pacmom Posted March 21, 2012 #1 Share Posted March 21, 2012 We booked thru O for our Aug trip to the Blck Sea. We have received 3 or 4 messages asking if we wouldn't rather be on another cruise. Of course, we wouldn't. This trip seems to have been overbooked for a long time. My question: how can we find out if there will be large groups on board?. On our last Regatta thru the canal, we had 2 delightful alumni groups, one from Ga. Tech and one from Texas A&M. Have been reading about some not so nice groups recently. Being a retired RN, this trip is part of my bucket list. Thanks for listening and for any advice available. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruin Steve Posted March 21, 2012 #2 Share Posted March 21, 2012 We booked thru O for our Aug trip to the Blck Sea. We have received 3 or 4 messages asking if we wouldn't rather be on another cruise. Of course, we wouldn't. This trip seems to have been overbooked for a long time. My question: how can we find out if there will be large groups on board?. On our last Regatta thru the canal, we had 2 delightful alumni groups, one from Ga. Tech and one from Texas A&M. Have been reading about some not so nice groups recently. Being a retired RN, this trip is part of my bucket list. Thanks for listening and for any advice available. Pat Cruise lines never tell you if they have booked groups...so you need to do a bit of research... There are a couple of sites out there with some listings of some group cruises...like this one: http://themecruisefinder.com/CruiseAds/search/create_form/ (Just plug the name of the ship or the words "Black Sea" into the search box for "search anywhere in the ads"...then hit "OK" ...) Other than that, I just do a "Google" search...Try inputting the ship name, maybe the date...and words like "Group" or the type of individual groups you may find in such things...ie "Singles" or "Alumni" or "Gay" or "Christian" or whatever types of groups you have heard of doing group cruises...Sometimes the Google search will turn up results...Of course, yo'll probably end up wading through lots of sites of ordinary travel agents booking the cruise... On the whole, I don't think Oceania hosts that many really large groups...Those usually end up on the larger ships... And the Black Sea cruises are fairly popular because there are so few of them--on all cruise lines...and, since they are popular, the cruise lines seldom offer any great deals on these to promoters who put together the groups... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted March 21, 2012 #3 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I was curious about the offers to change cruises that you have received so I emailed our TA last night and he responded this morning that he wasn't aware of any groups on the cruise, or of offers to move. (He also said O doesn't tend to inform O when they make these decisions!) And then, lo and behold, a few hours later we received an offer to move to a Marina cruise in May. While my husband is interested in such an offer (he's not as interested in the Black Sea itinerary as I am) this one won't work for us. The cruise they offered leaves Athens on May 2nd and we're due to fly back from our Viking riverboat trip on May 1st! We'll already have been away from home for 3 weeks and he didn't want to add another 10 days. On top of that, the itinerary is too similar to our cruise on Marina last October. Maybe a better one will come up for us ... And if it doesn't, we'll see you on Regatta in August. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted March 21, 2012 #4 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Pat Maybe they have overbooked your cabin Cat & know they will never have enough cabins to clear the GTY & waitlists so now making offers to move off Then again there could be a group or two that want more cabins Stick to your guns ...if you do not want to move off the cruise then maybe someone else will;) Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacmom Posted March 22, 2012 Author #5 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Thanks Steve, Mura and Lyn, Will try those suggestions, and we will not back down. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacmom Posted March 22, 2012 Author #6 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Steve, google was a treasure trove. There are 6 Alumni Assn looking for members to join us in Aug on the Black Sea Serenade---Wisconsin, Brown. Baylor,Wash. State, Miss. and U of Colo at Boulder. Doesn't sound as if I want to be part of Trivia on this one. This is probably another reason that our roll call is so quiet. thanks for the help. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted March 22, 2012 #7 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Oh dear, I wish you hadn't found that out! I did a google myself but pretty much just came up with websites trying to convince us to book! Maybe with so many alumni group, though, they aren't LARGE. This makes me more interested in accepting a bail-out offer if/when the right one comes along. The one we got today was not ... But I might have reacted differently if I'd know what you just posted THEN! They were going to give us an Oceania Suite on Marina in place of our PH on Regatta ... Oh well! Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted March 22, 2012 #8 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Groups onboard change the Oceania experience to more of a mass-market one. All of a sudden ithe ship feels crowded, lvery loud and those tacky door signs appear(until staff removes them!). We had this on on of three b/b European cruises in May 2009. Not an experience we would like to repeat. Fortunately we were able to avoid the MDR each night for dinner.:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacheco18 Posted March 22, 2012 #9 Share Posted March 22, 2012 "Groups onboard change the Oceania experience to more of a mass-market one. All of a sudden ithe ship feels crowded, lvery loud and those tacky door signs appear(until staff removes them!). We had this on on of three b/b European cruises in May 2009. " This thread is making me glad I booked Azamara for the Black Sea. LOL The presence of large groups truly spoils the ambiance of the ship. I am really surprised O accommodates groups on a such a popular itinerary with only 1 sail date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubysue Posted March 22, 2012 #10 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Apparently, I violated one of the many, many CC rules by talking about the details of our first cruise on Oceania, which was through our alumni association, so that post was pulled. Suffice to say, our alumni association (and I won't even mention the University, in case that gets the moderators all concerned) is offering at least ten cruises this year on Oceania and a handful on Regent. They work through an agency that specilaizes in group and alumni bookings on those two cruise lines. This particular agency does not come up in the top searches by group or alumni travel. And, yes, I know Regent is owned by the same holding company (before anyone can say it). On that first cruise, I can say that there were four alumni groups on-board. Ours was the smallest. This was on Regatta and I would guess that 3/4 of the passengers were in one of those alumni groups. Everyone seemed pretty well-behaved. Some friends of ours did their first cruise on OCL through an offer from one of the major food magazines and most of the people on board were there because of that offer. It appears that group travel, whether you like it or not, is the lifeblood of OCL and other cruise lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacmom Posted March 22, 2012 Author #11 Share Posted March 22, 2012 This will be our 5th O cruise--were so looking forward to a return to Regatta. Seven, yes seven, alumni groups are on Google with an opportunity to cruise on Regatta on Aug. 17th. Am not looking forward to lounge, Horizons and library being closed for all these special groups. Why don't a few ofthem look to Regent?:rolleyes: We sail with O because of the relaxed ambiance, wonderful service and great food. Hope whoever is the CD will be strong and not let these groups run rampant over the ship. Thanks for listening to my venting--Maybe Mr. DelRio will read it. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted March 22, 2012 #12 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Maybe Mr. DelRio will read it He reads every post every day, and if you ever meet him and mention Cruise Critic, he will probably "know you". :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted March 22, 2012 #13 Share Posted March 22, 2012 This will be our 5th O cruise--were so looking forward to a return to Regatta. Seven, yes seven, alumni groups are on Google with an opportunity to cruise on Regatta on Aug. 17th. Am not looking forward to lounge, Horizons and library being closed for all these special groups. Why don't a few ofthem look to Regent?:rolleyes: We sail with O because of the relaxed ambiance, wonderful service and great food. Hope whoever is the CD will be strong and not let these groups run rampant over the ship. Thanks for listening to my venting--Maybe Mr. DelRio will read it. Pat One would hope O will offer these groups the larger O ships, rather than the R ships, where they will form a smaller percentage of passengers. It's a shame one cannot expect a consistent ambiance on the cruises on O.:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruin Steve Posted March 22, 2012 #14 Share Posted March 22, 2012 You know, typical Alumni groups from major mainstream universities are really not all that bad... Most have no particular agenda that infringes on anyone else... Not all "groups" are created equal...Some "special interest" groups tend to be difficult--they will schedule meetings and programs and activities and take up public spaces that tend to exclude others... But some groups are merely a way to promote a group booking and the members just blend right in with everyone else... I would look to see if I could find the promotional website for any specific group on my ship and see what they are offering...If it's loaded with special programs and activities, that might bother me...but, if they are just pushing the idea of "Join us for a special rate on a great cruise", likely no big deal... I don't really blame any of the cruise lines for offering these groups--it sells cruises and fills up the ships...and it is a business after all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAexNY Posted March 22, 2012 #15 Share Posted March 22, 2012 You know, typical Alumni groups from major mainstream universities are really not all that bad... Most have no particular agenda that infringes on anyone else... Not all "groups" are created equal...Some "special interest" groups tend to be difficult--they will schedule meetings and programs and activities and take up public spaces that tend to exclude others... But some groups are merely a way to promote a group booking and the members just blend right in with everyone else... I don't really blame any of the cruise lines for offering these groups--it sells cruises and fills up the ships...and it is a business after all... I hate to agree with my fellow attorney Bruin Steve but I do. :) I will repeat the post I just put on the roll call for the Black Sea cruise: We're on this cruise and not part of any group. Sorry but I fail to see what the big deal is. Group or no group, there won't be more than 684 guests on the ship. We just got off the Regatta in Auckland and there were many alumni groups onboard. We didn't notice any difference from any of our previous 8 O cruises. Why do you think the MDR is going to be more crowded? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted March 22, 2012 #16 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I also don't understand why there should be a need to avoid the GDR. Frankly, Howard and I like the GDR very much and on many cruises have never dined in Polo or Toscana even once. (Renaissance used to beg us to do so. Oceania never has, however!) People in an affinity group will be in different categories of cabins, and some will have more opportunities for the specialty dining rooms than others. Why should they be any different from the rest of us? On Marina there are more options, but we are talking about Regatta. If you're on a 12 day cruise even the higher priced cabins only have two reservations per restaurant as compared to one for the lower priced cabins! That still leaves a number of days for the GDR or Terrace, depending on your preferences. Maybe we shouldn't make assumptions that may not be fulfilled! The odds are, we'll be as happy as we ever have on an "R" ship. Mura (whose middle name is NOT Pollyanna!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted March 23, 2012 #17 Share Posted March 23, 2012 One consideration may be that if one is travelling with a group and intends to mingle at dinner, arranging for a shared table in the GDR is HEAVEN compared to wrestling with everyone's reservation restrictions in the Specialties. Being totally spontaneous about dining time and the number of our table-mates has been a gigantic positive for us, on some of our larger Roll Call cruises. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bornfreenowexpensive Posted March 23, 2012 #18 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I, for one, am rather relieved to see that most of the alumni associations have booked much earlier dates than our Baltic cruise in late August/Sept. Maybe that's the advantage of traveling late in the season. I was seriously trying to avoid London near the Olympics and Paris in August. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azam71209 Posted March 23, 2012 #19 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I think a lot depends on the Alumni group and how the cruise line works with them. We were on a Russian river cruise several years ago with an alumni group from Bowdoin, Bates and some other school I don't remember. They were outstanding! They were very inclusive and invited all cruise participants to their excellent lectures. A great experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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