M&G was poorly attended

[evandbob]

Just returned from a great cruise on the Epic. One minor hiccup about the M&G. Our roll call had maybe 100 cruisers saying they would attend. NCL offered the Bliss Lounge. They put out a continental spread with coffee and juices, nothing fancy, and had pertinent department heads attend.

 

Perhaps 30 cruisers showed up. I have no idea where the other 70 were. I've attended M&G's on other lines where maybe 75 to 80% of roll callers attend. This was only my 2nd cruise on the Epic, and I was wondering if this was typical? I would imagine that NCL would re-think assigning so many department heads to such poorly attended events if this becomes a pattern?

[Susie51]

30 is a nice number. I'm sure NCL has seen this happen in the past. It is better to be prepared with a large room than have to turn people away if the room is too small.

[CasinoCruzGirl]

Just returned from a great cruise on the Epic. One minor hiccup about the M&G. Our roll call had maybe 100 cruisers saying they would attend. NCL offered the Bliss Lounge. They put out a continental spread with coffee and juices, nothing fancy, and had pertinent department heads attend.

 

Perhaps 30 cruisers showed up. I have no idea where the other 70 were. I've attended M&G's on other lines where maybe 75 to 80% of roll callers attend. This was only my 2nd cruise on the Epic, and I was wondering if this was typical? I would imagine that NCL would re-think assigning so many department heads to such poorly attended events if this becomes a pattern?

 

 

From what I understand it's about a 60% show up estimate to the actual number on your roll call. I think 30 is still a decent number. On my last M&G we had about 60 show up and I was extremely happy with that number

[sixesandeights]

M&G are usually very boring, they typically are the same from trip to trip, and they are usually scheduled at bad times. I know in the past I signed up for a M&G and then once the time was eventually announced attending was out of the question. I dont know what can be done to fix them, but The spread they put our is easily found in the buffet, I dont remember NCL doing a raffle like RCCL or Carnival which was the best part of their M&G's. I think people are just getting bored with them and not going once they get on the ship.

 

6&8

[www3traveler]

I think that people have intentions of attending the M&G's and then loss track of the time. M&G"s are usually held late morning of the first Sea Day. People get busy with other things on the ship or sleep really late and just forget. It is be to the person hosting the Roll Call to arrange raffles, gift exchanges and other activities NOT the ship's staff. On my last cruise, the place for th M&G was changed at the last minute due to a scheduling conflict for the space.

[SeaShark]

Just returned from a great cruise on the Epic. One minor hiccup about the M&G. Our roll call had maybe 100 cruisers saying they would attend. NCL offered the Bliss Lounge. They put out a continental spread with coffee and juices, nothing fancy, and had pertinent department heads attend.

 

Perhaps 30 cruisers showed up. I have no idea where the other 70 were. I've attended M&G's on other lines where maybe 75 to 80% of roll callers attend. This was only my 2nd cruise on the Epic, and I was wondering if this was typical? I would imagine that NCL would re-think assigning so many department heads to such poorly attended events if this becomes a pattern?

 

The reason that so many don't show is that they don't feel any obligation to do so...there is no "buy-in"...they have no skin in the game.

 

 

I assume that on your roll call you simply posted the date/time/place and let people who wanted to come simply make a post saying so?

 

This method makes it very easy to sign up...and very easy to forget and/or blow off.

 

 

Next time, create an email address for your roll call. Have people sign up by sending an email. About a month before the cruise, follow up with a reminder email. Keep people engaged and you'll see a marked difference in your attendance.

[my_crib_too]

SeaShark makes a good comment. On some cruises, we had not planned to attend the M&G but were automatically signed-up because we made a posting in the roll-call.

 

Using this method of automatically including all people that have posted is not a great plan. Plans change and not all people that post eventually go on the cruise. They don't always remember to come back and post that they are no longer on a cruise. I have a reservation for a cruise two years from now. Although I plan on going on this cruise, there is a lot of living between now and the cruise.

 

Adding an email address, signup for slot pull, cabin crawls, or asking people to bring a gift for a gift exchange shows who will show-up and who may not.

Edited February 2, 2015 by my_crib_too

[LrgPizza]

SeaShark makes a good comment. On some cruises, we had not planned to attend the M&G but were automatically signed-up because we made a posting in the roll-call.

Yeah, this. On my upcoming cruise, I have posted in the roll call. I noticed recently that my name is on the M&G list, even though I did not sign up, and I have no intention of attending.

[mugtech]

We have found it better to meet people at activities we like to do, gives us a much better starting point than exchanging maple syrup.

[puddles99]

Sometimes its innocent (time gets away from folks / they don't wear a watch on vacation) and other times once folks board and review the daily, they discover a conflict that is important to them. 30 folks is a pretty good turn out.

 

I don't understand why folks are automatically added to M&G lists without actually expressing an interest - that's bound to cause disconnects / lower attendance percentages.

Edited February 2, 2015 by puddles99

[weltek]

Dittoing what everyone said. I never make the assumption that just because someone posts on the roll call that they are coming to the M&G.

 

The best attended M&Gs I've been to have had great leaders that were very active in confirming details, checking to make sure their counts are accurate, and some even provide a reminder to everyone on the cabin door (requires a lot of exercise on embarkation day...which can be good!). It's a lot of effort, and I really appreciate what those people do.

 

I only went to one where I felt like we needed to apologize for the unexpectedly lousy turnout.I some people just blow it off, despite their commitment. And sometimes it's very innocent...particularly with first time cruisers, they don't realize how much there is to do on the ship and get lost in the list!

 

I also don't know if everyone realizes that Norwegian provides food & beverages, and it is hugely wasteful if the expected number of people don't turn out. I try to make this really clear if I organize M&Gs. Also, if i haven't seen hide nor hair of 50% of the posters around the roll call in six months, I guess that very few of those people will show up and adjust my numbers to Norwegian accordingly.

[fabnfortysomething]

our last roll call was very quiet but enough people expressed an interest in attending a meet and greet for me to contact the ship to arrange one[this wasn't automatically including everyone who posted but those that actively said they would attend]

 

there were 5 of us turned up-hubby and myself and another family of 3

10 ships officers showed up and we did have a laugh about them outnumbering us 2 to 1!

the positive thing was that those officers remembered us all cruise and made a point of greeting us by name

 

I've set up 2 other meet and greets which had about 30 attendees-probably 50% turnout but that seems to be typical when people forget or find other things to do

 

I'm greedy and doing 2 cruises this year and both of them have very active roll calls so hoping meet and greet will be well attended

[evandbob]

The roll call for this cruise was relatively sedate until maybe the last month prior to the cruise. Lots of people who posted in that last month said they were attending the M&G.

 

While 30 cruisers showing up might be a good #, 30% attendance is not. I've cruised other lines where there were 50 or 60 attendees at maybe 90% attendance. Other informal gatherings at an aft deck bar had between 20 and 30 attending.

 

I thought that the main purpose of the M&G was to meet other cruisers from your roll call, so the idea that M&G's get boring with the same old stuff is besides the point. If a cruiseline is told that about 100 people confirmed their attendance and only 30% show up, perhaps the cruiseline will not offer a site to hold future M&G's?

 

I do like the idea of firming up the attendance commitment with follow up emails and some type of buy in. Thanks for those suggestions.

[cb at sea]

It really depends on what's happening on the day of the M&G....ours was at a very inconvenient time....I went, because I said I would, but it took a big slice out of my time!

[LoveyHowell]

I had a very bad experience with a really rude person at a M&G, so I tend to not use the roll call function anymore.

 

But usually M&G is held at a somewhat inconvenient time (we have had them scheduled for 8AM on day 2...sorry, we are sleeping on vacation).

 

In addition some roll calls become drama sagas of peoples life stories and become kind of like a high school clique with one or two people dominating. It can be somewhat off putting and not a welcome feeling for new people joining in. Does anyone really need to know about your sister in laws foot surgery or what your dog did that day? I've seen these things. TMI! TMI!

 

I like the idea of one person kind of heading up some fun activities to get people engaged, but if you take it really seriously and expect people to participate you may feel let down.

[DavyJoneses]

30 is a nice number. I'm sure NCL has seen this happen in the past. It is better to be prepared with a large room than have to turn people away if the room is too small.

 

I agree - 30 is a reasonable number. I have had M&G's where more showed up, but also a couple where less showed up.

[Adele1]

I have chaired quit a few Meet & Greets and because I know that

folks - once onboard - forget about the M&G -

so I get their cabins numbers when they reserve for the M&G

& send a reminder to their mailbox once onboard.

 

I usually only loose about a dozen people this way

 

Rhea

[Askmelanie]

Our last two cruises, the Getaway and Gem, both had excellent turnout for the M&G. We did slot pulls on both and on the Getaway gift exchanges. We have fun meeting new people and the crew!

[Old & Retired]

Doesn't cost NCL anything for department heads to show up for 10 minutes. 30 sounds like a good turn out to me.

[Linda the Book Lover]

I love the meet and greets. We have attended ones which included various amounts of attendance with the largest on the Epic. I think NCL does a good job at making us feel welcome as some lines do not take time from their work schedule to attend anything except for the activities listed in the daily. The roll calls I have been on always asked for names of those who wished to participate in a M&G. One person offered to keep a list and organize our cabin crawl and another offered to host the room service cabin crawl.

 

I agree with www3traveler, many have the intention of showing up and then they miss the time.

[AandBmom]

We'll see how ours turns out next week but I think it should be good. We all had to sign up specifically for the M&G and the list is updated and circulated often. Further, one member arranged for a list of "key words" where each member gave some key words about themselves ahead of time for conversation starters.

 

Also, someone organized a slot pull following the M&G.

 

I sometimes don't make it to the M&G because I get carried away having other kinds of fun, but I feel more inclined to go to this one because of the organizing that has gone into it.

[cage keeper]

I agree, 30 is ok. On a B to B in Alaska there were 4 of us. Yes, two couples. Got a bridge tour and a couple other nice perks as well.

[pizzalady1]

I have chaired quit a few Meet & Greets and because I know that

folks - once onboard - forget about the M&G -

so I get their cabins numbers when they reserve for the M&G

& send a reminder to their mailbox once onboard.

 

I usually only loose about a dozen people this way

 

Rhea

 

Do you have to run around and up and down and down and around to deliver the notice to their mail thingy, or can you give them to guest services to deliver??

[lovetrauma]

One I went too the Host had reminders delivered to our rooms. Which really was good as once I got onboard I had forgotten which room it was going to be. So I most likely wouldn't have made that one without the reminder. On another my Family and I showed up but the host was so unwelcoming and dominating of attention to herself and her experiences it turned into a one person showed. So we decided to just leave and this was even before the Staff had the chance to introduce themselves. So they can be a hit or miss. I usually at least show up and see how it goes knowing all the time that went into planning it.

[Linda the Book Lover]

We'll see how ours turns out next week but I think it should be good. We all had to sign up specifically for the M&G and the list is updated and circulated often. Further, one member arranged for a list of "key words" where each member gave some key words about themselves ahead of time for conversation starters.

 

Also, someone organized a slot pull following the M&G.

 

I sometimes don't make it to the M&G because I get carried away having other kinds of fun, but I feel more inclined to go to this one because of the organizing that has gone into it.

 

What a great idea about the key words...I am going to use it!