Meet and Greet

[kskelley40]

Is there a thread on how to organize a meet & greet, cabin crawl, slot pull, etc.?

 

There are a lot of threads concerning these....I would search specific key words. That is what I did when I first started organizing.

But if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I will be glad to help. I enjoy organizing them and have learned what to do and what not to do. Of course, I am always open to suggestions and tips too!

[NLH Arizona]

Is there a thread on how to organize a meet & greet, cabin crawl, slot pull, etc.?

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1300907

[don't-use-real-name]

There are a lot of threads concerning these....I would search specific key words. That is what I did when I first started organizing.

But if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I will be glad to help. I enjoy organizing them and have learned what to do and what not to do. Of course, I am always open to suggestions and tips too!

 

In your experience is there a threshold or minimum number of guests to entertain a M & G party ?

I know that having more crew members than guests can be embarrassing - but you will have the undivided

attention of that crew getting your answers and won't be forgotten for the duration of the cruise.

If attendance would be insufficient for a M & G then nothing would preclude having a private gathering i.e.

sail away party simply a matter of polling those Roll Call CC guests of any interest and a meeting time & location.

 

The usual M & G party when held the first sea day (2nd cruise day) is ideal timing -BUT - what if the first

sea day occurs later in the cruise. M & G parties would have a hard time bumping Port days with excursions.

 

The first one of my next two cruises fall into this category - the first leg the SEA Day falls late in the cruise.

In the second leg the M & G would be fine except for a barely minimum participation at this point in time.

 

I have hosted one M & G with 40 potential guests and 24 in attendance.

I have assisted on two others with much better participation; loads of fun and casino slot pull winners !

 

NCL does a fine job of offering a location refreshments and having crew participation for questions and answers !

[casofilia]

I do not consider approaching NCL or Princess till I have had 25 people email me with their details. Then I believe there will be enough attendees to make a M&G worthwhile.

 

I, personally, don't like the M&G to be on the first day as setting up the things I want to achieve is too rushed. 2nd sea day is my preference even if it is later in the cruise especially in a longer cruise.

 

I have attempted one in an afternoon of a port day when departure was 2pm; the M&G was at 3pm. Unfortunately there was a real foul up with tendering and I didn't make it till half way through!!!!! The others there made it work really well!!

[kskelley40]

In your experience is there a threshold or minimum number of guests to entertain a M & G party ?

I know that having more crew members than guests can be embarrassing - but you will have the undivided

attention of that crew getting your answers and won't be forgotten for the duration of the cruise.

If attendance would be insufficient for a M & G then nothing would preclude having a private gathering i.e.

sail away party simply a matter of polling those Roll Call CC guests of any interest and a meeting time & location.

 

The usual M & G party when held the first sea day (2nd cruise day) is ideal timing -BUT - what if the first

sea day occurs later in the cruise. M & G parties would have a hard time bumping Port days with excursions.

 

The first one of my next two cruises fall into this category - the first leg the SEA Day falls late in the cruise.

In the second leg the M & G would be fine except for a barely minimum participation at this point in time.

 

I have hosted one M & G with 40 potential guests and 24 in attendance.

I have assisted on two others with much better participation; loads of fun and casino slot pull winners !

 

NCL does a fine job of offering a location refreshments and having crew participation for questions and answers !

 

I won't hold one unless I have 25 or more people sign up. Granted, not all of them will show, but you really have no control over that and NCL understands this. All of the M&Gs that I have organized we generally have a 50% turnout so I kind of plan for that.

 

I definitely prefer the 1st sea day and for all but one of my cruises it has been the 2nd day of the cruise. Our last cruise was only a 7 day trip and the first sea day was the third day. Key West was the first day. On a shorter trip, like a 7 day, it really doesn't serve a purpose to have it any later in the cruise than the by the 3rd day.

 

However, on longer trips, having it later wouldn't be terrible. I have heard that some people actually hold 2 M&Gs on 14 days or longer cruises. One early in the cruise and another one towards the end. I personally haven't done one with 2 M&Gs and not sure that I would, but it is a thought.

[pdmartyn65]

I organized my first meet and greet on our transatlantic in 2016. We were 14 days on the ship and we started with 2 port days(out of 5). NCL originally wanted to book it for the 2nd sea day, which was after our 3rd port but I was able to convince my contact to allow it on the 1st. I was really pleased with attendance. Out of about 160 who said they would attend, 125 did!

 

I am currently working on the M&G for our upcoming Transatlantic and Southern Caribbean cruises. I don’t try to do everything myself. Someone else is organizing our cabin crawl and our slot pull, and a few other events.

 

I find it easier to create a google spreadsheet to keep track of everyone and all events. Much better than trying to keep track via the forums. There is a link to my current ones in my signature. Anyone can see it, but only those who I allow can edit it. All it takes is a google account. I am always open to suggestions for more events, and changing format in the spreadsheet if someone has a better idea on how to present the data.

 

I like the idea of the poker run, but was thinking of combining it with a pub crawl instead, but maybe it would be easier with the cabin crawl. Will have to think about it.

 

Paul.

 

 

 

 

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[kskelley40]

I organized my first meet and greet on our transatlantic in 2016. We were 14 days on the ship and we started with 2 port days(out of 5). NCL originally wanted to book it for the 2nd sea day, which was after our 3rd port but I was able to convince my contact to allow it on the 1st. I was really pleased with attendance. Out of about 160 who said they would attend, 125 did!

 

I am currently working on the M&G for our upcoming Transatlantic and Southern Caribbean cruises. I don’t try to do everything myself. Someone else is organizing our cabin crawl and our slot pull, and a few other events.

 

I find it easier to create a google spreadsheet to keep track of everyone and all events. Much better than trying to keep track via the forums. There is a link to my current ones in my signature. Anyone can see it, but only those who I allow can edit it. All it takes is a google account. I am always open to suggestions for more events, and changing format in the spreadsheet if someone has a better idea on how to present the data.

 

I like the idea of the poker run, but was thinking of combining it with a pub crawl instead, but maybe it would be easier with the cabin crawl. Will have to think about it.

 

Paul.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I tried doing the poker run with a pub crawl. It was fun, not a lot of turn out though. I only did it with the pub crawl because I did not do a cabin crawl. We were on the Oasis (RCCL) and it is huge. I didn't even want to try to do a cabin crawl on such a large ship.

 

 

But it worked out with the number we had. Only about 8 people showed up. We did it after our San Juan port which had a 2pm sail away. We started at the top of the ship so we could see the ship pulling out and worked our way down. We ended up at the casino bar and did the poker run there. At each bar, I handed out the cards.

 

I think a lot of people forget about activities later in the cruise. I try to get cabin numbers and drop off reminders but not a lot of people want to give out their cabin numbers. I do print up reminders sheets and pass them out at the M&G though.

 

 

I might try a pub crawl again on our next one....NCL Star. But this is a 14 day Panama full transit one in January and the last time we did a longer cruise in January I think we were probably some of the youngest passengers (and we are in our 50's) so not sure how many would be up to a pub crawl.

 

 

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. If it is a really long cruise...you could do both.

[Tango99]

Interestingly, at our meet and greet in 2015 on the Pearl on the Alaskan itinerary, the hotel director and food and beverage manager asked our group to attend a second meeting near the end of the cruise to talk about our experiences. I was impressed that they wanted the feedback.

 

 

 

Yes. NCL do that and it’s also a great way to say Thank You to the ships exec. It’s really a shame that those with gripes generally have them resolved but still go on and on about them wherever they can. I felt bad for the crew as the menu options had changed. They were blasted as people jumped on the bandwagon as lobster wasn’t available. Fair enough there can be difficult situations but some folks are just miserable to be around. The NCL staff handled the situation beautifully. Very professional.

 

 

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[Tango99]

In your experience is there a threshold or minimum number of guests to entertain a M & G party ?

 

I know that having more crew members than guests can be embarrassing - but you will have the undivided

 

attention of that crew getting your answers and won't be forgotten for the duration of the cruise.

 

If attendance would be insufficient for a M & G then nothing would preclude having a private gathering i.e.

 

sail away party simply a matter of polling those Roll Call CC guests of any interest and a meeting time & location.

 

 

 

The usual M & G party when held the first sea day (2nd cruise day) is ideal timing -BUT - what if the first

 

sea day occurs later in the cruise. M & G parties would have a hard time bumping Port days with excursions.

 

 

 

The first one of my next two cruises fall into this category - the first leg the SEA Day falls late in the cruise.

 

In the second leg the M & G would be fine except for a barely minimum participation at this point in time.

 

 

 

I have hosted one M & G with 40 potential guests and 24 in attendance.

 

I have assisted on two others with much better participation; loads of fun and casino slot pull winners !

 

 

 

NCL does a fine job of offering a location refreshments and having crew participation for questions and answers !

 

 

 

On a TA we had over 175 so the M&G was in the lounge. And many activities had to take place over more than one day so we didn’t take over the venues! I’ve organized a few but not this one. The folks were all amazing. In Feb we had a nice bunch of about 30. We did a slot pull, gift exchange and had the crew in to introduce themselves. NCL are amazing hosts and provided juices, NA punch, tea/coffee, sandwiches, along with cheese, veggie and fruit platters.

 

 

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[Medtech2]

I have run one with over 150 in attendance and one with 8....

 

The problem I have found the last couple cruises has been the Platinum BTS tour has been scheduled at the same time as the M & G! I have yet to make that tour, but our Roll Call is so small on my Sun cruise in September if I have to choose I’ll choose the tour. I’m not the one who started the Roll Call so I won’t be in charge.