TROLLS??This is your excuse for being mean?

[NCTribeFan]

<bolding mine> Are you sure you meant to phrase that the way you did? :confused:

 

There is a personality trait often associated with humans called empathy. If you meant to say that the way it's written, you might want to acquaint yourself with the empathy phenomenon.

 

Sure, I meant it!

 

I didn't say that anyone who posts a lot is an attention-seeking internet nerd and didn't imply that. There are plenty of posters who are providing lots of useful information.

 

But I moderate a message board. There are always a few posters who post not only to see their post counts grow but because the newbies turn to them as "experts" whether they really are or not!

 

Post counts mean nothing. After all, everyone was new to a board at one time or other. Judging someone's expertise on a subject based on their post count is foolish. Someone who's new to the board may have much more insight into a subject than someone who posts constantly, day in and day out.

[KroozNut]

Just to let you know that we always book air with Carnival and never had a problem.

 

You've been very lucky.. IMHO, this is risky, less customer friendly and usually more expensive than booking your own air.

 

I would not recommend it.. Just my own opinion/experience though..

[KroozNut]

...though it looks like 2010 is the soonest I'll be getting out there :(

 

Better you than me, and I thought our cruise this Nov was a long way off. I feel much better now.. :D

[KroozNut]

<bolding mine> Are you sure you meant to phrase that the way you did? :confused:

 

There is a personality trait often associated with humans called empathy. If you meant to say that the way it's written, you might want to acquaint yourself with the empathy phenomenon.

 

Why? It is an absolutely valid statement..

[Goldryder]

Being an admin on another cruise board, and working up from member thru the ranks, I can honesly say that in the almost 3 years that I have been involved in the staff team, we have only had to lock down one thread for flaming and IIRC less than 10 threads have been removed from public view due to problems (we do not delete, we store them for future reference).. We do ban people but only as a last resort. However, we do take steps to ensure everyone is safe & happy (as much as that is possible, of course). For example, we have our roll calls open to view for guests & posting for members but if trouble starts brewing (as happened on one roll call in 2006) we closed that section to all but members only and if anyone registered that was not in the group and we were alerted to them or if someone registered just to cause trouble, we booted them.

 

It is very hard to strike the balance on sites like this one and the one I administer...but, having said that, we have laid out our stall from day one, we make it clear that we will not tolerate any form of online bullying, sniping or any other form of unacceptable behaviour. We operate a 3 strikes and you're out system...and if you re-register, well chances are your IP and/or email address will be blocked.

 

In the almost 3 years the board has been running, we have not had the extent of problems experienced here...albeit that we by comparison are tiny. If anyone has stepped over the line, or a thread looks like it might get a tad too overheated then myself or one of the other staff will post on it with a subtle 'play nice or else' warning and that usually suffices. I can count on one hand how many people have contacted staff with a problem about another member's attitude towards them and I am pretty damn proud of that, as are the rest of the staff team.

 

Keeping tabs on flaming on a site this large is hard, staff need you to step up and alert them as they cannot be everywhere at all times. So if there is something insulting either to you or someone else's post, then use the report tab...that way it can be nipped in the bud and feelings will be spared and what starts as a little bit of smouldering won't end up as a full blown house fire. I guess as I am a member here and an admin on another cruise board, I can see it from both sides of the fence. We actively encourage the use of the report tab or PM's if someone feels that they are being attacked, and tbh, I am pretty sure the same would be appreciated here...granted without the PM facility....if you do not tell a staff member that there is a problem, then they can't deal with it quickly and then it grows til, inevitably, the thread is pulled, by which time the damage has been done to the parties concerned.

 

Don't be afraid to report a bad post...believe me, staff would rather be inundated with reports of a problem in the early stages than have to deal with an out of control flaming session.

[J & G]

Well, see, that's one of my pet peeves.

 

People can still at least LOOK at and for posts without the search function! I mean, one day's worth of posts can go back several pages.

 

What bugs me is that no one is willing to do any "work" of their own. They want to come here and get instant answers to all their questions without doing any of the work.

 

And there are plenty of people who will answer the same questions over and over and over and over because they apparently love the idea that they are an "expert" and have all the answers.

 

Yes, the same topics will come up over and over again.

 

But when there is an existing thread - or two - on a topic ON THE MAIN PAGE or even the 2nd or 3rd page, and people can't be bothered to look for them, then I have a problem.

 

It isn't being "mean" or attacking anyone. It's wanting to understand why people come to a message board and can't be bothered to do any reading or browsing beforehand to see how the board is laid out and to see if their questions are already under discussion in an existing thread.

 

I think I was probably guilty of doing just what you are saying, before I completely understood the "search" function.

 

Yes, the same topics do come up over and over again....on all message boards. And there is always someone who gets their knickers in a twist over that.

 

It may be laziness on the part of the poster, as you suggest, but it may be lack of a complete understanding of how to use the message board. Maybe a little short "how to" guide would be helpful....or maybe one already exists. I truly am guilty of not taking the time to search for it. :o

 

Lots of people have a cursory understanding of how to use the tools of technology that the internet affords us, but do not have a thorough understanding of many of the features. I believe that the repeated questions are more a result of lack of understanding than just of laziness....but this is the "Me Generation" and the "I want it now and I want it easy" attitude is prevalent, so the debate rages.....

 

And as for those people who post a lot and want to play the role of "resident expert", I say let them! If they get their kicks doing that and I get the information I need (it's all about me.....), then it is a win-win!

[Goldryder]

I think I was probably guilty of doing just what you are saying, before I completely understood the "search" function.

 

Yes, the same topics do come up over and over again....on all message boards. And there is always someone who gets their knickers in a twist over that.

 

It may be laziness on the part of the poster, as you suggest, but it may be lack of a complete understanding of how to use the message board. Maybe a little short "how to" guide would be helpful....or maybe one already exists. I truly am guilty of not taking the time to search for it. :o

 

Lots of people have a cursory understanding of how to use the tools of technology that the internet affords us, but do not have a thorough understanding of many of the features. I believe that the repeated questions are more a result of lack of understanding than just of laziness....but this is the "Me Generation" and the "I want it now and I want it easy" attitude is prevalent, so the debate rages.....

 

And as for those people who post a lot and want to play the role of "resident expert", I say let them! If they get their kicks doing that and I get the information I need (it's all about me.....), then it is a win-win!

 

One way to get around the search problem....we do it on our board and it could be done here too, although there would be an awful lot of thread shifting to be done....we have the cruise lines listed, like they are here, but then we split it into ships plus a general news/question section. So instead of having a question for,,,say...Carnival Valor in the general area like this site does, we have a Carnival Valor area where hunting info is alot easier and posting a question is also alot easier - both for the poster and those who can to answer it :)

 

On the odd occasion there are duplicates, well we as staff merge them and send a PM to the poster of the newest version with a link to the now merged thread.

 

You would be amazed how many 'thank you' PM replies we get too :)

[big_duck]

One way to get around the search problem....we do it on our board and it could be done here too, although there would be an awful lot of thread shifting to be done....we have the cruise lines listed, like they are here, but then we split it into ships plus a general news/question section. So instead of having a question for,,,say...Carnival Valor in the general area like this site does, we have a Carnival Valor area where hunting info is alot easier and posting a question is also alot easier - both for the poster and those who can to answer it :)

 

On the odd occasion there are duplicates, well we as staff merge them and send a PM to the poster of the newest version with a link to the now merged thread.

 

You would be amazed how many 'thank you' PM replies we get too :)

 

A little overly anal if you ask me (which you didn't ;)). I could see breaking it down by class maybe. 99% of the questions that would be asked about the Valor would apply to any Conquest ship.

[H82seaUgo]

A little overly anal if you ask me (which you didn't ;)). I could see breaking it down by class maybe. 99% of the questions that would be asked about the Valor would apply to any Conquest ship.

 

Agreed. I like one stop viewing.

[Goldryder]

A little overly anal if you ask me (which you didn't ;)). I could see breaking it down by class maybe. 99% of the questions that would be asked about the Valor would apply to any Conquest ship.

 

Ordinarily I would agree, but you would be amazed at how many first timer Carnival passengers do not realise that Conquest and Valor are the same ship in all but name. I spose its a security blanket of sorts...dealing with the name rather than the class of ship. I see & accept you point though.

[nothomeonacruise]

This SITE has lots of different posters. You just have to take the good with the ugly.

 

I found a lot of wonderful tips for our cruise last year. It was great knowing where to go and what to do. We were on the Triumph the year before our last cruise, but I found a LOT of information here that made our second time on the ship a lot of fun.

[crusinpsychRN]

You are correct truecruiser!! I should not have stooped so low as to fall into other peoples meaness. I just can't believe how hurt I was and I have explained several times I did not know I could post specific information my guidline thing says NOT to! BUT you don't know how rude and unkind and unhelpful people were. MAYBE they could have explained how this works instead of being mean. I HAVE NEVER been on a chat before and hardly even email. I explained all that before to.

Again I apologize because that does NOT GIVE ME the right to be mean back.

 

SORRY FOR ALL THE TYPOS!

 

Please have a great cruise. You'll get there in time. If Carnival booked you, they will get you to the ship. Don't equate all of us with some ***** comment. I don't know about spell check on this. The smiles etc are on the side of the post message area where you type and at the bottom.

 

Have a great cruise. Wave hello to Miami for me, my home town!

 

PS What do you teach and what grade? Teachers should all be gieven a cree 7 day cruise every year for what they do.

 

Bon Voyage.

[crusinpsychRN]

Typos usually turn up in red underline and if you right click over the letters it gives you the correct spelling...

 

I don't have that....

 

Mateacher, your city is noted as Boston in your posts in the upper right corner.

[crusinpsychRN]

mateacher, OP simply means "other party". It's not a bad name. I'm sorry you feel attacked by some people. I hope everything works out well for you and you have a great trip. :)

 

I thought it was "Original poster."

[CRUZ-AHOLIC]

I thought it was "Original poster."

 

crusinpsychRN, you're correct; "original poster" is the correct term. :-)

[crusinpsychRN]

It is not a big deal, but the OP did ask what that meant and the answer was wrong, I only corrected it. Take your :rolleyes: and put them in some other thread.

 

Check tone...

[flowerchild]

Was it this thread:confused:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=758535

 

I am confused. I followed this thread from the begining. I saw where a poster drew doubt to the OPs comments and accused the OP of being a troll and other posters scolding the poster for being so negative.

 

I also saw where the OP responded that they were never going to post again or visit this sight again due to the comments made. Why would this post be made to dissapear but not the post that ultimately offended said OP?

 

I just don't understand why posts like this need to dissapear. It did not contain profanity, nor anything offensive, just the FACT that posters on this forum can be RUDE, which is true.

[flowerchild]

Yes, the same topics will come up over and over again.

 

But when there is an existing thread - or two - on a topic ON THE MAIN PAGE or even the 2nd or 3rd page, and people can't be bothered to look for them, then I have a problem.

 

It isn't being "mean" or attacking anyone. It's wanting to understand why people come to a message board and can't be bothered to do any reading or browsing beforehand to see how the board is laid out and to see if their questions are already under discussion in an existing thread.

 

I understand why the repititious nature of the questions posted can annoy you, but is it really that much of an issue? I've seen many threads with posts saying "use the search function" and offer no more help than that. Why? Not everyone knows that the search function DOES work, but in a different capacity. Not everyone is that familiar with message boards and how they work. AND a lot of the info that gets shared over and over again DOES change.

 

This is a forum driven by people with questions and answers to those questions. I do not understand why people would get upset that the same questions get asked over and over again. Haven't they ever had a conversation with a child before with the million questions? LOL Let's try to be more patient and kind with each other, people. No need to be mean.

 

Mateacher; I truly hope you are having a wonderful vacation and that you can forget the bad experience on Cruise Critic. I've been flamed, bashed, insulted, you name it. I don't let it bother me, sticks and stones, ya know? This site does offer a wealth of information to cruisers and is so helpful.

[ladycaveat]

Typos usually turn up in red underline and if you right click over the letters it gives you the correct spelling...

 

Well darn . . . my typos don't turn up in red underline. Sure wish they did because I am the world's worst speller . . . my former husband used to tell me there was Webster's Dictionary and there was Tammy's Dictionary and never the twain shall meet . . . :D

[ladycaveat]

mateacher, OP simply means "other party". It's not a bad name. I'm sorry you feel attacked by some people. I hope everything works out well for you and you have a great trip. :)

 

Hum . . . and all this time I thought OP meant "original poster" (as in the one who started the thread) . . . :confused:

[ladycaveat]

Hi everyone,

I don't have time to check this or reply anymore.:( I must focus and get my son packed for England and me packed for cruise.:eek:

Thanks to everyone who was kind and a special thanks to mitchpam.

Maybe when I return I will figure out how to actually use this web sight.

Look I can now use the faces!:)

I'll let you know how it goes!

mateacher.

PS to Rhongepooh: I teach special education 8th grade in an urban school....opposite end of your spectrum!!

 

Way to go mateacher!!!!! You gotta love those little smiles . . . ;) :D :p

[ladycaveat]

My spell check gets such a work out from me, sometimes it tells me "I need a break, use a dictionary".:)

 

Hi scuabacruiser! Only seven more days to go and we'll all be on the Valor headed to the Western Carribbean. Oh heart be still . . . :p

[connergirls]

Well, see, that's one of my pet peeves.

 

People can still at least LOOK at and for posts without the search function! I mean, one day's worth of posts can go back several pages.

 

What bugs me is that no one is willing to do any "work" of their own. They want to come here and get instant answers to all their questions without doing any of the work.

 

And there are plenty of people who will answer the same questions over and over and over and over because they apparently love the idea that they are an "expert" and have all the answers.

 

Yes, the same topics will come up over and over again.

 

But when there is an existing thread - or two - on a topic ON THE MAIN PAGE or even the 2nd or 3rd page, and people can't be bothered to look for them, then I have a problem.

 

It isn't being "mean" or attacking anyone. It's wanting to understand why people come to a message board and can't be bothered to do any reading or browsing beforehand to see how the board is laid out and to see if their questions are already under discussion in an existing thread.

 

Seriously....... if other people asking and/or answering questions bothers you that much, it's time for a break.

[trock]

I needed one the other day. Now that the weather is nice all the nuts are comming out at night to get Ice Cream. I think its the lights that attracts them. I keep telling myself only 200 and some days untill my next cruise.

I am leaving 4 weeks from today:D

and i could use a short one right now lol

[big_duck]

Typos usually turn up in red underline and if you right click over the letters it gives you the correct spelling...

 

I know Firefox has this feature, I don't know about other browsers.