Is there a Celebrity "Champions "program too?

[sandravb79]

I have read the first 7 pages of this thread, and now I have a headache.

Why are you people making it so complicated? Jeezes, it's about cruising here, not some topic that can cause a worldwide disaster or so.

I thought cruising was meant to be relaxing, and yet I see a few posters on this thread again and again always saying the same thing.

Relax, go to another thread, go on a cruise, whatever!

 

I am sincerely amazed that adults can get so worked up about something as trivial as this.

If you don't like one poster's opinion, don't read it. Go read another opinion, or even better, go form your own.

[Sky Sweet]

The underlined words are what surprised me the most in the quote below. Royal Caribbean appears to think that they have an influence on the Royal Champions that the Royal Champions aren't aware of.

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"The key to success in viral marketing is to subtly influence the influencers without them overtly realizing they are being influenced," Royal Caribbean's manager for loyalty marketing, Rachel Hannock, told the audience."

[woodofpine]

The underlined words are what surprised me the most in the quote below. Royal Caribbean appears to think that they have an influence on the Royal Champions that the Royal Champions aren't aware of.

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"The key to success in viral marketing is to subtly influence the influencers without them overtly realizing they are being influenced," Royal Caribbean's manager for loyalty marketing, Rachel Hannock, told the audience."

 

 

That's the dishonest and shabby aspect of it. The RCs are in the dark as to the true intent of the program. It's primary purpose isn't to solicite their INPUT, it's to cultivate their OUTPUT.

 

It would be interesting to be privy to the industrial psychology materials they used in selecting RCs and crafting the program.

 

The moles may be right; maybe it's time to move on. I'm sure that's what they want in Miami...

[FinelyCruising]

The only problem is that RCI's published communications to RCs is not 100% true and correct as to the objectives and intent of the Royal Champion program. The damning statements come from RCI's marketing managers (who undoubtedly didn't anticipate public distribution); the reporting accuracy of those statements haven't been contested by RCI. The 'smear' comes from the contents of those statements - not the reporting of them (that's like blaming the weatherman for the rain, or a thermometer for the fever). The reaction to them was totally foreseeable.

 

It is the intentional subterfuge of viral marketing that places decent people 'under the bus'; that originates solely with the cruiseline.

 

Yup.

[FinelyCruising]

I have read the first 7 pages of this thread, and now I have a headache.

Why are you people making it so complicated? Jeezes, it's about cruising here, not some topic that can cause a worldwide disaster or so.

I thought cruising was meant to be relaxing, and yet I see a few posters on this thread again and again always saying the same thing.

Relax, go to another thread, go on a cruise, whatever!

 

I am sincerely amazed that adults can get so worked up about something as trivial as this.

If you don't like one poster's opinion, don't read it. Go read another opinion, or even better, go form your own.

 

If there is a thread you prefer not to read, then please move on to those that are more enjoyable for you. I believe those are the recommendations of the hosts of cruise critic when there are topics that you do not find to your liking.

[usha]

The underlined words are what surprised me the most in the quote below. Royal Caribbean appears to think that they have an influence on the Royal Champions that the Royal Champions aren't aware of.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"The key to success in viral marketing is to subtly influence the influencers without them overtly realizing they are being influenced," Royal Caribbean's manager for loyalty marketing, Rachel Hannock, told the audience."

Yeah, this really sounds as though Royal Caribbean's intent was to use the Royal Champions as some sort of lab rats. :eek:

[Sky Sweet]

That's the dishonest and shabby aspect of it. The RCs are in the dark as to the true intent of the program. It's primary purpose isn't to solicite their INPUT, it's to cultivate their OUTPUT.

 

It would be interesting to be privy to the industrial psychology materials they used in selecting RCs and crafting the program.

 

The moles may be right; maybe it's time to move on. I'm sure that's what they want in Miami...

 

Hi woodofpine :)

 

I had the exact same reaction when I read that quote.

[Sky Sweet]

I have read the first 7 pages of this thread, and now I have a headache.

Why are you people making it so complicated? Jeezes, it's about cruising here, not some topic that can cause a worldwide disaster or so.

I thought cruising was meant to be relaxing, and yet I see a few posters on this thread again and again always saying the same thing.

Relax, go to another thread, go on a cruise, whatever!

 

I am sincerely amazed that adults can get so worked up about something as trivial as this.

If you don't like one poster's opinion, don't read it. Go read another opinion, or even better, go form your own.

 

I agree with you that the recent discovery that cruise critic is not free of undue influences is trivial compared to serious problems.

 

On the other hand, many people had previously thought that cruise critic was a place where people shared information about their experiences at sea and every word could be accepted at face value. That is why this situation is of interest to so many people.

[Sky Sweet]

Yeah, this really sounds as though Royal Caribbean's intent was to use the Royal Champions as some sort of lab rats. :eek:

 

Hi usha - I agree with you :)

 

Your St Patrick's Day dog is adorable - Happy St Patrick's Day!

[cruzendude]

I agree with you that the recent discovery that cruise critic is not free of undue influences is trivial compared to serious problems.

 

On the other hand, many people had previously thought that cruise critic was a place where people shared information about their experiences at sea and every word could be accepted at face value. That is why this situation is of interest to so many people.

 

Come on now, you have been on CC long enough to see the THOUSANDS of people who dig into reviews claiming things posted are lies, misunderstandings and the like. I don't think anyone but a newbie would think this board isn't tainted with cheerleaders, shills and others though the vast majority of reviews are good intentioned opinions from well traveled and knowledgeable cruisers but they are always just that, opinions tainted with peoples own personal biases, just as ANY review of anything is.

 

I agree with you that this entire matter is trivial, I have posted a dozen times on the RCCL board thread trying to reason with the conspiracy theorists but thie own personal agenda's against RCCL won't let all of this drama die down....

 

I also am a little depressed that nobody seems to want to be Vice President of my Celebrity Champions club! :( :eek: :D I am still seeking board members and regular members to join me as brain washed shills for X!!!! :p

[FinelyCruising]

I suppose some do jest and consider this trivial. FWIW, I happen to think once someones integrity and reputation is impuned, as has certainly occured, that's a pretty serious event. :p

[cruzendude]

Just how many are there, would you say? Do you have inside information, or are you just guessing?

 

There is no inside info, just a fact......MANY have identified themselves from time to time and obviously there are just as many , probably more that would never identify themselves as TA's......I have no clue as to actual numbers but in relation to the most active posters on any given board I would think a conservative "guess" would be 15%....just my own observations on this board over the last 5 years....

[cruzendude]

I am certain that I don't know you, so you are definitely suspect to me on what your agenda might be with this discussion. I do know who I have sailed with and who I plan to sail with, so there is definitely an aspect of in fact knowing someone. To your question; Absurd? No. Not in the least.

 

I agree, there are many people here I personally know...I think I referred to that in my original post....I was referring to the 99% of people on here you don't know....BUT...if you were referring to the peoples reputation that you actually know being tarnished because of this board then you have even more issues than I originaly thought! :eek:

 

I have no agenda here, though you can't verify that...as I said, only those that actually know me can atest to that....but by the postings of MANY here and on the RC thread a lot of people showed their agenda's loud and clear!

 

Maybe I misspoke.....as I have thought about it maybe my agenda is to rebuke the half-truths, outright lies and the absurdness of this entire mess! YES...thats it..my agenda is now out in the open! :D

 

Again for my buddies Coxswains benefit....transparency..I have NEVER sailed RCCL, I prefer X but don't sail it exclusively, I have sailed HAL, Princess and NCL and an ungodly amount of miles and years for Uncle Sam! ;)

[Denny01]

I’m sitting here in another mindless 2hr+ teleconference so I jumped over to cc for a quick fix. I’d followed this thread a bit, but never really cared about the subject much. Marveled at the edge the posts are taking as time goes by. After reading through numerous posts by the same people, I decided to count the number of posts by poster. There are over 70 posts by 4 people who seem very bothered by the Champions program. Wow. You’d think they’d got their point across in a few less posts. One has posted 25 times.

From my personal view, I haven’t seen a certain group attacking and ‘flaming’ negative posts. What I’ve experienced is some people are just bad-mannered, and their posts reflect such. Maybe it’s too close to ‘happy hour’. Personally, I don’t really care about dining critiques since that is so subjective; I’m not that interested in worn carpets. I do care about noisy room locations and what to do in various ports, and what neat drinks not to miss. And I love the lists of things to do and the polls - neat. This is an entertaining website, so maybe we should keep that in mind.

Many have been on the receiving end of cheap-shots and putdowns. I don’t post as much as I did at first. I use to have fun on this Board until getting harpooned – my own fault. I just watch what I say and what thread I join. And this post is probably a mistake also. But, I believe there was one shooter at Dallas, there are no aliens abducting people, and the ‘Champions’ aren’t a cabal out to flame anyone who doesn’t love RCI/Celebrity. I could be wrong about Bigfoot being a hoax.

Denny

[FinelyCruising]

Mindless is right. If its me that has the count of 25...I just I just upped it to 26 with this question. :D Good that you don't concern yourself with this, many don't and want to not think about what is going on in corners of life but that does not change the existence of the good the bad and the ugly.

 

I think so much more is being known and found out about a business practice that we had no idea existed. The poster who started this thread here had a good question. Does X have the same practice as RCCL? When this thread started no one knew that answer and discussions evolved and judgements were made as facts came to light. And as the facts came to light some of those judgements changed and were adjusted based on the new information.

 

Today, after time has passed and information has been disseminated and executives have determined they ought to address this topic, it is reported that Celebrity, although a part of RCI, does not participate in the way that RCCL did, nor do several other lines. That's good information for those who now want to be aware of viral marketing tactics and are concerned about what operates in the background or on the periphery.

 

And at the end of this day and the past few days many have had the opportunity to learn about something they knew nothing about until know.

 

Knowledge is power and I happen to feel fortunate to have been able to learned what I have on this topic after spending so many years on these boards and enjoying cruising as I do. This has added a new layer of dimension to the cruise industry and internet message boards. If this stuff ever shows up on World News, then I will have learned it here first.

[Sky Sweet]

To answer the original question on this thread - since Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are both owned by Royal Caribbean, I think it is a moot point.

 

While Carnival owns many different cruise lines, they all function independently from each other. For example, if I call Holland America to make a reservation or ask a question, I get Holland America.

 

On the other hand when I call Celebrity, I often get someone from Royal Caribbean who will either make my reservation for a Celebrity Cruise or resolve an issue pertaining to one for me.

[Huddler]

With the growing influence of the internet, I would be surprised if more and more companies in a myriad of different industries didnt employ "cheerleaders" to boost the reputation and exposure of their products/services. Its a brilliant strategy really. For example, people come to CC to plan a cruise. They seek information and the 'cheerleaders" of the various companies give the postive spin for their particular line. They are like paid sales reps who are bringing in business. I dont see anything nefarious or dishonorable about it as long as they arent providing false information. And going forward I believe this tactic will become more and more pervasive across the internet. Just my 2 cents.

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