*LIVE* from Mariner of the Seas - PROBLEMS!

[DedeM]

I'm gay, I have no issues with gay people obviously. It's just the large groups. They all seem to be offensive or annoying in some way.

 

On one cruise we had at least 500 people from an insurance company in Venezuela. They drank a LOT of Johnny Walker Black - a LOT. They also had free drink cards. This is something I want to learn more about ;)

 

You can imagine how many people were drunk. I mean, this is normal on a cruise, but put hundreds of them together getting sh1tfaced for FREE... :eek: And they preferred hanging out at Boleros for the Latin music/dancing. This is understandable, but hundreds? There are only one or two bartenders! Those poor guys were sweating, running, and trying to locate more cases of JWBlack. :D

 

I had these people screaming in my ears, knocking into me in the halls by the elevators, etc. Very annoying - they seemed oblivious to their surroundings. I still loved LOVED the cruise. We just tried to laugh it off.

 

Another cruise I went on with my mom had a very large group from some other travel website (and here). They were kind of annoying, but I don't thikn they were that big so it wasn't everywhere. They all dressed alike and seemed kind of silly.

 

Porn is ok, but shooting it on a cruise ship is icky. I will remember to bring my Lysol sanitizing wipes on every cruise with me. :D I think they tried to handle it the best way they knew how. If they were to throw all of them overboard, I think the PR nightmare would be insurmountable. ;)

[Cruzn Chuck & Susan]

I'm gay, I have no issues with gay people obviously. It's just the large groups. They all seem to be offensive or annoying in some way.

 

On one cruise we had at least 500 people from an insurance company in Venezuela. They drank a LOT of Johnny Walker Black - a LOT. They also had free drink cards. This is something I want to learn more about ;)

 

You can imagine how many people were drunk. I mean, this is normal on a cruise, but put hundreds of them together getting sh1tfaced for FREE... :eek: And they preferred hanging out at Boleros for the Latin music/dancing. This is understandable, but hundreds? There are only one or two bartenders! Those poor guys were sweating, running, and trying to locate more cases of JWBlack. :D

 

I had these people screaming in my ears, knocking into me in the halls by the elevators, etc. Very annoying - they seemed oblivious to their surroundings. I still loved LOVED the cruise. We just tried to laugh it off.

 

Another cruise I went on with my mom had a very large group from some other travel website (and here). They were kind of annoying, but I don't thikn they were that big so it wasn't everywhere. They all dressed alike and seemed kind of silly.

 

Porn is ok, but shooting it on a cruise ship is icky. I will remember to bring my Lysol sanitizing wipes on every cruise with me. :D I think they tried to handle it the best way they knew how. If they were to throw all of them overboard, I think the PR nightmare would be insurmountable. ;)

Love your post...I want to cruise with YOU! lol

You are right...any big group is going to be a problem..especially a big DRUNK group! We were on a cruise with a big group of Cheeseheads...that was something to behold! Everyone in green with big cheese hats on...wow!

[Tracy123]

This should help people who may not already know who the 'Bears' are...

 

http://www.*****/

 

I checked out the site and if saw any of any of those guys on the street I would think they were normal people. This is Scarrrrrry.:eek:

[dmk446]

I sent an I-Report to CNN.Com re: your siituation, with a little luck they'll have a news team there to investigate the incident. You might want to send them your report too, and maybe to the main news chnl in the area where the ship will port as well. Put the pressure on the cruise line to ensure others do not have to put up with such obnoxious behavior.

[Ula]

DedeM,

You hit the nail on the head. You get a large group of any special interest and their mentality goes down the drain. They behave in a way that they would never consider any place else.

Our next cruise in November my sister got amped about because she thought it was a cruise where some communicator with dead people was on. My sister lost her youngest to meningitis and has some issues. I looked at my husband and told him we will change dates if that is true. Found it was a week before. Have to wonder how others will react to a ship full of we talk to dead people cruisers.

[EggDropErin]

I checked out the site and if saw any of any of those guys on the street I would think they were normal people. This is Scarrrrrry.:eek:

 

 

Wow...judging by your reactions to whoever the bears are, I'm thinking I'm glad I haven't looked at that site from work. :rolleyes:

[dachshunddoglover]

I remember the posts where the mother was concerned about taking her children on this paticular cruise and she was BLASTED for being anti-gay. The thread was pulled very quickly. I sure hope she did change her date. This is totally unacceptable for a large group to diminish the enjoyment of your paid vacation and that RCI is allowing them to diminish your enjoyment. I will try to pay close attention to our future cruise dates and change them if I find out about ANY large group. Elizabeth

[hstrybuf]

Wow...judging by your reactions to whoever the bears are, I'm thinking I'm glad I haven't looked at that site from work. :rolleyes:

 

Trust me, you don't want to get fired for looking at that site from work. You don't even want your kids seeing that kind of filth, if you have them!

[EggDropErin]

Trust me, you don't want to get fired for looking at that site from work. You don't even want your kids seeing that kind of filth, if you have them!

 

 

Thanks...glad I didn't click the link.

[nlcentralchmps03]

I would have to imagine that they picked this date because it was one of those "Hot Deals" RCI offers. My son’s birthday is October 18th and I was looking at this sailing, but opted to get him his first car instead.

 

I am appalled that RCI would allow a group like this onboard, especially if they knew who they were. If I was the OP I would be so angry. Good luck and I hope you can find something positive out of this experience. :)

[DonnaC1]

I would be sooo disappointed too if this happened on my cruise, not only because of a large group being booked on the cruise, but the fact that we are 2 couples travelling who do not have children, and are REALLY looking forward to the relative peace and quiet of the solarium. I would be fuming if I was not allowed to enjoy it after paying so much for our cruise!

I hope you receive some sort of compensation from RCCL. I don't have a problem with large groups wanting to book a ship, but I think that other potential passengers should be able to make an informed decision about the date they are choosing, and have the option to book another week/ship instead.

 

Donna

[DedeM]

I clicked on the link. It's a bunch of guys: some with beards, some with hairy chests, bald heads, some overweight, and some not and they're all standing next to each other or arm in arm (like they're posing while doing the conga line dance at a wedding). There is nothing obscene on the front page. Once there, there's no need to keep clicking.

 

Oy!

[Jumbiecruiser]

You know if everyone is not happy about this then the best thing to do is let Royal Caribbean know about it directly. I'm sure that if Adam or Richard received enough emails that they would look into this a little further.

 

One also has to wonder if Royal Caribbean really knew what kind of group was booked on this sailing. My bet is the travel agency booked it as a gay group and that was it. Maybe as mentioned above by a few other posters that the decision was made to give them this area to keep them away from the other guests on board and that this was the best area to do that. Not making excuses for Royal Caribbean but it does sound like that in the future they need to investigate their group bookings a little more.

[Mrsg324]

I would be extremely angry if I got on a ship & was not able to use a main attraction. Most of our trips are booked around attractions. I don't care if it is straights or gays, that kind of behavior is not anything I would want to have to be subjected to by anyone, even more so if my kids were present.

[mohavemommy]

If everyone is upset about this then send an email to Royal Caribbean and let them know about it. They won't get the message here.

 

Actually, yes they will get the message here. Royal Caribbean has employees who's sole job is to monitor Cruise Critic. See pic below showing that they even have a link to CC on their computer terminals. :D

 

We are all assuming that Royal Caribbean is OK with this group. How do we know that they didn't come to some sort of agreement that if they were not put off at port then they agree not to book RCI again? I can't imagine from a business standpoint because of the group behavior that RCI would allow them to repeat.

[Heidi H.]

I would email one of the tabloid people - since all are based in South Florida anyway. What a surprise that would be to pull back into Miami and have a dozen or so TV stations there to interview disgruntled passengers because some GAY PORN company was on a FAMILY ship

! ! :eek: :D

 

 

Truly excellent idea!

[Rala]

Maybe the cruise lines DON"T know what this group is exactly. It seems that every year they are on a different cruise line. Maybe once the cruise line has them as "guests", they wise up??? (the cruise line, that is)!!!

[dmk446]

MohaveMommy, you out in the Barstow area?

[Guindalf]

I would email one of the tabloid people - since all are based in South Florida anyway. What a surprise that would be to pull back into Miami and have a dozen or so TV stations there to interview disgruntled passengers because some GAY PORN company was on a FAMILY ship

! ! :eek: :D

 

 

Truly excellent idea!

 

Only problem is, the Mariner will be docking in Canaveral! At least I hope it will - we're on it next week!!!!!

[Tarheelbelle]

royal should give them the option of chartering the entire ship or go elsewhere. I don't understand why groups like this wouldn't want to do a private charter anyway. :confused: That way they could do what ever it is they want to do on board and not offend anyone.

 

There are smaller ships and private Yahts that could be chartered. Seems to me that the group gets a kick out of the publicity. :rolleyes: And the cruise lines are sucking right into it. I would be very upset if the solarium were closed to me for a cruise. I was upset as it was on the millennium when they had it OPEN to children on a Christmas cruise. I felt like it was closed to me. If I got in the pool I had to compete with kids and there snorkel gear and fins... :eek:

I chanced upon this thread because someone posted a warning on NCL board about this group's upcoming cruise. I did look at the group's website and checked out the FAQs section. Here is what they say about why they do not charter:

 

"Q. Is this a entirely Gay cruise?

A. No. We expect the cruise to be about 30% Bears. We have found that by going on a standard cruise, the

cost are much lower than “gay-only” cruises and that the accommodations are much nicer due to travel on

brand new ships. On the 2005 cruise, 95% said that having straight passengers on the ship was not a problem, many said they preferred the variety."

 

As many others have said, the thing that would bother me the most is not getting to use the Solarium. Seems to me that if this group has 30% of the passengers, RCCI should reserve the Solarium for them about 30% of the time and make it open only to NON-BEARS 70% of the time. Or else, give all NON-BEAR adults sailing a 70% refund....

[dachshunddoglover]

Does someone have emails of the big wigs at RCI that we can email them and let them know how upset we are by this? We were almost on this cruise but deceided to go on Sov. Oct 16-20 instead. I would have been so upset if we had been on this boat with our 9 year old daughter and 10 year old son. Thank the good Lord above that we were on Sovereign instead. (Which was FANTASTIC!!!!) Elizabeth

[HoopTroop]

Good afternoon,

 

It appears to me this thread turned into a "game of telephone". The message seemed to change often as someone new added to it. The OP, from what I can tell, did not state they were filming a porn video on this sailing. Others then jump in saying that they should not allow the bears to do this, it seems as if people have gotten many of the messages confused.

 

I also agree that no public area should be taken from others. However, IMO, it may have been best with this group on this sailing.

 

As for 2 guys making out, that was funny. I do not care if it is 2 guys, 2 gals, 1 white person with one black person, no one needs to make out on the ship. (I see "straight" people do this all the time, never have seen any gay people do this.) This is why we all have rooms. A kiss is ok, the rest is to far.

 

Back to the OP, I can see a cruise % off voucher, but it appears to me they were not ruined of an entire vacation, just select parts. Sorry about the select parts that are making the cruise not as enjoyable.

 

HoopTroop

[shoreguy]

Boy, am I the only one that thinks RCCL did a pretty good job of damage control here?

 

.

 

Having just plowed thru most of this thread that was my reaction. At least the rest of the passengers know where the rowdy behavior is contained.

 

You folks need to keep this group over here. We don't don't need the business over on the NCL side. Besides none of the NCL ships have a solarium to close off. :D

 

Groups are a fact of life in travel. You can end up at a land based resort with a convention many areas closed off at different times. Everyone is complaining about "public" space that they should not be excluded from. It is in fact RCCL space and how they use it is up to them.

 

Second cruise I took I got an unbelievable deal. I found out why when I boarded 90% of the passengers where onboard for a company recognition meeting. They tied up lots of "public" space for meetings on sea days. The good news that left an almost empty pool area for us.:)

 

Not that I would be happy to be on this cruise and loss the use of the solarium but it is up to RCCL how they fill their ships. We all need to do our homework.

[Sue L]

 

You folks need to keep this group over here. We don't don't need the business over on the NCL side. Besides none of the NCL ships have a solarium to close off. :D

 

 

The 2007 sailing is already scheduled on Ncl. Check the website.

[MavisMarie]

Having just plowed thru most of this thread that was my reaction. At least the rest of the passengers know where the rowdy behavior is contained.

 

You folks need to keep this group over here. We don't don't need the business over on the NCL side. Besides none of the NCL ships have a solarium to close off. :D

 

Groups are a fact of life in travel. You can end up at a land based resort with a convention many areas closed off at different times. Everyone is complaining about "public" space that they should not be excluded from. It is in fact RCCL space and how they use it is up to them.

 

Second cruise I took I got an unbelievable deal. I found out why when I boarded 90% of the passengers where onboard for a company recognition meeting. They tied up lots of "public" space for meetings on sea days. The good news that left an almost empty pool area for us.:)

 

Not that I would be happy to be on this cruise and loss the use of the solarium but it is up to RCCL how they fill their ships. We all need to do our homework.

 

I, respectfully, disagree with some of your comments. However, I do think the decision to use the Solarium for the Bears was probably the best of all possible options -- in terms of reducing exposure to the rest of the passengers. (was that a pun?!!!)

 

RCI advertises this Solarium as part of the overall package of amenities onboard. As such, passengers expect they will be able to have use of all amenities onboard the ship. There are times when certain venues are closed temporarily or used by a particular group for a few hours, but not for the entire cruise. Whether it's damage control or not, it's unfair to the 70% of the other passengers to be denied access to the Solarium.

 

It is not, in fact, strictly RCI space because they are "renting" out the use of all facilities to their passengers as part of their cruise fare. RCI has an obligation, as part of that "rent", to provide the amenities they advertise as long as those amenties do not provide a threat to human safety.

 

I feel sad and sorry for the passengers who are having to put up with this situation. Not everyone has the ability to go on CC and find out if a particular group was booked for their upcoming cruise, so "doing homework" is not really an option for some. Evidently, even some of the frequent CC posters didn't know about the group.

 

OH...and I certainly disagree with keeping this mess on the RCI side...no, thank ya! NCL has to take their turn, buddy!:D