Meet and Greet - Increasing number of attending

[EllieinNJ]

I have volunteered to run our M&G for our Epic cruise in 2 weeks. When I initially called to reserve the venue, I told them we had 50 people attending. Now it is up to 75. I know many will not actually come, but do I notify NCL of this increase before or just wait to board and tell the customer service desk?

 

Also, does NCL supply name tags or should I bring them?

[Nelsj099]

I organized the one for this week we met yesterday on our Sea day. I had 20 who signed up at first then it got up to 30 or so just before we set sail. Yesterday there was 8/9 people who showed up. When I was talking to the cruise team they said not many people show up on the Med cruises.

 

 

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[KeithJenner]

When I was talking to the cruise team they said not many people show up on the Med cruises.

 

Roll call activity and M&G attendance can be quite random on Med cruises. Certainly attendance is generally a lot less than Caribbean cruises.

 

The Epic is usually better attended than other ships. We have been to a couple on that Epic itinerary with 40+ people, but that is about as good as it gets in my experience.

 

On other Med itineraries, about 15 people seems to be a pretty good turnout and I have been on a few where there wan't enough interest for anyone to even arrange a M&G.

[newmexicoNita]

I have volunteered to run our M&G for our Epic cruise in 2 weeks. When I initially called to reserve the venue, I told them we had 50 people attending. Now it is up to 75. I know many will not actually come, but do I notify NCL of this increase before or just wait to board and tell the customer service desk?

 

Also, does NCL supply name tags or should I bring them?

NCL will supply the name gags.As for letting them know the group has grown, they seem to always ave plenty of refreshments and if you have 75 signed up, your figure of 50 is probably closer to correct. If it does continue to grow you may want to email them. Glad you are having a good turn out. We have been noticing, in the past few years less and less attending M&Gs. I think it depends on the ship and itinerary.

[fabnfortysomething]

I have hosted several meet and greets and attended more and have never known the ship to provide name tags-that is usually the role of the organiser and can be simple sticky labels to write your own name on to elaborate ones with ship logo and pre printed names

 

the ship usually provides a sign in sheet asking for screen name and cabin number-people have reported getting gifts or invites to events as a result but I have never personally experienced this

 

only a fraction of those who say they will attend actually turn up so I would stick with number at 50

[JZenkow]

Question about the autopost people( I am on this cruise looking forward to chatting) Why do they post? In 99% of Roll Calls that is the only post they make. So there is no chatting, They do not say they are attending Meet and Mingle, There is no prize for posting to a roll call So I wonder, What does making an auto post accomplish when it is a persons only post to the Roll Call?

[Nelsj099]

We had name tags yesterday. The lady who you are working with on the ship is Yulia from the Ukraine. -epic

 

 

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[EllieinNJ]

This cruise turned out to be also a VTG Singles Group. We have quite a few singles signed up but am not sure if they are from this group. I will leave the total at 50 and hope for at least half to show up. I will also purchase a couple of packs of name tags just to be safe.

[fabnfortysomething]

That is odd. I have run 6-7 CC MnGs and every time the cruise line had name tags for us.

 

it must depend on the ship and the on board meeting officer

 

I have organised 2 on Epic 2 on Jade 2 on Spirit and 1 on Star-I provided simple name tags each time as nothing from ship

 

just off Epic transatlantic last week and there were over 100 attended but Meet and greet co ordinator brought along simple adhesive name tags and pens for people to fill in themselves

[SeaShark]

Question about the autopost people( I am on this cruise looking forward to chatting) Why do they post? In 99% of Roll Calls that is the only post they make. So there is no chatting, They do not say they are attending Meet and Mingle, There is no prize for posting to a roll call So I wonder, What does making an auto post accomplish when it is a persons only post to the Roll Call?

 

Let me offer an actual answer to your question.

 

Every Roll Call on Cruise Critic has two pages.

 

One of those pages is found here on the forums (the web address starts with "https://boards.cruisecritic.com"). This is the forum where roll call members can plan, research, and chat with each other. The entire point of the Meet & Greet is to allow the people who have been participating in this forum to have a chance to "meet" and "great" each other in person once onboard the ship.

 

The other page is found on the regular Cruise Critic website (the web address starts with "https://www.cruisecritic.com"). This is just an informational page about the sailing and the roll call...this is not part of the forums. On the right-hand side of the page is a box titled with "Who is Sailing?". At the bottom of this box is a gold colored button labeled "I'm Sailing". When you click this button, it makes the auto-post in your name. Most people who click this have no idea that doing so makes a post in the forum.

 

These people are also not aware of where the forum actually is so many of them never visit, never chat further, and thus never make the Meet & Greet.

 

Outside of increasing Cruise Critic's overall user post count, the auto-post feature does nothing at all.

 

IMHO, this button is one of the reasons why roll call participation has dropped. FB is another...the level of familiarity that people have with FB makes them more comfortable in a private FB group than a roll call, so they gravitate in that direction, spend all their time in the private group, and thus never show at the M&G. Finally, I think the change in the culture of Cruise Critic has also led to decreased levels of participation. This used to be a place for people to research, plan, and learn about cruising. People wanted to talk about things and learn from each other. Used to be. Anymore, CC is becoming a platform for the aggrieved looking for information and support in their quest to receive "compensation". Most of the rest is people operating in the "I don't like or want to follow this rule...how do I get around it so I can have my way?"

Edited May 1, 2018 by SeaShark

[Beer Belly]

I am currently organizing the Meet and Mingle on the Escape June 3rd sailing....currently about 73 signed up. I have been in contact with NCL Events and have been updating them on the numbers if it grow significantly (10+). They request a final head count two weeks prior to sailing. They also gave the thumbs up on sticky name tags versus the ones you can print out on the Meet and Mingle link. We have one attendee (RobinSie) who has graciously stepped up and will organize our groups Slot Pull, and after that, we are off to a Cabin Crawl. I just know we are going to have a good time....I get that vibe from those who are signing up:cool:

[StolidCruiser]

:)

Let me offer an actual answer to your question.

 

Every Roll Call on Cruise Critic has two pages.

 

One of those pages is found here on the forums (the web address starts with "https://boards.cruisecritic.com"). This is the forum where roll call members can plan, research, and chat with each other. The entire point of the Meet & Greet is to allow the people who have been participating in this forum to have a chance to "meet" and "great" each other in person once onboard the ship.

 

The other page is found on the regular Cruise Critic website (the web address starts with "https://www.cruisecritic.com"). This is just an informational page about the sailing and the roll call...this is not part of the forums. On the right-hand side of the page is a box titled with "Who is Sailing?". At the bottom of this box is a gold colored button labeled "I'm Sailing". When you click this button, it makes the auto-post in your name. Most people who click this have no idea that doing so makes a post in the forum.

 

These people are also not aware of where the forum actually is so many of them never visit, never chat further, and thus never make the Meet & Greet.

 

Outside of increasing Cruise Critic's overall user post count, the auto-post feature does nothing at all.

 

IMHO, this button is one of the reasons why roll call participation has dropped. FB is another...the level of familiarity that people have with FB makes them more comfortable in a private FB group than a roll call, so they gravitate in that direction, spend all their time in the private group, and thus never show at the M&G. Finally, I think the change in the culture of Cruise Critic has also led to decreased levels of participation. This used to be a place for people to research, plan, and learn about cruising. People wanted to talk about things and learn from each other. Used to be. Anymore, CC is becoming a platform for the aggrieved looking for information and support in their quest to receive "compensation". Most of the rest is people operating in the "I don't like or want to follow this rule...how do I get around it so I can have my way?"

 

You pretty much nailed it.

[newmexicoNita]

I have hosted several meet and greets and attended more and have never known the ship to provide name tags-that is usually the role of the organiser and can be simple sticky labels to write your own name on to elaborate ones with ship logo and pre printed names

 

the ship usually provides a sign in sheet asking for screen name and cabin number-people have reported getting gifts or invites to events as a result but I have never personally experienced this

 

only a fraction of those who say they will attend actually turn up so I would stick with number at 50

the last 3 I have been in charge of name tags have been furnished. They were all with the last 18 months. So, I am only going by that. There was a time when I did furnish them.

 

As for sign up sheets I do not remember them, but my mind might be playing tricks on me. As for any gifts or special invites, I have only seen that being offered to the organizer of the M&G. We usually have gotten a certain amount of speical treatments for our efforts. It is a nice way for the ship to say thanks, but not a reason to decide to organize the event

[newmexicoNita]

Name GAGS? What kind of Meet and Greet are you running? LOL :D:eek:

You know the kind: they M&G where everyone puts down a phony name as a GAG. :'):p

[fabnfortysomething]

the last 3 I have been in charge of name tags have been furnished. They were all with the last 18 months. So, I am only going by that. There was a time when I did furnish them.

 

As for sign up sheets I do not remember them, but my mind might be playing tricks on me. As for any gifts or special invites, I have only seen that being offered to the organizer of the M&G. We usually have gotten a certain amount of speical treatments for our efforts. It is a nice way for the ship to say thanks, but not a reason to decide to organize the event

 

as I mentioned it does seem to vary ship by ship and who is the officer on board

 

as for gifts or special invites I have heard of fights between people on roll calls over who gets to host the meet and greet to claim the perks!

 

as you know that can vary from absolutely nothing to a few afternoon treats to invite to captains party

absolutely discretionary on hotel director and as you say not a reason to organise the event unless like me you just enjoy it

[fabnfortysomething]

so there you have it OP

 

Lots of different experiences from different people

 

bottom line it all depends on ship and meetings officer on board

[barb65]

I am currently organizing the Meet and Mingle on the Escape June 3rd sailing....currently about 73 signed up. I have been in contact with NCL Events and have been updating them on the numbers if it grow significantly (10+). They request a final head count two weeks prior to sailing. They also gave the thumbs up on sticky name tags versus the ones you can print out on the Meet and Mingle link. We have one attendee (RobinSie) who has graciously stepped up and will organize our groups Slot Pull, and after that, we are off to a Cabin Crawl. I just know we are going to have a good time....I get that vibe from those who are signing up:cool:

 

WOW! It's up to 73? You're doing a great job for the first time organizing a Meet and Mingle. Can't wait to meet every and share stories!

[casofilia]

I would normally make a point of NOT having a sign up sheet just on the Roll Call but have people email me with their intention to attend. Then I can personalise name tags and information. It has worked well and the attendance has been proportionally high. Open slather means you just add your name whether you really intend to attend or not.

 

NCL makes sticky labels available if you ask for them. Keep the person on board informed of number changes right up to the time you board. make a real attempt to keep in touch with him/her, a very good source if information/help about/for anything on the cruise.

 

If the numbers are small ask for a small room/restaurant rather than anything too large.

 

As it is a Meet & Greet have some form of game prepared to get people out of their chairs to do just that, a small prize helps!! If you have a question time with the officers have a "semi-patsy" question or two to get things started. But tell people that contentious questions should be raised outside the M&G with the person concerned. You want the officers to feel "at home" not cornered.

[EllieinNJ]

What is a VTG Singles Group?

It is a travel agency - vacay to take away. We cannot say the real name. They are hosting a large single group on this cruise.

[peanutbutterjelly]

I am currently organizing the Meet and Mingle on the Escape June 3rd sailing....currently about 73 signed up. I have been in contact with NCL Events and have been updating them on the numbers if it grow significantly (10+). They request a final head count two weeks prior to sailing. They also gave the thumbs up on sticky name tags versus the ones you can print out on the Meet and Mingle link. We have one attendee (RobinSie) who has graciously stepped up and will organize our groups Slot Pull, and after that, we are off to a Cabin Crawl. I just know we are going to have a good time....I get that vibe from those who are signing up:cool:

I'm trying to organize a meet and greet and have emailed groupeventgetaway@ncl.com twice and have gotten no response. Can someone help direct me what to do next?

[ColinIllinois]

I'm trying to organize a meet and greet and have emailed groupeventgetaway@ncl.com twice and have gotten no response. Can someone help direct me what to do next?

 

 

Look under "contact us" on NCL.com and see if there is a phone number that might be helpful?

[casofilia]

Try specialeventsgetaway@ncl.com

[Beer Belly]

GroupEventGetaway@ncl.com. Simply replace Getaway with your ship name (Dawn, Gem, Jewel, etc).

[newmexicoNita]

Try specialeventsgetaway@ncl.com

yes, that might work, plus I noticed the email address that was used didn't have an s at the end of event; I think it is groupevents or specialevents.

[Beer Belly]

SpecialeventsEscape@NCL.com is how I contacted them