I'm on a gospel cruise? (Westerdam Jan 18-25)

[YOWzers]

So...I booked this cruise before I saw the posting in the thread about large groups that there would be a large contigent of participants from the 'Gospel Music Celebration Cruise.'

 

This isn't our thing and we were just looking for a nice relaxing vacation so if I had known this I probably would have chosen different dates. But now I am going to try to make the best of it as I have booked flights etc

 

A few questions for anyone who has been on a cruise with this group or any that are similar...

 

Will the regular entertainment still be provided as usual? The website lists a number of gospel artists and other acts that will be performing on board and I am concerned this will displace at least some of the entertainment we are used to.

 

There are 900 people in this group...so they make up basically half of the passengers on board! Should we expect any decline in service being outside the group? Mass hording of lounge chairs? Long waits at dinner? Other doomsday scenarios I haven't thought of?

 

Thanks!

[orchestrapal]

So...I booked this cruise before I saw the posting in the thread about large groups that there would be a large contigent of participants from the 'Gospel Music Celebration Cruise.'

 

This isn't our thing and we were just looking for a nice relaxing vacation so if I had known this I probably would have chosen different dates. But now I am going to try to make the best of it as I have booked flights etc

 

A few questions for anyone who has been on a cruise with this group or any that are similar...

 

Will the regular entertainment still be provided as usual? The website lists a number of gospel artists and other acts that will be performing on board and I am concerned this will displace at least some of the entertainment we are used to.

 

There are 900 people in this group...so they make up basically half of the passengers on board! Should we expect any decline in service being outside the group? Mass hording of lounge chairs? Long waits at dinner? Other doomsday scenarios I haven't thought of?

 

Thanks!

 

Any group of 900 would be dreadful but a VOCAL one like this one would be impossible. Book another cruise and relax.:(

Edited November 6, 2013 by orchestrapal

[innlady1]

I think you should have your travel agent check the details...that's an awfully big group. Can you switch to another ship using your same flights?

[whogo]

Welcome to the forum, YOWzers!

 

I am sorry to say that I would expect a decline in service. Groups sometimes disrupt the main dining room schedule. You may be barred from some areas of the ship at times, including the Crow's Nest and pool. I would try to switch to a different cruise.

[kelmac]

I would switch ships!!!! Maybe the Crown Princess or the Oasis of the Seas, these both leave Port Everglades on the same day. If you could spend an additional night there -- Celebrity's Silhouette leaves the next day (my first choice) and is a better ship compared to the Westerdam (I've cruised the Westerdam twice and the Silhouette three times).

 

Good Luck!

Kel:)

[YOWzers]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I booked it directly through HAL so I am going to contact them and see what they can do.

 

Otherwise...I guess I should start warming up my vocal cords now! :D

[Fouremco]

Welcome to the board fellow Ottawans!

 

Do talk to your TA as soon as possible to see what options you might have. Changing your flights might not cost you that much and you probably will find it money well spent.

 

Best of luck!

 

[taxmantoo]

We got caught with this group onboard last year without knowing beforehand.

 

THE POSITIVE : They did not disrupt any of the normal activities in any way and we could not tell there even was a group onboard. The regular shows were maintained in the theater and none of the public rooms were ever off-limits because of their presence.

 

THE NEGATIVE : The Main Dining Room seating allocation was a total fiasco. Their entire group was assigned "fixed late dining" preventing anybody else onboard from getting a table at this time regardless of what their reservations said. We are four star Mariners, had reserved months ahead of time, were in a Neptune Suite and had our reservation confirmed for "fixed late dining". IT WAS NOT TO BE ! We saw dozens of passengers with a similar problem lined up at the maitre d's desk on embarkation. After two days of complaining to the Guest Services Manager, who kept saying it wasn't her fault and Seattle had caused this mess, she finally relented and assigned us a table for 2 for fixed late dining in the Upper Dining Room.

p.s. For the first two days, she comped us in the Pinnacle Grill for dinner, as even she could not get us a reservation at a table for 2 in open seating at a reasonable time.

[peaches from georgia]

Run, don't walk, to the phone and call your TA to switch to another cruise even if it means switching cruise lines. Almost everything you are expecting from your Westerdam cruise will be disrupted with a group like this. There is no hesitation by the ship to close off various public venues for private meetings and parties for the group and they will take over even the areas that are not officially closed. So sorry.

 

EDIT: Just saw your post that you booked thru HAL. Don't think they will do anything for you, but you can always just cancel and get your deposit back and make your own arrangements for another cruise.

Edited November 6, 2013 by peaches from georgia

[blueboro]

We were booked on the Eurodam in January and found this very large group was to be onboard. HAL of course would not tell me how large the group was but said it would have NO impact on the cruise. I then went on the website of the group and found out how large it was and immediately cancelled and booked another line.

[mamaofami]

900 people in a group is a sizable number of people. If all they do is disrupt the MDR late seating, that would be enough for me to cancel and book another cruise. Hopefully you can do that.

 

I see the cruise is in mid January, so hopefully you haven't made final payment yet.

 

In these types of circumstances, it's hard to know whether you will be better off having booked with a TA or directly with Hal. Please let us know what happens.

[whogo]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I booked it directly through HAL so I am going to contact them and see what they can do.

 

Otherwise...I guess I should start warming up my vocal cords now! :D

No point in warming up your vocal cords, you will be excluded from the group activities.

[YOWzers]

Thanks taxmantoo. That is good info. I called HAL and they were unwilling to waive any cancellation fees so I think we are going to have to go ahead with it.

 

I guess we will try to convince them when we get on the ship to let us eat at a normal time. As when you sailed, it looks like the late seating is full and there is no open seating past I think about 6:45. :(

[scdreamer]

We were on a cruise with a large ballroom dancing group a few years ago - not sure how many were in the group, but we found that many areas of the ship were unavailable to us, and you might as well forget about being able to use the crow's nest - it was always packed and being used for dance instruction day and night, as were many other "public" spaces. We found it annoying - never anywhere to just sit and enjoy the quiet and the view.

 

The group also took over the ambiance of the MDR with themed costumes most evenings - and lots of group partying. We felt as if we were interlopers after a while.

 

I would try to rebook another ship or itinerary that could work with your vacation time and flights, if possible.

[Mar56]

Thanks taxmantoo. That is good info. I called HAL and they were unwilling to waive any cancellation fees so I think we are going to have to go ahead with it.

 

I guess we will try to convince them when we get on the ship to let us eat at a normal time. As when you sailed, it looks like the late seating is full and there is no open seating past I think about 6:45. :(

 

Try calling higher up the food chain. I think some of our veteran HAL cruisers might have a number to call that might give you a better result.

[taxmantoo]

Thanks taxmantoo. That is good info. I called HAL and they were unwilling to waive any cancellation fees so I think we are going to have to go ahead with it.

 

I guess we will try to convince them when we get on the ship to let us eat at a normal time. As when you sailed, it looks like the late seating is full and there is no open seating past I think about 6:45. :(

 

Good luck to you. If the same as last year, you will find that a lot of the "gospel" group assigned to late seating are not really happy about that situation either as they prefer to eat earlier. Many of them decide to forego the Main Dining Room and a lot of empty seats can be seen every night. The Lower Dining Room (open seating) staff will usually start offering people a table in the Upper Dining Room 15 minutes or so after it has opened and people have not showed up. Keep bugging them! ;)

[Sea Belle]

We were booked for a cruise by a HAL PCC subbing for my usual PCC who called me soon thereafter. I told her I was concerned that I was told there was a wait list for late seating in MDR and said I had asked if there was a convention going. She found out there was so I wanted to cancel with no penalty and rebook on another ship. That was fine until she told me I was going to lose $100 of my OBC. Long story short...I ended up cancelling my reservation and rebooking with a TA, regaining my OBC plus a few other benefits. Lesson learned was to always verify that a convention is not booked and always question why late dining is wait listed if you are booking several months out. :eek:

[peaches from georgia]

Thanks taxmantoo. That is good info. I called HAL and they were unwilling to waive any cancellation fees so I think we are going to have to go ahead with it.

 

I guess we will try to convince them when we get on the ship to let us eat at a normal time. As when you sailed, it looks like the late seating is full and there is no open seating past I think about 6:45. :(

See, you are already being impacted by this group and you're not even on the ship yet. :rolleyes: Big groups rule!

[CowPrincess]

Thanks taxmantoo. That is good info. I called HAL and they were unwilling to waive any cancellation fees so I think we are going to have to go ahead with it.

 

I guess we will try to convince them when we get on the ship to let us eat at a normal time. As when you sailed, it looks like the late seating is full and there is no open seating past I think about 6:45. :(

 

Sorry this has happened to you :( I would be way beyond annoyed at not getting my preferred dining time.

 

It is a good thing you found out in advance, you can now start making your own plans to avoid them whenever possible. I would definitely see the DRM about getting your preferred dining time. Having said that, if you DO get late fixed dining, you may end up at a table for more than 2, with members of the group, who may be great companions or who may keep the conversation all about the group, and their activities (which might be a bit tedious).

[cruisin'girl]

You may also find it impossible to get reservations at the Pinnacle alternative restaurant and other activities you might want to do. Are you an experienced cruiser? You really are getting some excellent advice here from those that are.

[YOWzers]

This is cruise #2 for me so I really appreciate the feedback! I did the HAL holiday cruise last year on the Zuiderdam over Christmas and really enjoyed it. Picked up a lot of tips by lurking on these boards even if I didn't say hi. :)

 

My boyfriend has been on a quite a few and is trying to convert me to the cruising lifestyle. So far so good though the current situation is making me a bit leery.

[mamaofami]

I would make your Pinnacle reservations as soon as it's possible, preferably by phone calling ship's services. They will charge your credit card and send a confirmation. Print out the confirmation and present it to the Pinnacle manager as soon as you board.

 

As far as dinner in the MDR, just decide that you're going to eat early.

 

You still have lots of areas on the ship that will be available to you and fun times in ports.

[coaster]

Matching t-shirt fiesta!

[chrispb]

At least you haven't got a large British football/rugby crowd sailing with you.:D

[nana51]

I was on a gospel cruise last year and it was the BEST cruise I had been on. The people were not gospel singers, they were just gospel music fans. The cruisers were all from Canada and couldn't have been nicer. Check out where they are coming from. If you have to be on a cruise with a big group, Canadians are the best group to be with.