Complaining Couple Banned from RCI

[MakinGold]

I think almost all of us agree with you, waterrats. We've probably all had things go less than perfectly on one of our vacations. On my last cruise, which was Voyager in Feb., we didn't really have the best wait staff in the dining room, which was a bit disappointing, as that can be one of the highlights of a cruise, if you have great waiters. We were also seated in a little overflow room of the main dining room, which was not the best location.

 

We still had a great time overall and came home thinking about when we might schedule our next cruise . . . . Of course, on our passenger survey, we noted the things we were disappointed with (along with the things that were great). Thankfully, I think the vast majority of people are honest and don't go looking to make a stink, just to get some kind of freebie or discount.

[LauraS]

This was a tough call for us. After all, discussing "all things good and bad" about cruising is our mantra -- has been for almost 14 years. Yet, we were faced with a tailwind of conflicting thoughts: how do we handle this? We certainly think the discussion has merit -- but will it be about be about the issues at hand only? Can we keep this from becoming a public execution of the individual involved? It is a unique situation for us, as the couple in the center of this controversy are longtime, Cruise Critic members. Our very mission has been to provide a haven for cruisers on the internet -- will we be able to do that in this case?

After two days we believe this discussion has run its course. The time has come to put an end to this, because the discussion is no longer (or was it ever?) about the issue of being banned from a cruise line -- it is about an individual. One of our members. And although this individual has been determined to share her experiences both here and with other cruise-media outlets -- discussing people in a manner that personally attacks them as has been done these past two days is not what Cruise Critic is all about.

No matter how many reminders, no matter how many times we've asked "please no harassing of your fellow posters" or "stick to the issue at hand," we have posters who cannot refrain from personal attacks and we've had enough. It's been covered, everywhere. Discussed until there is nothing new to say. Rehashed until everyone is simply repeating themselves, or what others have said five minutes earlier. Most folks don't even know what they are talking about, they haven't read the article, or all the posts! Goodness, we've even done our own "follow-up" story.

Some of you won't like that the threads have been closed -- write me. Get it off your chest, in an email. We've made our decision and it is final. So, let's move on now and return to posting our own experiences -- good or bad -- about our favorite cruise lines.

After all, what are we about? We are cruising people through and through. Let's get back to it.

A final thank you to those who took the high road in all of these discussions. I've read every single posting on this issue, and I know who you are. My personal thanks go out to you.