*LIVE* from Mariner of the Seas - PROBLEMS!

[gbgalnow]

Out of Curiosity....will RCI tell you there is a "group" onboard if you ask before booking? I guess we got lucky with our trip, there wasn't any noticible Larger-than-25 person group that we know of. We enjoyed all aspects of the cruise and I would hate to not enjoy others as much!

[hstrybuf]

Out of Curiosity....will RCI tell you there is a "group" onboard if you ask before booking? I guess we got lucky with our trip, there wasn't any noticible Larger-than-25 person group that we know of. We enjoyed all aspects of the cruise and I would hate to not enjoy others as much!

 

No they will not. Your only option is to Google for specific groups and still you probably won't find those that aren't "advertised" on the internet.

[ottmar]

kavanaugh77,

 

check out these two links, on in the past, one in the future:

 

http://www.wherecog.org/cogdg/feast.htm

 

http://home.att.net/~gaygroupcruises/flyers/11-25-06.htm

[megr1125]

can't cruise lines, as hotels can, refuse to book a group if they have been, say, a problem in the past?

 

i understand that these companies can't discriminate against any particular group of people, but, having worked in hotel, we often refused to rebook a group the following year if they caused trouble for the rest of the paying guests.

 

charter the whole ship if you want.....but don't subject thousands of people to the foibles of just a few hundred.

 

had my 1st cruise been full of a group of people with, call it questionable morals or whatever, i doubt my mom or i would have gone on 3 others and booked 2 more.

 

just mho.

[pcur]

Boy, am I the only one that thinks RCCL did a pretty good job of damage control here?

 

If I was on this cruise I would APPLAUDE the cruise line for getting these obnoxious people out of the OTHER public areas, and giving them their own space to be rowdy, ass-grabbing, probably drunk, unpleasant people.

 

I would rather be denied the use of the Soarium (and, I agree that's a big sacrifice), than running into these guys in other areas of the ship at random. First thing DH and I would do is figure out when and where most of them eat, and do the reverse. Between that and having them isolated in the Solarium, you have a pretty good chance of actually enjoying your cruise.

[Lynnees]

I agree that no group should be allowed to take over a large public space for their own personal use.

 

My question for all of you is would you feel the same way if it was a White christian conservative group taking over the Solarium Pool?

 

Absolutely

[mumofsons]

1milehi! OK I laughed out loud on your comment!

[pcur]

can't cruise lines, as hotels can, refuse to book a group if they have been, say, a problem in the past?

 

i understand that these companies can't discriminate against any particular group of people, but, having worked in hotel, we often refused to rebook a group the following year if they caused trouble for the rest of the paying guests.

 

charter the whole ship if you want.....but don't subject thousands of people to the foibles of just a few hundred.

 

had my 1st cruise been full of a group of people with, call it questionable morals or whatever, i doubt my mom or i would have gone on 3 others and booked 2 more.

 

just mho.

 

That's probably why this group moves to a different cruise line each year. Princess last year, RCCL this year, NCL next year. I figure Club Med when they run out of cruise lines..:D

[Chitoryubt]

I'm so sorry!! We were scheduled to be on the Mariner on November 5 but discovered via the web and the board here half the cruisers were part of a motorcycle rally and as we are cruising with our about to be 2 year old son and their website seemed to discourage kids being in attendance, I called and had our booking changed to December 3. My fears of what could happen are exactly the kinds of things you are dealing with. I would definitely write up your concerns in your survey at the end of the cruise and follow it up with an email/letter/phone call to RCCL customer service.

 

How did you discover this? I would REALLY like to be able to determine if there are any specialty groups on a sailing before I book a cruise.:confused:

[flagger]

If RCCL is allowing groups to cruise which are filming porno in their staterooms, wouldn't that make RCCL complicit in the making and distribution of porn, and hence legally liable???

First off, porn is not illegal in itself, nor is gay porn. So I do not get where you are going with RCCL being legally liable for what is filmed in the privacy of their staterooms. There are plenty of couples based on other threads that have sex in their staterooms and balconies.

 

Some have even been known to film it.:p

[ccxnola]

Peggy,

RCCL has 'Guest Vacation Guidelines' for both adults and children. It is the documentation of the RCCL Policy for these situations. The terms of that policy are in every guest room on every ship. Included in the policy is a provision that "if certain guests are in violation of these guidelines, we may be forced to ask the offending party to leave the ship at the next available port of call".

 

It seems to me the correct procedure would have been to use the policy, remove the offenders from the ship and allow the remainder of the guests on the ship to enjoy their cruise.

[FrancescaH]

I first got a hint of it on the meet and mingle roll call here on Cruise Critic for that sailing... then searched on google for the group, sailing date and ship name and found the website for the organization and that's when I realized how big a group it was. A couple hundred I can work with but that sailing the group was half the passengers.

 

I went and scanned the meet and mingle for this sailing at the root of this discussion and there were hints of what it was about there for those who looked. The lesson I have learned is research research reseaarch! So far I haven't found anything to worry about for our December 3 sailing.

[pcur]

Peggy,

RCCL has 'Guest Vacation Guidelines' for both adults and children. It is the documentation of the RCCL Policy for these situations. The terms of that policy are in every guest room on every ship. Included in the policy is a provision that "if certain guests are in violation of these guidelines, we may be forced to ask the offending party to leave the ship at the next available port of call".

 

It seems to me the correct procedure would have been to use the policy, remove the offenders from the ship and allow the remainder of the guests on the ship to enjoy their cruise.

 

Yes, that is the official policy, but at sea and in the middle of a cruise, AND with a big revenue generating group, AND to avoid media attention and a lawsuit, AND to curtail the other pax complaints, it's damage control to just put them some place by themselves. All the extra security is a BIG clue that RCCL is trying to keep things under control. Hopefully, by the end of the cruise they will have removed the biggest offenders, and maybe the remainder of the group might quiet down. Still, separating them from the rest of the pax is a good idea.

[hstrybuf]

Peggy, FWIW, I agree with your statements. Get your big offenders off at the first port of call then do some damage control. Continue to disembark any further offenders after that. They have to do something. I can't imagine what would be worse. Maybe having them running loose all over the ship offending people left and right for the entire cruise? Yep!

 

Really though, it's no secret that this group has caused problems on previous cruises. They should either charter an entire ship or go somewhere else. And that applies to any group that is known to cause problems. The cruise lines need to suck it up and refuse to book known troublemakers in the future.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

I for one would be very upset that a popular public space is closed for private use of a group. I could see one night, but the entire cruise....that is just wrong!

As another poster said, my money is just a green, but apparently RC sees this groups money as very green. Money sure talks!

 

 

***

[Cruzn Chuck & Susan]

Once again..who are the "bears"?

The sad part of this is...they probably got a better price on the cruise because they got a "group" rate..so they shouldn't get priority over other cruisers, right?

[PH8]

Once again..who are the "bears"?

http://www.*****/

[takeatrip]

This should help people who may not already know who the 'Bears' are...

 

http://www.*****/

 

OMG and Holy Cow!!:eek:

[PH8]

Lovely,huh??:p

[Cruzn Chuck & Susan]

HOLY MOLY!!! I am not even sure my gay buddies would enjoy that cruise group!

Glad we booked on the 29th...unless there is something we don't know about...yikes!!

[EggDropErin]

Lovely,huh??:p

 

I can only imagine. I'm here at work and have opted not to check out those bears. :p

[teajak]

Yes, that is the official policy, but at sea and in the middle of a cruise, AND with a big revenue generating group, AND to avoid media attention and a lawsuit, AND to curtail the other pax complaints, it's damage control to just put them some place by themselves. All the extra security is a BIG clue that RCCL is trying to keep things under control. Hopefully, by the end of the cruise they will have removed the biggest offenders, and maybe the remainder of the group might quiet down. Still, separating them from the rest of the pax is a good idea.

Separate them is fine but why deprive all the rest of the passengers of the only adults only pool. I would have been livid.This has nothing to do with being gay, filth is filth whether it be heterosexual or homosexual.

[airbusdrvr]

 

What would be funny is if rccl had unknowingly booked the Tailhook club on this cruise also. A rowdy bunch of aircraft carrier fighter pilots that would have cleaned up and out the solarium in short order.

 

Bet they would have called it operation Bear Hunt. LOLROF:D

 

You are right 1milehi. I work with some ex-fighterjocks and the guys that flew off the carriers have egos a mile wide and are a brash group of guys when a few get together. But when you can land a 50,000 lb fighter on a moving 700ft long runway at night doing 150mph I guess I'd be egotistical too.:cool:

 

The SpecOps guys have a few quiet frats also. Could you imagine what would happen if a group of those guys were told they could not go into the solarium because of the Bears. I'm sure that would be front page news.:eek:

[caviargal]

why deprive all the rest of the passengers of the only adults only pool.

 

IME, the cruise lines will generally do what it takes to get group business. With the very low fares being offered to the general population, group business is becoming more and more important to the cruise lines. There is less and less to differentiate the lines/ships from each other and groups will commit to cabins early on. Tips are guaranteed and often group guests are pretty big spenders.

 

The types of groups can vary widely and I am sure that there are some that each of us would prefer not to cruise with depending on our personal lifestyles. This is the exact reason the cruise lines do not want you to know. If the group cannot afford to charter, then they will buy up as many cabins as they can sell.

 

I personally believe that the overall decline in the cost of cruising will serve to exacerbate the group problem and we will see even more in the future.

[brn2crz]

BRN2CRZ>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>staying out of the discussion :p

 

 

However....Mojo...You are awesome..And I have always, always enjoyed your post...

However....Dude..There is discussion of a "large Group" and a lot of easy evidence as to what this group may have been in the first 5 post of the roll call...

Not saying that excuses anything...But no one on this board,booked on that cruise should have not at least known there was a large group booked..

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=297116