Don't want to be sold something!

[Kmkub]

Oh yeah -- I had forgotten about the spa! :eek:

We went once on our first trip ever. All we wanted was to see it and get a price list. We told them, UP FRONT, we would NOT be making any reservations now.

 

They wouldn't let us just look around. We needed a guide. :rolleyes: "Here's where we do pedicures, what time should I sign you up for..." "Here's where we do massages, what type would you like and when?"

 

After the third, "when should I sign you up" question, I said, "never mind, we don't want to see the spa THAT badly. Oh, and you lost a possible customer.... no way we're giving you any money now!"

 

We were nervous, frankly, about wandering into the art gallery after that. (It was our first time.) We waited until later in the week thinking sales pitches would be toned down.

 

What a turn-off! (Easily avoidable once you've been through it, though.)

[LarryL]

On our first cruise it did seem like a lot of sales pitches and cruise line sales events. On the first day there is pretty much everything available for you to sign up for or packages to purchase. I, personally, think it's a good way for them to sell what they have to offer. We have a list of things we want to get set up on our first day so we get them accomplished before the muster drill.

Complain if you want but imagine how the complaints would come if people had to seek out a place to buy that soda package or specialty dinner. By sail away, most of these have picked up and disappeared.

On our recent Liberty OTS transatlantic cruise there were young ladies from the spa stationed at the entrance to the Windjammer taking reservations. It became habit to walk by and offer a greeting and receive one in return. No expectations or sales pitches.

Sales are part of the cruise experience. If I see something I like, I'll buy it. If not, I'll keep on walking. It doesn't affect my cruise whatsoever. It could be that the revenues from the sales is what helps keep the cost of your cruise lower.

[helpthejuggler]

I am very happy that they try to sell. My willpower is strong and I'm very thankful to the gullible and weak willed who can't resist. They subsidise my cruises. Without the financial lemmings, the ticket price would have to rise.

 

My sincere thanks to the shopping zombies....

[riffatsea]

We also have no problem ignoring sales pitches!

We cruise most often on Carnival but NOone holds us captive or sells us anything we don't want.

We skip all the onboard photos, even the one boarding the ship. We don't like posed pix at all!

I tell the person giving me a massage that I do NOT want to buy anything before she even starts!

We walk by the jewelry sales and even laugh at folks rushing to buy gold or silver PLATE instead of 14or 24k.

In other words we do our own thing and just enjoy the cruise itself.

[boogs]

I must have a lower tolerance for sales pitches than most people here, or have the expectation that my cruise experience will be one of relaxation and comfort, not navigating through a minefield of sales people trying to separate me from my money. I hate it when I am confronted by anyone trying to sell me anything, just as much as I hate it when some religious zealot approaches me to try to convert me to their religion. Sure, I can say "No, thank you". But why should I have to. After all, I am only trying to enjoy my vacation. One of the reasons I cruise with the lines I favor is the more calming atmosphere they have on their ships. A large part of that atmosphere is the lack of constant announcements about everything under the sun, and not being hustled by someone trying to sell me something every time I try to walk from one place to another.

 

If I wanted to dodge sales pitches all day, I'd go to Las Vegas and walk down the strip, with all the hawkers shoving their brochures and discount coupons at you as you walk by. It would cost me a lot less for the same level of annoyance.

 

Sure, I can simply ignore them - but it's having to ignore them in the first place that bugs me.

[Cruisin' Chick]

You can practice ignoring the selling by ignoring commercials when they come on the radio or TV at home. As for things like the ship's photographers wanting to take your picture, either say "No thank-you" or let them take the picture. You're not obligated to purchase the photos. With a little practice, it's easy to tune out the commercials on board and stay focused on the things that interest you.

 

At some point, I had to start educating my kid that just because it's on TV, doesn't mean you have to go along with the message. I don't get mad at TV as I understand stations charge for ad time (after all, I used to work in advertising), and I see it as a teachable lesson.

On our first cruise it did seem like a lot of sales pitches and cruise line sales events. On the first day there is pretty much everything available for you to sign up for or packages to purchase. I, personally, think it's a good way for them to sell what they have to offer. We have a list of things we want to get set up on our first day so we get them accomplished before the muster drill.

 

Complain if you want but imagine how the complaints would come if people had to seek out a place to buy that soda package or specialty dinner. By sail away, most of these have picked up and disappeared.

 

On our recent Liberty OTS transatlantic cruise there were young ladies from the spa stationed at the entrance to the Windjammer taking reservations. It became habit to walk by and offer a greeting and receive one in return. No expectations or sales pitches.

 

Sales are part of the cruise experience. If I see something I like, I'll buy it. If not, I'll keep on walking. It doesn't affect my cruise whatsoever. It could be that the revenues from the sales is what helps keep the cost of your cruise lower.

 

On my last cruise (on Princess), the only hard sells were for the soda card on the first day. Maybe we got more of our share of the attention as we had a teen with us, but we just said no (we brought on non-Coke products as I don't care for their sodas, and occasionally my daughter did buy a soda or two, but not enough to make the card worthwhile for us). After the first day, didn't get that pitch again for the remaining two weeks. Also saw some of the spa staff parked outside the Horizon Court at a table a few times, but no hard sell. Just not interested. Same as the art auction, bingo, etc. I just don't go to them and I don't hear the pitch. I research the ports ahead of time so I don't need to go to the shore talks. In fact, if we see a Diamonds International, we know we can walk down a few stores and find the same items.

 

We will pose for the embarkation pictures and some others. Just not any that we would have to stand in line (as in the formal night ones). Every once in a while we'll buy a few if it looks okay (hubby won't buy any in which one of us have closed our eyes:rolleyes:). And if we do go on shore excursions (which is rare), we would probably go with the ship's ones as we have come to enjoy those more. And we have never felt the need to eat in the specialty restaurants. I've read on this board that with one cruiseline, you basically have to go to the paid restaurants -- and that there's a lot of hard sells on that line anyway. So I have no intention of trying that one out.

[sjcruiser]

We tend to ignore anything we're not interested in. The jewelry sales, liquor sales, t-shirt sales, photo sales, are all meant to boost the cruise line profits, but if your not interested, don't buy. We like to browse, and sometimes buy from these daily events, but usually don't find anything that peaks our interested we keep on walking by, or if its being held in a special venue, we may not attend.