Article about RCI Banning Complaining Couple

[Cruise Gypsy]

Isn't it interesting how a story can change?! In the article by MSNBC, the story was that "their stateroom had a plumbing problem that ended up with sewage all over the bathroom that overflowed onto the room’s carpet."

 

Here's what this poster wrote last Sept. 2007 about this incident:

 

"Our stateroom 8276 (AFT D1) was nicely appointed but the bathroom reeked of sewer smell for the entire 14 night cruise. Guest Relations did nothing but tell us about other guests who flush oranges, apples, silverware, diapers, etc down the toilet so we should talk to them. So our balcony door remained open the entire cruise even in 40 degree nights to keep the air fresh. Night 14 at midnight we have a guy banging on our door to deliver an envelope from the Hotel Manager giving us 20% off our next cruise. Too bad it took 2 weeks to do it."

 

Apparently the credibility of the storyteller is in question. :cool:

 

beachyfe,

 

I am glad you pointed out what she put in her original review. When I read the MSNBC story I thought they had a very valid point about having to sleep in a cabin with sewage on the carpet. I wouldn't want to sleep with that but now I think it is pretty clear the story got exaggerated when needed. This clearly calls into question most of their complaints.

[Trevoli]

Knowing only what I've read here about this case, I'd bet that their way of complaining was not constructive, but merely to get, as others have stated, something for nothing.

 

If they were truly unhappy, the Morans wouldn't have sailed with RCI so many times. I know if I'm not satisfied, I complain, in a rational manner, and then vote with my $$ by going someplace else.

 

I might give the offending party one more try, but if they screwed up again, I'm out.

 

I find it difficult to believe that RCI couldn't accomodate them for the sewage smell if it were as bad as the Morans made it out to be.

 

I also find it hard to believe that anyone from the cruise line would be 'banging on our door at midnight to deliver an envelope from the Hotel Manager...".

 

Face it, this couple was seemingly running quite a scam, until RCI finally got fed up and 'fired' them as passengers. And I don't blame them one bit.

 

It would be interesting to see if they have similar experiences with NCL.

 

T

[julzcl]

last year we also had plumbing problems in our princess, cb state room. Toilet overflowed, we were banned from our room. daughter and I stayed in a room and husband stayed by himself. no clothes for 24 hours. the cruise line did not have any toiletries or clothing that they would give us. we could not go to restraunts, shows etc because we only had our suits on. it was misrable. when I returned home, I wrote a letter to the president and gave him all the information, about six weeks later we received a voucher for $900.00. which is about one person crusie. so now we are booked on an alaska cruise leaving june 29. hopefully no problems.

 

I was very nice, just stated the facts and I got results.

[Colo Cruiser]

It sounds like she likes to complain just to see if she can get a few bucks off the next cruise.

 

 

Yeah, she got bucked off the next cruise alright. :D

[Colo Cruiser]

If they were truly unhappy, the Morans wouldn't have sailed with RCI so many times.

 

 

Don't they own a tug company?? :eek:

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

:cool: This is the type of person who would drive me absolutely nuts if I had to cruise with her. Hopefully, whe doesn't switch to Princess. However, it is kind of scary knowing that a cruise line may ban a person from cruising by making his/her thoughts known on Cruise Critic or another internet posting site.

 

Most of us who read these boards understand that there are people who never have anything bad to say and others who never have anything good to say. We filter the posts and arrive at our own decisions. We know if someone is a constant complainer and we know if someone is a Polyanna type. The world is made up of all kinds of people. Just go to the cruise review section and look at the number of times two reviews of the same cruise are polar opposites of each other.

 

It makes me queasy to know that the cruiselines don't think we are intelligent enough to discount the constant complainers and that they have to resort to banning someone for life (especially if it moves the complainers to Princess). LOL

 

What's next? Only giving upgrades to those who post 100% positive reviews?

[bplazo]

I do not think that we know the whole story. They have probably been banned for reasons other than complaining on a message board.

[Coral]

I know this couple - I sailed with them a few years ago. They were big Princess fans and then they got upset. Then, they became big Celebrity fans and then they got upset with that and then RCCL fans......

 

She also had a post about using black lights and going into hotel rooms and exposing germs to get upgrades to suites or rooms comped.

 

After meeting this couple - I totally understand RCCL's stand.

 

BTW - she used to post by a name "theawesomeone" on CC or something similar to that.

[Ethel5]

 

It makes me queasy to know that the cruiselines don't think we are intelligent enough to discount the constant complainers and that they have to resort to banning someone for life (especially if it moves the complainers to Princess). LOL

 

From what I've read on on the three boards that have a thread regarding this issue, they didn't get banned for writing on CC. They got banned for being constant complainers on several cruise lines. They got banned for finding fault and complaining to get cabin credits and discounts off future cruises. This woman went as far as to bring a black light on board to find "ickies" on the bed spreads! Most companies who deal with the pubic keep files of those constant complainers and what compensation was awarded. When your file gets thick enough, you get banned.

[nabby]

I went back to look at some of the other threads where Mrs. Moran posted, and I must say that is some entertaining reading. While the RCI posts are funny, the one that got me was the Celebrity post (Summit). I read that many of her posts had to be removed by the moderators. Apparently she had been posting ahead of time how she was going to bring a "blue light" on board to check for any stains in the cabin, and then use it to get upgrades/credits. Some of the other posters saw this and got upset so they alerted Celebrity about what was going on (she was stupid enough to give her real name and the cabin they would be in). Her "light" was confiscated upon her arrival at the ship. Needless to say, she did not have kind things to say about the ship or crew. Note: you can search for this post, but if the repeated references to "puke" bother you then you might want to skip it.

 

No worries on the Princess board; before she went to Celebrity she trashed Princess. I'm sure she will be trashing NCL soon.

[Colo Cruiser]

Apparently she had been posting ahead of time how she was going to bring a "blue light" on board to check for any stains in the cabin, and then use it to get upgrades/credits. .

 

 

TMI!!!! :eek:

[Atomica]

I remember reading those posts about the 'black light' & the ongoing saga with the Radiance of the Seas. Her actions were what got her banned (though, I would assume, prior discussion of those actions here on CC didn't help any). It bears reminding that, like email, once you type it, it becomes public knowledge: don't say anything you're not prepared to back up.

 

Can't say I'm surprised RCI told them their business was no longer appreciated.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Isn't it interesting how a story can change?! In the article by MSNBC, the story was that "their stateroom had a plumbing problem that ended up with sewage all over the bathroom that overflowed onto the room’s carpet."

 

Here's what this poster wrote last Sept. 2007 about this incident:

 

"Our stateroom 8276 (AFT D1) was nicely appointed but the bathroom reeked of sewer smell for the entire 14 night cruise. Guest Relations did nothing but tell us about other guests who flush oranges, apples, silverware, diapers, etc down the toilet so we should talk to them. So our balcony door remained open the entire cruise even in 40 degree nights to keep the air fresh. Night 14 at midnight we have a guy banging on our door to deliver an envelope from the Hotel Manager giving us 20% off our next cruise. Too bad it took 2 weeks to do it."

 

Apparently the credibility of the storyteller is in question. :cool:

 

Maybe MSNBC should have read CC before writing the story:rolleyes:

[mycruz]

I guess that RCI had to stop at some point. Little did they know the first time they compensated this couple that it would go on and on and on.....I work for a very large hospitality company and we actually have a data base to check if compensation has been given to a guest in the past. Once a pattern starts, the compensation ends. Seems to work for us, the guests isn't very happy once the freebies stop, but we are a For Profit Company!

[chasetf]

....................It makes me queasy to know that the cruiselines don't think we are intelligent enough to discount the constant complainers and that they have to resort to banning someone for life (especially if it moves the complainers to Princess). LOL

 

What's next? Only giving upgrades to those who post 100% positive reviews?

What makes you think they were banned for what they wrote on this or any board. That is a tremendous leap of faith.

 

What got them banned was what they wrote to the cruise line and how they dealt with the line. ;) Not what they wrote here. :rolleyes:

[chasetf]

............The business saying that the client is always right is often a bad theory.

That is true. At times a business owner must protect their employees from abuse by customers.

 

This RCCL banishment is most likely a text book case of what the cruise line had and should do. ;)

[Woobstr112G]

As with nearly everyone on this thread, I too take the side of RCCL. I did complain about one thing while on a RCCL baltic cruise in 1999. The ship I was on messed up some stuff I had ordered for my aniversary. RCCL was fantastic in their repornse in sending me 2 25% off certificates for a future cruise. While I was tickled pink at what I received, I wasn't looking for anything. And this was the only time I complained in the 7 cruises I have been on...Kudos to RCCL

 

Bob

 

Future: Diamond Princess Aus/Nz 01/09

Future: Emerald Princess Med/Trans Atlantic 10/08

Constellation Europe 07/06

Summit Alaska Repositioning 05/05

Summit Panama Canal 10/02

Rhapsody Of The Seas Alaska 09/01

Spledour Of The Seas Baltic 09/99

Veendam Eastern Caribbean 07/96

Holiday Western Carribean 07/93

[brianroberts2526]

My question is, is it just me; or does all this complaining seem like a lot of work if the goal is to just get 20% off of a cruise.

20% off of the company price is not much at all.

[LauraS]

This was a tough call for us. After all, discussing "all things good and bad" about cruising is our mantra -- has been for almost 14 years. Yet, we were faced with a tailwind of conflicting thoughts: how do we handle this? We certainly think the discussion has merit -- but will it be about be about the issues at hand only? Can we keep this from becoming a public execution of the individual involved? It is a unique situation for us, as the couple in the center of this controversy are longtime, Cruise Critic members. Our very mission has been to provide a haven for cruisers on the internet -- will we be able to do that in this case?

After two days we believe this discussion has run its course. The time has come to put an end to this, because the discussion is no longer (or was it ever?) about the issue of being banned from a cruise line -- it is about an individual. One of our members. And although this individual has been determined to share her experiences both here and with other cruise-media outlets -- discussing people in a manner that personally attacks them as has been done these past two days is not what Cruise Critic is all about.

No matter how many reminders, no matter how many times we've asked "please no harassing of your fellow posters" or "stick to the issue at hand," we have posters who cannot refrain from personal attacks and we've had enough. It's been covered, everywhere. Discussed until there is nothing new to say. Rehashed until everyone is simply repeating themselves, or what others have said five minutes earlier. Most folks don't even know what they are talking about, they haven't read the article, or all the posts! Goodness, we've even done our own "follow-up" story.

Some of you won't like that the threads have been closed -- write me. Get it off your chest, in an email. We've made our decision and it is final. So, let's move on now and return to posting our own experiences -- good or bad -- about our favorite cruise lines.

After all, what are we about? We are cruising people through and through. Let's get back to it.

A final thank you to those who took the high road in all of these discussions. I've read every single posting on this issue, and I know who you are. My personal thanks go out to you.