Cruise Directors - Kickback Scheme?

[frequent cruiser]

Cruise Directors usually push the stores that are on the official shopping book but in at least one case I was told that if I wanted better prices to "visit such and such a store and say that I sent you". It was obvious that the Cruise Director would get a referral fee for this. I guess the referral fee must be more than what he gets from his employer or he would not do it. In any case, the store turned out to have comparable prices and quality in the merchandise as the stores listed in the official shopping book but I wanted to know if others out there have had a similar experience. If you have please tell us and give details.

[lougee1043]

i have a feeling that the "approved" stores pay celebrity and every other cruise line to be mentioned as "approved" i truly doubt that the cd is getting a kick back- imo he/she is just following orders by touting the "approved" shops

[frequent cruiser]

You are right that the Cruise Director is told by the Cruise Line to promote the stores that advertise (that is part of his job). What I am talking about is when the Cruise Director tells you NOT to go to a particular store to buy something because he knows of a store that is not on the list that can give you a better price, etc. That is where the referral fee / kickback would come in and if the Cruise Line found out would fire the Cruise Director. So, I ask the people out there if they have any experience with this or have heard of this. If you work at a Cruise Line please and know of this please contribute (anonymously). Thanks.

[wieslaw]

Why would any CD want to risk loosing his job that pays very good money for just a 'few' additional dollars???
For sure the stores that are advertised on the ships pay some high fees for bringing the people in to spent the 'big bucks', but why would any CD or any other high ranking official on the cruise ship suggest publicly (or even in a private conversation with a 'perfect stranger' ) any store that is not on the cruise line 'advertiser's list' ?

Wes

[takeabreath3]

i agree wes, why would they take that risk.

if a CD was to mention to me that so and so store would give me a better price for a certain item that i was wanting to purchase and to mention that he sent me....the last thing i would think of would be that he was getting a kick back!!!

another thought is that the store might very well be a merchant that the cruise line is trying to get in their shopping book and they haven't been convinced yet! but if a lot of cruisers were to go in this store and say hey "CD from whatever cruise line" sent me in! then there might just be a sale not only to the customer but also the cruise line!!!

ok, so i tend to think the postive when there's a lot out there that think negative!!

have a great week, judy

[spongerob]

Maybe the CD was just being nice, and knew a place that he thought you'd like. I guess it just goes to show that no good deed goes unpunished.

[tomc]

I worked at a fairly early FM station (not ancient history, but back when they were just getting their legs and not that all popular). We'd scout out a likely advertiser and announce our target for the week. The announcement was for our listeners to send a postcard to this place saying, "I love (callsign)." Then, a week later, one of our ad salesmen would drop by and say, "Ever hear of (callsign)?"

Could be the CD is doing just that.

[tomc]

I wonder why the CD would make commissions off Shorex and other onboard revenue-generators that are not under the CD's control? I've taken Shorex and there was not the slightest pressure to buy anything -- just fill out the form, leave it in the basket and you get your tix in the morning under your door. Certainly no incentive to increase a commission. Before the Port Ambassadors (which HAL only started rather recently), I never heard any announcements about shops, pro or con. Maybe HAL runs their operation differently from the other lines.

I'm not saying this quoted CD isn't being honest, but it just all seems a bit odd.