Do so called social media 'influencers' get free cruises and other perks?

[RBCal]

I've seen several posts complaining that social media influencers receive special treatment and even free cruises.  I know that travel agents do.  I personally think Twitter and Facebook are bad companies so never use them anymore.  IMHO this is unfair and increases costs and fares for the uninfluencers like me.  What is your experience?  Are any cruiselines worse than others in practicing this unethical issue?

[sparks1093]

So someone gets special treatment, so what? If a company chooses to go this route with their marketing that's their decision and like any other form of marketing the costs are ultimately borne by the customer. I see nothing necessarily unfair or unethical about it. I don't even know if any cruise line makes use of any influencer. (And how would it be any different if the influencer were paid in cash and then sailed using the cash they were paid? Seems to me providing a free cruise would be more beneficial to the company (similar to those getting great casino offers because of the time they spend in the casino).

[navybankerteacher]

8 hours ago, RBCal said:

I've seen several posts complaining that social media influencers receive special treatment and even free cruises.  I know that travel agents do.  I personally think Twitter and Facebook are bad companies so never use them anymore.  IMHO this is unfair and increases costs and fares for the uninfluencers like me.  What is your experience?  Are any cruiselines worse than others in practicing this unethical issue?

Unethical?  Is advertising unethical? Is it unethical to pay entertainers on cruises for which you have to pay?

[Hlitner]

There is a term “spitting in the wind” which arguably applies to the OPs concern.  That being said, after more than 1400 cruise days we have never met an “influencer” on a cruise.  Cruise/travel agents may get “fam” cruises, but that is usually very limited.  Some agencies do enough bookings to get a rep aboard some cruises (who often host events for their charges.)”

 

Hank

[RBCal]

If 'influencers' acknowledged they are paid in loot for their 'reviews' that's cool with me.  Not making this clear slants the 'reviews' to unsavvy travelers.  Ignorance is not bliss.  Knowledge is.

[RBCal]

4 minutes ago, RBCal said:

If 'influencers' acknowledged they are paid in loot for their 'reviews' that's cool with me.  Not making this clear slants the 'reviews' to unsavvy travelers.  Ignorance is not bliss.  Knowledge is.

 

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[Honolulu Blue]

9 hours ago, RBCal said:

I've seen several posts complaining that social media influencers receive special treatment and even free cruises.  I know that travel agents do.  I personally think Twitter and Facebook are bad companies so never use them anymore.  IMHO this is unfair and increases costs and fares for the uninfluencers like me.  What is your experience?  Are any cruiselines worse than others in practicing this unethical issue?

I follow a few social media influencers who do YouTube videos.  The better ones (IMHO) disclose when they're given a free cruise or they're paid for some of their video content.  I find that most of them pay for most of their cruises out of their pocket, the same as you or I would.  I don't think their presence influences fares to any significant extent.

 

I find them useful, but it helps to know their biases.  Some are travel agents, some are current or former crew, some have their favorite cruise lines, etc.

[Zach1213]

10 hours ago, RBCal said:

IMHO this is unfair and increases costs and fares for the uninfluencers like me.

 

 

If they get free things, it's just marketing. It's part of a marketing budget...a marketing budget that every company has, and evolves over time as marketing and promotional tactics and trends change. 

 

[navybankerteacher]

48 minutes ago, RBCal said:

If 'influencers' acknowledged they are paid in loot for their 'reviews' that's cool with me.  Not making this clear slants the 'reviews' to unsavvy travelers.  Ignorance is not bliss.  Knowledge is.

Do you REALLY believe that spokespeople for products or services do it without compensation?  When an actress speaks highly of a skin care product, or an athlete of a breakfast cereal, don’t you realize that they are being paid - and that the amount they are paid must be cranked into the cost of creating the product, and thus the price you must pay to receive it.

 

An “influencer” is obviously going to be paid, either in cash or free goods/services, for his/her input.  It is simply one more cost of production or marketing for which which the consumer has to pay.

 

Knowledge of how things work is important.

[mrgabriel]

I work in the tourism industry and we are absolutely inundated with requests for free or partially comped trips so cruise lines undoubtedly experience the same thing.

 

It's paid advertising but that doesn't mean it's unethical or 'bad'. Those wanting exposure (businesses, destinations) select an influencer that represents the target market they desire and it goes from there. Just like when we all used to watch the primary television networks and advertisers would choose where they wanted their ads based on the demographics of the viewers.

 

If you post on YouTube or one of the Meta products (Insta, Facebook for example), you have to specifically indicate if you received any form of remuneration for your posting. If you don't and are caught, your income stream can be cut. I always look for that 'paid promotion' thing on the YouTube channels that I follow because yeah, a lot of the time someone was paid something. 

[jsn55]

An 'influencer' is just that ... they can influence their 'followers' and steer them to the products that give them free goodies.  Anyone who would follow an influencer's recommendations, purchase something on FaceBook, or plaster their personal information across the internet is a fool.  Gathering information is one thing, but following the advice of a stranger is just dumb.  By all means, 'follow' these people if you wish, but most of us just laugh at anyone who considers themselves an influencer.  

[ColeThornton]

Of all the different things I could worry or care about in my life this ranks about 99,999 on the list.

[jsn55]

5 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

Of all the different things I could worry or care about in my life this ranks about 99,999 on the list.

Easy for you to say, Cole, you have a working brain.

Edited August 1, 2023 by jsn55

[fruitmachine]

47 minutes ago, jsn55 said:

An 'influencer' is just that ... they can influence their 'followers' and steer them to the products that give them free goodies.  Anyone who would follow an influencer's recommendations, purchase something on FaceBook, or plaster their personal information across the internet is a fool.  Gathering information is one thing, but following the advice of a stranger is just dumb.  By all means, 'follow' these people if you wish, but most of us just laugh at anyone who considers themselves an influencer.  

I always remember a marketing professor talking about products that are aimed at the target market of those that think they are not influenced by advertising!

 

 

[ldubs]

57 minutes ago, jsn55 said:

An 'influencer' is just that ... they can influence their 'followers' and steer them to the products that give them free goodies.  Anyone who would follow an influencer's recommendations, purchase something on FaceBook, or plaster their personal information across the internet is a fool.  Gathering information is one thing, but following the advice of a stranger is just dumb.  By all means, 'follow' these people if you wish, but most of us just laugh at anyone who considers themselves an influencer.  

 

How does making a purchase on FB (marketplace, I assume) make one a fool?  

[RBCal]

If any poster is compensated it should be stated cleary on their profile.

Anyone who follows their advice is a fool but like PT Barnum said 'a sucker is born every minute'

 

I deleted my Facebook account due to it being a fountain of misinformation and full of clickbait crapola.  

[sparks1093]

2 hours ago, RBCal said:

If 'influencers' acknowledged they are paid in loot for their 'reviews' that's cool with me.  Not making this clear slants the 'reviews' to unsavvy travelers.  Ignorance is not bliss.  Knowledge is.

Most people learn early on to take any review with a good deal of salt. 

[mnocket]

I'm a bit confused.  OP originally seemed to be upset that cruise lines offered free cruises to influencers.  OP claimed this was unfair and unethical.  Now it seems OP concern is with influencers who don't disclose that they got the cruise for free.  Which is it?  If the former, I disagree - if the latter, I agree.

[Zach1213]

31 minutes ago, RBCal said:

If any poster is compensated it should be stated cleary on their profile.

Anyone who follows their advice is a fool but like PT Barnum said 'a sucker is born every minute'

 

I deleted my Facebook account due to it being a fountain of misinformation and full of clickbait crapola.  

 

Many of these reviews are spot on, though. They're often a good way to get an idea of what options are possible, what ships/hotels/locations look like, etc. They may be paid, but they're more often than not just showing people what they can experience themselves, which is usually more realistic than the marketing we see on TV or hear on the radio. 

 

As far as Facebook goes, you often build your own algorithm. My Facebook is a fountain of lovely pictures of my family and friends and the things they do. 

[mom says]

12 hours ago, RBCal said:

I've seen several posts complaining that social media influencers receive special treatment and even free cruises.  I know that travel agents do.  I personally think Twitter and Facebook are bad companies so never use them anymore.  IMHO this is unfair and increases costs and fares for the uninfluencers like me.  What is your experience?  Are any cruiselines worse than others in practicing this unethical issue?

So you don't know anything for sure. Just believing some anonymous posters  (where are these posters? Could they be on a social media site?) without any data to back it up. Why do you assume that all "influencers " get paid or are given free cruises, or that all TAs get comped cruises every time? I know for a fact that that simply isnt true. Some do, some times. I know that my TA, who I've used for almost 20 years, deals almost exclusively with cruises and has never gotten a freebie,  but has gotten discounts occassionaly. Many dont. And it isn't up to you or anyone else to tell the cruiseline marketing divisions how to allocate their budget dollars.

 

Unless these "influencers" are lying, why is it unfair or unethical?  It is up to the individual to use the brains God gave them when reading or watching any review by someone they don't know. I don't use the 2 sites you mentioned, but do follow several  cruise vloggers on YouTube.  In every case they mention if their cruise was comped, or if there were any special perks received. That appears to rarely happen amongst these vloggers. And none of them are shy about pointing out things that they don't like about any particular cruise. I doubt that would happen if they were being paid in some form by the cruise line.

 

Do you believe everything you see posted on TripAdvisor  reviews? Do you believe everything that comes out of a politician's mouth? Do you take as gospel everything you see posted even on CC by someone you haven't come across frequently? Or do you use your own judgement,  such as it is?

 

[RBCal]

It is disguised marketing not open marketing.  There is a big difference.  I won't be wasting my money.  

[JRG]

The fact of the matter is that true influencers don't need free cruises or free perks because if they are on the big platforms and have a large following they are making millions of dollars and driving Maseratis or Lamborghinis and can afford to charter their own cruises.

 

 

 

[mom says]

8 minutes ago, RBCal said:

It is disguised marketing not open marketing.  There is a big difference.  I won't be wasting my money.  

Won't be wasting your money on what? Cruising? Because all cruise lines have marketing departments. And all cruise lines have different people reviewing them. 

[Zach1213]

27 minutes ago, RBCal said:

It is disguised marketing not open marketing.  There is a big difference.  I won't be wasting my money.  

 

I'll take this time to say that I know someone who is a moderately "famous" travel blogger, though I won't name names. He has never once received a free flight/hotel stay/train. He makes enough money off of his subscribers + revenue from YouTube to make a decent enough living traveling the world and getting people to watch him do it. So not all of these people are getting paid by the airline/cruiseline that they're traveling on. 

 

And yeah, I am also curious what you're "wasting your money" on. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Zach1213

[RBCal]

I stated clearly in my OG that deceptive advertising using 'influencers' is my concern.  I don't know whether I've been a victim to them since I generally ignore bubbly people who tout how fantastic they are.  Other posters have reported influencers getting special preference.  Search the forum for them.  I am not doing your due diligence for you.

 

What is the deal with people attacking non-influential people who ask naive questions?  Thanks for  beeing so 'friendly' and 'helpful'

Edited August 1, 2023 by RBCal