Anyone unknowingly board a themed cruise or even big group cruise?? Do tell! LOL

[ramja96]

Found out a few months after booking our upcoming Liberty of the Seas cruise that there is a first responders group on our cruise. My first thought was "Well, should be nice and safe with all the paramedics and firemen on board." .... Meanwhile, my wife was just busy daydreaming about the firemen by the pool .... LOL.

[FMZ]

On 2 separate cruises... one time we had a pretty good size group of Transvestites who were super nice and we got some pictures with them. Another cruise was a group of Goth people. I must say it was odd to be laying by the pool and see a group come along covered head to toe in heavy dark clothes. Not exactly sure why they picked a cruise as I was sweating in a bathing suit haha

 

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[BillOh]

My honeymoon was on a "cruise to lose" with Richard Simmons....nothing wrong with the group in general but obviously while trying to be romantic it did damper the feel a bit when 50 people speed walk by with Richard at the head screaming "come on ladies shake what god gave ya" etc lol....

 

 

Good story!

[cruzinlisa]

Formal nt we are walking to the dining room. I am wearing a full length bright blue sequence gown and DH a tux. In front of us is a couple from the convention probably in their 60's. He is wearing jeans and the black vest with patches. She is wearing a leather halter top that has only bikini top like ties in the back and a pair of leather chaps. That's it! Nothing under the chaps. Just her bare "cheeks" for all the world to see. I said to DH do you think we are over dressed? He says are you wearing underwear which I of course said yes! Well then yes, you are over dressed!

 

 

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Now this is a valid dress code complaint! LOL. I don't normally care what others are wearing, but bare cheeks in the dining room does impact my experience. LOL

[shellster1]

Years ago on the NCL Jewel, GMA with Diane Sawyer was broadcasting for the week. I don't remember the specifics, but the show had apparently awarded many free cruises to deserving women nominated by their families or friends who were on the sailing. I found out only about two weeks before the cruise....from another poster right here on CC!! I was very excited but not nearly as excited as my mom! She loved Diane Sawyer and watched GMA every morning. We got to see her fly in by helicopter and broadcast live every day from the pool deck. All the contestant winners were obviously beyond thrilled to be there. The energy on the ship was unlike any other cruise I've sailed. My uncle watched GMA every morning from back home and even caught a glimpse of my cute little mom dancing in the background. He recorded it, so I'll always have that memory on tape!

[TC1957]

Now this is a valid dress code complaint! LOL. I don't normally care what others are wearing, but bare cheeks in the dining room does impact my experience. LOL

 

Is it safe to assume the impact would be directly related to the quality of the cheeks? :halo:

[ramja96]

Is it safe to assume the impact would be directly related to the quality of the cheeks? :halo:

 

Ummm .... NO! I don't care how sweet the cheeks are. If they're in the dining room, the only buns I want to see should be in the center of the table with some butter next to them. :cool:

[RoLoHa]

Not on a Royal cruise, but, last year I had booked a shorter cruise on another line and after making final payment found out it was a charter featuring Def Leppard. I was never a huge fan and was a bit apprehensive. My husband didn't really want to go and I ended up taking my daughter and two granddaughters. The weather was not great so the cruise was not optimal, but I must say it was really fun travelling with a completely different crowd. Most of them were up late and slept in, making the early breakfast lines shorter...and they were a friendly and well-behaved bunch!

[Punchy]

We booked a cruise not knowing that there was a group of democrats/liberals on board giving lectures and campaigning advice. I don't really care which side of politics people are on but this caused every mixed tables discussion to devolve into who was good for America and who was bad for America. It made the cruise less enjoyable.

[cbusbigred]

Got on board and found out there was a large group from Brazil and a large group from Israel. Between the two groups they had about half the ship booked. First night main dining room late seating was a mad house because of things like language they couldn't seat you in one area of the dining room. Then the other large group was in the other side of the dining room and people wanted to sit with friends to the point where at my original table a couple of people got moved without their knowing (they got to their assigned table and were told by the group who displaced them to go sit at another table). All because because two groups of friends wanted to sit together. So that's my group booking story :)

 

Generally, January and July are Brazil touring seasons. The impact of the Brazilians on the Disney touring crowd is legendary. Seriously, we see those neon shirts or tour guide flags? WE RUN THE OTHER WAY. :')

[voyager70]

American Girl Doll cruise & quincineara cruise. NOT a fun experience. The dolls were actually chair hogging at the pool.

 

 

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That is flat out creepy.

[JoyMouse]

Never an official group, but it seem every cruise there is a 20-30 people family reunion cruise all wearing the same shirts throughout the cruise, usually themed to the port or sea day it happens to be.

 

My hat is really off to who ever organizes them, we have family every year that says they are going with us on our yearly cruise, has yet to happen. They usually wait until the week before we leave to make a decision then blame us when the price is now double if there are any cabins available at all.

 

 

 

When cruising with my parents or extended family (I'm the travel planner), I keep my family in line by "threatening" them with matching t-shirts. Works every time!

 

 

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[cloud_nine]

http://www.americangirl.com/shop/dolls

So it was a cruise for kids (and/or adults?) who love those dolls? Okay...little weird but not nearly as weird as I was thinking.

 

the only buns I want to see should be in the center of the table with some butter next to them.

Haha, this thread is hilarious!

[GWBonthego]

This January on the Brilliance, my first solo voyage, I found out a week before the cruise (from the roll call here on the forum) that there was a bluegrass group going on. 300+ folks from all over the country! They had their private events, but also held impromptu "jam" sessions all over the ship. Even though bluegrass is not really my thing, I must say these were the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. :D

[Bruin Steve]

I usually research my cruises well and try to avoid cruises with certain very large groups on board...But, with the number of groups cruising, it is often hard to avoid...

But, some groups are to be avoided at all costs, others not so bad...

Very large groups of any kind can be bad as they tend to have private events for which they reserve and, therefore, restrict certain venues at times. Some large groups tend to exclude people not in their group and some just "take over" certain activities on the cruise (We had one not-so-large group on one cruise once that treated Karaoke like their private party--made it not much fun for everyone else).

 

One that was somewhat avoidable for us was last March on the Celebrity Silhouette. It was my wife's "Spring Break" (she works in education) and the dates were pretty much set in stone. There was one large themed group on board--it was a "New England Patriots" themed group. They had, probably, a few hundred people on board and a few retired players for the Patriots. It turned out to be absolutely no problem at all. They had just a couple of private events--photo and autograph sessions--for which they closed off the Sky Lounge...but the timing was pretty innocuous--it didn't interfere with any of the times we customarily use that venue (Elite pre-dinner drinking hour). We did notice a lot of New England Patriots door sign decorations on cabin doors (one right next door to us) and a lot of people wearing Patriots T-Shirts around the ship. But, other than that, they were all pretty much normal folks who would otherwise fit right into the cruise ship demographics anyway.

 

And, I had the opportunity, one night, to make friends with one of the retired players. I was sitting late night at the Martini Bar. My wife was tired after the show and went back to the cabin...and my sister and brother-in-law, who were cruising with us, went back to their cabin as well...But, dang it, I had that unlimited drink package, so I headed to the bar for some late night drinking. And the guy sitting next to me at the bar just looked like a football player. Turns out he was. We started talking...and it turns out we had several friends or acquaintances in common. So, we talked a little football, talked about cruising, talked about the ports we were visiting, talked about life. He was telling me about the theme cruise from his perspective--How the "events" were okay for him, but got to be a little much...but the one hour time limits were perfect...He was glad to do them "for the fans" but really looked forward to just relaxing and cruising like everyone else. He pretty much did it because it was a free trip for his wife and he and because he got to hang out on vacation with a couple of his former team mates. He said he actually appreciated just hanging out with the "regular cruisers" on the ship--like me--the ones who weren't there because they just wanted their photo with one of their heroes. It was really a nice night at the bar...

 

So, think about those groups. How large a group are they? (Like our Patriots cruise, they had maybe a couple hundred people out of a ship that holds 2,800--not too bad. If they had 1,200 people, it might tend to feel like we were out of place) How many exclusive special events are they taking up ship venues for? How likely is it that when there aren't special events, they're just like "everyone else"?

 

Obviously, though, if you have a choice between a cruise with a group and one without, take the "without"...

[Jobeth66]

Obviously, though, if you have a choice between a cruise with a group and one without, take the "without"...

 

Unless you're part of the group. :) We cruise with a charter group every 2 years (they do multiple cruises a year, but we can't afford them all!) and have a fantastic time, but due to the nature of those cruises they are full-ship charters, so no one will ever be around our group on the ship who hasn't chosen to be.. Then we have a group of 30-40 friends that does a group cruise every few years (next is 10/6/18 on HoTS, and they have already booked most of the aft portside cabins on Deck 11, so fair warning :) ) and have a great time with both.

 

I've been on cruises with poorly-behaving groups, though. Best was 2007 Glory when we had 2 separate church groups on the ship, and some of their members literally got into a fist fight in front of the dining room right before 1st seating. In addition, there were songs my son wanted to do at karaoke that he wasn't allowed to do because the group members would have been offended (Sweet Transvestite from Rocky Horror was one, he eventually was allowed, but it was a fight).

[famof4togo]

Hey I'm an old lady and I still have all my "American Girl" dolls and accessories...lol...I kept them for the daughter I never had they sit in a closet with all my old barbies and prom dresses I kept for that same daughter I never had...lol

[cruzinlisa]

Ummm .... NO! I don't care how sweet the cheeks are. If they're in the dining room, the only buns I want to see should be in the center of the table with some butter next to them. :cool:

 

This.

[CapeCoralCruiser]

A few years ago we found we were inadvertently on the "Bikers on the High Seas" cruise. Being Harley riders ourselves, wife & I (with ponytail, goatee & a couple prerequisite H-D t shirts) enjoyed this very friendly group. Making up least half the ship's pax, they had their own MDR time, with attire being either biker or pirate garb. A select few got the chance to bring their bikes onboard and then ride them on the islands we stopped at. They had several special events, including a parts expo I attended with some of the actual participants. I did observe a few older, more staid pax who seemed a bit bewildered/unamused by the tattooed bikers and their often times scantily clad wenches. Not the best dressed, well groomed group (by cruise standards), but I don't recall even one negative incident.

[JupiterTwo]

Speaking of themed cruises, did anyone see the news that the rock group Boston's drummer Sib Hashian died last night of a heart attack while on stage at the Legends of Rock cruise on the MSC Divina?

 

Steve

[voyager70]

Speaking of themed cruises, did anyone see the news that the rock group Boston's drummer Sib Hashian died last night of a heart attack while on stage at the Legends of Rock cruise on the Independence of the Seas?

 

Steve

 

Didn't see that, how sad.

[chape19714]

Was recently on a Cruise where a national Frat organization had about 70% of the ship. Needless to say, you roll with the punches, we drank and danced right along with them. Not the quiet type of cruise I've normally had, but it was a ton of fun. I'm a big believer that half the point of cruising is to meet new people and experience new things, and groups will definitely do that.

[JupiterTwo]

Correction... it was the MSC Divina.

 

Steve

[Sky616]

We booked a cruise not knowing that there was a group of democrats/liberals on board giving lectures and campaigning advice. I don't really care which side of politics people are on but this caused every mixed tables discussion to devolve into who was good for America and who was bad for America. It made the cruise less enjoyable.

My condolences, I think I would have jumped overboard.

[KuffMUp]

Wife and I, and another couple, booked a cruise 2 years ago, and about 2 months later I found a post on CC mentioning a "lifestyle" group had booked on the same ship! I went to the groups website, and after a long consideration of approximately 1 second, I called and changed our cruise to another company leaving the same port for the same itinerary. It pays to double and triple check :)

 

Your cruise would have been cancelled. I've seen it happen before. It is a full ship takeover. It seems that RCCL is slow to let those who have already booked that their cruise was cancelled. I went on one not for the "lifestyle" part but because it was adults only. I had to break it to those on the roll call. When I posted on the roll call, folks there were less than kind to me. I was just trying to prepare them that their cruise was no more. It took several weeks before RCCL told the already booked passengers that their cruise was cancelled.:(