Cruising Talk - View Single Post - Royal Caribbean Caught Infiltrating Review Sites With Viral Marketing Team

Ally · 03-17-2009, 10:56 AM

The UK travel industry sites have also picked up this onion too...

http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1135238.php

Having read all of the articles etc, I have come to the conclusion that RCI knew this was a risky measure so needed a fall guy incase the proverbial hit the fan, thus leaving them relatively untarnished.

You have RCI and the PR firm who instigated the scheme, you then add to the mix a well known and respected discussion board or two as the fall guys. The discussion boards chosen have a very close working relationship with RCI, so they aren't going to be in a position to argue when the proverbial hits the fan...reason is simple.

RCI needs boards to 'spread the good word', boards need cruise lines like RCI to pay advertising revenue which then keeps the board online.

RCI have come out of this mess reasonably OK...they ducked when the fan went into overdrive. The boards that were the fall guys, well they have got it right in the fizzog cos that was why they were used...you know, incase it all went wrong, we can shift the blame over to the cruise boards.

Now hindsight is a wonderful thing if you can get it in advance, I imagine that if they have any sense, the boards who caught the backlash full in the fizzog will distance themselves from this sort of scheme in the future...if any cruise line is stupid enough to try it after this debacle with RCI.

Regardless as to whether RCI and the cruise board try and plead not guilty, the seed of doubt has been sown, so no matter who they try to shift the blame to or how they try and talk themselves out of it, the general public will now approach cruise boards...all of them, not just the one in this mess...and have doubts about the integrity, honesty and plain truth of what they read.

That above all else is the greatest tragedy of this whole episode. The fact that people can join a board hoping to learn about what to expect on a ship or itinerary are now going to think twice. It was bad enough when newbies on the board in question were belittled and jumped on by the forum thugs, but now they have to consider what they are reading as truth or embelished in some way. The innocence has been tainted and it will take a long time to gain what confidence has been lost back...moreso on the board in question, as the saying goes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and RCI really did use them as their fall guy.

03-17-2009, 10:56 AM	#29
Ally CT Guru Join Date: Jun 2006 Fav. Cruise Line: Costa Cruises Posts: 74,169 My Reviews: 7 My Photos: 1,260 Status: Offline	The UK travel industry sites have also picked up this onion too... http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1135238.php Having read all of the articles etc, I have come to the conclusion that RCI knew this was a risky measure so needed a fall guy incase the proverbial hit the fan, thus leaving them relatively untarnished. You have RCI and the PR firm who instigated the scheme, you then add to the mix a well known and respected discussion board or two as the fall guys. The discussion boards chosen have a very close working relationship with RCI, so they aren't going to be in a position to argue when the proverbial hits the fan...reason is simple. RCI needs boards to 'spread the good word', boards need cruise lines like RCI to pay advertising revenue which then keeps the board online. RCI have come out of this mess reasonably OK...they ducked when the fan went into overdrive. The boards that were the fall guys, well they have got it right in the fizzog cos that was why they were used...you know, incase it all went wrong, we can shift the blame over to the cruise boards. Now hindsight is a wonderful thing if you can get it in advance, I imagine that if they have any sense, the boards who caught the backlash full in the fizzog will distance themselves from this sort of scheme in the future...if any cruise line is stupid enough to try it after this debacle with RCI. Regardless as to whether RCI and the cruise board try and plead not guilty, the seed of doubt has been sown, so no matter who they try to shift the blame to or how they try and talk themselves out of it, the general public will now approach cruise boards...all of them, not just the one in this mess...and have doubts about the integrity, honesty and plain truth of what they read. That above all else is the greatest tragedy of this whole episode. The fact that people can join a board hoping to learn about what to expect on a ship or itinerary are now going to think twice. It was bad enough when newbies on the board in question were belittled and jumped on by the forum thugs, but now they have to consider what they are reading as truth or embelished in some way. The innocence has been tainted and it will take a long time to gain what confidence has been lost back...moreso on the board in question, as the saying goes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and RCI really did use them as their fall guy.