Connections Party...What goes on?

[MIAMIMEDIA]

What occurs at Connections Party?

Any beverages and snacks?

Is it worth it to attend?

How will I know when it is being held?

 

Thanks from a Newbie :D

[Gonzo70]

What occurs at Connections Party?

Any beverages and snacks?

Is it worth it to attend?

How will I know when it is being held?

 

Thanks from a Newbie :D

 

Usually it is late morning on the first sea day. They deliver an invite to your stateroom if you are registered for the party. Sometimes they forget to deliver them - so check at guest relations the morning of the first sea day if you haven't received one.

 

What happens varies a bit from sailing to sailing, but the main reason to go is to meet face-to-face with the people on your roll call that you have been chatting with online via Cruise Critic. The cruise line generally has some beverages such as tea and coffee and some danishes. Occasionally I have heard of roll calls where the cruise line supplied some alcohol, but that is uncommon. Sometimes some of the senior officers attend and mingle with the guests (which is a nice touch when it occurs).

[STXCruisers]

What occurs at Connections Party?

Any beverages and snacks?

Is it worth it to attend?

How will I know when it is being held?

 

Thanks from a Newbie :D

 

As Gonzo said, the main reason to go is to meet the other people from your roll call. I think the connections parties are what you make of them. Some I have attended have been much more fun than others. If your group plans an activity such as a gift exchange (each couple or person brings a gift representing their home town/state/country and names are drawn), it will get the group mingling and be much more interesting. If you are very active posting on the roll call and get to know the others before cruising, you will enjoy your party more than if you are not active.

On my last two cruises, the cruise director attended. He spoke to the group and accepted questions from those in attendance.

Hope this answers your questions.

Doris

[Lois R]

What Gonzo said:D

 

Normally, they are on the first sea day. And who attends? I have seen

the Hotel Dircector on occasion or the Cruise Director too. The ships

now have someone who is called the "Event Coordinator" and they have been there before too.

What happens? Its a nice way to meet the folks who are on the roll

call. So some chatter and snacks are served. Coffee, tea, pastries,

etc....it usually in the mornings.

Depending on how active your roll call is? Sometimes alot of people show up while other times, not so much.

 

Is it worth it? Depends on if you want to meet other people:)...I would say yes. At least go for awhile. If you don't enjoy yourself? You can

always leave...its not mandatory to stay. But it is a nice way to meet others from Cruise Critic.:)

[shipshape sam]

I would say it is well worth it. We have always met someone that we later on the cruise had the opportunity to enjoy time/conversation with if not doing more with them like excursions/get togethers onboard/ etc. It is not always a great experience though. In fact, our last meeting was dominated by a specific tour with an independent tour operator on one specific port of which we were not a part of. Then as luck would have it, the port of call was cancel.

 

I see them as just one of many opportunities to meet people. Which brings me to this comment. At least for us, cruising is an interesting vacation/trip. It is the only type where we discuss our trip with strangers prior to the trip, go out of our way to seek out and meet many of these strangers once on board AND over time have come to make many friends that we have since had as guests in our home and travel many miles visiting them in theirs. We are planning to visit some 'new' friends next year in Phoenix, AZ. I like it. We have also had subsequent cruises with previous couples we have met (NOT all of our 'new' friends were part of CC or connections party, so do not limit your opportunities) :)

 

Have a great cruise!

[rothjer]

It kinda depends. We like to join roll calls because its a forum to share information on cabins, price reductions, special tips and going on's onboars that others may know about, and most importantly shore excursion tips. When it comes to meet and greets on board, we tend to not show up. Although we do enjoy talking to others on our cruise, we really enjoy being alone, table for two, cruises are our ultimate getaway, and we don't necessarily enjoy socializing as much as others do. Matter of personal preference I guess.

[DHADEN]

What occurs at Connections Party?

Any beverages and snacks?

Is it worth it to attend?

How will I know when it is being held?

Thanks from a Newbie

 

Just wanted to add my 2 cents.

 

I have found over the years that the number of people registered for the party makes a big difference in how much the ship's staff will put into the party. When we have had Rollcalls of 25 to 40 or so, there's not much of a party planned, and goes pretty weak. When we have had Rollcalls of over 100, then the parties have more staff members involved, lots more activities planned, group pictures, speeches by officers, even live music.

 

Our last cruise on the Infinity, they had the ochestra set up, with lots of snacks (finger food), drinks, and the C.D. was there with an "Activities Director". We mentioned to her about arranging a "Post Meet & Mingle" party at the end of the cruise to exchange emails and pictures. She went all out and put it together for us, and it was as great as the first one.

 

Hope This Helps.

[cruie4ever]

Our inaugural trans atlantic cruise on the Equinox Nov 5 2009 had the largest Connections party we ever attended of at least 200 + people . We all were given name tags & little gifts . Both the Cruise director & hotel Manager were there & we had quite a spread as I recall . Our party was fantastically succesful & we met many who we had been communicating on the Roll Call & still send back & forth e-mails

[Denny01]

On our last cruise, the Connections party was Clothing Optional, and......

 

OK, no it wasn't. We've had a few that were mainly just a chance to meet other CC members, and others where we set up other get togethers. Had a wine tasting where we all brought in a bottle...had Spanish lessons on a S American cruise... and so on. One we set up a Cabin Crawl.

 

Lots of variation. And I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself at the start there. If it had been Clothing Optional, my wife wouldn't have let me go...not because she would be bothered but would be concerned over me showing up and ruining a lot of people's cruise!

 

Denny

[STXCruisers]

Our inaugural trans atlantic cruise on the Equinox Nov 5 2009 had the largest Con=nections party we ever attended of at least 200 + people . We all were given name tags & little gifts . Both the Cruise director & hotel Manager were there & we had quite a spread as I recall . Our party was fantastically succesful & we met many who we had been communicating on the Roll Call & still send back & forth e-mails

 

Wow, 200+ people! I am guessing that the CC groups are probably larger on the longer cruises?? Well, maybe we have to venture out from our usual Caribbean, Alaska and Mexican itineraries!:confused: Hopefully we will have a larger group on our upcoming Panama Canal cruise on Infinity. So far the roll call is pretty slow, but we are almost a year from sail date....

I like the idea of a "Post Meet & Mingle" party like DHADEN

had on Infinity. A great way to kind of "wrap up" the cruise and exchange information to keep in touch with new friends!

[raudacruise]

It really depends. Been on some where it was the CD and others essentially trying to sell things while offering juice and pastires (as noted, first morning)

 

On another, it was the Captain who stopped by and we had Champagne and really not a lot sales pitch. This was the last one and was on day two or three (it was a TA).

 

From what I can tell, the more the merrier so to speak. If you have 40 signed up for the connections party don't expect the same reception as one that has 100+. You really have to make your roll call thread work.

 

I just signed up for Eclipse TA fall 2011 and there are already 17 pages (OMG :eek: - 18 months away) on the roll call.

 

Good news is there are folks that we have sailed with before. Bad news is there are folks we have sailed with before if =X= is paying attention :D.

[GeorgeL]

If it had been Clothing Optional, my wife wouldn't have let me go...not because she would be bothered but would be concerned over me showing up and ruining a lot of people's cruise!

 

Denny

 

How bad could it be?

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." Or should I say, the gentleman? ;)

[Lois R]

It really depends. Been on some where it was the CD and others essentially trying to sell things while offering juice and pastires (as noted, first morning)

 

On another, it was the Captain who stopped by and we had Champagne and really not a lot sales pitch. This was the last one and was on day two or three (it was a TA).

 

From what I can tell, the more the merrier so to speak. If you have 40 signed up for the connections party don't expect the same reception as one that has 100+. You really have to make your roll call thread work.

 

I just signed up for Eclipse TA fall 2011 and there are already 17 pages (OMG :eek: - 18 months away) on the roll call.

 

Good news is there are folks that we have sailed with before. Bad news is there are folks we have sailed with before if =X= is paying attention :D.

 

Hi George and Marybeth,:) it seems the new TA crossings always have

alot of people. More than most cruises, anyway. And as for making

the roll call work? People can be friendly and hopefully everyone will

feel welcomed. But not everyone chooses to chat. So, as for "making it work" that depends on the people.