Meet and Mingle

[Annarundel]

I just returned home from my 14 day cruise of the Mediterranean (Athens to Rome).  Since once I was on board I found out it was really two 7 days cruises I was able to sign up for two Meet and Mingles.

 

My husband and I really enjoy the Meet and Mingles.  You not only get to meet other passengers that you have interacted with on Cruise Critic but you also get to meet the officers on your ship and have one on one conversations with them.  I mean the first week Meet and Mingle the Captain and his wife where there as well as all the other Officers.  The Viking Jupiter crew did an amazing job there were all kinds of drinks both alcohol and non alcohol and amazing appetizers.  The sad thing is that even though 20 to 30 people signed up for the Meet  and Mingle there was only about 8 of us there.  The second week the same thing happened.  They had expected 25 people and again only a handful showed up.  What a waste of the Officers time and food and drink that the Viking Jupiter crew prepared for us.  

 

Please if you sign up for the Meet and Mingle please attend or if there is a conflict with your schedule please let Customer Service on board the ship know you can not attend.  I am afraid if this keeps happening Viking with stop hosting these Meet and Mingles and we all will lose out on a great opportunity of meeting fellow cruisers and the Officers of the cruise you are on. 

[molymoo]

I have been on 4 VO cruises and signed up for all of the M&M's.  Missed three of the four.  There were schedule conflicts for the first two and the third either was never held or my invitation "got lost in the mail".  As these invitations generally come early in the cruise, I did go to guest services and asked if there was going to be an M&M.  the crew member there had no idea what I was talking about.  

 

You are correct, I finally attended the one on our last cruise and it was nice ... although the willingness of the group to engage makes a difference.  

[ArizonaGal]

Annarundel - How rude, yes I mean rude, of people to sign up and NOT attend their M&M.  What if you had, let's say a dinner party at your house, and received XXX number of people that RSVP'd 'yes" and only a few showed up?  What a waste of time, money and energy putting your event together.  Things happen in people's life on a daily basis, but a phone call to say you can no longer attend is proper etiquette - which is sadly missing in our society today 

 

I'm looking forward to meeting the Viking 'ocean' staff on our cruise and also fellow cruisers.

 

Thanks for posting this!!

[ArizonaGal]

Mollymoo - I have heard of folks not getting their 'formal' invitations in an email - but for Guest Services not having a clue about the M&M is not good.  If we run into that I will seek an answer elsewhere.

[Annarundel]

We have always gotten our "formal" invitation to the Meet and Mingle while on the ship.  In the evenings when we received our Viking Daily we would also have a very nice formal invitation waiting for us.

[Pushka]

There have been recent issues reported here about the dates being incorrect and others never receiving the invite. On one cruise on Celebrity we never received it.  Sometimes the times are just ridiculous (one of our Celebrity ones was during the embarkation sailway out of Barcelona in an inside bar) and we didn’t even have the time to queue up at Guest services to say we couldn’t attend due to them sorting out other issues. I’m sure people aren’t deliberately being rude but other factors are at play. 

Edited March 3, 2019 by Pushka

[Buglady777]

I had friends just show up for the M&M, and all are welcomed it seemed.  On our VO to the Amazon last year there must have been 50 people, and all mingled, little sitting. Viking did a great job, and I encourage people to get the word out to sign up AND show up. So fun!

[Australia08]

We were really looking forward to our meet and mingle on our recent Cultural  Cuba cruise, however, we received our invitation the evening after the meet and mingle occurred. We don’t know if it was the fault of our room steward in the invitation delivery or what but the invitation was late. We also felt it was strange that our meet and mingle was scheduled for 9:30 am. Not exactly the time for cocktails!  We carefully examined this late invitation because it seemed so strange. Even talked with Viking personnel who were apologetic about the late invitation. Don’t automatically assume that people are ignoring their invitation. We didn’t receive ours in time and were very disappointed. 

[Annarundel]

WOW!  Australia08, I agree, what a weird time to have a Meet and Mingle!  I am now curious as to who makes the arrangements for the Meet and Mingles.  Thanks for letting me know this.  I won't be as quick to judge the next time.  Like BugLady777 I have always encouraged people to join Cruise Critic to enroll in the Meet and Mingles or I tell them when the Meet and Mingle is and to just show up.  I have done three Meet and Mingles' and they have all been very positive experiences.

[CCWineLover]

On 3/3/2019 at 11:16 AM, Annarundel said:

We have always gotten our "formal" invitation to the Meet and Mingle while on the ship.  In the evenings when we received our Viking Daily we would also have a very nice formal invitation waiting for us.

 

We did our first ever Meet & Mingle on our recent Viking Sea cruise.  Fortunately just about everyone showed up to the Wintergarden, but more sitting than mingling 🙂  

As far as notification, we never received any when we boarded and there was nothing ever in any of the Viking Dailys.  Since I had heard it often occurs on the first or second night at sea, I asked our room steward to keep an eye and also asked the Viking Cruise desk.  The invite then appeared on the day of the M&M in our stateroom.  Most everyone else received it when they boarded.  I would assume that things happen when there are several invites where invitations sometimes get missed, so just make sure to keep on top of it, and keep asking.  Slipups do happen! 

Oh - and it was quite well worth it!  We had excellent sparkling, red&white wines, and appetizers along with the chance to meet and talk with the Cruise Director, some staff, and about 5 of the officers, which we weren't expecting!  What a treat.

[irishwitchy]

I have actually suggested a few times that would work to the cruise line and they have worked to meet that.  Mind you it is easier if you have a sea day or two into the cruise.   

[jkw99]

How do you sign up for a meet and mingle?  We will be on Viking Sky leaving March 27

 

[Annarundel]

Go to the Viking Ocean Board and there is a place at the top that says Meet and Mingle with the Viking Logo.  Click on that and it will take you to the Meet and Mingle page.  There you just locate your ship and go from there.  Hope that helps.  Have a great cruise.