NCL Meet and Greet

[coldweather]

What does NCL provide at a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet?

 

Last year I was on Royal Caribbean and they provide snacks but also had door prize drawings for some good prizes.

 

I think some of the officers stopped by but the prizes were the draw.

 

thanks.

[www3traveler]

Norwegian provides a place to meet (late morning of the 1st Sea Day) and brunch type items are served. Senior Hotel management staff attend and once in awhile the Captain.

 

Door prizes are up the the guest person who arranged the Meet and Greet. The Meet and Greet usually lasts about an hour.

[josephmz]

Don't know when you are cruising, but you can log onto roll calls at top of this page to see if one has been set up.

[fabnfortysomething]

room and snacks provided as well as about 10 senior personnel

 

however as co Ordinator of meet and greet on several there has been 2 occasions where NCL have changed venue and time-when they bring it forward almost impossible to communicate with roll callers!

[Staci0615]

room and snacks provided as well as about 10 senior personnel

 

however as co Ordinator of meet and greet on several there has been 2 occasions where NCL have changed venue and time-when they bring it forward almost impossible to communicate with roll callers!

 

 

That's why its a good idea to get cabin numbers in advance...

[fabnfortysomething]

That's why its a good idea to get cabin numbers in advance...

 

as I have learned

however on an anonymous forume such as cruise critic can be difficult to get people to provide such info

[casofilia]

however as co Ordinator of meet and greet on several there has been 2 occasions where NCL have changed venue and time-when they bring it forward almost impossible to communicate with roll callers!

 

 

Don't have a general sign up but keep a PRIVATE spreadsheet of those who communicate with you personally who want to attend. In that case everyone will provide the information that will allow you to communicate with them on the ship.

 

NCL are very good with the spread of food and drink they provide; nothing elaborate just a "morning tea" sort of spread. They will try to make sure the room is the size you want based on the number of people who you THINK will attend; better chance of a good guess using the above method. The HD is often the "officer in charge", sometimes the CD; about 8 officers will show up. BUT give them a named invitation. Have never seen a captain but still invite him.

 

Officers usually stay about 20 minutes as they, invariably, have another function or two to attend.

 

Personally I prefer NOT to have the M&G on the day after embarkation if at all possible and logical as there is always plenty of work to do to get set up.

[Donna Violanti]

Is there a meet and greet set up for the NCL

Norwegian Breakaway Aug 18-25

[KeithJenner]

3 minutes ago, Donna Violanti said:

Is there a meet and greet set up for the NCL

Norwegian Breakaway Aug 18-25

 

[newmexicoNita]

On 8/24/2018 at 1:31 PM, coldweather said:

What does NCL provide at a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet?

 

Last year I was on Royal Caribbean and they provide snacks but also had door prize drawings for some good prizes.

 

I think some of the officers stopped by but the prizes were the draw.

 

thanks.

They provide very nice morning snacks, but no door prizes. they do have 1 officer from dept attend and they will answer questions. We are very impressed with what NCL does. Too bad, it appears M&Gs are becoming smaller and smaller. 

[Birdie And Sue]

13 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

They provide very nice morning snacks, but no door prizes. they do have 1 officer from dept attend and they will answer questions. We are very impressed with what NCL does. Too bad, it appears M&Gs are becoming smaller and smaller. 

  The last two I ran were not close to small.  One had almost 200 attend and the other had over 350.  at least 10 officers have attended as well at every M/G I have run.  We are already at about 100 for my upcoming December cruise.

[kitty-sail]

Attended a M&G on the Escape a year ago. There were over 200 people attending. Too difficult to coordinate with that large a crowd. Could barely hear the people speaking.

I enjoyed the last M&G which I hosted 4 months ago on Dawn. Had about 25 people and we really got to talk and meet with everyone. Alain (Hotel Director) gave a very good presentation on some of the new ships coming out and we asked all kinds of questions. NCL put out a very nice brunch with coffee, juice, buns and muffins. Smaller groups are much better than large groups found on the mega ships.

[phissy]

31 minutes ago, kitty-sail said:

Attended a M&G on the Escape a year ago. There were over 200 people attending. Too difficult to coordinate with that large a crowd. Could barely hear the people speaking.

I enjoyed the last M&G which I hosted 4 months ago on Dawn. Had about 25 people and we really got to talk and meet with everyone. Alain (Hotel Director) gave a very good presentation on some of the new ships coming out and we asked all kinds of questions. NCL put out a very nice brunch with coffee, juice, buns and muffins. Smaller groups are much better than large groups found on the mega ships.

My experience on M&G’s is slightly different . Recently, NCL has moved beyond the late morning juice, coffee, cookies and muffins. This was on breakaway class ship.

We had what I would characterize as cocktail party. Assortment of drinks offered, canapés and cheeses. Held at noon, first day at sea. Waiter passed appetizers on trays which are like the ones from the Haven. Very nice and elevated experience for this cruise line. Depends on HD and ship.

[Birdie And Sue]

2 hours ago, kitty-sail said:

Attended a M&G on the Escape a year ago. There were over 200 people attending. Too difficult to coordinate with that large a crowd. Could barely hear the people speaking.

I enjoyed the last M&G which I hosted 4 months ago on Dawn. Had about 25 people and we really got to talk and meet with everyone. Alain (Hotel Director) gave a very good presentation on some of the new ships coming out and we asked all kinds of questions. NCL put out a very nice brunch with coffee, juice, buns and muffins. Smaller groups are much better than large groups found on the mega ships.

 

 

Our 350 person M&G was exceptional.  One of the best I have been a participant in.  NCL provided a microphone and it was very well organized.  Lots of fun and everyone had a blast at the gift exchange.  I guess it is all what you make of it!

[esm54687]

15 minutes ago, Birdie And Sue said:

 

 

Our 350 person M&G was exceptional.  One of the best I have been a participant in.  NCL provided a microphone and it was very well organized.  Lots of fun and everyone had a blast at the gift exchange.  I guess it is all what you make of it!

and to add..... no matter the effort of the coordinator it still comes down to those signing up to actually attend, to be engaged and not just sit with your friends / family (it's a Meet & Greet people!), to ask the officers some fun and engaging questions.... NOT "why no more lobster?" or "why isn't water part of the PBP?".... volunteer in the Roll Call to lead Cabin Crawls, Slot Pulls, etc..... and remember it's a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet so be engaged in the Roll Call here.

 

Remember, the coordinator is 100% volunteering so help out. They aren't receiving anything from NCL to set these up. (maybe in the past some were given suite perks but that is in the past) 

Edited July 31, 2019 by esm54687

[Capitan Obvious]

11 hours ago, Birdie And Sue said:

  The last two I ran were not close to small.  One had almost 200 attend and the other had over 350.  at least 10 officers have attended as well at every M/G I have run.  We are already at about 100 for my upcoming December cruise.

 

Really? I see that you've only been on Cruise Critic since April 20th...barely over 3 months. You would not be able to post to a Roll Call without being a CC member, so am I to understand that in the 100 days that you've been on CC, that you have not only taken two cruises, but also had enough time to participate in roll calls that drew 200 and 350+ participants?

 

I don't see posts in your history that support this claim...😏

[josephmz]

I have done a couplel M&G. I always set up a dummy e-mail account for people to register for event. You can't rely on the roll call to get an accurate head count.

 

I ask attendees to give names, cc screen name and state of residence, not on roll call. I then create name badges for the event. I usually spend about $50.00 out of pocket for door prizes, printed tees, mugs, etc. I also send e-mail invitations with time, place & events.

 

The ones that I have done have been well supported by NCL. Last one on Escape they served beer samples and hot appertizers.

 

 

 

[Ticatraveler]

We were on the Breakaway in June, family of four. We attended the M&G on the first sea day,  NCL had a nice set up of coffee, tea and pastries. Several officers were available to answer questions and afterwards we had a cabin crawl. 

What impressed us the most was the officers offered to set up a second M&G at the end of the cruise to hear the pros and cons of our cruise days. Unfortunately, only three families showed up to this. NCL had the same nice set up as before and this meeting was announced at the initial M&G and reminders send to the cabins. 

[newmexicoNita]

16 hours ago, Birdie And Sue said:

  The last two I ran were not close to small.  One had almost 200 attend and the other had over 350.  at least 10 officers have attended as well at every M/G I have run.  We are already at about 100 for my upcoming December cruise.

Our last one was also very large, but not 200 for sure. it was a 10 day cruise and it seems like the longer cruises get a better turn out. The last one I headed up there were about 30 or 35. That was about a year ago, but the one before that was only about 20 and several have posted here recently that their M&G are not well attended like they were a couple of more years ago.

[newmexicoNita]

5 hours ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

Really? I see that you've only been on Cruise Critic since April 20th...barely over 3 months. You would not be able to post to a Roll Call without being a CC member, so am I to understand that in the 100 days that you've been on CC, that you have not only taken two cruises, but also had enough time to participate in roll calls that drew 200 and 350+ participants?

 

I don't see posts in your history that support this claim...😏

Good observation. 

[mking8288]

Hmmm, impressive - that would rank among CC's top 10 most well attended M&G on a given NCL ship with 200+ participants, let alone one with 350+ and I wonder which mega/+ ship this was ?  Bravo, let's hear more about the success story, shall we 👴  - confused whether they're the organizer or participant, or perhaps assisting as part of the team.  

 

On ours last Fall, we had probably close to 200, including a "sub-group" that indirectly signed up, actual headcount was around 150 but it jammed up the District Brew House for sure, nearly impossible for folks to really mingle & connect.  Participating & attendance seemed to be higher on longer cruises or sailing, with more sea days - our last 14 nights was a good one with 150+ (Hi, Arzeena ...who ran it brilliantly) and it was a great team effort, despite a failed hijacking effort.  

 

Sometimes, it's just as wonderful to sit back, coach others, relax, participate and show up to connect names, faces & screen handles - and, say hi to the senior officers on deck.  Some of the best ones were on smaller ships with 25, 30 to 40 people as it is much easier to walk around & mingle - without the extras like door prizes, gift exchanges or even a slot pull (although it's fun.)  

[Hrhbob]

Birdie and Sue......is that the Dec 1 Joy to MX cruise?

[kitty-sail]

19 hours ago, phissy said:

My experience on M&G’s is slightly different . Recently, NCL has moved beyond the late morning juice, coffee, cookies and muffins. This was on breakaway class ship.

We had what I would characterize as cocktail party. Assortment of drinks offered, canapés and cheeses. Held at noon, first day at sea. Waiter passed appetizers on trays which are like the ones from the Haven. Very nice and elevated experience for this cruise line. Depends on HD and ship.

 

I think the problem with the M&G on the Escape was the room. It was in the Brew House. Wood floors in an L-shaped room broken into sections (bar, tables & lounge) instead of one large open room.  The acoustics was poor & hard to talk above the noise. I was 10 ft from speaker and had trouble hearing. People sitting at the tables had to come around a divider to hear the speeches.

 

NCL did a great job, they had entertainment and gave out free samples of flavored beer (I don't drink beer), plus trays of hot appetizers & shrimp.

Glad that you had a great M&G.

 

 

[Andrea n steven]

On 7/29/2019 at 8:04 PM, Donna Violanti said:

Is there a meet and greet set up for the NCL

Norwegian Breakaway Aug 18-25

It’s in the roll call for that sail date. We are in it also 😉

[JuneauMe]

23 hours ago, josephmz said:

The ones that I have done have been well supported by NCL. Last one on Escape they served beer samples and hot appertizers.

 

 

 

I was on that cruise with you and you did an awsome job setting up the M&G