Be wary of recommendations!

BruinSteve

BruinSteve

Environmental Compliance Officer
This topic has come up from time to time on other cruise and travel message boards...and perhaps it is time to remind people here as well...

What brought this on is that I just read and posted on a thread in which a poster was asking for tour guide recommendations for a Med Cruise...

I do not know the poster who responded--a "nadinefury" nor have I any great knowledge of the company she so effusively recommended--Byzas Tours...

But, I am often questioning of overly praising recommendations coming from ONE-TIME posters...

I did a search on "Byzas" on other boards and found an interesting pattern...They are often recommended in glowing style by people who have only posted one time on the board...

Here is the key: Lots of people come onto these boards anonymously and post what really amounts to self-serving advertising...People just hoping to find any sort of recommendation don't scrutinize the posts all that carefully...

But, think about this: If someone really was a legitimate member of a cruise message board community, wouldn't they show up more than one time and post on more than one subject? Where are the cruise reviews? The posts about other ports visited? The impressions of the ship? Why weren't they posting PRE-Cruise? Asking about the ship or the ports or the other aspects of the cruise?

Now nadinefury MAY be a legitimate poster...and Byzas Tours may very well be a good nd reputable tour company...

BUT...My word of caution is to be wary of from whom you take recommendations on this or any other board...

Maybe pay a bit more credence to posters who really are long-term members of the community...posters who have opined on a range of subjects...whose interest in this system is more than just popping on once to steer you to a tour guide in some distant land...

Look for numerous recommendations...and recommendations from posters you can be certain are real cruisers like yourself...

Why trust me? I've been here since the beginning of this site...and people here know me from other boards before Cruise @ddicts...I have shared opinions, reviews and recommendations on a wide variety of subjects relating to cruising in all parts of the world...

Trust me and the many others like me...

Take what you read from a single time poster with a grain of salt...especially when they tell you some tour guide is the best tour guide in the world...but don't even bother telling you anything else about any other port or other aspect of the cruise...
 
MisterD21

MisterD21

If you take me serious, it's your problem
Excellent post steve!!! you make a very informative post with this one. I think you hit the nail on the head here. One wouldn't buy a new car based on one review, or even one gushing praises about it... so why do people often buy into such reviews when it comes to their travel dollars?? Perhaps it is because when it comes to our leisure time, and planning for it we are in a relaxed and trusting frame of mind. One should always remember you only get the best deal, or best service when you dig deeper, and do the research.. if you work as hard at securing the best vacation as you do in your work you will always have the best travel experience. Being lax while planning a vacation does not necessarily mean you will have a bad vacation, it just means if you had worked harder planning it you might have had an even better one...

Thank-You Steve, you rock...!!:clap::thumbup: I MISS THE THANK-YOU BUTTON!!!!!!
 
ShipMaven

ShipMaven

Forever Remembered
Thank you for an excellent post, Steve.

Being in the field I'm in, I must be careful how and where I post cautions or recommendations - but there are, indeed, many fly-by-night organizations out there of which we all must be wary.
 
A

Auarians

Bar Steward
BruinSteve said:
But, I am often questioning of overly praising recommendations coming from ONE-TIME posters...
Here is the key: Lots of people come onto these boards anonymously and post what really amounts to self-serving advertising...People just hoping to find any sort of recommendation don't scrutinize the posts all that carefully...
But, think about this: If someone really was a legitimate member of a cruise message board community, wouldn't they show up more than one time and post on more than one subject? Where are the cruise reviews? The posts about other ports visited? The impressions of the ship? Why weren't they posting PRE-Cruise? Asking about the ship or the ports or the other aspects of the cruise?
Look for numerous recommendations...and recommendations from posters you can be certain are real cruisers like yourself...
...
Click to expand...
Thanks, a timely reminder which should be on all boards! I live in a tourist area and there are lots of people looking for information. Every now and then some of the 'replies' make statements which I find hard to believe, are usually by new posters, who sometimes don't even appear to live in the area, and don't appear to have ever posted seeking information etc. about a cruise they are actually going on. Perhaps the person responsible for keeping an eye on the thread could consider contacting the poster and if appropriate moving/removing a suspect thread.
Auarians
 
bob

bob

Community Manager Part Time Dinosaur
Staff member
Perhaps the person responsible for keeping an eye on the thread could consider contacting the poster and if appropriate moving/removing a suspect thread.
Click to expand...

Any time you see a post that you consider questionable be it for spamming or any other issue, just click on the red and white triangle in the upper right corner of the post, you will be taken to a screen where you can enter a short comment of why you consider the post questionable and then submit the form. All staff members will receive an email indicating that there is a problem post on the forums and the first staff member available will be able to check it out and take appropriate action. We have a zero spam policy but that is not to say one doesn't get through once in a while.
Thanks for the reminder Steve, I was doing several things at the time and forgot about good ol' nadine, they are what I refer to as "one post wonders" and as in this case, you can be pretty sure they are self serving.
 
M

Mr. Utley

2nd Officer
AN ILL ADVISED REFERRAL

As I got back on the excursion bus and found a vacant seat,
I thought I saw my tour guide walkin' up the street,
I shouted to the driver "hey conductor, you must slow down.
I gotta grab that lady before she makes it outta town."

Nadine, honey is that you?
Oh, Nadine. Honey, is that you?
Seems like everybody books with you
Ends up gettin' screwed.

I saw her from the corner when she turned and doubled back
Pocketing my cash and jumpin' in a Cadillac.
I was pushin'through the crowd to get to where she's at
When I boarded that excursion I knew I smelled a rat.

Downtown searching for her, looking all around,
Saw her getting in a yellow cab heading up town.
I caught a loaded taxi, paid up everybodys' tab.
Flipped a twenty-dollar bill, told him "catch that yellow cab."

She moves around like a wayward summer breeze,
Go, driver, go, go, catch her for me, please.
Moving through the traffic like a mounted cavalier
Leaning out the taxi window trying to make her hear.

You know I paid ahead of time to see the Eiffel tower,
I shoulda been suspicious when you said Id take an hour.
That tubing through the sewers tour
has got me smellin' sour.

Nadine, honey is that you?
Oh, Nadine. Honey, is that you?
Seems like everybody books with you
Ends up gettin' screwed.

Apologies to Chuck Berry
 
O

Okie/Tex

Photograher
I have been on this board since before Pamda had a fuss here. I suspect that few know who she was. You notice that I have very few posts. That is because of a stroke that does not allow complete control of my typing fingers and, to some degree, of my thought processes. However, when I feel strongly about a topic, I will take the hour or so to respond. Please don't automatically assume that someone that has few posts has anything other than a desire to contribute positivily to the board.

Thanks
 
Calgon1

Calgon1

Awaiting results of mental evaluation
Steve and Oakie/Tex both make very good points.

I have made quite a few posts, but that doesn't mean that my knowledge is any greater than others. It just means that either I don't have much of a life other than hanging out here on the boards; or, I think my views are really of intrest to our members.

I think our gentle readers need to also consider how long a poster has been a member before out-of-hand disregarding their opinion.

Additionally, the word "opinon" is also key here. What I liked/loved may be the world's worst experience for someone else ... Example - SunFlower loves me, but the rest of the world just patiently suffers through their association with Calgon ... and I thank you all for that.

With the intense search abilities available on the Internet, there is no excuse for not fully researching any vendor, and doing it through multiple sources... After all, it's your money, your memories, and (in some cases) your safety ....

[size=+3]CHECK IT OUT[/size] and [size=+3]BE INFORMED[/size].
 
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