Setting-up a "Meet and Greet"

[mountain grandma]

Is there an email address for the concierge on the Nautica? I would like to set-up (in advance) a Meet & Greet date/location/time for our Black Sea and Greek Isle cruises and be able to post this info on the cc roll calls so that everyone will be aware before they depart.

 

Help or suggestions from any former Meet & Greet mavens would be greatly appreciated. :)

 

Thanks in advance,

Billie

[Judyumcer@aol.com]

We have always met in one of the lounges on the first day. There usually is no one in there, so it is nice for a group gathering. Just set the time and which lounge you'd like to meet in and put it on Roll Call. We have a nice group on the October 1, 2010 Barcelona to Istanbul. Have fun!

[lgcochran]

You may find it difficulty to get this formally scheduled with Oceania. Horizons is a good location - plenty of space to claim a corner and everyone can gather. Be sure to tell the bartender that these are individual checks! - not yours.

If you want to do it on day of departure, schedule a little later so you don't conflict with the lifeboat drill. It's also helpful to get everyone's room number. You could have the concierge send a note to everyone reconfirming the date/time; or if there is a change you can notify everyone. We're doing 7pm on sail day (sailing is at 6).

[JimandStan]

Is there an email address for the concierge on the Nautica? I would like to set-up (in advance) a Meet & Greet date/location/time for our Black Sea and Greek Isle cruises and be able to post this info on the cc roll calls so that everyone will be aware before they depart.

 

Help or suggestions from any former Meet & Greet mavens would be greatly appreciated. :)

 

Thanks in advance,

Billie

 

Billie-

 

 

We've arranged many a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet, and on Oceania, you won't need to worry in advance. In fact it is easier and simpler if you do everything on the ship.

 

Simply give your list to the Concierge, who will arrange everything beautifully, and even have invitations printed and delivered to your guests cabins, informing them of the date/time/location.

 

There is no cost for this service, unless you opt to buy additional refreshments of some kind, and many of your guests will want to keep the invitation as a memento.

 

 

Have a wonderful cruise, your itinerary sounds so exciting!

 

:D We Hope that this helped.

[mountain grandma]

Thanks to you all for the assistance. I guess I was just being anal about getting everything set up in advance. :rolleyes:

 

Billie

[CintiPam]

I set up two meet and greets on our last cruise (late April-early May), one the first morning in the GDR because we were not arriving until 11 AM at our first destination, and I arranged it by email with the roll call and informed the GDR manager the night before (originally he was not happy about setting aside a few large tables, because one cannot make breakfast reservations for the GDR, but it never is crowded for breakfast, so he relented on second thought or because I can be very convincing:)). No costs to anyone obviously and the servers did a great job for us.

 

The second was a cocktail event in Horizons a few days (six?) later, the best place for such a gathering, and I had the concierge for the regular cabins send out invitations. She was very nice, efficient and did a super job arranging everything.

 

Oceania supplied some nuts/trail mix type of munchies. I needed to reserve about 1/4 of Horizons, and also wanted to make sure there was no conflict with Oceania Club party, etc. The server collected the cards for room numbers at the end for the individual/couples liquor charges.

[GeorgesGal]

Cintipam and Jimandstan, Boy! One says the meet and greet was comp'd and the other says you had to pay! Does not O have a set policy on stuff like this?

 

 

Have set up m n g's on HAL and on Azamara, and they were ALWAYS comp'd!! I have sent an e-mail to O to find out what they will do (or not do) for our group of about 30 cc members and have yet to hear from them.

 

I am not feeling good about my upcoming cruise on Oceania........ Hope I am wrong. But I do love the R ships! So all won't be a downer.

[caroak]

On our Crystal Cruise the CC Meet & Greet was complimentary. It was a cocktail hour with drinks and wonderful hor'dourves. The cruise director, the kitchen director and one of the captains (not sure these are all the correct titles) came by to chat. It was very impressive as was everything on Crystal. I hope our first Oceania cruise will be just as enjoyable.

[Paulchili]

Cintipam and Jimandstan, Boy! One says the meet and greet was comp'd and the other says you had to pay! Does not O have a set policy on stuff like this?

 

 

Have set up m n g's on HAL and on Azamara, and they were ALWAYS comp'd!! I have sent an e-mail to O to find out what they will do (or not do) for our group of about 30 cc members and have yet to hear from them.

 

I am not feeling good about my upcoming cruise on Oceania........ Hope I am wrong. But I do love the R ships! So all won't be a downer.

 

It sounds like the only thing they received on CintiPam's M&Gs for free were nuts/trail mix (and a free breakfast :D); drinks were extra each time.

I think it takes a lot more to feel good about a cruise and cruise line than free cocktails for M&G (IMO). For me they beat HAL hands down.

I believe you will enjoy your cruise on Oceania despite this deficiency :)

[JimandStan]

Cintipam and Jimandstan, Boy! One says the meet and greet was comp'd and the other says you had to pay! Does not O have a set policy on stuff like this?

 

 

Have set up m n g's on HAL and on Azamara, and they were ALWAYS comp'd!! I have sent an e-mail to O to find out what they will do (or not do) for our group of about 30 cc members and have yet to hear from them.

 

I am not feeling good about my upcoming cruise on Oceania........ Hope I am wrong. But I do love the R ships! So all won't be a downer.

 

At present, the policy is that Oceania will provide the room and the nibbles gratis, but the alcohol is not free.

 

That said, if your Cruise Critic group becomes very large (and many of them are) the line may opt to pick up the drinks tab also.

 

The cut off appears to be between 80 and 100, depending on the itinerary.

 

We came to Oceania after many years as HAL loyalists, and we can honestly say that Oceania is run very much the way that HAL was when it was still a private company. You will be very pleasantly surprised.

[Paulchili]

On our Crystal Cruise the CC Meet & Greet was complimentary. It was a cocktail hour with drinks and wonderful hor'dourves. The cruise director, the kitchen director and one of the captains (not sure these are all the correct titles) came by to chat. It was very impressive as was everything on Crystal. I hope our first Oceania cruise will be just as enjoyable.

 

You know that it is not really fair to compare Crystal with Oceania for this type of activity (apples and oranges).

I am sure one pays plenty for those M&G "free drinks and hors d"oeuvres" in the cruise fare on Crystal. Now, saying that they are complimentary on Azamara (which they are), is a different story altogether.

[caroak]

Crystal had some terrific 20th anniversary deals this year. Believe it or not we could have booked a 10 day Baltic Cruise for less than next year's Oceania 10 day Med cruise. We would not have a veranda cabin but would have been mid-ship and the picture windows are large. Instead we did a land trip to Italy and France. It was a great trip despite being overly ambitious so next year we'll relax a little more and cruise.

[hondorner]

I believe, although I could be wrong, the M & G on Azamara is part of the Celebrity policy and requires a minimum of 25 to be signed up by a certain period before the cruise. Cruise Critic posts a link to a sign up web page.

 

Oceania has not outlined a similar policy, although they did host a M & G on the March 21, 2010 transAtlantic, which had over 100 on the roll call. It was provided at the instigation of a very persistent organizer. On the following April 4 cruise, there was another fireball organizer who tried hard, but was told the minimum number would be 75, and she only had 36. She was still able to organize a M & G where Oceania arranged the space, arranged the invitations and provided extra servers, but it was strictly a cash bar.

 

Most of the roll calls in the past few years have been quite small, the majority of them unable to meet even the minimum of 25 required by Celebrity. Still, most have had some sort of Meet and Mingle, quite informal, arranged through the roll call forums on Cruise Critic. The numbers, however, have been growing -- I know there are around 100 or so on the Maiden voyage and the numbers are growing for the Inaugural Panama Canal voyage. We have 95 signed up for a transAtlantic in November, 2011 of Marina. With these kinds of numbers, Oceania may give some thought to announcing a formal policy.

 

Remember, in the first few years of operation, Oceania hosted parties for members of the Yahoo Oceania forum. Those numbers started falling off in 2005, and Oceania discontinued the parties. It's only recently that the numbers are increasing enough on Cruise Critic to prod Oceania to sit up and take notice. I'm willing to bet that they are aware, and just haven't reached that point on their priority list.

 

One way or the other, it certainly doesn't affect whether I will be happy with my Oceania cruise...

[MightyQuinn]

I believe, although I could be wrong, the M & G on Azamara is part of the Celebrity policy and requires a minimum of 25 to be signed up by a certain period before the cruise. Cruise Critic posts a link to a sign up web page.

You’ve got it mostly right. Azamara has a 25-guest minimum before they will host a Meet & Mingle. CC provides a direct link to the Azamara website so pax can sign up for the party. Once the magic number is reached, pax receive a confirming e-mail from Azamara. Invitations are delivered to staterooms on the first day of the cruise. On our recent sailing, we had over 60 participants on our Roll Call. They provided us a CC party on the 2nd day & then another on the 2nd last day. Both were well attended & nicely staged with complimentary "champagne" & wine, mixed drinks (on request), hot & cold hors d'oeurves, senior officers in attendance and lotsa lively conversation.

 

There are reports that Azamara will host a party even if the magic 25 minimum hasn't been reached. In this case, since Azamara doesn’t know who on-board is a CC member (apparently the M&M list is deleted if the minimum isn’t reached), there aren’t any personalized invitations. Rather, they announce details of the party in the daily program.

 

We appreciated these hosted events on Azamara, even though our solid cruise preference is for Oceania. While they didn't "make" our cruise, they did add to our overall enjoyment.

[yorkiemomjn]

I believe, although I could be wrong, the M & G on Azamara is part of the Celebrity policy and requires a minimum of 25 to be signed up by a certain period before the cruise. Cruise Critic posts a link to a sign up web page.

 

Oceania has not outlined a similar policy, although they did host a M & G on the March 21, 2010 transAtlantic, which had over 100 on the roll call. It was provided at the instigation of a very persistent organizer. On the following April 4 cruise, there was another fireball organizer who tried hard, but was told the minimum number would be 75, and she only had 36. She was still able to organize a M & G where Oceania arranged the space, arranged the invitations and provided extra servers, but it was strictly a cash bar.

 

Most of the roll calls in the past few years have been quite small, the majority of them unable to meet even the minimum of 25 required by Celebrity. Still, most have had some sort of Meet and Mingle, quite informal, arranged through the roll call forums on Cruise Critic. The numbers, however, have been growing -- I know there are around 100 or so on the Maiden voyage and the numbers are growing for the Inaugural Panama Canal voyage. We have 95 signed up for a transAtlantic in November, 2011 of Marina. With these kinds of numbers, Oceania may give some thought to announcing a formal policy.

 

Remember, in the first few years of operation, Oceania hosted parties for members of the Yahoo Oceania forum. Those numbers started falling off in 2005, and Oceania discontinued the parties. It's only recently that the numbers are increasing enough on Cruise Critic to prod Oceania to sit up and take notice. I'm willing to bet that they are aware, and just haven't reached that point on their priority list.

 

One way or the other, it certainly doesn't affect whether I will be happy with my Oceania cruise...

 

In one post you referred to me as a 'go-getter' and now I'm a 'fireball'. At my age, both are definitely compliments! :D Thanks!

I agree with you, it would take a lot more than that to make me unhappy with an Oceania cruise!!

[2kiwis]

On our Crystal Cruise the CC Meet & Greet was complimentary. It was a cocktail hour with drinks and wonderful hor'dourves. The cruise director, the kitchen director and one of the captains (not sure these are all the correct titles) came by to chat. It was very impressive as was everything on Crystal. I hope our first Oceania cruise will be just as enjoyable.

 

We have set up several meet and greets on Oceania and have always found the ships staff willing to help in any way we ask. Our Cruise Director Dottie popped in on our last 2 cruises to say hello, and was always available for anything we needed.

We are sure you will have an enjoyable time

Cheers

[ClaudiaF]

you wrote in part..."Remember, in the first few years of operation, Oceania hosted parties for members of the Yahoo Oceania forum. Those numbers started falling off in 2005, and Oceania discontinued the parties. quote]

 

 

Sorry have to disagree.. as one who was a major part of hosting that board with lovely Laura and lovely Jan for YEARS..like maybe 5 after Ren closed their own board.... the numbers never fell off..Oceania just stopped doing it..BIG BIG mistake..

:confused:

[raffeer]

 

Oceania just stopped doing it..BIG BIG mistake..

:confused:

 

Doesn't seem to have had a major effect on their bottom line.........................

[ClaudiaF]

it is just a fun thing to do..since for many all of the planning ( months before..years before in some cases) all of the hooking up with friends on the same cruise, etc..makes it all the more enjoyable..and when you walk on a ship and already know 10, 20 30 50 or 80 people it is just the most amazing feeling..and what better than to "meet" finally at the little cocktail party.. nicer when "the ship" hosts it for all..not a big deal, I mean really..if not for all th ship "fans" where would they really be?

[JimandStan]

it is just a fun thing to do..since for many all of the planning ( months before..years before in some cases) all of the hooking up with friends on the same cruise, etc..makes it all the more enjoyable..and when you walk on a ship and already know 10, 20 30 50 or 80 people it is just the most amazing feeling..and what better than to "meet" finally at the little cocktail party.. nicer when "the ship" hosts it for all..not a big deal, I mean really..if not for all th ship "fans" where would they really be?

 

I suppose that we should be on your side on this. We enjoy a cocktail party as much as anyone, and free is certainly not a bad thing in anyones book.

 

The thing is, having been loyal customers to several venerable lines (Sitmar and Home Lines, for example) which "comped themselves right out of business" we are naturally anxious for Oceania to watch the overhead.

 

"Hosted" parties, free port Shuttles, subsidized shore excursions and unfettered access to free Specialty Restaurants all sound delightful, but we must, as the old saying goes "Be careful what we wish for".

 

 

Once one of these magnificent ships has sailed out of your life prematurely because the management has boxed themselves into a situation where staying in business is not worth their time or investment, you may look at all these bells and whistles in a very different light.

[CintiPam]

For me, having Oceania reserve and set up the space and send out the invitations saved a lot of time and effort during my vacation, so I was happy for that service. There is plenty of really good food served onboard all day long, so I really did not find it a big deal to pay for a couple of drinks at the cocktail party meet and greet.

 

Perhaps not being a major drinker myself (alas, my problem is in the eating department:)), I am more than happy not to subsidize the drinking habits of others while on a cruise.