Filipino Tour Operator on our Roll Call

[USN59-79]

On our 7 December Westerdam Roll Call a Filipino tour operator from Manila posted that he could arrange a Manila tour and asked for email addresses of any interested persons on this cruise. He provided no info about the tour, including cost, etc., but a large number of the members provided him their email addresses for more information.  I am sure that this is against CC rules, but he has a CC name and a history of 25 postings.  Is it reasonable to request CC to remove this person from this forum, or does he have the right to do this?

[*Miss G*]

Easiest way to find out is to hit the “Report This Post” button and let the moderators figure it out.

[colbe]

If you look at his Quantum of the Seas post he says that he is a travel agent.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Is he on the cruise, or just trying to sell a tour? I think there's a roll call rule about not just showing up and selling tours. 

 

I agree with Miss G, report the post.

[kazu]

Definitely report the post

 

It sounds like this is outright solicitation and against the rules.   Sadly, I saw this on another roll call and the mods took care of it.

[Krazy Kruizers]

He could be okay -- but I would let the Hosts know and let them check him out.

[USN59-79]

Well, I reported him with the post where he admitted that he is a tour operator.  Wonder if anything will come of it.

[Aquahound]

I looked him up and it looks like he just joined CC yesterday.  He solicited on a couple threads.  

 

My advice.....stay away from this one.  This is how scams start.  

 

And yes, reporting him is the right thing to do.   

Edited November 9, 2019 by Aquahound

[Cruise NH]

It always amazes me how much private information people are willing to share with perfect strangers on these roll calls.  In this case just email addresses but I've seen elaborate spreadsheets created on some roll calls where folks share where their from and all kinds of other data.  ANYBODY could be lurking on those forums it's not like you have to go through a security check to get on.

 

I never share anything, not my room number, my full name or where I'm from.  When you share your name and home town (or more) it's like advertising that you're going to be out of town leaving an empty house for X period of time.

 

We should all be more careful in sharing information on public forums.

[1025cruise]

Too bad the gentleman didn't read the rules of the forums, which prohibit soliciting. 

[*Miss G*]

53 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

Too bad the gentleman didn't read the rules of the forums, which prohibit soliciting. 

 

If you can’t trust them to read the rules... you can’t trust them.

[bennybear]

There seems to be a lot of people who don’t read the rules.  I saw the fill a bus thing on several Asia roll calls, and people were sending money months ahead by PayPal.  So different to how I think private tours should be organized and what works in Europe.  I think some people just want a private tour and go with  what ever is set up without much thought. 

[GeezerCouple]

4 hours ago, Cruise NH said:

It always amazes me how much private information people are willing to share with perfect strangers on these roll calls.  In this case just email addresses but I've seen elaborate spreadsheets created on some roll calls where folks share where their from and all kinds of other data.  ANYBODY could be lurking on those forums it's not like you have to go through a security check to get on.

 

I never share anything, not my room number, my full name or where I'm from.  When you share your name and home town (or more) it's like advertising that you're going to be out of town leaving an empty house for X period of time.

 

We should all be more careful in sharing information on public forums.

 

I agree.

Such "sharing" should be through private emails, or at least with a private email exchange to give a password for an online spreadsheet.

 

On one Roll Call just a few years ago, one of the organizers got in a real snit with us b/c we declined to contribute ALL of the information right on the CC Roll Call... full name, city/state... right... so anyone trolling could find out who would NOT be home during the cruise dates?  (Our address is not hard to find if you have our name and city!)  We have a housesitter full time, but even then, no one needs to know that, or worse, show up thinking no one is home. Sure, it's a long shot, but these things DO happen...

 

Why more than CC/Roll Call info is needed?  If one attends a Roll Call Meet & Greet type of gathering, there are usually name tags, and *that* is where one may well want to use"'real names", not online!

 

GC

[kazu]

1 minute ago, GeezerCouple said:

On one Roll Call just a few years ago, one of the organizers got in a real snit with us b/c we declined to contribute ALL of the information right on the CC Roll Call... full name, city/state... right... so anyone trolling could find out who would NOT be home during the cruise dates? 

 

Although I do use a spread sheet for our roll calls, I would NEVER post full names, cabin numbers, etc.

 

Nor do I want anyone to post it on the roll call.  There is no need for that kind of risk anytime.  I ask those on my tours or who would like to receive their invite/reminder for the meet and greet to email me privately with their information which is kept in confidence and used if I need to reach them about a tour change and to deliver their invites.

 

There is no need for the risk of private information to be posted on the roll call or a spread sheet IMO.  

[GeezerCouple]

3 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Although I do use a spread sheet for our roll calls, I would NEVER post full names, cabin numbers, etc.

 

Nor do I want anyone to post it on the roll call.  There is no need for that kind of risk anytime.  I ask those on my tours or who would like to receive their invite/reminder for the meet and greet to email me privately with their information which is kept in confidence and used if I need to reach them about a tour change and to deliver their invites.

 

There is no need for the risk of private information to be posted on the roll call or a spread sheet IMO.  

Exactly!

Thanks 

 

I also try to use private email when dealing with the specifics of private excursions.  It's not so much a privacy issue there (I don't think), but why clutter up the entire Roll Call thread with issues about one single excursion and "should we meet at 9am? or "no, I'd prefer to meet at 10..." and then "I can't remember what we doing about lunch..." etc... 

 

GC

[Copper10-8]

From the guidelines:

 

Participation of Tour Guides/Drivers, Tourism Website Owners, Property and Business Owners

 

Tourism website owners, official representatives from port operations and residential property owners (and their associates, employees or designated representative) are encouraged to participate in the discussions on the Cruise Board and establish themselves as experts on a particular topic by responding to members' inquiries with useful answers. They may not, however, list or refer members to their Web sites. Tourism websites may include their business name in their signatures, and may include their website link in their profile only. No promotional material or conducting business will be allowed, nor may you recommend specific businesses in ports of call. This includes scheduling times of tours, confirmation of events/deposits/e-mail receipt, etc (and any other discussion determined to be of a customer service nature in the sole discretion of Cruise Critic). Only items of a general nature may be posted on the forums.

Tour Operators, Tour Guides, Drivers, Business Owners, Transportation, Taxi, Limo Drivers: Our Ports of Call forums are meant to be a place for cruisers to exchange information with other cruisers. Therefore, the participation is not allowed.

Businesses in ports of call who wish to respond to a posting online should contact the Community Manager first at: community@cruisecritic.com. Posts not cleared w/ the Community Manager will be removed from the forums. There shall be no exceptions to this policy.

[cruisemom42]

Unfortunately this happens more often than you'd think on these forums. I've reported quite a few posts from "shill" operators; it's bad enough when they do it on the Ports of Call forums but even worse when they go on roll calls and often pretend to be a passenger soliciting for private tour joiners -- then at some point they end up having to "cancel" the cruise and turn the private tour over to someone who is legitimately on the cruise. 

 

Always look for warning signs -- such as a poster who just joined CC and has no posting history other than posting about a specific private tour company.  

 

And yes, when in doubt it is ALWAYS a good idea to report to a moderator.

[USN59-79]

An update:  I reported it to the moderator yesterday.  Today all ten or fifteen of his posts on our roll call have disappeared.  It is like that commercial says "It never really happened".

[T8NCruise]

There is a fairly long-time member of CC who is a TA/tour operator, and joins rolls calls, drums up business, and then says they had to cancel the cruise, and off to the next one.  Way back she did that on one of ours, and Walt took care of it when it was reported, and deleted all her posts.

[bennybear]

I am also concerned with people who seem to think private tours are a way to make a profit.   The guidelines are pretty clear. 

Edited November 10, 2019 by bennybear