Bingo Scam on Liberty of the Seas

[pltag]

It's not like they took your money and then cancelled the game without a refund ....... you are overreacting!

 

By the way ...... next time you cruise, you will notice that that Grand Prize available in the last bingo game of all midweek sessions MIRACULOUSLY is never won until the last session of the cruise!! :D

[FLACRUISER99]

IMO if the OP is that unhappy that "Bingo" was canceled he should just stay home. All cruise lines cancel different events for different reasons, if fact airlines have canceled flights due to low passenger loads.

[Mark_K]

I and my lovely wife just returned from the Liberty of the Seas. We arrived in Miami this morning. Back in Minnesota now and it is 0 outside! Ship was lovely and service was great in all ways except for an event that occurred on the first day at sea. The activities staff advertised that they were going to be playing a game of bingo on Monday am and the prizes included a $500 dollar pot as well as a suite upgrade. My wife and I were sitting by the pool and were hesitant to leave our pool chairs as it was wall to wall people around the pool area. After some discussion we decided to make our way down and play the game. When we arrived at the advertised location which was the Sphinx theater, we were told that they were not yet selling bingo cards for the upcoming game. We waited about 15 minutes and during this time only a few more showed up to play. There was a total of about 40 people in the room at this time. A activities member came in and announced that due to lack of participants the game had been canceled. I told him that it was misrepresentation and a scam that they now were not playing the game due to it not being profitable for RCI. He did not respond. I then went to guest services and complained. They put me in touch with the person responsible for the bingo games on the ship. I explained to him my frustration as well as that there were others who left the room feeling the same way I did about it. He stated that it was company policy to cancel if they did not have enough people to cover the pot to be given away. I told him that was misrepresentation and that if I tried to do something like that at my business I would have customers never show up again to shop in my store. I then expressed that they need to have it in the small print and in the anouncements of the bingo games that there has to be a minium amount of people playing the game or else it will be cancelled. Due to this situation, I made no effort to play in any of the bingo games all week. How would one know if it would happen again? I have cruised RCI 5 times and their sister line Celebrity line 4 times. I have also cruised other lines in addition to these two. I was so turned off by this action of RCI that I will be not cruising their line again for some time. I do not appreciate my time wasted by mis-representation and scams!

Good luck finding another cruise line that wouldn't have done the same.

 

Seriously, would a little asterisk next to the the listing in the Compass and some fine print stating 'minimum number of participants required' really have changed your behavior?

[EVALUATOR]

It's not like they took your money and then cancelled the game without a refund ....... you are overreacting!

 

By the way ...... next time you cruise, you will notice that that Grand Prize available in the last bingo game of all midweek sessions MIRACULOUSLY is never won until the last session of the cruise!! :D

 

They limit the number of called balls early in the week. The last grand prize bingo is usually guaranteed. So if it takes all 75 to get a winner, they will call it. Early in the cruise they usually limit the jackpot number of called balls to around 50+/-.

 

As for not taking the money then canceling, how did they know they did not have enough until the start selling tickets? I have seen a group of 4 share 1 ticket, and a single person buy a couple hundred dollars worth of tickets.

[zaffydad]

If RCL followed their own guidelines, then it is the parents who are allowing their kids to play bingo which many parents are happy to do. I do not believe they get a bingo card for free.

 

The parent has to buy the bingo card for their child. The parent gets the cash prize and the child gets an RCL key-ring. The parent is totally responsible for the child participating in the activity.

 

Why are people always so quick to bad mouth big business and forget that parents are ultimately responsible for their children upbringing. Why are people so quick to use their own yardstick to base what other parents consider appropriate. Better to learn about gambling and other evils from your parents openly rather than behind their back from untrustworthy friends.

 

Thank you. Children do not get cards for free. We usually play one game with the children- they love to get the fancy smoothie drink and be a part of the "action" . The cruise director's staff on all the lines we have cruised are corny and silly during bingo, and the kids love it! We are not encouraging them to gamble or teaching them a bad lifestyle habit- they used to have their own little Bingo game at home. We never won any money at our kitchen table, either! Oh- and we do go to church every week, are very active in the church and our community, am a Girl Scout and Cub Scout leaders and members and we are kind to animals, babies and the elderly.

Not hurting our kidlettes by indulging in a game of bingo on a cruise!

 

They are exposed to much bigger evils in the bathroom at school..

Kat

[EVALUATOR]

IMO if the OP is that unhappy that "Bingo" was canceled he should just stay home. All cruise lines cancel different events for different reasons, if fact airlines have canceled flights due to low passenger loads.

 

So what happens the day you show up for a cruise, and they say sorry, not profitable enough, go home?

[johneeo]

What I found worrying on the Legend in Asia last week was that children under 16 were allowed to play bingo for free.

 

Call me a killjoy if you wish - I don't care - but I find that encouraging kids to gamble is at best irresponsible in my mind. I have seen first hand how addictive gambling is (particularly to young people) please believe me on this. I am sure someone will come on here with a pedantic response such as the kids did not pay any outlay, but that is totally missing the point.

 

Many on here may suggest it is harmless fun for the kids - I totally disagree - people who have family members or friends who are victims of gambling will know where I am coming from.

 

All games are a form of "gambling". Monopoly, Life, Risk, Stratego, War, Old Maid, and on and on.

 

Just as one can fall victim to gambling, one can fall victim to cruising, alcohol, sex, fun, work, beaches, Cruise Critic, politics, internet message boards, and on and on and on.

 

In many instances, there are choices. Priorities and responsibilities need to be established.

Edited January 10, 2011 by johneeo

[mommabean]

If RCL followed their own guidelines, then it is the parents who are allowing their kids to play bingo which many parents are happy to do. I do not believe they get a bingo card for free.

 

The parent has to buy the bingo card for their child. The parent gets the cash prize and the child gets an RCL key-ring. The parent is totally responsible for the child participating in the activity.

 

Why are people always so quick to bad mouth big business and forget that parents are ultimately responsible for their children upbringing. Why are people so quick to use their own yardstick to base what other parents consider appropriate. Better to learn about gambling and other evils from your parents openly rather than behind their back from untrustworthy friends.

 

No, the parent does NOT have to buy the card for the child. What the parents have to do is buy their own card and then their child gets a free card. You can't just walk in with a kid and get a free card for them without purchasing anything.

 

Gina

[BillOh]

A word of advice:

 

When dealing with customer service one of the single worst things you can utter is "I have a business and if I ran things this way..." or "In my business I would give the customer what they wanted....." It is a quick shot to shutting down the customer service folks. It is irritating, condescending and often untrue. Try to avoid it in the future. It is almost as bad as "I work in customer service and we do things this way...." or "I pay your salary..."

 

 

That is a good point. I do agree with some sentiment that they should find a better way of doing this. If I remember right, he said they canceled the game entirely. They should at least continue the game, possibly with a reduced pot.

[FLACRUISER99]

So what happens the day you show up for a cruise, and they say sorry, not profitable enough, go home?

IMO, you are now making extreme examples to try and prove your point.

I am sure the cruise line would have (and has) canceled cruises long before the day before you sail. All I am saying is if the OP is so upset that Bingo was canceled hasn't experienced all cruise lines canceling events for whatever reason. It happens every cruise!

Edited January 10, 2011 by FLACRUISER99

[silentbob007]

I've seen "kids play free" promotions with a paying adult on my last few RCCL cruises ... good thing they tone down those shows though, or the kids may see the same amount of skin as up on the pool deck. ;)

[rolloman]

I was on an NCL ship a couple years ago and they advertised the snowball Bingo jackpot to be a minimum 1000.00, my wife happen to win and they gave her 480.00...we didnt say anything, just happy to have won and kind of forgot all about it until the bingo director out of the blue called our cabin and said "hey sorry about the payout, the ad we ran in the daily was a misprint.....hmmm, at that point we felt we had been cheated lol.. why the hell is he calling us a day later? Anyways we were on vacation and I did not feel like getting crazy about it...so just we just moved on 480.00 richer.

Edited January 10, 2011 by rolloman

[setsail]

I and my lovely wife just returned from the Liberty of the Seas. We arrived in Miami this morning. Back in Minnesota now and it is 0 outside! Ship was lovely and service was great in all ways except for an event that occurred on the first day at sea. The activities staff advertised that they were going to be playing a game of bingo on Monday am and the prizes included a $500 dollar pot as well as a suite upgrade. My wife and I were sitting by the pool and were hesitant to leave our pool chairs as it was wall to wall people around the pool area. After some discussion we decided to make our way down and play the game. When we arrived at the advertised location which was the Sphinx theater, we were told that they were not yet selling bingo cards for the upcoming game. We waited about 15 minutes and during this time only a few more showed up to play. There was a total of about 40 people in the room at this time. A activities member came in and announced that due to lack of participants the game had been canceled. I told him that it was misrepresentation and a scam that they now were not playing the game due to it not being profitable for RCI. He did not respond. I then went to guest services and complained. They put me in touch with the person responsible for the bingo games on the ship. I explained to him my frustration as well as that there were others who left the room feeling the same way I did about it. He stated that it was company policy to cancel if they did not have enough people to cover the pot to be given away. I told him that was misrepresentation and that if I tried to do something like that at my business I would have customers never show up again to shop in my store. I then expressed that they need to have it in the small print and in the anouncements of the bingo games that there has to be a minium amount of people playing the game or else it will be cancelled. Due to this situation, I made no effort to play in any of the bingo games all week. How would one know if it would happen again? I have cruised RCI 5 times and their sister line Celebrity line 4 times. I have also cruised other lines in addition to these two. I was so turned off by this action of RCI that I will be not cruising their line again for some time. I do not appreciate my time wasted by mis-representation and scams!

 

Guess what, they did almost the exact same thing on the dec. 5 cruise-except. They took some of the peoples money when they came in but by the time my wife got there they just said take a seat and wait to see if enough show up. OK. Not enough showed up so they asked everyone to get in line and they would give them a bingo shirt for showing up-NOT- The ones who had not paid stood in line with the ones that had(everyone) but all the non pays were refused a shirt after standing in line- It was a mess-some upset people and they lost a lot of bingo players for the rest of the week. Not a big deal for us but a $$$ loser for them just because they don't have their act together. Sad. I don't blame the cruise line, but rather a hudge lack of CS/training the individual in charge of this needs on the Liberty. Maybe its someone new.

Edited January 10, 2011 by setsail

[mckinna]

I think it's a little extreme to quit a cruise line entirely just over a game of bingo.

[Mark_K]

That is a good point. I do agree with some sentiment that they should find a better way of doing this. If I remember right, he said they canceled the game entirely. They should at least continue the game, possibly with a reduced pot.

That's what they do for the Hold'em tournaments.

[thelion]

So what happens the day you show up for a cruise, and they say sorry, not profitable enough, go home?

 

What, exactly, do you think chartering a ship months prior to sailing is? RCI has decided that it is no longer profitable to sell that ship via traditional methods and has decided to charter it out. They do this all the time. The difference is they cannot do it the day of sailing (for obvious reasons). Making extreme examples does not make your point, it makes you look silly.

[awhcruiser]

Bingo!!

:D

 

 

I think it's a little extreme to quit a cruise line entirely just over a game of bingo.

[dickydonkin]

All games are a form of "gambling". Monopoly, Life, Risk, Stratego, War, Old Maid, and on and on.

 

Just as one can fall victim to gambling, one can fall victim to cruising, alcohol, sex, fun, work, beaches, Cruise Critic, politics, internet message boards, and on and on and on.

 

In many instances, there are choices. Priorities and responsibilities need to be established.

 

What a load of rubbish - obviously you are totaly oblivious to the damage gambling can cause.

 

Being addicted to monopoly, internet message boards, fun, work, cruise critic, sex etc. will not cause such an addict to steal from their loved ones, sell their prized posessions to feed a habit, cause marital stress, lose their homes, empty their bank accounts and cause untold misery to everyone who cares about them.

 

I wasn't even going to dignify this post with a response, but I suspect you need educating.

 

This is the type of response I expected.

 

My point was that kids are being exposed to gambling - albeit they are not paying any outlay - but what I am trying to portray is that kids will believe it is so easy to 'win' money by just clocking up a few numbers.

 

As for parental responsibility, yes I agree, but many parents don't have much sense themselves. On the Legend last week, it was heartbreaking to see clincally obese parents stuffing their faces and their equally obese kids following suit (no pun intended).

 

And as for bringing sex into the equation, well I am not even going there.

 

Read the teen gambling section on this and perhaps you might reconsider what you posted.

[ChipLondon]

I do not quite see how this can be called a scam, and is the OP saying that if it had been in small print on a sign at the entrance to the bingo area he would have been happy about the situation, I think not.

 

Some people just want to moan about something, I am glad that the OP will be choosing another line, as that way it will be one less moaner for others to listen to.

[marci22]

I do not quite see how this can be called a scam, and is the OP saying that if it had been in small print on a sign at the entrance to the bingo area he would have been happy about the situation, I think not.

 

Some people just want to moan about something, I am glad that the OP will be choosing another line, as that way it will be one less moaner for others to listen to.

 

I would have been annoyed as well. Luckily, I played Bingo once very early in my cruising career and got that out of the way and so it has not been a problem since.

[mommabean]

What a load of rubbish - obviously you are totaly oblivious to the damage gambling can cause.

 

Being addicted to monopoly, internet message boards, fun, work, cruise critic, sex etc. will not cause such an addict to steal from their loved ones, sell their prized posessions to feed a habit, cause marital stress, lose their homes, empty their bank accounts and cause untold misery to everyone who cares about them.

 

I wasn't even going to dignify this post with a response, but I suspect you need educating.

 

This is the type of response I expected.

 

My point was that kids are being exposed to gambling - albeit they are not paying any outlay - but what I am trying to portray is that kids will believe it is so easy to 'win' money by just clocking up a few numbers.

 

As for parental responsibility, yes I agree, but many parents don't have much sense themselves. On the Legend last week, it was heartbreaking to see clincally obese parents stuffing their faces and their equally obese kids following suit (no pun intended).

 

And as for bringing sex into the equation, well I am not even going there.

 

Read the teen gambling section on this and perhaps you might reconsider what you posted.

 

I'm with you on this one. Except for one part - any of the above stated addictions can cause marital stress. Of course so can leaving the lid off of the toothpaste or throwing clothes on the floor. :rolleyes:

 

I will say that my father used to take me to play a card game called "kings in the corners" with his mother when I was 11 or 12. We played for pennies. My mother was very unhappy about this and told my father right in front of me that he shouldn't be taking me to gamble. Of course, my mother didn't even believe in card playing NOT for money. Either way, I was so annoyed by not ending up with all the pennies, even though they were only borrowed from my grandmother, that I hated gambling. My DH knows how bothered I will be if he throws away $20 on roulette on the ship so he has discontinued the practice. Sometimes, when he thinks he's being funny, he will quote the gambler's prayer. "Dear Lord, let me break even. I really need the money." I break even every time since I don't gamble. :p

 

I suppose it's a personality difference that causes some children to follow a parent's example and others to avoid their parents mistakes completely.

 

By the way, my mother was very obese. I'm not close to it and never was. :D

 

And no, my father wasn't a gambler either. The pennies all went back to where they came from - grandma.

 

Gina

[PH8]

Sorta the same thing happened to me on the RD last month.........there was a martini tasting/making kind of class at 4pm at the Champagne Bar......we showed up at 3:45.......bartender in charge told us they canx it,not enough showed up...........HUH?? 15 mins prior and they can determine that??:confused:

I just think he didn't want to be bothered.......

 

Oh well,we went on and did whatever.............didn't ruin the cruise for us,but I found it really odd.....

[SeaBaby]

Sorta the same thing happened to me on the RD last month.........there was a martini tasting/making kind of class at 4pm at the Champagne Bar......we showed up at 3:45.......bartender in charge told us they canx it,not enough showed up...........HUH?? 15 mins prior and they can determine that??:confused:

I just think he didn't want to be bothered.......

 

Oh well,we went on and did whatever.............didn't ruin the cruise for us,but I found it really odd.....

 

It's happened to me before, and while I may be disappointed, it certainly doesn't make me mad. It's a business after all. On the other hand, I do agree there should be a general disclaimer on the cruise compass to the effect that scheduled activities may not take place if there are not enough participants.

 

Suzanne

[dwjoe]

I was on an NCL ship a couple years ago and they advertised the snowball Bingo jackpot to be a minimum 1000.00, my wife happen to win and they gave her 480.00...we didnt say anything, just happy to have won and kind of forgot all about it until the bingo director out of the blue called our cabin and said "hey sorry about the payout, the ad we ran in the daily was a misprint.....hmmm, at that point we felt we had been cheated lol.. why the hell is he calling us a day later? Anyways we were on vacation and I did not feel like getting crazy about it...so just we just moved on 480.00 richer.

Wow. This is a different scenario and I think they should have made good on the $1000. They advertised a $1000 prize, took your signup money, played the game, you won, and then they refused to pay out? That's not right.

Edited January 10, 2011 by dwjoe

[morganboys]

you got to be kidding me. by not having the game they saved you $20 a card and you complained and wont cruise with them again. you cant be serious!