Shame on royal princess officers

[cruisin with the kiddies]

I have traveled on Princess and P&O and Next year I will experience Royal Caribbean.

 

I have attended 4 Meet and Greets on Princess ships and on our first M&G Diamond Princess 19 night we had a relatively large group in one of the lounges with complimentary champagne and the CD, and on our other cruises with Diamond and Coral Princess we were in another lounge and only the CC members attended.

 

Yes it would have been nice to have free champagne and a staff member attend but to me the whole idea of our Roll Call meet and greet was to finally meet in person the friends that had been made on this board prior to cruising. We swapped treats and food from our own countries, swapped stories and had an amazing time. It is there that you can decide to continue the friendship or go your separate way. You have faces you recognize as you go about your day on the ship.

 

The Officers are busy and I have also been to a captain Circle party where the captain was only there for a short time due to other commitments.

 

Fair enough the OP was upset but it is what it is and sometimes if we have high expectations and compare an amazing experience from another ship we can feel let down.

 

There are always two sides to every story and sometimes what we think is not the way it is.

 

There are two options the OP has is to let it go or write a letter to the officers asking what is the standard practice in regards to Meet and Greets and Princess cruises.

 

Life is too short to be upset but an explanation helps to understand the reason.

 

Enjoy life and remember how lucky we are every day!

 

Cheers

Danni

[WendyG]

ok, I will admit that perhaps "shame" was a poor choice of words. It wasn't arrogance, it was the wine talking.

 

However, I hand wrote eight invites and no one showed so yes, I was disappointed. Perhaps I do have high expectations, but it would have been a nice gesture on their part to send someone! Jobs to do? I didn't expect an hour of their time, but I didn't think five or ten minutes was too much to ask. I just won't ever ask again, that way, no disappointment. :)

 

TY to the one person who understood what I was saying.

 

Didn't ruin my cruise, won't ruin my cruise, I will say that I do not like the CD at all, didn't like her on the Ruby and don't like her now. She just doesn't seem very personable and I AM comparing that observation to other cruises and other cd's.

 

Dino Sagani is our Captain.

 

Whatever!

[waltd]

WendyG sometimes that darn wine makes us write things that we normally wouldn't write. No big deal. Have fun on your cruise. I have friends on the ship also and they are having a great time and think the ship is beautiful.

 

Joe

[WendyG]

WendyG sometimes that darn wine makes us write things that we normally wouldn't write. No big deal. Have fun on your cruise. I have friends on the ship also and they are having a great time and think the ship is beautiful.

 

Joe

 

The ship is beautiful. :) love the new horizon court, love the piazza, the only thing I do miss is explorer's lounge. Everyone seems so happy onboard (the crew) I've met many repeat princess passengers that hate this ship and I dont get that. It's a different ship and I guess some people just dont like change.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T217A using Forums mobile app

[WendyG]

Thank you Danni. Your post was very sweet. :)

 

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T217A using Forums mobile app

[cruisin with the kiddies]

Enjoy the rest of your cruise Wendy!

 

Cant wait to be onboard and experience it for myself!

 

Cheers

Danni

[LBL]

WendyG, just to let you know. I was just on the Allure of the Seas - first Royal Caribbean cruise in 14 years and only an assistant CD showed up - no officers. Just so you know it happens there too.

[notentirelynormal]

However, I hand wrote eight invites and no one showed so yes, I was disappointed. Perhaps I do have high expectations, but it would have been a nice gesture on their part to send someone! Jobs to do? I didn't expect an hour of their time, but I didn't think five or ten minutes was too much to ask. I just won't ever ask again, that way, no disappointment. :)

 

Except it really isn't 5 or 10 minutes is it? That was the minimal time you expected them to spend with you. They still had to get there and return to where they needed to be - probably interrupted along the way. So the real time spent would probably have been closer to 30 minutes. Sometimes jobs get in the way of entertaining people.

 

You said there were only 50 people at the M&G. That is a very small amount of people to expect the Captain and/or several officers/key people to show up for. When I cruise with family and friends we are usually a group of around 25. I can't imagine asking a ship's employee to come to our private party. CC members are no different then other passengers except that they are a group of strangers that use a particular website.

 

Just another point of view to think about.

Edited November 27, 2013 by notentirelynormal
.

[jrzebird]

I was recently on the 10 day Caribbean Princess repo. We had well over 125 people on the roll call, but probably only 50 or 60 showed up. Our organizer sent out invitations to various officers but no one showed up. At least you had the chef (?). Not one person from the CD staff showed either.

 

We did have a good time, exchanging gifts, making friends and laughing a lot. Our organizer was the best.

 

In retrospect, maybe they read some of the posts on our roll call. There were several people very upset because of a couple of shortened port calls, and a few said they were going to address this to the officers at the M&G. Obviously, we said this was a very bad idea, but I'm not sure, if I were an officer, that I would have made time to be confronted by an angry passenger. Just a thought.

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

[geocruiser]

If you want a Meet in Greet where lots of the officers attend. Then Azamara is a line to try. I have been of two of their cruise and both ties the M&G was full of officers. But on that ship they were very visible all the time. With the work load that they must have, I don't know how they were so out and about the ship talking to PAX lots of time.

[Pam in CA]

I have read on these forums that Cruise Critic has a business arrangement with Royal Carribbean. Organize meet'n'greets

in exchange for advertising.

 

So, while the RCCL officers might have been wildly excited to see each of the cruise critics personally, attending was job required.

I think you are right. There's a relationship between CC and Royal Caribbean/Celebrity. Just go to the RCL and Celebrity boards to see a direct link to sign up for a Meet & Mingle (RCL term) organized by RCL and Celebrity. There's no individual organization but rather the meets are organized through CC.

 

Because the RCL and Celebrity CC M&M are organized by them, the time is coordinated with the officer's schedules. When you have individuals organizing it, there may be a conflict with a meeting, training, navigational requirements, or they could even be sleeping after a shift. I've found that Princess officers and CDs tend to embrace CC or approach a CC meeting with caution. I've seen the Captain verbally accosted at a CC meet and greet by people who think they know more than the Captain because they've read something on CC. I'm sometimes mortified by the occasional arrogance of CC members who think they're "special."

 

Different CDs do a variety of things to support CC. Some, like Richard Joseph, have beverages and snacks. Once, he had mimosas. :) Others aren't as amenable.

 

To be honest, I prefer the Princess approach where meet-ups are organized by individuals on the roll call. They are more friendly, people seem to look forward to meeting each other more, etc. It's more like a private party of new and old friends than another event on the cruise schedule.

 

Those are my thoughts. :)

Edited November 27, 2013 by Pam in CA

[MicCanberra]

To the OP, don't stress the small things. In any case, the m&Gs are supposed to be for meeting each other CC memebrs, and not to meet the officers .

I would rather have the ship running perfect than to meet some officers. Enjoy the rest of the cruise and forget about things that may ruin the holiday.:D

[Esprit]

I.ve always thought the M&G's were just for those of us on the roll calls.

 

If I want to talk to an officer I'll usually come across them during course of a cruise.

 

What a fuss over nothing

[flamomo]

Whether or not any officers show up, even with personalized invitations is determined by their duties and work schedule. Doing their JOBS is their first priority, as well it should be. They are responsibile for a multimillion dollar ship and the safety of every passenger and crew member onboard, and to me that is far more important than socializing.

 

I have personally arranged a number of M&Gs of various sizes, and it's the luck of the draw, and whether they have more important issues to tend to, as to whether any officers attend.

 

If your enjoyment of a M&G is detemined by whether or not officers are in attendance, instead of the pleasure of meeting face to face with the roll call members that you have been chatting with on CC, IMO that's pretty sad.

[usateg]

Wendy G,

I can totally emphasize with you as far as the Royal Princess. This was my 1st Princess cruise & I sailed on the Royal this month. I felt that the staff was rude & robotic & not surprised that nobody showed up. I complained via survey to Princess & via the phone. Hopefully they are hearing about the many complaints that the Royal Princess is getting.

 

Usateg

[Mom33]

Whether or not any officers show up, even with personalized invitations is determined by their duties and work schedule. Doing their JOBS is their first priority, as well it should be. They are responsibile for a multimillion dollar ship and the safety of every passenger and crew member onboard, and to me that is far more important than socializing.

 

I have personally arranged a number of M&Gs of various sizes, and it's the luck of the draw, and whether they have more important issues to tend to, as to whether any officers attend.

 

If your enjoyment of a M&G is detemined by whether or not officers are in attendance, instead of the pleasure of meeting face to face with the roll call members that you have been chatting with on CC, IMO that's pretty sad.

 

I agree! I would also add that there were 3600+ passengers to consider on any given day of the cruise. CC members are not a command performance for them. Enjoy meeting your CC roll call members and let the crew do their jobs.

[SuitCaseBears]

Admittedly I've only been to about 6 M&Gs but I've never seen an officer at any of them, and never ever considered a pro-forma "hello, nice to see you" drop by to be any big deal.

 

I don't think the officers are there to socialize or make us feel special, that's for the rest of the crew. I would rather they be doing their jobs.

[mcarbone2001]

I agree. Im sure they could take a few minutes to stop in. I have been to many meet & greets. We have been served a snack ( coffee, tea ,juice cookies ). The staff introduces themselves,. They mingle for a few minutes, then leave. I think it is a great jester for your cruise line.

Having attended and also been responsible for arranging a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet, I sympathize with WendyG and the other CC members who showed up hoping to meet and speak with the Ship's Officers or Staff to be disappointed. Our Meet and Greet aboard the Emerald Princess on Nov 10th was attended by 7 or 8 Officers/Staff who spent a little bit of time with us. Although it is understandable that the Captain or Doctor may not be able to make it, sending a representative sure does let everyone know that they care.

[mreasier]

I think you are right. There's a relationship between CC and Royal Caribbean/Celebrity. Just go to the RCL and Celebrity boards to see a direct link to sign up for a Meet & Mingle (RCL term) organized by RCL and Celebrity. There's no individual organization but rather the meets are organized through CC.

 

Because the RCL and Celebrity CC M&M are organized by them, the time is coordinated with the officer's schedules. When you have individuals organizing it, there may be a conflict with a meeting, training, navigational requirements, or they could even be sleeping after a shift. I've found that Princess officers and CDs tend to embrace CC or approach a CC meeting with caution. I've seen the Captain verbally accosted at a CC meet and greet by people who think they know more than the Captain because they've read something on CC. I'm sometimes mortified by the occasional arrogance of CC members who think they're "special."

 

Different CDs do a variety of things to support CC. Some, like Richard Joseph, have beverages and snacks. Once, he had mimosas. :) Others aren't as amenable.

 

To be honest, I prefer the Princess approach where meet-ups are organized by individuals on the roll call. They are more friendly, people seem to look forward to meeting each other more, etc. It's more like a private party of new and old friends than another event on the cruise schedule.

 

Those are my thoughts. :)

Pam, I totally agree with you. We recently went on our 1st Royal Caribbean cruise (which was very nice) after many Princess Cruises. The Meet & Mingle was 100% organized by RCL. While it was quite nice, it felt that we were guests at their party rather than at our own party. It was hosted by RCL and there was very little to no interaction among CC members except we all got a chance to introduce ourselves. I much prefer the way it is done on Princess. Sometimes officers have shown up, and sometimes not. What makes a good M&G to us are the CC members, not ship's management.

[go fish 44]

Do not expect anything from Princess re the Meet and Greet in the way of drinks or food. We have been to many M & G on many long cruises and they Princess never give any food or drinks unlike Royal or HAL. We did a 32 day cruise had 3 m&G's and never once did any officer from the Dawn Princess show up.

[Pstcrik]

50 very disappointed cruise critic members showed up for a meet and greet that no one besides the Maitre'D bothered to show up for. At least Fabio had the decency to stop by for a few minutes but no one else showed up.

 

Public relations? Terrible. Royal Caribbean has you beat, I'm sorry to say, they actually CARE about their past passengers and are happy to attend such wonderful gatherings. I know you're all busy but you can't take 5-10 minutes out of your schedule to stop by and say hello?

 

Shame on all of you that were invited. Personal hand written invites ignored. Never in my 17 Princess cruises that no one bothered to make an appearance.

 

I'm glad our cc group was wonderful, we had fun regardless and had a great cabin crawl afterwards, but the opinion of you guys on this Royal ship has dropped drastically.

 

Just sayin' :(

 

Unbelievable that this would upset someone. "Shame", what a strange use of the word when you have no idea what may have prevented them from attending and IMHO if RCI see's a meet and greet with such importance that you claim then I am sure it was an opportunity in their schedule and not yours or the meet and greet. Get on with it.

[-Lew-]

 

I.ve always thought the M&G's were just for those of us on the roll calls.

 

If I want to talk to an officer I'll usually come across them during course of a cruise.

 

What a fuss over nothing

I agree! I go to M&Gs to meet and enjoy conversation with those who I have met on the roll call...not to listen to crew members.

 

 

Wendy G,

I can totally emphasize with you as far as the Royal Princess. This was my 1st Princess cruise & I sailed on the Royal this month. I felt that the staff was rude & robotic & not surprised that nobody showed up. I complained via survey to Princess & via the phone. Hopefully they are hearing about the many complaints that the Royal Princess is getting.

 

Usateg

Sorry to learn of your disappointment with the crew on your first Princess cruise. In 20 Princess cruises we have always found the crew to be friendly, efficient and eager to please.

 

Your experience is not the norm. Hope you'll give Princess another try sometime.

 

Lew

[DrivesLikeMario]

If you want a Meet in Greet where lots of the officers attend. Then Azamara is a line to try. I have been of two of their cruise and both ties the M&G was full of officers. But on that ship they were very visible all the time. With the work load that they must have, I don't know how they were so out and about the ship talking to PAX lots of time.

 

I also found that on Celebrity. I was shocked how much the officers interacted with the passengers! They had ping pong tournaments and other games with the passengers, talked with them for long periods of time, and were very visible and approachable.

[IECalCruiser]

I feel that one of the main reasons for having a M&G is to get to meet your fellow passengers, especially if there are private tours or on board activities planned (no collecting money at the M&G :) ). If you have an opportunity to meet some if the staff, that is just an added benefit. At about a half dozen M&Gs we have had varying turnouts. Captain's Calabrese, Perrin and Bommarco were very gracious when they attended. Captain's Perrin and Bommarco patiently posted for photos with many on the Roll Call. On the second leg of the South American cruise after the Chilean Earthquake, neither Captain Perrin or any other staff attended. On another cruise, where I organized the M&G, the only time to schedule was in the morning of a 12:30 port arrival. The Captain sent his regrets, but the Maitre d', Executive Chef, Hotel GM and Food & Beverage Director attended and each

addressed the group and answered a few questions. On another just the CD showed up. Send out invitations, be happy if any of the staff can make it to the M&G, spend most of the time getting to know your fellow passengers and don't sweat the small stuff :)

[dorisis]

Most of the M&Gs I have been to on Princess have had officers attending. Once there was even a birthday and anniversary cake for us compliments of the captain. That was a September cruise where he had to switch itineraries. A very personable man!!