Comments on: Paid cheerleaders: Does Royal Caribbean’s viral campaign cross the line?

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:22:37 +0000

I am not a Royal Champion, but I am a member of Cruise Critic. Cruise Critic did not go downhill because of this Royal Champion program. It has become a hateful place due to posters that call themselves Coxswain, MrPete, GMa, Captain Jake, CruisePRN, etc. These people bring chaos and discontent to anyone that speaks a different opinion than theirs.

However, back to the Royal Champions. This is a program that was blown totally out of proportion by some people, including those I already named, and bloggers like this Anita woman. Anita, you need to get your facts straight before you charade as a journalist. You report that the Royal Champions had to have had over 10,000 posts favorable to Royal Caribbean. Wrong. Most RC’s don’t have anywhere near that many posts. You state that the RC’s were given an “all expenses paid” free cruise. Misleading. Like Gina said, it was a pre-inaugural and no one on board pays. Plus, you have to pay your own way to and fromt he ship.

But rest assured. The program has been trash heaped due to people like you who refuse to listen to those who were actuall in the program. Even I, a non Royal Champion, was able to figure it out.

By: Gina

Gina — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:52:08 +0000

I was a member of the Royal Champions. This blog is not true and is very misleading….obviously written by a very ill-informed person.

We were NEVER paid, and we were NEVER instructed to make positive blogs about Royal Caribbean.

We were THANKED by Royal Caribbean for our history of being supportive of the company. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.

The so-call “all expenses paid” free cruise was on a pre-inaugural. Do some research. All cruise lines do pre-inaugurals with their new ships. They are non-revenue cruises and NO ONE pays to go on them. They are marketing cruises just to showcase the new ships.

Come on. We were all Cruise Critic and other blog site members long before this program existed. To say we were planted by the cruise line is just stupid.

By the way….Royal Caribbean isn’t even my favorite cruise line.

By: Twitted by VentureStrategy

Twitted by VentureStrategy — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:33:30 +0000

[...] This post was Twitted by VentureStrategy [...]

By: Industry Manipulation… | Just Picture It Now

Industry Manipulation… | Just Picture It Now — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:40:12 +0000

[...] form of vacation. Back in March, Cruise Critic and Royal Caribbean came under fire for what Tripso called “paid cheerleaders” who manipulated the board for personal and financial gain. The entire ordeal caused such an uproar [...]

By: Invasion of the Marketers - How to Deal with Paid Promoters in your Community - Impact Interactions

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:22:58 +0000

[...] cruise customers might be lurking. While Consumerist has a great write-up of the details, and Tripso.com’s Anita Dunham-Potter has more details, the tactic is not new and will always be with us. And even [...]

By: Andrea

Andrea — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 05:49:51 +0000

Carnival does the same thing at its Carnival Connections website. Most of the posters there are either Carnival employees or travel agents. They glorify cruising and treat all complaints and customers that are less than satisfied as villians and liars. Between Carnival and Royal Carribean, I have chosen to either cruise with Disney or just continue with land vacations.

By: It’s Not Over Till It’s Over | Unearthing Asia

It’s Not Over Till It’s Over | Unearthing Asia — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 04:47:07 +0000

[...] weeks. For the full coverage, check out these articles on Jaunted (twice), MSNBC (also twice), Tripso and many other blogs. This is the same Royal Caribbean that banned a passenger for life for [...]

By: Michele

Michele — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 23:45:10 +0000

Well, I am sure there are OTHERS that think the China Garden is a fine establishment. Let them be rice freaks! lol

By: Kina

Kina — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:21:45 +0000

Actually, NO, Cruise Freak, I do not enjoy the idea of cruising, so there is no need for you to caution my use of the expression. I prefer to decide my own vacation itinerary. I like to wear whatever I want to dinner, not pay 5 bucks for a can of soda, and not get into brawls with people over a lounge chair at the pool. I prefer staying in rooms where you can’t touch all four walls simultaneously, and call me kooky but I don’t enjoy people going through my bags or telling me what i can and cannot bring. I also have an aversion to being quarantined in my room if my allergies are acting up, for fear of spreading some mad cow disease all over this floating vacation prison. I’m also not impressed with ‘towel origami’, and if I want to eat a crappy buffet there’s a China Garden right around the corner from my house.

By: Michele

Michele — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 03:14:15 +0000

At first I was confused at reading the articles, but I don’t think I am all that confused now. Maybe surprised…. hmm, not that either. Disappointed…. perhaps!

I sure hope that there isn’t any TRUTH at all regarding these so called Royal Champions and their perks or that RCCL and Cruise Critic didn’t have anything to do with this…… and that the perks given to royal champions – is all FALSE.

However, our world operates in such a competitive….almost to the extent of an edgy-knife throat slashing nature, (hope not literal) but does something like this really surprise us? REALLY. Maybe it’s not what we are reading, or maybe it’s juset that simple and it is… perhaps….perhaps!

I do agree with the fact that some readers/posters are siginificantly influenced by some of what they read regarding which cruise line industry or particular ship they should book. It’s always in the review and research. It’s what any normal person should do before deciding which cruise line we are going to give our hard working money to for a well-deserved vacation. SO, I can understand that emphasis or basis regarding if the limelight of this incident is “moral” or ethical.

Regarding cruise critic: It’s a little disturbing to know or to think back ( so many times while browsing) I could tell that some posts were definately “banging ” a little more for the simple buck when it came to RCCL posts. At first, I thought it was a group of employees or travel agents….. maybe it was a handful of Royal Champions after all. Who knows.

Although, I think that Cruise Critic can be very resourceful and has a good purpose…. AND can be a reliable source for cruise facts. What better way than to go to the source and find out from experience and reviews. That’s what lead me there before booking trips then after sharing my proud experiences and reviews.

To which, is the basis primarily the whole article and how far did it go with the champions and if there is validity of perks or RCCL/ Cruise critic’s involvement.

Nonetheless, all the major cruise lines are splendid and will always have some positive/negative things that is only preferrential to the individual cruiser.

and if you are wondering: Why does someone always have to pile on a little extra onto their plate and leave the last person with none?

Don’t worry about it….. let them sort it all out and it will be dealt with, if necessary and you will end up finding so much more to fancy those taste bunds.

Go on and plan your cruises and have a time of your life. After all, its the ships and their staff…that help assist with giving you and your family a TIME OF YOUR LIFE!

They are all magnificent: Carnival, RCCL, Princess, Norwegian…. etc!!!
Kudos to you all.

And to the previous post, you can call me a CRUISE FREAK, but I would caution the way you use the expression. Something tells me you enjoy the idea of cruising too?

Best wishes,
Good luck and happy cruising!