Royal Champions

[Toddcan]

My role as admin is purely voluntary and I am online from around 0600 thru 1800 Mon-Fri and have the weekends off cos I actually do have a life away from the internet (even if it looks like I don't sometimes) :)

 

 

Did I miss a post somewhere? You are an admin for what forum/website?

[Toddcan]

 

Isn't Fact 50 Champs were reward with a free cruise or was that lies ????

 

 

jj.....

 

Only a few of the RCs have received a free cruise. Not everyone.

[coxswain]

I think it's a great idea for the "RC's" to have to have that "designation" in their sig lines......

 

 

It provides transparency !!

 

 

 

 

jj.....

[xpcdoojk]

It provides transparency !!

 

 

 

 

jj.....

 

I know we have beaten this horse before, but each of the RC's is a private citizen. They do not belong to you, CC or RCI. You do not get to tell them what they have to do. It doesn't work that way on this side of the pond. They are free to share as much or as little about themselves as they want, not that you want.:mad:

 

jc

[cruzendude]

Level the playing field. Disband the RC 'club', have CC and RCI disassociate themselves from it completely...an apology for being misleading would be good too, but might be a step too far.

 

The site here is not a business, it is an informal place to chat about cruising. So why run it like a business by inviting companies to sponsor it and actively encourage shady advertising through schemes like this RCI one?

 

It is big enough to stand on its own two feet...get rid of the corporate strings and everything that goes with it. Surely it should be an open and honest site where people can say what they want (within reason - courtesy etc rather than outright nastiness) and let people share their experiences without the doubt about whether or not others are paid in kind with freebee cruises etc.

 

I say again....staff and owners of sites like these should never accept free cruises just because they own or admin a discussion site, that only feeds the cruise lines with more reason to have rules bent to suit their agenda...in this case RCI employing a PR agency to do some pretty shifty things and with the cruise line's permission.

 

If you don't think this site is a business the you my friend have MUCH to learn!:eek:

[rool]

I have only been a user of this site for a few short months and will be embarking on my first cruise in just under three weeks. If RCCL think that by offering me a few perks and a fancy title that it would persuade me to say a few positive things about them in my post cruise review they are... absolutely right. Please email ill-b-nice4aprice@eircom.net to discuss terms.

 

Many thanks in advance

[cruzendude]

Maybe you haven't been reading what i've posted !!

 

 

Why don't we highlight these members ( if offered and i accepted me included ) so that ordinary members could make a judgement on their posts !!

 

 

The perks whether you like or not are seen as bride for good reviews - look at the definition of Champ is.

 

 

I and others can only call as we see it - but i do feel CC could turn this around and find a middle ground.

 

 

I don't really care what perks they get or how many posts they have or how many cruises they've been on - All i'm after is HONEST/IMPARTIAL Advice on these Boards !!

 

 

 

jj.....

 

 

What amazes me is that you seem to think you would or should EVER get fair and impartial reviews here or any other site for that matter with or without the RC's.......there is NO SUCH THING as an unbiased review...get over it.....have you read the reviews here? Every one of them reeks with biased reports due to the posters opinions...the VERY definition of opinion is a form a bias...:rolleyes: I have sat here and read 5 pages of this dribble and now I think I need a stiff drink! :eek:

[Alexis]

Hi Alexis..............yep they just keep chopping at the bit about all these great "free" perks and rewards we get..........but they just won't tell us what we are supposed to be getting............that I haven't received since June of 2008!:(

 

I'd be doing cartwheels just to receive a call from the upgrade fairy for any of my upcoming cruises!:p

 

Every Crown and Anchor member on board a ship gets the same as us. Free welcome back parties, free Diamond and Diamond plus parties, free Meet and Mingles parties. (if it is a 7 day or more cruise)

I have never received an upgrade, nor an offer. It seems the newbies all get them according to their posts.

"I went from an inside to a Royal Suite" :rolleyes:

Now that I chose my Hump cabins, I ask never to have my cabin taken from me. :D

Oh yes, As a Crown and Anchor member, All Platinum, Diamond, and + members get the lounge to wait in with free coffee and donuts when waiting to disembark.

I had to beg and plead to get a table for two for our 51st Anniversary on the Mariner last September. I had requested it many months before we cruised and was told it would be granted.

I got on board and no two top. We ate in the Windjammer the first night when they said No. The second day one opened up for us. Last table in the back of the dining room. We loved it. :D

Meanwhile I read on here how all new cruisers always request a table for two and get one?? The whole dining room would have to be tables for two.

I have posted all of this on here and so have you. The rose colored glasses postings by some people are the postings that have to be looked at very closely.

Signatures people post of cruises on ships that were not even built yet?

Signatures of cruises in peoples posts where they are on two ships at once?

Now, who should the people really believe on here.

Us, or them?

[xpcdoojk]

What amazes me is that you seem to think you would or should EVER get fair and impartial reviews here or any other site for that matter with or without the RC's.......there is NO SUCH THING as an unbiased review...get over it.....have you read the reviews here? Every one of them reeks with biased reports due to the posters opinions...the VERY definition of opinion is a form a bias...:rolleyes: I have sat here and read 5 pages of this dribble and now I think I need a stiff drink! :eek:

 

Yeah, would you like Gin, Scotch or Bourbon?

 

I wish I was stirring one right now.:rolleyes:

 

jc

[akcruz]

For all of you who keep doubting that the RCs can be unbiased, have you EVER read any of their posts/reviews? I know that I have and they do NOT sugar coat what RCI does and always talk positive. I believe it was one of the RCs that first came back from a cruise and reported on the reserved pool seating for the suite occupants. They were blasted by those that book suites and repeatedly told they could change cruise lines if they didn't like it. Is this a 'cheerleader' for RCI?

 

Maybe instead of reading an article written by who knows who, take a look at a few of the RCs posts and maybe you will have a different opinion. Are all of them this way and did they know exactly what they were getting into when they agreed to join 'the club' I can't say, but come on give them a break.

 

It is your responsibility to read as much as you can and make your own opinion from everything you read, not pick out one entry and claim its gospel. If you do that I feel sorry for you, you will disappointed often.

[coxswain]

If theres no big deal about Champs why has CC set up this thread ???

 

 

 

It could easily be resolved - highlight the Champs and bring transparency into it - not much to ask !!

 

 

 

jj......

[rool]

What amazes me is that you seem to think you would or should EVER get fair and impartial reviews here or any other site for that matter with or without the RC's.......there is NO SUCH THING as an unbiased review...get over it.....have you read the reviews here? Every one of them reeks with biased reports due to the posters opinions...the VERY definition of opinion is a form a bias...:rolleyes: I have sat here and read 5 pages of this dribble and now I think I need a stiff drink! :eek:

 

If someone was really looking to research anything properly before making a commitment you shouldn't rely on one reference point anyway, especially if the cost is going to be substantial.

 

I learned very quickly that there is a large, very loyal, RCI following on here that will quickly jump to the cruise line's defense following any negative postings. As a result I use this site to mainly gather factual information about the ship facilities, cabin features, bar prices, itinerary etc etc, basically learning what goes on from people who have actually experienced the cruises. For that alone I am grateful I came across CC but do take most reviews, good or bad, with a pinch of salt as most peoples perception of what might be good, bad or indifferent can vary greatly.

 

To actually make the decision I researched as many websites, magazines, books as possible to, hopefully, make a balanced decision.

[cruzendude]

Yeah, would you like Gin, Scotch or Bourbon?

 

I wish I was stirring one right now.:rolleyes:

 

jc

 

Thanks JC..I'll have a bourbon...and to think there is nothing around here to blow off steam about! :D

[Ladder55]

call me whatever,but i thought these boards for legit feedback for whatever the topic was, it was never stated or nor did I read anywhere that they were sponsored or rewarded by certain company's, if it was than I missed it. I must be naive.

 

I am dissapointed in learning about all of this, im not saying all the information on these boards isnt legit, what I am saying however is that knowing this now, its apparent that not everything we learn or discuss here is completely valid, well not in my eyes anyway. lets face it, if someone is rewarding you for positive feedback, your going to give them positive feedback. regardless of what the reward is, im sick of hearing about how small the rewards are or have been, its the simple fact that there is some kind of reward in play.

 

IMO i hold cc responsible for the lack of disclosing what would be fair information to the rest of us, some of us had no idea about this program and have made decesions based on information we have learned here, not realizing the "sway" of the RC being in place, somehow and somewhere along the line deceit falls into this. Some may have choosen to sail rccl because of all the UPplay on these boards from the RC's, but we didnt know that RCCL or Cc was behind it, and that really isnt fair to not disclose to the general public reading these boards,

RCCl was very smart, they found a place to voice there product, nothing wrong with that ,they came up with an idea and some sold themselves out for it, it was a choice made by the website to either go with this idea or not, they went with it, thats fine, but disclosure sure would have been nice.

[rool]

Thanks JC..I'll have a bourbon...and to think there is nothing around here to blow off steam about! :D

 

Talking of booze, I heard that RC's get to take on baord as much alcohol as they like.

 

That's a great rule :cool:

 

They eat babies too apparently, room service supplies them.

[Arizona Laura]

I'd like to thank Cecilia for attempting to calm down the Royal Caribbean forum. Now, since I was aware of this program from the very beginning and somewhat involved, I will happy to share what I know to be the facts:

 

1. I was contacted by Royal Caribbean in early 2007 and was asked to send them emails of certain members who they were interested in contacting. Of course, since I will NOT share your email addresses, they had no choice but to ask me to contact these members with the information about this program. was told that Buzz Metrics, a subsidiary of Neilsen Ratings System, had earmarked about 50 people on the internet whose existing participating had been positive and enthusiastic about their cruises on Royal Caribbean. Of the 50, 40 were Cruise Critic members which makes sense since our community is so large.

 

2. I have to tell you I was VERY surprised at some of the posters on the listing; most of them were known to me. Some had many posts, some did not. But, most importantly I thought that the majority of them were NOT what I would call cheerleaders. As a matter of fact, I've found most of their posts before, and still, to be very HONEST, and sometimes downright critical, of the cruise line. This is only my opinion.

 

3. Most of those on the listing heard nothing for months. Finally, an invitation was sent to with an invitation to ONE of two pre-inaugural sailings on Liberty of the Seas. You had a choice of either Miami or New York and you had to pay your own way to get there. It is important to keep in mind that on these sailings were many travel agents, vendor firms and of course the media. The cruise line hosted all of these groups, including the 30 or so who could make it.

 

4. Cruise lines hosting various groups on board pre-inaugural sailings is pretty standard nowadays. They do this in the hopes that they will enjoy themselves and return and convince their friends, family and clients to sail with them.

 

5. I was on board the Liberty of the Seas pre-inaugural in NYC. I was very happy to meet those Cruise Critic members who were on board, as well as posters from other websites and bloggers and website creators. It was on board that the name "Royal Champions" was announced to all. I won't say we didn't have a wonderflul time; obviously the ship was gorgeous -- we did enjoy the 2 day sailing. There were many seminars and meetings on board to attend if so inclined; this is standard on any pre-iinaugural.

 

6. Many months went by. No communication to any of the Royal Champions came from RCI. All was quiet until RCI invited those in the NY area to attend an event where they would announce some of the neighborhoods on Oasis of the Seas. Not many of the RC's went, about 10 I'd say; I did attend as did our Managing Editor -- we brought 'Bennie the Bear' with us. I cannot remember the exact date but it was held at the Nokia theatre.

 

7. After the Nokia event -- nothing. No communications, no invites, no promises of anything at all. As a matter of fact, many would write to me and ask "is the program still running?". We really had no info to share.

 

8. About three months ago RCI asked for us to contact an additional group of members. No one heard anything for months until they were asked to verify their contact info. Then, again, nothing.

 

That's the entire story as I know it.

 

So, you may ask: why should or shouldn't you put any validity in what a Royal Champion has to say? The truth of the matter is -- only you can decide. Without determining how positive or negative a poster is, you certainly have to admit they are full of information about the cruise line, can offer up facts like nobody's business, share bits of minutia that some would say borders on the insane, post live from their vacations, and spend a great deal of time doing all the above. The choice is yours.

 

Some may also ask: why does Cruise Critic allow this? Essentially, you are all anonymous to us. The phenomena behind social media and user generated reviews is fascinating to us. There are many reasons why people come to a community like ours -- more often than not you are here because you like to cruise. The majority of different "groups" here identify themselves - such as Travel Agents, business owners and yes, even Royal Champions. We can certainly make it a "guideline" to identify yourself if that appeases those of you that are critical of brand influeners; but that would be extremely difficult to enforce across all the different types of groups.

 

My final note to you all: keep this discussion civil. Do not direct your posts toward any individual member. Do not direct your postings toward them as a group either. Instead, stick to the issue of the marketing focus behind this group and others like it. Know that they aren't being paid to post, but have been invited to an event or two to share their opinions about what they have seen. You are all free to "call it what you wish", those who look at it negatively will probably not change their opinion due to my post. I only wanted to set the record straight from our perspective.

 

Laura

 

I guess I do not understand why CC became involved in Royal Caribbean attempting to reach some of its posters in the first place.

Does that mean CC would be obligated once done for Royal Caribbean to contact its posters for every cruise line that makes that request in order to be fair to that particular cruise line and to those individual posters? Without CC assistance these posters sought out by Royal Caribbean most likely would have been nearly impossible to contact.

IMHO I am just saying that it opened a can of worms for CC. Is it right to do this behind the scenes? Could CC be accused of getting involved in this practice hoping to secure more advertising dollars? I am not making any accusations but just wondering whether it was a wise decision or not for CC to contact its posters for any cruise line.

Laura

[Ladylouwho]

I guess I do not understand why CC became involved in Royal Caribbean attempting to reach some of its posters in the first place.

Does that mean CC would be obligated once done for Royal Caribbean to contact its posters for every cruise line that makes that request in order to be fair to that particular cruise line and to those individual posters? Without CC assistance these posters sought out by Royal Caribbean most likely would have been nearly impossible to contact.

IMHO I am just saying that it opened a can of worms for CC. Is it right to do this behind the scenes? Could CC be accused of getting involved in this practice hoping to secure more advertising dollars? I am not making any accusations but just wondering whether it was a wise decision or not for CC to contact its posters for any cruise line.

Laura

 

 

Good questions. Unfortunately now a lot of very nice people (RC's) are being put in the middle of this apparent business alliance without many(most)? of them fully understanding the implications of their involvement with the PROGRAM.

[xpcdoojk]

I guess I do not understand why CC became involved in Royal Caribbean attempting to reach some of its posters in the first place.

Does that mean CC would be obligated once done for Royal Caribbean to contact its posters for every cruise line that makes that request in order to be fair to that particular cruise line and to those individual posters? Without CC assistance these posters sought out by Royal Caribbean most likely would have been nearly impossible to contact.

IMHO I am just saying that it opened a can of worms for CC. Is it right to do this behind the scenes? Could CC be accused of getting involved in this practice hoping to secure more advertising dollars? I am not making any accusations but just wondering whether it was a wise decision or not for CC to contact its posters for any cruise line.

Laura

 

Would you prefer if a group contacted, Laura (ie management of this site) that she just give your email to them. I think I will contact Laura asking for the emails of the posters to this thread, should she give them to me without contacting you?

 

Seriously, this is not that complicated.

 

jc<---- knows most RCs do not want babies from room service or anywhere else:p,

 

jc<---- however, does like the alcohol rule:cool:

 

jc<---- is officially asking RCI to make me an RC or else I will blow the lid off this conspiracy!:D

 

jc<---- is joking, for the humor impaired:p

[glgolfer]

It will take me a bit to catch up on this entire thread. I only found it from a link in another thread which has been closed after two posts, even though I looked through two pages of front page threads trying to find a thread from late last night (not saying my old eyes catch everything, however). I saw two threads, possibly three (it had already disappeared and I am only judging from the title), disappear last night. I never saw this thread late last night, and I left the boards somewhere around 1:30 am my time. The threads which disappeared did not contain any fully quoted articles, just a link to the opinion blog article and the MSNBC article. I don't recall anyone getting into a discussion about closing threads -- it was all about the RC's, I believe, and was lively. I DID write the administration about the disappearing threads, and got a note that Laura was at a conference, basically, and the mods don't respond to deleted posts -- I was talking about disappearing threads, not posts.

 

Right before I went to bed, a poster quoted an admin from this thread, without id'ing it. That is the thread I was looking for today, to see if she had answered my question as to where the quote came from -- never found it, but now I know where she was getting her reference.

 

Thanks for the information that Trip Advisor owns this site. I am a member there and post reviews of stays in hotels -- I will email them about my concerns regarding what is happening, here.

 

My burning question is how were the RC's contacted -- they were id'd by data mining of this site and others, but folks post annonymously here, so how did RCCL get their contact information?

Laura answered that question earlier in this thread But here's the answer.

 

RCI contacted Laura to contact certain individuals for contact information so they could be invited to one of the Liberty preinaugurals. Laura emailed those individuals for that info. After we checked to verify it was legitimate, we sent the info. That's how.

 

But, since I'm one of those Royal Champions, my response is subject to scrutiny since it might be biased and/or totally wrong.

 

Sorry, just had to say that.

[benicehavefun]

Hi Alexis..............yep they just keep chopping at the bit about all these great "free" perks and rewards we get..........but they just won't tell us what we are supposed to be getting............that I haven't received since June of 2008!:(

 

I'd be doing cartwheels just to receive a call from the upgrade fairy for any of my upcoming cruises!:p

 

 

Weren't you offered perks and rewards that you were unable to take advantage of? Or do I have the wrong poster?

[jaxon41]

For all of you who keep doubting that the RCs can be unbiased, have you EVER read any of their posts/reviews? I know that I have and they do NOT sugar coat what RCI does and always talk positive. I believe it was one of the RCs that first came back from a cruise and reported on the reserved pool seating for the suite occupants. They were blasted by those that book suites and repeatedly told they could change cruise lines if they didn't like it. Is this a 'cheerleader' for RCI?

 

Maybe instead of reading an article written by who knows who, take a look at a few of the RCs posts and maybe you will have a different opinion. Are all of them this way and did they know exactly what they were getting into when they agreed to join 'the club' I can't say, but come on give them a break.

 

It is your responsibility to read as much as you can and make your own opinion from everything you read, not pick out one entry and claim its gospel. If you do that I feel sorry for you, you will disappointed often.

 

Certainly, not all RC's will lose objectivity. I know of one who was with us in the fight to get the Fl AG to examine the fuel surcharges placed on those already under contract. I believe she said she was asked to become an RC, AFTER that fight (started in the fall of 2007, and resolved in March 2008). Is it possible the program is used to promote and to silence? We certainly learned that RCCL is all about the bottom line in the surcharge fight -- ethics and legalities be cursed. The opinion blog piece makes it pretty clear that RCCL sees itself as using the RC's -- catch the line at the end of the first paragraph about influencing the influencers without them being too aware of it. And it is also clear that they are watching the RC's posts for frequency and positiveness.

 

I do think transparency is of the utmost importance, and that RC's need an identifier right next to their avatar -- not the sig line as many of us block those to more readily scroll through posts. I am not so concerned about them singing praises, as I am about learning which, if any, and I do believe I recognize a few, have been involved in "ganging up" on a naysayer.

 

There is a lot of good information on this site, but I have myself been put off by the "ganging up" I have seen, which is the flip side of cheerleading.

[Arizona Laura]

Would you prefer if a group contacted, Laura (ie management of this site) that she just give your email to them. I think I will contact Laura asking for the emails of the posters to this thread, should she give them to me without contacting you?

 

Seriously, this is not that complicated.

 

jc<---- knows most RCs do not want babies from room service or anywhere else:p,

 

jc<---- however, does like the alcohol rule:cool:

 

jc<---- is officially asking RCI to make me an RC or else I will blow the lid off this conspiracy!:D

 

jc<---- is joking, for the humor impaired:p

 

I just think CC should not have become involved at all..period.

Laura

[Catnip]

I know we have beaten this horse before, but each of the RC's is a private citizen. They do not belong to you, CC or RCI. You do not get to tell them what they have to do. It doesn't work that way on this side of the pond. They are free to share as much or as little about themselves as they want, not that you want.:mad:

 

jc

 

We do not get to tell them anything, but the management of CC (if they so desire) could do just that. I don't see anything wrong with making the RC's have that designation in their sig line. A lot of them do, anyway.

jmho.

[xpcdoojk]

I just think CC should not have become involved at all..period.

Laura

 

Why the RC's accepted the title of Royal Champion. That would not have occurred if they didn't agree to be contacted. It seems to me that being a Royal Champion is viewed by many non-Royal Champions as being close to having won a lottery. The jealousy exhibited by the non Royal Champions over the past week or so has been simply amazing and disgusting. If you missed it that might explain a lot to you. If you saw it and still have the opinion you do that explains a lot to me.:(

 

jc

[Catnip]

Yeah, would you like Gin, Scotch or Bourbon?

 

I wish I was stirring one right now.:rolleyes:

 

jc

 

I believe it's time for a Mojito! :) I hear RCCL is buying everyone a drink! :D