cruise critic meeting on board ship

[luvs2travl]

Although the M&G procedure was supposed to have changed last May, I think it has quietly reverted back to the old system. We were on the Emerald last week and were supposedly one of the first groups to be able to plan the M&G prior to the 'old' 40 day mark. Our Roll Call contact was told that the new system was in place, that a room would be set aside (they preferred morning of the first sea day), that it would be announced in the Patters and that one or two of the ship staff would try to attend. All of that was put into our Roll Call posts.

 

When we boarded, the contact had a letter in her room confirming the day, time and location. No Patter announcements were made, no staff attended. We did have the bartenders available for one hour. A sign was in front of Skywalkers saying it was reserved for a private function. When our contact asked why no announcement was put in the Patters she was told that "they had had some trouble with making announcements for some groups and not others, so Princess would not be putting CC meetings in the Patter".

 

Based on our experience, I would suggest that Roll Calls do all the arranging themselves, and to check and double check upon boarding. But expect it to be treated as a private function, not a ship function.

 

Your experience sound very similar to ours on the Diamond last month, At least you had a room with "Private Function" and a bartender for your gathering. We had nothing. I know you must've felt some of the same disappointment as we did. Thanks for giving a reason that the M & G was not put in the Patter - we were not even told that much. :(

[caribill]

Although When our contact asked why no announcement was put in the Patters she was told that "they had had some trouble with making announcements for some groups and not others, so Princess would not be putting CC meetings in the Patter".

 

 

Since they syill announce meetings for firemen, poliemen, teachers, veterans, etc., seems to be it would be consistent to announce the M&G meetings.

[LuAnn]

On the Sea Princess (6/1) talked to the hostess and the ship had no M&G planned...asked her to do so...she did...and it was published in the Patter....(I went this route as ...before the cruise...I was reading the M&G would be "automatic" and posted based on Princess "offering" the M&G)...but wanted to be sure it would happen...and it was not true..in my case..with out my "intervention" ...nothing would have happened....no worries...it worked out...but some CC members "missed" the posting in the Patter....

 

Upcoming T/P...(9/10) I have contacted the rep for the Diamond and have a set date, time, location and bartender scheduled for the first day at sea...Skywalkers, 11:00 AM...but I have recently read from a fellow CC member that I must personally "invite" officers/staff to attend...with a personal invitation...left at the Purser's Office...that the officers/staff do not just "automatically" attend...something I have not experienced with all the other cruise lines I have dealt with to set up M&G..so...will send those invites and hope for the best....I think this "process" seems to be in "transition" with Princess...HAL, RCCL ,Azamara, Oceania and Celebrity seem to have the process a little better organized...at least IMHO...having organized many of these in the past on these cruise lines....so I'll report back after I experience the Diamond M&G...we have quite a large group of CC members on board...so should be a lot of fun!!! LuAnn

[librarian1]

On the Grand for the 6/19 sailing we had informally set up a M&G then I contacted Berda and she confirmed that THEY would arrange the M&G on the first sea day - 11 a.m. in Skywalkers, yada, yada, yada. So our group tweaked our original plan and agreed to meet at 11.

 

No one from Princess showed up. No bartender. No letter in my room (though I did have a copy of the email from Berda).

 

Next time I'll do as others have suggested and check with the Purser's desk when I board (when I'm signing up for the UST which I hope they don't cancel again! :mad: ) and make sure arrangements are made.

 

Not sure how I feel about having to do the inviting, though. Seems they should take care of that, too.

 

Susan

[luvs2travl]

On the Sea Princess (6/1) talked to the hostess and the ship had no M&G planned...asked her to do so...she did...and it was published in the Patter....(I went this route as ...before the cruise...I was reading the M&G would be "automatic" and posted based on Princess "offering" the M&G)...but wanted to be sure it would happen...and it was not true..in my case..with out my "intervention" ...nothing would have happened....no worries...it worked out...but some CC members "missed" the posting in the Patter....

 

Upcoming T/P...(9/10) I have contacted the rep for the Diamond and have a set date, time, location and bartender scheduled for the first day at sea...Skywalkers, 11:00 AM...but I have recently read from a fellow CC member that I must personally "invite" officers/staff to attend...with a personal invitation...left at the Purser's Office...that the officers/staff do not just "automatically" attend...something I have not experienced with all the other cruise lines I have dealt with to set up M&G..so...will send those invites and hope for the best....I think this "process" seems to be in "transition" with Princess...HAL, RCCL ,Azamara, Oceania and Celebrity seem to have the process a little better organized...at least IMHO...having organized many of these in the past on these cruise lines....so I'll report back after I experience the Diamond M&G...we have quite a large group of CC members on board...so should be a lot of fun!!! LuAnn

 

 

I hope you have better luck on the Diamond than our group had. Best to check ASAP after you board to confirm your arrangements. The nice gal that was in our charge of ours was kicking herself for a couple of days for not doing so herself. I wish you a great cruise on the beautiful Diamond Princess. We loved sailing on her! :)

[LuAnn]

On the Grand for the 6/19 sailing we had informally set up a M&G then I contacted Berda and she confirmed that THEY would arrange the M&G on the first sea day - 11 a.m. in Skywalkers, yada, yada, yada. So our group tweaked our original plan and agreed to meet at 11.

 

No one from Princess showed up. No bartender. No letter in my room (though I did have a copy of the email from Berda).

 

Next time I'll do as others have suggested and check with the Purser's desk when I board (when I'm signing up for the UST which I hope they don't cancel again! :mad: ) and make sure arrangements are made.

 

Not sure how I feel about having to do the inviting, though. Seems they should take care of that, too.

 

Susan

 

I agree re the invites... I can't imagine why the ship/shore can't organize this since every other line I have sailed on has been able to co-ordinate it...but...as this is "new" for Princess...guess they are working the "bugs" out"???? Again...thanks for the "heads-up" and I guess we just need to be really "pro-active" with this aspect of our CC adventure on Princess!! LuAnn

[paul929207]

On the Grand for the 6/19 sailing we had informally set up a M&G then I contacted Berda and she confirmed that THEY would arrange the M&G on the first sea day - 11 a.m. in Skywalkers, yada, yada, yada. So our group tweaked our original plan and agreed to meet at 11.

 

No one from Princess showed up. No bartender. No letter in my room (though I did have a copy of the email from Berda).

 

Next time I'll do as others have suggested and check with the Purser's desk when I board (when I'm signing up for the UST which I hope they don't cancel again! :mad: ) and make sure arrangements are made.

 

Not sure how I feel about having to do the inviting, though. Seems they should take care of that, too.

 

Susan

Did you send invitations to the officers?

[cherylakers]

Last fall we were on the Emerald and had the room arranged for 3 p.m. on sea day. We were booted out at 3:30 because they said they had scheduled a wedding reception in there. We had the email stating the room was ours for 1 hour starting at 3 p.m. No staff attended and no bar tender.

 

Our next sailing in 9/23 on the Star. I have arranged with the coordinator and reconfirmed that Skywalkers is ours at 11 a.m. on the 1st and only sea day. She said we would have a bar tender for us, but no snacks. I think I will deliver personal invitations to the staff and see if any of them show up.

 

Thanks for that idea everyone.

 

Hope ours goes well.

 

Cheryl

[Jennygirl]

What do these invitations look like? We leave next Thursday and might have to go this route. What are you supposed to say in them?

 

"Dear Captain - we are arranging a M&G in ???????????? at ???????? o'clock" How are you supposed to know what to write if nobody has told you where it is scheduled???

 

Very confusing..

[paul929207]

What do these invitations look like? We leave next Thursday and might have to go this route. What are you supposed to say in them?

 

"Dear Captain - we are arranging a M&G in ???????????? at ???????? o'clock" How are you supposed to know what to write if nobody has told you where it is scheduled???

 

Very confusing..

I think it is safe to say that the captain and other officers will not attend if they are not invited. Other than the CD, most of them never look at the Princess Patter.

[cruisin36]

I think it is safe to say that the captain and other officers will not attend if they are not invited. Other than the CD, most of them never look at the Princess Patter.

 

On our last three cruises on the Ruby the Capt and Maitr De and the CD , uninvited by any passenger, showed up and chatted with us. I think it has more to do with the Princess person who is in charge of making the arrangements and the CD.

[DonnaK]

This thing with putting the M&G notices being put in the patters worries me. You could have non roll call members showing up thinking it's an event to complain about the cruise.....:(

 

Bob

 

Exactly, some reviews mentioned that "outsiders" came after seeing the post in the Patters thinking that it was an open gripe session.

[DonnaK]

This didn't happen in our case. :rolleyes:

Nothing was mentioned in the patters. :cool:

 

 

Yes, I read that in your review, and that's what has us concerned on our roll call that the same thing might happen to us.

[Feelin' Nauti']

Yes, I read that in your review, and that's what has us concerned on our roll call that the same thing might happen to us.

I emailed the CB coordinator numerous times, confirming our time and date of our meeting.

Still, it wasn't mentioned in the patter.

There however was another group on board and their "Get-Together" was highlighted in the "What's Happening Today" section. :cool:

I would suggest contacting the Purser's desk once on board and there after just to make sure.

 

To be honest, it wasn't a real biggy.

Our group showed up anyways.

We didn't need the "reminder". ;) (note in Patter)

[paul929207]

On our cruise last fall, I worked with the ACD to arrange mention in the Patter for the 2nd and 3rd M&G (It was a 32 day cruise).

[kiwipete]

[quote name='Dani24']We are on the Sea Princess in 9 days. What was Liz able to arrange for you? What day/time was the meeting? Did any of the staff come? Did they provide anything else?[/quote]

Hi Dani24
My first contact with Liz was to ask if we could have a M&G on the 1st sea day for an hour at 11.00am. Her response was very quick and suggested the Razzmattazz Lounge.
I confirmed that it would be great and please could we have a bar person and maybe some dry nibbles. Her response was positive and asked me to confirm numbers nearer the sailing. She also asked if I would be contact for our CC group on board.
I prepared badges and invitations for those attending so that they knew where and when and delivered them to their cabins when we got on board. I also prepared invites for The Captain and about 10 Senior crew members. (Liz was able to give me their names for the invitations)
The Razzmatazz was "reserved for private function" at the agreed time but did not get mentioned in the patter, for which we were grateful! ( we were selfish and just wanted our group!!)
The Captain came and spent 45 minutes with us chatting and then answering questions from the group. This was greatly appreciated and made our meeting special. During the meeting about 6 or 7 other members of the crew called in to say Hi!
So go for it. Organising a M&G [U][B]IS[/B][/U] worth the effort!!
Kiwipete