On Journey Now - No Meet and Greet??

[Hyundaigirl]

Well after months of a pretty active roll call courtesy of Midewestchick we had more than 25 signed up for the meet and greet but its now the 3rd day into our Sept 27th Malta and Sicily cruise and no info on a meet up. We asked at guest relations this aft and the woman I spoke to didn't know what I was talking about so she asked someone else who said nothing had been set up for this cruise. Disappointing that we won't be able to meet the all the folks we've been conversing with over the last number of months. :confused:

 

if anyone else on board is connected have you heard anything ?

 

Carol and lorrie in stateroom 6020

[LdyDDS]

I think I would speak to the cruise director about it. I bet he will make it happen for you.

[CintiPam]

Very surprised. I thought that the M&G the very first evening at 6 PM was a great start to both our Azamara cruises, and with the attendance of several senior officers, a wonderful selling point for the "special friendliness" vibe of Azamara

[Lottie A]

The Cruise Critic Meet and Greet is nearly always held about an hour after muster on embark day. Are you sure you just didn't miss it? I have never been on an Azamara cruise when it wasn't held, even if the numbers registered didn't make the magic 25.

As previously suggested, you should certainly ask the CD what happened, as he arranges the meeting.

[dln929]

Yes, it usually is always held on the first day! Athough I have to say that I met someone on our tour when we were on the Journey earlier this month who complained to all who would listen that she couldn't make it to the Meet&Mingle because she didn't know about it. It was listed in the Pursuits that was placed in all the cabins but she must have skimmed over it and missed it. :(

[ellbon]

I would check wih Cindy-Le Club Voyager person.. Tony- well- he shou;d be doing it but who knows..there have been problems on the JR with the CC party.

[Andy]

Well after months of a pretty active roll call courtesy of Midewestchick we had more than 25 signed up for the meet and greet but its now the 3rd day into our Sept 27th Malta and Sicily cruise and no info on a meet up. We asked at guest relations this aft and the woman I spoke to didn't know what I was talking about so she asked someone else who said nothing had been set up for this cruise. Disappointing that we won't be able to meet the all the folks we've been conversing with over the last number of months. :confused:

 

if anyone else on board is connected have you heard anything ?

 

Carol and lorrie in stateroom 6020

 

Hi Carol & Lorrie,

 

I'd suggest speaking with either the Events Coordinator or the Cruise Director. If the Meet & Mingle hasn't happened yet, I'd hope they will accomodate your request.

 

Please let us know the outcome, and have a wonderful cruise !

[Redtravel]

After the poor reception on the Aug. 20th cruise, I am not surprised. It seems that Azamara doesn't want cruisecritic members to meet. Just another in the long list of cutbacks. We also noticed that there was no open board in the lobby to allow people to meet. On other cruise lines, there is a board near guest relations where you can post information or invitations to other cruisers with similar intetests. No way to connect to people who want to play canasta or mah jong. With the limited activities and lack of live music, the Journey has become a great place to curl up with a book or catch a nap on the new comfy chaise lounges.

[nonrev1]

Azamara does the best Cruise Critic get togethers. Double check to make sure you did not miss it the first day. There is so much going on when you first board, it is easy to miss. Especially if you want to watch the sail away.

[BBMacLaird]

Yes, please do ask Tony, the Cruise Director, and let us know whether the Meet & Greet wasn't held or if you accidentally missed it on the first day. Inquiring minds want to know!

 

And please be reassured that there is no company conspiracy to keep the Cruise Critic members from meeting while onboard! Just no merit to that thought. We value the CC's!

 

In fact, as you probably read in the new LCV newsletter last week, we are creating an advisory board that will be comprised entirely of CC members. For those of you interested, the call for applications will happen some time in October so stay tuned!

[Spursgirl]

After the poor reception on the Aug. 20th cruise, I am not surprised. It seems that Azamara doesn't want cruisecritic members to meet. Just another in the long list of cutbacks. We also noticed that there was no open board in the lobby to allow people to meet. On other cruise lines, there is a board near guest relations where you can post information or invitations to other cruisers with similar intetests. No way to connect to people who want to play canasta or mah jong. With the limited activities and lack of live music, the Journey has become a great place to curl up with a book or catch a nap on the new comfy chaise lounges.

 

I don't think this can be true. Azamara's engagement with CC members is far greater than on other lines I have sailed.

 

We had a great Meet and Mingle on our Sept 1 Quest cruise and hope for similar on our Nov 6 Journey sailing.

 

Like your idea about the board at Guest Relations. Definitely an idea to suggest on the comment form.

[Marmaduke]

I registered for the Meet and Mingle for my Quest cruise back in June. I received the e-mail confirmation and was therefore surprised that there was no invitation in my cabin on boarding, as per previous cruises. I checked Pursuits and found the event listed at 6 pm (as expected) and duly went along. I assumed that the lack of invitation was due to a computer glitch.

[Riocca]

There was a computer glitch earlier in the year which wiped out some of the lists, we had to re-register for the M&M on our August Eclipse cruise luckily someone on the roll call noticed that the number registered had reset. As Azamara use the same system it must have affected some of their cruises as well, the bug appeared to quite random.

[LOP]

And please be reassured that there is no company conspiracy to keep the Cruise Critic members from meeting while onboard! Just no merit to that thought. We value the CC's!

 

 

LOlololol:D

[dln929]

I registered for the Meet and Mingle for my Quest cruise back in June. I received the e-mail confirmation and was therefore surprised that there was no invitation in my cabin on boarding, as per previous cruises. I checked Pursuits and found the event listed at 6 pm (as expected) and duly went along. I assumed that the lack of invitation was due to a computer glitch.

 

I can't remember if we got a cabin invite when we were on the Quest last December but each time on the Journey there was none. The announcement was in Pursuits instead. This is in contrast to Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, who never make a public announcement via the paper. I wonder if Azamara has discontinued the cabin invite permanently?

[nonrev1]

We were on both ships more recently than December and each had invitations waiting in our cabins. One time a few years ago there was not an invitation in our cabin....but, they did lose some of the names.

[Ithikan]

Azamara does the best Cruise Critic get togethers. Double check to make sure you did not miss it the first day. There is so much going on when you first board, it is easy to miss. Especially if you want to watch the sail away.

 

On our 1st Quest (3rd Azamara) cruise Aug. 10, the M&M was somewhat sparsely attended - I think there may have been 10 or 12 of us who gathered at Looking Glass. No invite, but I didn't want to miss seeing old friends (Hi Again, Juliet & David!) we'd met on a prior cruise and connecting with new, so I checked Pursuits for time and place and bundled us upstairs for the event. It was great. Hosted by the engaging CD Russ who handled introductions, we chatted and joked together, had drinks and yummy hot & cold canapes pressed on us, and basically enjoyed a very special, very warm welcome aboard.

[Lottie A]

We had a very nice CC Meet&Mingle on Quest a few weeks ago, which was hosted by the lovely Russ. I'm pretty sure we did have an invite in the cabin.

[Hyundaigirl]

Hi all - turns out it was in fact held on embarkation day at 6 pm. Spoke to Cindy and apparently our invite never made it to our room. And because our previous experience on HAL was to get an invite in the cabin it didn't occur o me to look at the schedule i Pursuits on embarkation day with everything else happening. On HAL is was held several days in to the cruise. Oh week - maybe next cruise :)

[Andy]

Hi all - turns out it was in fact held on embarkation day at 6 pm. Spoke to Cindy and apparently our invite never made it to our room. And because our previous experience on HAL was to get an invite in the cabin it didn't occur o me to look at the schedule i Pursuits on embarkation day with everything else happening. On HAL is was held several days in to the cruise. Oh week - maybe next cruise :)

 

Hi Hyundaigirl,

 

Thanks for coming back and sharing the details. Sorry to learn that you missed the meet and mingle. I had a feeling that was the case - and it's unfortunate that you did not receive the invite. Sadly, that happens from time to time... so my best advice is to check with Guest Relations on Day 1 of your cruise. I hope my advice is helpful for next time.

 

Have a wonderful time on Journey !

Edited October 1, 2014 by Host Andy

[Sanatee]

Hi Hyundaigirl,

 

Thanks for coming back and sharing the details. Sorry to learn that you missed the meet and mingle. I had a feeling that was the case - and it's unfortunate that you did not receive the invite. Sadly, that happens from time to time... so my best advice is to check with Guest Relations on Day 1 of your cruise. I hope my advice is helpful for next time.

 

Have a wonderful time on Journey !

 

On our 2nd Az cruise (Quest) we got an invite, on our first (Journey) we didn't. We always got an invite on Celebrity. We now know to check Pursuits. On both cruises the M&M was on the departure night just after Muster. This did cause some confusion and conflict because people are busy with Muster, getting unpacked, waiting for luggage, or enjoying the sailaway. Ironically we just received this email from Azamara confirming our M&M for the upcoming Nov cruise on Journey.

 

"Great news! Your registration for the Azamara Cruises/Cruise Critic Social on Azamara Journey departing Nov 27, 2014 has been confirmed. This means you can look forward to connecting with friends at a private party on board, compliments of Azamara.

 

You will receive an official invitation listing all the details on the first night of your cruise. In the meantime, visit the Cruise Critic message boards for further updates and encourage others to be part of Cruise Critic Connections at CruiseCritic.com.

 

To further enhance your cruise experience, join the Captain's Club. This complimentary program is open to all guests who have sailed with us before. Visit http://www.azamaracruises.com/captainsclub to learn about the fine array of benefits.

 

We look forward to welcoming you aboard Azamara, the cruise line that's worlds apart."

 

So Azamara still officially supports CC and the M&M program. And they claim to provide an official invitation on the first day (sounds like it should be more than just a mention in the Pursuits.) It is somewhat funny that the email uses the Celebrity term "Captains Club", although the link does go to the LCV page!

[BBMacLaird]

I second Host Andy's thanks to you for coming back and clearing things up. And I too am sorry you missed the Meet & Mingle.

Bonnie

[Andy]

On our 2nd Az cruise (Quest) we got an invite, on our first (Journey) we didn't. We always got an invite on Celebrity. We now know to check Pursuits. On both cruises the M&M was on the departure night just after Muster. This did cause some confusion and conflict because people are busy with Muster, getting unpacked, waiting for luggage, or enjoying the sailaway. Ironically we just received this email from Azamara confirming our M&M for the upcoming Nov cruise on Journey.

 

"Great news! Your registration for the Azamara Cruises/Cruise Critic Social on Azamara Journey departing Nov 27, 2014 has been confirmed. This means you can look forward to connecting with friends at a private party on board, compliments of Azamara.

 

You will receive an official invitation listing all the details on the first night of your cruise. In the meantime, visit the Cruise Critic message boards for further updates and encourage others to be part of Cruise Critic Connections at CruiseCritic.com.

 

To further enhance your cruise experience, join the Captain's Club. This complimentary program is open to all guests who have sailed with us before. Visit www.azamaracruises.com/captainsclub to learn about the fine array of benefits.

 

We look forward to welcoming you aboard Azamara, the cruise line that's worlds apart."

 

So Azamara still officially supports CC and the M&M program. And they claim to provide an official invitation on the first day (sounds like it should be more than just a mention in the Pursuits.) It is somewhat funny that the email uses the Celebrity term "Captains Club", although the link does go to the LCV page!

 

Hi Sanatee,

 

Just as an aside, we've sailed on Celebrity dozens of times, and we've had numerous occasions where we did not receive the Meet and Mingle invite. On a couple of occasions, we received them a day or two after the meeting !

 

As with Azamara, I have no doubt that the invites are printed.... though I often wonder if the fault is with the cabin attendant. While I feel that the vast majority are Azamazing, there will always be a few who may not give it the effort that others do. It would be wonderful if the Housekeeping supervisors encouraged the cabin attendants to insure delivery of the invites. Hopefully, Azamara will share our insights with their onboard teams.

 

As for the Captains Club references, I've shared that with Azamara, dating back at least 2-3 years. It's probably on their website "to-do" list :)

Edited October 2, 2014 by Host Andy

[parkslopegal]

We were on the cruise and had an invitation for the M&M when we arrived in our cabin. There was a nice turnout and a lovely visit from the officers. It was nice to meet the folks we'd been chatting with on the CC forum. Nice wine and snacks too!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[midwestchick]

Well after months of a pretty active roll call courtesy of Midewestchick we had more than 25 signed up for the meet and greet but its now the 3rd day into our Sept 27th Malta and Sicily cruise and no info on a meet up. We asked at guest relations this aft and the woman I spoke to didn't know what I was talking about so she asked someone else who said nothing had been set up for this cruise. Disappointing that we won't be able to meet the all the folks we've been conversing with over the last number of months. :confused:

 

if anyone else on board is connected have you heard anything ?

 

Carol and lorrie in stateroom 6020

 

 

I feel so bad that you missed the M&M. It was held at 6:00 in the library....hors d'oeuvres and drinks were served and there were about 30 people there. There was a very nice showing of officers as well as Tony. We did have our notice in our stateroom on Saturday. I was told by some on our Sept. 20 sailing that they did not receive invitations and also, there was a misprint on where the meeting would be...the location was correct but it read deck 5. I called down to guest relations and spoke to a wonderful young woman (embarassed I don't remember her name) and explained to her what I'd been told. The problem all goes back to Azamara shore side. The ship is not getting the information in time. We really had a great turnout for 9-20 and 9-27. I don't believe the rumblings about Azamara not wanting cruise critic people are true. I believe they know how supportive we are of ACC.

My iPad froze up and I was not online as I originally thought I would be.

I did wonder why you weren't there since you were active on the roll call.

Hopefully, one day, our paths will cross again and we'll be able to meet.