Sailing with Thrive Cruise Group

[yerdua]

My husband and I will be sailing to Alaska on the Westerdam this summer. I understand that Thrive Cruises (inspiration group) will be on the ship. Does anyone know anything about them... basically how large is it usually and how demanding of the ship's resources and venues they are. We are basically committed to this sailing since we're flying to embarkation on FF miles. Thanks for any info you can share.

[RocketMan275]

My husband and I will be sailing to Alaska on the Westerdam this summer. I understand that Thrive Cruises (inspiration group) will be on the ship. Does anyone know anything about them... basically how large is it usually and how demanding of the ship's resources and venues they are. We are basically committed to this sailing since we're flying to embarkation on FF miles. Thanks for any info you can share.

 

You might also wish to call the travel agency and ask about their plans for special events and number of passengers. I did a quick google and they have six different Alaska cruises scheduled for Summer 2016. Kind of makes me think that their groups are small. But, who knows?

[SLOTheta]

There was another thread about a religious group essentially closing down the ship. There were 500+ people in that group. One suggestion was to call the organization and do a mock inquiry to see how many people are scheduled to go. If it's a big group, they apparently force everyone to eat early and close down several venues through out the trip.

 

 

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[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Have your TA call and ask HAL how large the group will be. They may or may not tell your TA.

[jhsocal]

Contacted Inspirations Group concerning the July 9th cruise. She indicated they could book up to half the ship. Probably, too early to know how large the group will be. Large groups are usually given late set seating. We are waitlisted for late seating. Our TA is monitoring the situation.

[sail7seas]

Google:

 

Name of your ship; Date of Sailing; Name of group

 

Scroll through several pages if necessary if you don't see anything come up on the first page.

 

If you find contact information, call the group with the idea of becoming a part of the group and ask how large, how many cabins, whatever information you want to try to get from them.

 

If you get good info, please come back here and share with us. :)

[sail7seas]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Have your TA call and ask HAL how large the group will be. They may or may not tell your TA.

 

It is rare when they answer such questions even when directly asked.

 

We know they try hard to not let anyone know when they have a large group aboard.

 

[MrMan]

Two thoughts:

 

Cruising with the Bears group would be more fun

 

At least there won't be a line at the pool bar or a wait for your favorite casino table

[Hlitner]

We have posted our thoughts on other threads, but will repeat. There is no way we would ever knowingly go on any cruise with a large group. And religious groups can be among the worst when it comes to taking over many venues. Want to go to the Crow's Nest for a drink? You are likely to get "Closed for a Private Event" on several evenings. Want to go to an early show in the Main Theater? If the group is large enough they may cancel that early show and replace it with a "Private Event" as large religious groups sometimes bring their own entertainment and speakers.

 

The worst part is that the cruise line (this is not just about HAL) will not tell you about these groups. But the cruise lines have no problem depriving the non-group passengers from having access to many of the public venues at various times....day or night.

 

Hank

[iancal]

It is one of the four that we avoid.....new ship inauguration, pre or post dry dock, and GROUP cruise. Why take a chance if you can move your date or change to another ship.

[Windsailer]

Call 1-888-425-9477

I expressed my concern to HAL several years ago (on FB) when it appeared that a large group would be on a cruise I was scheduled to take. In response (HAL tracked me down! :)) I received a letter from the Office of the President saying that HAL Group Administration Dept would be happy to let me know if a group would be onboard. They did let me know and I cancelled my reservation.

[whogo]

That Westerdam cruise with the large group turned out OK for DanaL, as reported in this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2323270

[sail7seas]

:D I can just imagine how inundated that Group number will be with calls from HAL CC'ers. Thanks for sharing the number.

 

[K&RCurt]

Two thoughts:

 

Cruising with the Bears group would be more fun

 

At least there won't be a line at the pool bar or a wait for your favorite casino table

 

Why would you think that? I am sure they are no more or less likely to want a poolside drink or to gamble than anyone else.

[KAE27]

Why would you think that? I am sure they are no more or less likely to want a poolside drink or to gamble than anyone else.

 

Perhaps you don't know a lot of conservative Christians. Having many in my immediate family (including a large number who have gone on these Inspiration cruises) and being originally from an area that is dominated by people of these beliefs, they are more often than not (1) non-drinkers and (2) opposed to gambling. I'm surprised that this wouldn't be quite well known, but again you might not be from areas or families where this is predominant.

Edited March 4, 2016 by krista4

[SLOTheta]

Contacted Inspirations Group concerning the July 9th cruise. She indicated they could book up to half the ship. Probably, too early to know how large the group will be. Large groups are usually given late set seating. We are waitlisted for late seating. Our TA is monitoring the situation.

 

 

If you search for "group" in this sub forum, you'll see the various threads on groups. It was an eye opener to read that these large groups have so much power on the ship. If you are wait listed, it appears you are out of luck since they all take the late dining and force everyone else to the 5:15 to 6:45pm option.

 

From the other threads, people have experienced pool, Crows Nest and shoe closures.

 

I'm hoping this doesn't happen to us on our July 5th Med cruise. Our friends are getting married, we know we will have one late dining experience at the Pinnacle!

 

 

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[iancal]

I do not care whether it is dentists or evangelicals. All the same to me..any large groups that restrict our usual access to any on board areas or services is not a good thing from our perspective.

 

BTW..I married into a large extended family of Cristians. Don't kid yourself, plenty of them drink, smoke, and gamble. They just don't do it when certain other family/friends are about., I see it because I am not one and DW is very much live and let live non judgemental. I always find it amusing to see that one or two that I know well seem so frightened to be found out as it were.

[whogo]

I do not care whether it is dentists or evangelicals. All the same to me..any large groups that restrict our usual access to any on board areas or services is not a good thing from our perspective.

 

BTW..I married into a large extended family of Cristians. Don't kid yourself, plenty of them drink, smoke, and gamble. They just don't do it when certain other family/friends are about., I see it because I am not one and DW is very much live and let live non judgemental. I always find it amusing to see that one or two that I know well seem so frightened to be found out as it were.

That's why you take two of them fishing. If you only take one, he'll drink all your beer.

[borasue]

That's why you take two of them fishing. If you only take one, he'll drink all your beer.

 

:D:D:D Thanks for the morning chuckle!

[LMaxwell]

That's why you take two of them fishing. If you only take one, he'll drink all your beer.

 

LOL, that's great.

 

No group cruise for me.

If it's over 20% of the ship you should anticipate venues being closed and the company not even blinking an eye while treating a regular fare guest as second class.

[rothbury]

I see where there is a Christian fellowship group on our planned cruise. Not sure how big or anything about it. Hopefully they are a small group.

[SLOTheta]

I see where there is a Christian fellowship group on our planned cruise. Not sure how big or anything about it. Hopefully they are a small group.

 

 

You should google it and reach out to the organizers and travel agency. Try to find out how large the group could be. If it's a big group, it may greatly impact your access to the MDR, Crows Nest and other areas of the ship.

 

 

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[rothbury]

Yeah, I would if I could. The only information I have is from the thread on "groups" on different sailings. Tried to Google the sailing but nothing came up. All I have is "Christian Fellowship Group".

[Cruising-along]

Yeah, I would if I could. The only information I have is from the thread on "groups" on different sailings. Tried to Google the sailing but nothing came up. All I have is "Christian Fellowship Group".

 

If you're on FB you can search for their page and ask there. That's what I did recently (and found out the Inspirations group onboard our 2017 cruise may have "up to 650". :(

[3rdGenCunarder]

If you're on FB you can search for their page and ask there. That's what I did recently (and found out the Inspirations group onboard our 2017 cruise may have "up to 650". :(

 

Is 650 the capacity of the showroom?