other coach buses with 50-60 pax each pulling into the parking lot at the same time!
   
3. competitive prices. Is there a benefit to boarding the train at the dock rather than walking 1/2 mile into town and boarding at the station - yes at small benefit. But is that benefit and a luke-warm bottle of water worth $65 pp more ($45 pp more for children). No! And since it was a train, the three cars in the back where the excursion were seated got "there" and "back" at the same time.
   
4. no forced shopping stops. If I take the ship's Florence-on-your-own I do not want to be held hostage in a leather shop 10 miles from city center for 45-minutes. I want to spend that 45-minutes in Florence. And don't give me a hard time if I choose to walk back to the ship rather than be forced to cool my heels inside Hilo Hatti's when I can see the ship from your forced shopping stop. Warn me if the traffic is bad or "you can't get there from here" but don't tell me we can't because we can.
   
5. some excursions should be not so "cookie cutter". My DH and DD are Orthodox Christians and are of Slavic heritage - so we are interested in the Orthodox Churches and Catherdals in our Baltic cruise's ports. So in Helsinki none of the organized excursions included the Orthodox Cathedral -- why not? "oh, we visit several churches in St. Petersburg" Are any Orthodox - I knew the answer, but the excursions desk did not know what Orthodox meant. They named the churches but had no idea what denomination they were.
   

If it is simple transportation from the dock to a city's center, I'll buy it -- anything else, based upon my very bad experiences, I'll do my own. If I want to do my own with someone we met on our roll call, I'll do my own with someone we met on our roll call.

[JLSPOOL]

If private tours are handled outside of the M&G and CC connection gatherings how are the CD, Officers, Captain's Club Host, etc. involved or aware?

How can it be any business of the CD in this case?

 

Setting up tables, using a microphone, or making announcements regarding private tours in the presence of CD, Officers, etc. is like people selling plastic wares, magazines, chocolate bars and more at an open house party.

 

The CD was correct to speak up if private tour exchanges happened in his presence. If not, he was a PR failure for insulting his guests.

 

In my opinion Celebrity is not about good PR. The bottom line is the profit.

 

My point: Celebrity's response on this thread is as good as thin icing on a wedding cake.

 

Do we take a gloss over with a smile? Maybe.

 

jls

Edited July 18, 2014 by JLSPOOL

[In Retirement]

I think it will be useful for those of us who experienced this event to wait now and see if we hear anything else from Celebrity. Everyone should understand that Celebrity knows quite clearly who registered for this event and were sent invitations. I would suggest that only Celebrity can find out the reason for this experience and that they can decide what kind of information (if any) they will provide to those involved.

 

On the other hand, it is quite interesting (and stimulating) to discuss the nature of Trip Advisor and Cruise Critic. The underlying corporation obviously makes considerable money and at the same time provides some wonderful support/service, often using people like us as volunteers (have thoroughly enjoyed writing a review from December's San Juan vacation and plan to follow through from this summer as well).

 

I suggest that, as they say, one swallow doesn't make a summer and indeed this can be an isolated event (as a RC stockholder I can hope so). All who have participated in this discussion will take away from it whatever they chose -- for myself, I'm quite interested in the nature of this balance between corporate promotion/sales and support to the individual traveler. This balance is present in all of their business activities, starting from the basics of an ad for a hotel to the posting of favorable and problematic reviews by those who have spent the night!

DJ