Wanting to go in well-prepared...

[Triptkr]

Does anyone know of a way to know in advance whether the cruise you are booking is also a cruise that will be largely occupied by particlular clubs or associated groups of people?   Sometimes there will be dental conventions on certain cruises or class reunions, etc.  I just ask because I remember reading not long ago of a very large group of people that boarded a ship and ended up wreaking havoc on board...not sure if it was a bachelor's party or what.   We also recently had an experience while in a very popular beach town that made me wish I could have known ahead of time when booking that there would be a motorcycle rally in town.  Unfortunately it ended up altering our experience in a negative way.   I've already asked the cruise company I booked through and they told me that there is no way for them to tell me the answer to my question.   Seems like something they should know...

[mom says]

Just because a cruise line has booked a large group doesn't mean the person in the call center who answers your call either knows about it or has access to the information. Try Googling conventions or large group bookings for your specific sailing and see if anything pops.

Edited June 4, 2019 by mom says

[George C]

Could ask on the roll call for that cruise, someone might have info. 

[Kartgv]

Google search by entering your cruise ship name and sail date.    Often you'll see topics crop up that are advertising or announcements by a group or travel agency that has booked rooms on that sailing.    Just because nothing shows won't guarantee that there will be none, but most large groups will appear when you do this search.    The small groups probably wouldn't impact your cruise at all.    

[cb at sea]

There are groups on EVERY sailing on every ship.  99% of the time, you will never know a 'group" is part of the passenger mix.  Especially corporate groups.....these folks are getting a vacation for free....they pretty much do what you would do on vacation!  Sometimes, there are other groups who tend to stick together, but  they won't affect you and your good time.  

 

Cruiselines do NOT publicize if there is a "disruptive" group aboard...ever.

 

[Elaine5715]

I was on a Halloween cruise with over 900 members of a Singles group.  Other than them wearing name necklaces to identify each other, they weren't noticeable.  They did reserve areas for their activities but it only during unused times. 

[Aplmac]

3 hours ago, George C said:

Could ask on the roll call for that cruise, someone might have info. 

.

And bring up the subject of your concern, for that particular sailing.

Others might be concerned too?

[TonyB17]

I was on the Carnival "cruise from hell" a few years ago.  There are a few threads about it.  On the one hand, it would have been nice to know before hand that there was going to be a large group on board.  On the other hand, there was nothing about the name of the group that would have sent the message, "don't go on this cruise."  Without hijacking further, I didn't find the group anywhere near as disruptive as some did. 

 

Googling sounds like good advice. . .
 

[Triptkr]

1 minute ago, TonyB17 said:

I was on the Carnival "cruise from hell" a few years ago.  There are a few threads about it.  On the one hand, it would have been nice to know before hand that there was going to be a large group on board.  On the other hand, there was nothing about the name of the group that would have sent the message, "don't go on this cruise."  Without hijacking further, I didn't find the group anywhere near as disruptive as some did. 

 

Googling sounds like good advice. . .
 

That's the cruise I was referring to...

I did do a Google search and didn't find anything so am not going to be concerned about it.  And as others have mentioned before I'm sure there's plenty of 'groups' on every cruise that I have no clue about.  Thanks for your reply and glad that cruise didn't totally ruin your time onboard. :)  

[aring75]

This link will also give you an idea of some of the scheduled charters. By no means does it list them all, but that site does keep track of large scale charters they know about. The ones listed are for full-ship charters and charters that will fill a large portion of the ship (I believe).

[NurseDave]

8 minutes ago, aring75 said:

This link will also give you an idea of some of the scheduled charters. By no means does it list them all, but that site does keep track of large scale charters they know about. The ones listed are for full-ship charters and charters that will fill a large portion of the ship (I believe).

Wow, was curious about a few of them and didn't know what one of the symbols meant.  Well....now I know...

[Triptkr]

10 minutes ago, aring75 said:

This link will also give you an idea of some of the scheduled charters. By no means does it list them all, but that site does keep track of large scale charters they know about. The ones listed are for full-ship charters and charters that will fill a large portion of the ship (I believe).

aring75 -- thanks so much!  I knew there had to be something out there!  

[aring75]

4 minutes ago, Triptkr said:

aring75 -- thanks so much!  I knew there had to be something out there!  

 

You're welcome. I'm sure I originally got this information from someone else on Cruise Critic, so I'm just paying it forward. 😊

[MicCanberra]

I am not sure any charter would put me off my cruise but then who knows, there may be a first.

[George C]

On recent cruise we had a cool rather large group of first responders, police, fire fighters etc , had fun playing poker with them. Never had a problem with any in 60 plus cruises. 

[ducklite]

Some groups of 150 you wouldn't even know are there or part of a group.  Others might be only 10 people and be continually disruptive. 

I think people also need to determine what is actually disruptive.  I'd find a family with a four screaming kids far more disruptive than 10 bikers napping in the sun on pool loungers in leather vests and doo rags.

[MicCanberra]

We did an cruise out of Hong Kong and there were many (at least 10) groups of around 30-40 Chinese going around the ship following a guide. Yes we saw them when they moved from one area (function to function) to another but otherwise you never saw them in the lounges or bars that we were in and didn't notice any of the bars or such being closed due to private functions. This was most likely due to them using the conference rooms and such.