Cruise critic meet & greet on other cruise lines

[MrMileStoner]

Problem with your theory is, that I didn't pose the question. Avril did.

 

However, I submit that John HEALD and I will have a nice chat in the near future. I want to host some interactive, town hall's online with him and the worldwide online audiences. I have WebX already on board for the enablement. We will consider allowing your participation.

 

How many Carnival Platinumand Diamond regular CC board posters would like to attend?

 

Good luck with that. :p

[Wilgr]

It isn't for me. Facebook is only one medium, and is rather inefficient.

 

 

I was just about to start taking you seriously.

[AguaMala]

I was just about to start taking you seriously.

 

He's right. None of the info can be categorized, so it's useless as a message board, and who really cares about the one off questions that only really pertains to the inquisitor. And drop quickly off the page never able to even be bumped.

Edited May 8, 2015 by AguaMala

[Cruisin' Chick]

Anyway, I went to a couple of meet and greets on my last few Princess cruises but I'm not expecting the cruise line to kick in free drinks, and make the officers show up. They can't exactly do this for every group (family reunions, etc.) that are on board every ship. So I don't get why some people on this site feel they're more important than anyone else. I would imagine there are still passengers on board nowadays who the phrase "Cruise Critic" is meaningless -- maybe they feel it's a group of travel writers.

 

It's nice that a cruise director is willing to put a notice in the ship's newsletter and reserve part of a lounge for a group. Anything else you feel you're not getting shouldn't be a reason to complain.

[Wilgr]

He's right. None of the info can be categorized, so it's useless as a message board, and who really cares about the one off questions that only really pertains to the inquisitor. And drop quickly off the page never able to even be bumped.

 

 

More people than will be interested in tuning into "interactive, town hall's online with him and the worldwide online audiences" hosted by someone no one knows.

[cruznjan]

Carnival doesnt like CC.

 

What's the reason?

[Kooolmomma]

I have organized many Meet and Greets on various cruise lines. I have found most to be very enjoyable. RC goes out of their way to host the M&G instead of a passenger. On our last several HAL cruises, I invited the officers and most of them, if they were free, came to the party, including the captains. On our Brazilian cruise last year, a big blow out party was organized by HAL with drinks, food and a beautiful cake with Cruise Critic on it. All gratis.

 

I feel that most of the cruise lines want to ingratiate themselves to the paying customers, especially ones that spread the word for or against a particular ship or line. I was told the corporate offices read a lot of these posts. Just saying.

 

I like M&G's and will continue to organize them, if I am a passenger on that cruise. I enjoy meeting people and sometimes these parties spur people to get to know each other on that cruise and it leads into keeping in touch after the cruise. I have many dear friends that I keep in touch with even now.

 

Mary Lou

[BruceMuzz]

I used to put on a very nice welcome party for our Cruise Critic guests.

Then one of the Cruise Critic members posted that the only reason my ship had received good reviews from CC was the free drinks and snacks.

My corporate people instructed me to stop the drinks and snacks.

 

I got to know quite a few of the organizers of the Meet and Greets.

Occasionally I would invite them to dinner with me.

Then one of the Cruise Critic members posted that the only reason my ship had received good reviews from CC was the free meals.

My corporate people instructed me to stop the dinner invitations.

 

In recent years, when I attend a CC Meet and Greet, I get attacked over corporate decisions and policies - while I am watching CC Members selling shore excursions in front of me.

 

After the Meet and Greet, one or two of the CC members shows up at my office, telling me that they intend to write a review of my ship. They tell me flat out that the review will be more positive if they receive an upgrade or some free drinks.

 

It's better that I just do not attend anymore.

[wwcruisers]

I used to put on a very nice welcome party for our Cruise Critic guests.

Then one of the Cruise Critic members posted that the only reason my ship had received good reviews from CC was the free drinks and snacks.

My corporate people instructed me to stop the drinks and snacks.

 

I got to know quite a few of the organizers of the Meet and Greets.

Occasionally I would invite them to dinner with me.

Then one of the Cruise Critic members posted that the only reason my ship had received good reviews from CC was the free meals.

My corporate people instructed me to stop the dinner invitations.

 

In recent years, when I attend a CC Meet and Greet, I get attacked over corporate decisions and policies - while I am watching CC Members selling shore excursions in front of me.

 

After the Meet and Greet, one or two of the CC members shows up at my office, telling me that they intend to write a review of my ship. They tell me flat out that the review will be more positive if they receive an upgrade or some free drinks.

 

It's better that I just do not attend anymore.

 

LOL Bruce -- You'll just have to go "incognito" from now on! :p

One of the things that I love about X is that the ships' officers and department heads are highly visible (and quite approachable) all over the ship. They attend many passenger functions, including the Cruise Critic Connections Party. :cool:

I'm comparing this to RC, where you sometimes see the Captain and his entourage hurrying through one of the ship's public areas -- but, that's pretty much it! :(

[kcstar]

Any other responses from Princess Meet and Greets?

[agabbymama]

I used to put on a very nice welcome party for our Cruise Critic guests.

Then one of the Cruise Critic members posted that the only reason my ship had received good reviews from CC was the free drinks and snacks.

My corporate people instructed me to stop the drinks and snacks.

 

I got to know quite a few of the organizers of the Meet and Greets.

Occasionally I would invite them to dinner with me.

Then one of the Cruise Critic members posted that the only reason my ship had received good reviews from CC was the free meals.

My corporate people instructed me to stop the dinner invitations.

 

In recent years, when I attend a CC Meet and Greet, I get attacked over corporate decisions and policies - while I am watching CC Members selling shore excursions in front of me.

 

After the Meet and Greet, one or two of the CC members shows up at my office, telling me that they intend to write a review of my ship. They tell me flat out that the review will be more positive if they receive an upgrade or some free drinks.

 

It's better that I just do not attend anymore.

 

Another case of the FEW ruining it for the MANY. They are a great way to meet some fellow cruisers and have some fun. I've hosted a couple of Meet N Greets and attended a couple too.

 

On Princess we were provided the space at the end of a bar and a dedicated server. If we wanted any refreshments we had to purchase them. 22 on the Roll Call, but only 11 showed up, we then arranged to meet for Formal Night and had a group photo taken.

 

On HAL nobody even showed up, so I didn't hang around long either.

 

I didn't attend the M&G on RCCL Empress of the Seas, didn't even know if there was one. But on Celebrity, there is a big banner on their website and here on CC to be sure and join the M&G and if 25 or more sign up, it is gratis from RCCL. Not only did ship staff visit, and refreshments served, the Cruise Director actually hosted it, and they had the photographer come by to take a group photo. Was really a class act, but I was told they were the Official Cruise Critic Meet & Greet, that others were copying it and were not Official CC sponsored, that RCCL and CC had an agreement.

 

On NCL, I was told ahead of the cruise by landbased rep that the charge would be $12 pp, we declined. When the ship Cruise Director emailed me that my date and time would not be good, I replied that we WOULD BE HOLDING our M&G in the Bar at Sail Away, and was pleasantly surprised that they provided snacks & refreshments at no charge and about 10 officers showed up. She also had us all sign up with our names & cabin numbers, we were invited to Dinner with the Staff and also received an invite to a Bridge Tour. We had a small gift exchange, we did a Cabin Crawl (with a poker draw), we had a slot pull, and a Specialty Dinner at Cagney's for about 5 of us with birthdays. It was a Great CC group on that cruise. I had 60 signed up and 58 actually attended. And I will say it saved the cruise. We had strong winds, high seas, rain and a couple of ports cancelled. Without all the fun activities of our CC group, it would have been a disaster of a cruise.

 

SO NOT EVERYONE IS INTO M&G for the perks from the ship. We didn't turn them down, but I certainly wasn't expecting anything other than the chance to meet and visit with other cruisers from our Roll Call.

Edited May 14, 2015 by agabbymama

[iheartbda]

LOL Bruce -- You'll just have to go "incognito" from now on! :p

One of the things that I love about X is that the ships' officers and department heads are highly visible (and quite approachable) all over the ship. They attend many passenger functions, including the Cruise Critic Connections Party. :cool:

I'm comparing this to RC, where you sometimes see the Captain and his entourage hurrying through one of the ship's public areas -- but, that's pretty much it! :(

It's never good to paint something with such a broad brush, there's always a counter experience. Things can be different from week to week, crew to crew, ship to ship, etc. Can't say I saw officers and department heads on X all over the ship or saw the Captain with his entourage hurrying around on RC.;):)

 

I've done Meet and Greets on four lines and how they were run and what was provided was all over the place. Even though NCL is not my favorite line, I give them a thumbs up because, in my experience, they were the most consistent with, snacks provided, department heads and the captain attending, etc.

[BruceMuzz]

It's never good to paint something with such a broad brush, there's always a counter experience. Things can be different from week to week, crew to crew, ship to ship, etc. Can't say I saw officers and department heads on X all over the ship or saw the Captain with his entourage hurrying around on RC.;):)

 

I've done Meet and Greets on four lines and how they were run and what was provided was all over the place. Even though NCL is not my favorite line, I give them a thumbs up because, in my experience, they were the most consistent with, snacks provided, department heads and the captain attending, etc.

 

I have done CC Meet and Greets on 9 different cruise lines. Indeed they are all very different. When I was at RCCL, we had a special agreement with CC, allowing us to do it better than the others. When I was at NCL, RCCL threatened lawsuits if we tried to do it the same way. The Carnival Corp brands generally discourage too much participation, as too many CC people have accused us of "Buying Votes" with free drinks.

 

Until about 10 years ago, CC activities were great, with some wonderful people trying to make it even better. Many of those same people are still around. But there is now another element joining in. Some of these new people have agendas that are not so honorable.

 

Many people tell me that I am the most visible Hotel Manager they have ever seen. But due to the consistent negative experiences I have had with CC Meet and Greets over the past decade, you will not see my face at the meetings any more.

[davecttr]

P&O over here in the UK do them, and they are a Carnival Brand. Not on every cruise though but only if someone here organises it. We have one on Britannia next week and it will be good to put faces to the user names :)

[Cruisin' Chick]

I used to put on a very nice welcome party for our Cruise Critic guests.

Then one of the Cruise Critic members posted that the only reason my ship had received good reviews from CC was the free drinks and snacks.

My corporate people instructed me to stop the drinks and snacks.

 

I got to know quite a few of the organizers of the Meet and Greets.

Occasionally I would invite them to dinner with me.

Then one of the Cruise Critic members posted that the only reason my ship had received good reviews from CC was the free meals.

My corporate people instructed me to stop the dinner invitations.

 

In recent years, when I attend a CC Meet and Greet, I get attacked over corporate decisions and policies - while I am watching CC Members selling shore excursions in front of me.

 

After the Meet and Greet, one or two of the CC members shows up at my office, telling me that they intend to write a review of my ship. They tell me flat out that the review will be more positive if they receive an upgrade or some free drinks.

 

It's better that I just do not attend anymore.

 

I don't blame you. It's "no good deed goes unpunished." And you have passengers who feel this sense of entitlement. To me, being on a ship is a nice vacation and not have to cook nor clean (or drive my kid to school, etc.). So I don't need to sit at the captain's table or have a hotel manager pour me a freebie drink to feel like I'm being pampered. Let the officers alone to do their job piloting the ship,etc. and I'm fine.

[slidergirl]

I don't blame you. It's "no good deed goes unpunished." And you have passengers who feel this sense of entitlement. To me' date=' being on a ship is a nice vacation and not have to cook nor clean (or drive my kid to school, etc.). So I don't need to sit at the captain's table or have a hotel manager pour me a freebie drink to feel like I'm being pampered. Let the officers alone to do their job piloting the ship,etc. and I'm fine.[/quote']

 

I'm with you. I have no need to be able to tell everyone that I've sat at numerous captain's tables, or receive a free watered-down drink at a get-together. I was very put-off by roll calls by my very first one. People forming cliques, people trying to force activities on others, people hawking their own "private tours" and get anxious when they think they are going to get stuck footing the bill, the advertising for low-brow activities (slot pulls, cabin crawls, group Tshirts, door decorating competitions)…no thank you. I was on a vacation to relax, not to join a bunch of people I do not know in activities I had no interest in doing…

If a Meet and Greet is desired for a group, just ask for a meeting place, like Friends of Bill does. Don't push the ship staff to provide drinks, food, staff. You are there to "Meet and Greet" the members of your roll call. If the ship staff does more, welcome it as a nice surprise. If nothing more than a room is offered, do not bitch and whine - you and your group are no more important than any one other person or group on the ship. Kind of like people who are in the higher categories of hotel and airline frequent guest programs - some feel they are "entitled" to a free upgrade to first class or a suite every time they travel, regardless of how occupied a hotel is or how full a flight is. I never feel entitled nor to I ask for anything over and above what I have paid for; if it happens I am offered more, I am pleasantly surprised and gratefully thank the staff; if I am not offered more, I take what I pair for and enjoy my trip...

[iheartbda]

I agree with Cruisin'Chick and Slidergirl,

I've organized a few Meet and Greets, nothing was expected and anything that was provided by the cruise line was icing on the cake. I'm happy to say that any I've attended did not have any of the "self entitled" asking for any special consideration