Meet & Greet

[CozGurl]

Am I the only one that finds Meet & Greets a snoozefest? I've only been to one but there was nothing about it that made me ever want to go to another. What is it some of you like about them?

[Beer Belly]

I just like meeting new people, after a few minutes, you may find the conversation enjoyable.

[casofilia]

It all depends on what you expect and, more importantly, who had made the arrangements and what they had arranged.   Something needs to be arranged to get people off their bottoms and talking.

[ppcox]

The first one I went to was on the Getaway and it was fun. It depends on how much time and effort the organisers put in , we had a gift exchange a slot pull and a cabin crawl. 

[tokidoki]

felt that way, till last  time on the Escape, when various heads of depts introduced themselves and really were interested in our particular needs.   Since we order special meals, boy did we ever have an issue and twice the food/beverage manager gave us personal service by coming to our aid, so I feel a M&G is definitely in our future😃

[valleyvillage]

Last one on the Star was terrific. LON Q and A session, snacks, nice people and a follow-up meeting on the next-to-last day of the cruise. Well worth it!

[hallux]

10 minutes ago, tokidoki said:

when various heads of depts introduced themselves and really were interested in our particular needs

This happened on my cruise on the Bliss.  I thought it was great for them to make an appearance, chat some with the group and provide their direct numbers on the ship in case we had a problem.  Along with the small assortment of finger foods served and the conversation with other cruisers, it was nicely done.  Reading the RCI board, NCL embraces the CC groups MUCH more than some other lines, practically rolling out the red carpet in comparison.

[casofilia]

A personal written invitation to each Officer (about 8-10) works wonders.   I have even had the Captain turn up so always do a special personal invitation to him.

 

The card that NCL provides is a real godsend.   If you have a problem use the number on there to call directly, don't go through Guest Services, state how you got the number, state your problem.  BE SURPRISED at what happens.

[CazV]

I cruise solo so I see it as an opportunity to meet people. I've only been on three cruises at this point. On my first cruise there wasn't one... next cruise was Escape and the M&G was a lot of fun and I chatted to lots of people and also met a few officers... next was Royal Caribbean and I was not impressed by what was laid on in comparison to the Escape, but it was still nice catching up with people I'd been chatting to online pre-cruise. 

Edited July 5, 2019 by CazV

[mugtech]

Generally speaking NCL M&M is better supported by the ship's crew and more useful than on RCI.  I have the most success meeting new people at trivia.

[CazV]

45 minutes ago, mugtech said:

  I have the most success meeting new people at trivia.

 

I'm so bad at trivia nobody would want me on their team haha 

[esm54687]

3 hours ago, ppcox said:

The first one I went to was on the Getaway and it was fun. It depends on how much time and effort the organisers put in , we had a gift exchange a slot pull and a cabin crawl. 

actually this is why a lot of them suck!! The organizer is not the one solely responsible to engage people.  Get up from your table and say hi.... instead of passively expecting to be catered to, take charge and volunteer to lead something..... show up with interesting questions for the officers who stop by instead of hearing crickets....  participate in the Roll Call so there's a base of friendships, etc. 

 

As the "organizer" of a couple M&Gs..... I have retired because of the ton of work done and the lack of participation...... 

[INDIANA JOE]

3 hours ago, casofilia said:

It all depends on what you expect and, more importantly, who had made the arrangements and what they had arranged.   Something needs to be arranged to get people off their bottoms and talking.

 

This is so true. The attendees have to put forth some effort at these gatherings too. The organizers can't do it all.

We have enjoyed gift exchanges, group slot pulls, cabin crawls and meal get togethers resulting from particpating

during rollcalls and M & G attendance.

[Birdie And Sue]

17 hours ago, CozGurl said:

Am I the only one that finds Meet & Greets a snoozefest? I've only been to one but there was nothing about it that made me ever want to go to another. What is it some of you like about them?

 

VERY simple solution, don't go!

[Meekofigaro]

It’s what you make of it! I’ve organized a few and always had great roll calls with Cruise critic and most are on another site chatting as well as we lead up. 

My latest one past Oct on the Bliss someone created a logo we all bought bags, t shirts etc for it. 

Someone bought bracelets that glowed with out tag on one it and gave them out. We did a gift exchange, cabin crawl and a big pub crawl.  A lot of us still are in contact and hung out through the cruise. 

 

[FredZiffle]

18 hours ago, CozGurl said:

Am I the only one that finds Meet & Greets a snoozefest? I've only been to one but there was nothing about it that made me ever want to go to another. What is it some of you like about them?

 

You just caught a bad one.  I've been to several where it was quite obvious that the organizer only volunteered in order to get the VIP status on board and put zero effort into it.  Fortunately the good ones outnumber those few bad ones.  

[mking8288]

15 hours ago, INDIANA JOE said:

... The attendees have to put forth some effort at these gatherings too. The organizers can't do it all.  We have enjoyed gift exchanges, group slot pulls, cabin crawls and meal get togethers resulting from particpating

during rollcalls and M & G attendance.

 

This !!!  We've been to a good # of Meet & Mingle, part of the success is that folks come a little early, walk around & chat, say hello ... connect names, faces with CC screen handles, and hometown, exchange stories, etc. instead of sitting around waiting.  NCL does value, recognize & appreciate the presence of CC onboard, for better & worst, and wanted to do their best to make it a success, providing the space & refreshment, and, at least a half dozen senior officers on the sailing.  

 

I've ran it on the mega-ship and recently on the smaller Dawn, attendance can and do vary, seasonally & the length of sailing/available sea days can tilt the signing up.  Sometimes, it helped to do sailaway gathering or even embarkation lunch as it is another way for solo cruisers to meet & plan/share & find semi-strangers to share their Platinum meals (yulp ...) 

 

If there is a large group, it's usually impossible for the organizer/leader to do it all - ask for help & get help from others signed up.  On an extended sailing, we turned a slot pull with about 40 or 50 players into 3 rounds of fun, spread out to 2 additional sea days.  Several volunteered to help and became assistants or junior leaders, i.e. on a different M&G, a simple team task was to organize & map out the route to run a cabin crawl, ending up with a hosted party up in one of deluxe Fwd suite up in Haven ... super fun. 

 

It is what "we" as CC'er do and not help, to define what is successful or not.  It is okay to not have an official M&G too - in fact, our recent one on the Dawn was one of the first that the ship hosted in over a month ... shorter port intensive sailings are not easy to do.  

[INDIANA JOE]

1 hour ago, FredZiffle said:

 

You just caught a bad one.  I've been to several where it was quite obvious that the organizer only volunteered in order to get the VIP status on board and put zero effort into it.  Fortunately the good ones outnumber those few bad ones.  

 

I have organized 2 or 3 M&G's and what is VIP status. May have gotten chocolate covered strawberries but that was about all and they weren't bad M&G's.

[FredZiffle]

2 minutes ago, INDIANA JOE said:

 

I have organized 2 or 3 M&G's and what is VIP status. May have gotten chocolate covered strawberries but that was about all and they weren't bad M&G's.

 

NCL normally gives VIP status to the organizer of a M&G.  You get concierge service, daily snacks (like the strawberries), invitation to an officers' reception, and ability to eat breakfast in whatever restaurant is reserved for suite guests. That last one may have changed now that the Haven is such a big deal - it's been roughly 4 years since the last time I hosted a M&G.  

[INDIANA JOE]

3 minutes ago, FredZiffle said:

 

NCL normally gives VIP status to the organizer of a M&G.  You get concierge service, daily snacks (like the strawberries), invitation to an officers' reception, and ability to eat breakfast in whatever restaurant is reserved for suite guests. That last one may have changed now that the Haven is such a big deal - it's been roughly 4 years since the last time I hosted a M&G.  

 

Never have gotten more than the strawberries, but that is not why I volunteer to organize it. I enjoy talking to

the various people who attend.and have met some very nice people.

[phissy]

36 minutes ago, FredZiffle said:

 

NCL normally gives VIP status to the organizer of a M&G.  You get concierge service, daily snacks (like the strawberries), invitation to an officers' reception, and ability to eat breakfast in whatever restaurant is reserved for suite guests. That last one may have changed now that the Haven is such a big deal - it's been roughly 4 years since the last time I hosted a M&G.  

This practice has been discontinued by NCL.  A few years back, it got out of hand, organizers demanding things from Hotel Director. I have hosted several M&G and not offered anything and did not ask for anything. As platinum plus, we already enjoy perks.

Edited July 6, 2019 by phissy

[FredZiffle]

3 minutes ago, phissy said:

This practice has been discontinued by NCL.  A few years back, it got out of hand, organizers demanding things from Hotel Director. I have hosted several M&G and not offered anything and did ask for anything. As platinum plus, we already enjoy perks.

 

I had heard the same thing, but then a few people posted last year that they had received the VIP perks recently.  I hope the practice has been discontinued.  Maybe that will keep some of the people who put out minimal effort from volunteering to host a M&G.

[NLH Arizona]

3 hours ago, FredZiffle said:

 

You just caught a bad one.  I've been to several where it was quite obvious that the organizer only volunteered in order to get the VIP status on board and put zero effort into it.  Fortunately the good ones outnumber those few bad ones.  

That seems to happen a lot and then they come on here and say that they never have gotten VIP status.  Many are still getting VIP services.  Maybe NCL wised up and now knows those that ask for things, while doing a bad job on the meet and greets and they are not given the perk.

 

The best meet and greet I attended a few years ago.  First, the original organizer turned over the task to someone who was not traveling in a suite, he was, so someone who didn't have VIP status already could have it.  The new organizer really busted her butt.  She made name tags, organized all kinds of activities and, the best thing, she did was to set up a bingo game for us to play right after we got there.  Based on our Cruise Critic posts on the roll call, she put together a bingo card with those comments, like who lives in Oregon, and you had to find out who was who.  It was a lot of fun and you got to meet everyone there.

Edited July 6, 2019 by NLH Arizona

[CozGurl]

FTR, I don't think we had a bad M&G at all. Tons of people there. I guess we meet people easily so the M&G wasn't necessary for us to meet folks. Plus we met up with a bunch of our roll call folks the night before sailing at a restaurant and had great fun!

 

Cheers to all!

 

 

[CazV]

1 hour ago, NLH Arizona said:

the best thing, she did was to set up a bingo game for us to play right after we got there.  Based on our Cruise Critic posts on the roll call, she put together a bingo card with those comments, like who lives in Oregon, and you had to find out who was who.  It was a lot of fun and you got to meet everyone there.

 

Love this idea! If the roll call for my next cruise ever gets active, I may offer to help out at our M&G and do something like this. 🙂