Royal Caribbean lectures?
in [Cruise Ship]
|
From: Bill on 9 Mar 2010 21:29 On 3/9/2010 5:32 PM, Stu wrote: > > We ran into him in four different shops while we were shopping, even > one that was not even on his list, nothing was said. He asked how we > enjoyed St.Martien was all, never asked if we had been to the other > shops. Hell, we even had a beer with him (he bought) at a little sit > down place just off the dock. You actually think he was shopping with his own money there? Or was he picking up his kickback for sending customers there? Nice that he paid for your drink, although I think these folks get free food for sending customers there, did you actually see him pay the check? Also, it was the cruise line's list, not his. I am surprised he would go to a store not on it -- I wonder if he could have gotten fired for that. Bill
From: Brian K on 10 Mar 2010 18:45 Stu plucked Senior Frog's Magic Twanger and said On 3/9/2010 3:07 PM: > X-No-Archive: yes On Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:35:18 -0600, George Leppla > <george(a)cruisemaster.com> wrote: > > >> Stu wrote: >> >>> X-No-Archive: yes On Tue, 9 Mar 2010 09:32:36 -0800 (PST), Rusty >>> <rustybwilson(a)gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>> >>>> If you've sailed Royal Caribbean, can you tell me what, if anything, >>>> they have in the way of Port Lectures? I'm looking for good, clear >>>> information about the ports before we get there, and not just shopping >>>> or tour sales info. >>>> >>>> Thanks very much for any info you can share. >>>> >>>> Rusty >>>> >>> I don't know about RC, but on both of our Carnival cruises they had a >>> half hour long port chat, then questions. The handouts they gave us >>> were a list of shops who have ripped off cruisers (and should be >>> avoided), and a list of safe shops to buy from. The fellow who did the >>> talk actually shopped in most stores, so he knew what he was talking >>> about. >>> >> >> FWIW... the shops that any cruise line recommends are paying the cruise >> line to make that recommendation. They get a fee and a certain % of the >> sales. Did you ever notice that when you make a purchase, many of the >> shops will ask you what ship you are on... and sometimes even your cabin >> number. >> >> That isn't to say that the shops recommended aren't good, but the port >> talk is actually more of a paid advertisement. There are other >> shops/stores that may have as good or better deals... but they aren't in >> the program. >> > > We were walking down the main street in St.Martin past a > craft/knicknack store, the lady drumming up business for them ( and I > use that term loosely) grabbed my sons arm and tried to get him to > come in her store( he's 6'5" and 250 lbs.). When he shook her off and > declined, she swore at us and said we were bastards, we mentioned this > back on board. > > ...Yes George I knew about the cruise line being pieced off by the > shops, it's common. I really wonder if the ones on the don't buy from > list were ones who refused to give a kickback and were blackballed? > When you mentioned your experience back on board did you mention it to the person who handed out the "buying guides"? What was his/her reaction? -- ________ To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address. Brian M. Kochera "The poor dog is the firmest of friends, the first to welcome the foremost to defend" - Lord Byron View My Web Pages: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951 My Shutterfly Page http://photosbybrianmk.shutterfly.com/
From: Goomba on 10 Mar 2010 18:45 Kurt Ullman wrote: > In article <00adp5thgic9e2v459illlqh70g1in0rg5(a)4ax.com>, > Stu <info(a)foodforu.ca> wrote: > >> ...Yes George I knew about the cruise line being pieced off by the >> shops, it's common. I really wonder if the ones on the don't buy from >> list were ones who refused to give a kickback and were blackballed? > > It isn't a kickback. The cruiselines sell the space in their flyers > and time on their shopping shows. Never have understood why (1) anybody > is surprised by this (2) so many don't recognize these for the > infomercials they are. > Heck I'd be disappointed in the cruise lines if they did anything > ELSE. > Every little tour we ever took over in Europe was the same way. The tour guides lead you to certain stores, then after loading the tourists back on the bus they go back into the store for their "kickback" I learned of this while on a tour in Delft. It was pretty obvious how it worked once it was pointed out to me.
From: Stu on 10 Mar 2010 19:16 X-No-Archive: yes On Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:45:04 -0500, Brian K <brian1951BLOG(a)earthlink.net> wrote: >Stu plucked Senior Frog's Magic Twanger and said On 3/9/2010 3:07 PM: >> X-No-Archive: yes On Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:35:18 -0600, George Leppla >> <george(a)cruisemaster.com> wrote: >> >> >>> Stu wrote: >>> >>>> X-No-Archive: yes On Tue, 9 Mar 2010 09:32:36 -0800 (PST), Rusty >>>> <rustybwilson(a)gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>>> If you've sailed Royal Caribbean, can you tell me what, if anything, >>>>> they have in the way of Port Lectures? I'm looking for good, clear >>>>> information about the ports before we get there, and not just shopping >>>>> or tour sales info. >>>>> >>>>> Thanks very much for any info you can share. >>>>> >>>>> Rusty >>>>> >>>> I don't know about RC, but on both of our Carnival cruises they had a >>>> half hour long port chat, then questions. The handouts they gave us >>>> were a list of shops who have ripped off cruisers (and should be >>>> avoided), and a list of safe shops to buy from. The fellow who did the >>>> talk actually shopped in most stores, so he knew what he was talking >>>> about. >>>> >>> >>> FWIW... the shops that any cruise line recommends are paying the cruise >>> line to make that recommendation. They get a fee and a certain % of the >>> sales. Did you ever notice that when you make a purchase, many of the >>> shops will ask you what ship you are on... and sometimes even your cabin >>> number. >>> >>> That isn't to say that the shops recommended aren't good, but the port >>> talk is actually more of a paid advertisement. There are other >>> shops/stores that may have as good or better deals... but they aren't in >>> the program. >>> >> >> We were walking down the main street in St.Martin past a >> craft/knicknack store, the lady drumming up business for them ( and I >> use that term loosely) grabbed my sons arm and tried to get him to >> come in her store( he's 6'5" and 250 lbs.). When he shook her off and >> declined, she swore at us and said we were bastards, we mentioned this >> back on board. >> >> ...Yes George I knew about the cruise line being pieced off by the >> shops, it's common. I really wonder if the ones on the don't buy from >> list were ones who refused to give a kickback and were blackballed? >> >When you mentioned your experience back on board did you mention it to >the person who handed out the "buying guides"? What was his/her reaction? You mean the fellow who we met and had a drink with, one in the same.
From: gmbeasley on 10 Mar 2010 20:44
On Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:10:55 -0600, June <jhuge(a)yorkshirepoodles.com> wrote: >X-No-Archive: yes On Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:58:49 -0800, Ray Goldenberg ><ray(a)lighthousetravel.com> wrote: > >>On Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:34:14 -0600, Stu <info(a)foodforu.ca> wrote: >> >>>The fellow who did the >>>talk actually shopped in most stores, so he knew what he was talking >>>about. >> >>Hi Everyone, >> >>Only the gullible or naive believe the above. The person is usually >>compensated by a company that is hired to promote certain stores so >>that is what he really knows. <:+) > > >Nice Ray, and you expect people to book with you. But he's right. I've always known that tour guides get a cut. Rick Steves says that tour guides get most of their income from kickbacks, and I think he would know as he was a tour guide for years before he started writing his books. When we were in Cozumel (on a land vacation - not on a cruise), we met some people from a cruise ship who said that they had been warned not to stray off the main waterfront street because the back streets weren't "safe". And they said they had heard on the TV about a tourist who had been raped in Mexico City, so that it must be true. Really silly. The only really good port lectures that I've been to have been on HAL. They had both a port lecturer AND a shopping lecturer. I think we also had good lectures - not necessarily on the ports but on sea life and history of the Caribbean etc. on either NCL or HAL. Sometimes there are also excursion lectures which explain what you might seen on the excursions. Both those and the shopping lectures can usually be seen on the TV. I've only been on one RC cruise and it was in 2007, and I don't remember what they had for port information - except that at the beginning of the cruise it was wrong. (i.e. the ship TV channel information said our first port was to be San Juan PR and really it was Bermuda and we didn't go to San Juan) Our last cruise was on Celebrity and I had been to most of the ports before so I didn't go to any of the lectures, but I can tell you that the maps that they handed out were useless unless you wanted to shop at their 'preferred' shops. There was nothing on them about any points of interest whatsoever. |