? for those who cruised ships w/Lg. special interest groups onbd.

[mlbcruiser]

Just doing a little "research" and wondered if some of you who have cruised ships when there were very large special interest groups aboard would be willing to share your experiences. Wondering such things as: did it hinder or help your cruise experience in any way? Were certain areas taken up by the groups at times when you would have liked to use those areas? Were you given good service or did you feel like the special group was the focal point of the ship's staff? Did you ever feel the group had "taken over" the ship? Any positive or negative experiences would be interesting to hear.

[Happy ks]

We were once onboard a ship with a large religious group.

 

 

The only thing that really bothered us about the group was the fact they took over the cinema for the week. On sea days, we like to watch a movie and we ended up having to pay for the priviledge. Then, since I was so comfortable laying down in bed instead of sitting up, I think I fell asleep 10 minutes after it started.

 

Other than that, no big deal.

[michmike]

we were on a cruise a couple years ago on HAL where roughly 60% of the pax were a dixieland jazz group. They were playing at the pool at lunch , in the lido at bfast and took over a number of the lounges during the day. Was just about impossible to get away from them.. While I enjoy dixieland, I'd had more than my fill of it by the end of the week. Overall they were nice folks and hey, it could have been rappers or evangelical christians.. *shuddering*

 

But I do feel that the cruise lines ought to warn folks when they have a single group that comprises 40% or more of the ship so that other cruisers can make an informed choice as to whether they want to spend a week with that demographic. Not likely to happen, but I sure expressed my feelings on the comment card when I filled it out.

[masterbaker]

We were on a cruise with hundreds of high school band members and not nearly enough chaperones and yes it DID impact our cruise experience. :eek:

[csg99]

we've cruised twice with large "special interest" groups on board...there was bible study around the aft pool every day (completely surrounding it) which made it difficult for others to use the pool. The large groups also take over the "theater" lounge, which reduced the opportunity to see films. They took over the entire early seating times so that, even though we booked 8 months out, we couldn't get an early seating. We almost had a very large political group on our upcoming November cruise, which would have resulted in several of us canceling. After this upcoming cruise, we will no longer be doing cruises less than 10 days. We've been told by many cruisers that most special interest groups cruise the 7 day or less cruises. I agree that, in fairness, the cruise lines should disclose what groups are sailing with you, but I'm sure that will never happen. We've found that by "googling" your ship's name and cruise date, you can often find any special interest groups that are promoting cruises on that ship/date.

[kitty9]

I've been on a few cruises with large groups on board. One was with a group of 400 Mexican Ford dealers, another was a group of Amway salespeople and still another was a group from a very conservative religious right organization. And yes, they all did impact the enjoyment of the cruise. They took over various venues on the ship, took over a huge part of the restaurant and buffet areas and just generally changed the tone of the cruise. But the worst one was when there was a huge group (over 900) from Taiwan who all ate at the first seating for dinner. When it came time for us to eat, many of the menu items were not available because the Taiwaneese ate three and four entrees each. We didn't get lobster or prime rib on the formal nights because they had gobbled everything up at the first seating.

[geoherb]

Our cruise to Alaska on the Star Princess had two large groups on the ship. One was Cookie Lee saleswomen and their spouses/SOs. The other was a group of Italian pharmacists. The Cookie Lee ladies were all very nice. They all dressed up every day. It was probably one of the best-dressed group of passengers, and I think the other passengers sort of followed their lead.(Here's the Cookie Lee website in case anyone doesn't know the company. They do home sales parties of costume jewelry--like Avon or Tupperware ladies with jewelry instead of makeup and kitchen things.)

 

Other than a few announcements in Italian and more Speedos at the pool, I wouldn't have noticed the pharmacists. We did find out that their cabins were all grouped along one corridor when we walked through it and noticed the daily programs in Italian.

[mlbcruiser]

Thanks for all of the info! There are certainly some interesting stories here. In our case, the group happens to be fans (400 of them) of an artist I REALLY LIKE. It will have a caribbean/party theme for sure and that is super on a caribbean cruise, I'm sure. Of all the groups I can think of, that is the one I'd probably fit into the best. BUT!!! I have heard they enjoy taking over the pool area on sea days and such and there ARE times when we like to just zone out. (Sure hope if there is a movie theater on board, they don't take over that! Lounges now and then won't bother me, as long as the regular passengers get equal time and their shows and get togethers aren't cancelled.) The time of year will already guarantee a lot of kids and it will be tough to get a deck loungechair as it is. I'd rather not name the group - don't want to offend the group in any way. Just can't help worrying a bit if it might be a bit "too much" for a (slightly) MORE than 7 day cruise?! And I agree w/ALL of you: when you go to book a cruise w/a very large group, you should be told. It wouldn't be hard for the lines to asterisk the dates - at least w/T/As who could then "warn" a prospective cruiser. Thanks for your input. Any more care to tell of your experience?

[wisefamily4]

We shared Carnival Pride with a large group of Parrot Heads in April. The two things that stand out in my memory are:

They had really great door decorations & they sure talked A LOT about how much they drank (I Never saw them drink that much - just talk about it):)

[mlbcruiser]

Wisefamily, that's sounds great! :D Yeah, according to ol' Jimmy himself, he mostly just talks about drinking now, too! LOL!

[K&RCurt]

We were on the HAL Westerdam with a large group of St. Louis Cardinals fans. They had several players as well as coaches/ manager etc. They took over the Queen's lounge for most of the cruise as well as the aft pool for one of the sea days.

 

 

The biggest negative in my opinion was that a good portion of them felt that a baseball Jersey and ball cap qualified as "Formal Wear".

 

Except for a great gaggle of people in baseball outfits clogging up the main passageway outside the Queen's lounge we were not greatly impacted. I think the crew were extra nice to those not asociated with this group.

[jnc411]

We were on a cruise with hundreds of high school band members and not nearly enough chaperones and yes it DID impact our cruise experience. :eek:

 

Hey Hi , we were on a cruise with high school bands also, but it must not have been the same cruise, long time ago. But it really didn't bother us much, except it did get a tad loud around the pool at times, but other than that. No. But having said that , yes I agree there should be some mention of large groups of people that are on cruises, give passangers a chance to decide for them selves. It could make a difference.

Cori

[mlbcruiser]

K&RCurt, the CARDINALS?! I am a Cardinal fan, big time!!! (Yay! They won in the playoffs today!) However, I'm sure you know the players who go on those cruises do it as a promo and I wouldn't want to feel like I was following them around, gawking at them all the time! And I guess it does kind of get annoying or can make other cruisers feel "left out" when a group is very large and gets in your way. My son in law plays pro football and I've heard of those types of sports celebrity cruises that they, too, can sometimes take advantage of. In fact, my DH and I were on a cruise a number of yrs. ago and we were climbing Dunn's River Falls. There were a few very big guys and their wives/girlfriends right by us. Later on, back on the ship, I heard someone ask one of the same guys what football team he played form and he replied "Seattle". (He sounded like he's probably answered that question 50 times already!) If there were any special things going on around the ship involving them, I never knew about it, though. Another time we were on the Norway visiting their beach/out island and my husband was waiting for me to come out of the restroom. This man started talking to him and it turned out to be Tony Pena! REALLY a nice guy. Thereafter we saw him around the ship and he talked to us a lot. But again, I never noticed any special stuff going on and he really seemed to be ENJOYING his trip, so maybe that one wasn't an official baseball cruise!

[Nliedel]

Both the good and the bad here. I was on an RCI ship in the 80's and it was a love fest. A group of seniors from Canada who just decided I was the cutest little thing (in my 20's) and adopted me. I could not keep up with them to save my life! They brought me to their parties, introduced me to their grandkids and in general made me some sort of "Big haired, lace socks and high heel wearing" mascot (again, it was the 80's).

 

In the 90's I was with another large group of seniors. They treated anyone not in their group like a leper. I got my toes run over, not by accident, twice by one woman and yelled at for talking too loudly in the hall at 8pm (I was not speaking in anything louder than what I would call an "indoor voice"). It was a nightmare because they acted like they owned the ship. They were everywhere, very loud and very snotty. I have no idea why.

 

It goes both ways.

 

I was once in Disneyland with about 3 bazillion cheerleaders. 5am they were cheering in the hallway of the hotel. It was HORRIBLE and I hated every minute of it. Too much pep for me. I am a cheerleader type personality but even I know a little of that goes a long way.

[katgar]

Like WISEFAMILY, my mom and I shared a cruise with Parrotheads on the Legend in March 2004. I found out through the boards here on a Roll Call. We

were "adopted" by them! We were invited to their Bon Voyage Party the night before, and an excursion in Panama. It was great fun, and there were many nice people of aall ages.

The aft pool did play Jimmy Buffett and similar music, and a few times a party was arranged there. One night they invaded the Billie's Piano Bar (SRO), but it was temporary, they were in the midst of a Pub Crawl, other nights only a few would be there, and it seemed all we heard was Buffett music! We only had one instance it got a little out of hand, but it was only one person, one night. Most of us just shook our heads, including those in the group, no big deal!

The thing is, we never felt as if they took over the ship, the Pub Crawl on this year's cruise was ship sponsored, and I'm sure no different. The groups pay for their cruise, too, so shouldn't they be able to enjoy the same as us? As long as we all have access to all areas, there shouldn't be a problem, but if there were areas that they had total control of, the entire cruise, I would be upset!

[bbnbama]

Well for anyone sailing on the Navigator of the Seas Western Caribbean October 22-29th, 2005...I can go ahead and let you know that AFLAC is having their 50th anniversary National Convention at that time! Not sure how many people are in that group (I'm one of them!:D ) I will do my best not to be too obnoxious but I can't be responsible for the rest of the "Duck-heads"!!! quietly whispering AFLAC in my duck voice...............