How does CC plan to do Meet and Mingle during the Covid era to prevent super spreader events?

[mets123]

Worrying about it is the last thing I do.

[Ashland]

Not worth it to us anymore to get up that early on a sea day.

[Coralc]

I would go, but lately that extra 1 hour time change (loss) onboard has made me lose my motivation in favor of sleep. First we have the 2 or 3 hour time change when we fly east, then if they change the time again on the first night, we get all fouled up. 

[mek]

I enjoy them on longer cruises - especially TA's, but find them pointless on 7 night itineraries.

[twangster]

Virtual meet & mingle from your cabin.  If you have a Voom plan.  

 

Zoom & Mingle...  Zoomingle. 

[ONECRUISER]

11 hours ago, DHADEN said:

Can You Say "VACCINE"?!?

Cruising will start again AFTER everyone has taken the vaccine.  RCI will REQUIRE PROOF that you have had the vaccine before you can board the ship.

THEN, we will be able to cruise with aaaaaaall the Normal amenities.

 

Hope This Helps.

Be a long wait then. Issue is not even developed a Vaccine for Minors yet, they are just now starting work on one earliest probably available is next Fall and that's a best case. Also according to CDC plan/recommendations those healthy under 65(me) wont even get chance until first identified groups totaling over 200+ Million Americans have. Pentagon has said no current plans for Military to receive it, as only 13 US Military have died from CV, 1 Active Duty and 12 Reservists. Last week Biden and Dr Fauci both said Vaccine won't be Federally Mandated, not sure then is Cruise Lines would mandate it. Goal is try to get 75% Population covered. That all said I have no issues with it & get one if offered day one but Me, my Kids/Grands probably won't have option until after Cruising has returned.

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Last week Biden and Dr Fauci both said Vaccine won't be Federally Mandated

yet, for most folks.

[Iamcruzin]

15 hours ago, DHADEN said:

Can You Say "VACCINE"?!?

Cruising will start again AFTER everyone has taken the vaccine.  RCI will REQUIRE PROOF that you have had the vaccine before you can board the ship.

THEN, we will be able to cruise with aaaaaaall the Normal amenities.

 

Hope This Helps.

Sounds good in theory but it won't happen since cruising has already started in Europe and Royal started sailing out of Singapore.

 

[Ocean Boy]

19 hours ago, ShmuelCharlie said:

Given that Meet and Mingle events--sponsored or unsponsored by the cruise line--tend to be rather large groupings of more than 10 people, how will CC avoid creating super-spreader events when cruising resumes either this month or in January? 

What makes you think that is happening?

[John&LaLa]

44 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

What makes you think that is happening?

 

I'm  guessing 'I'll give up things to be on the sea" doesn't include the sacred M&M.

[bouhunter]

18 hours ago, DHADEN said:

Can You Say "VACCINE"?!?

Cruising will start again AFTER everyone has taken the vaccine.  RCI will REQUIRE PROOF that you have had the vaccine before you can board the ship.

THEN, we will be able to cruise with aaaaaaall the Normal amenities.

 

Hope This Helps.

It wouldn't be a 2020 cruise critic thread if vaccines weren't brought up..............

[Joseph2017China]

18 hours ago, DHADEN said:

Can You Say "VACCINE"?!?

Cruising will start again AFTER everyone has taken the vaccine.  RCI will REQUIRE PROOF that you have had the vaccine before you can board the ship.

THEN, we will be able to cruise with aaaaaaall the Normal amenities.

 

Hope This Helps.

Guess you don't read the news....or you only read CNN.  Cruises already started, and RCCL already started.  Now it's not in the USA, but it has started and was successful.  Having a vaccine will certainly be helpful, but required in the USA, is extremely doubtful.  I did notice that CNN likes to throw this out there for reactions.....but it's tabloid news only.

[Joseph2017China]

20 hours ago, ShmuelCharlie said:

Given that Meet and Mingle events--sponsored or unsponsored by the cruise line--tend to be rather large groupings of more than 10 people, how will CC avoid creating super-spreader events when cruising resumes either this month or in January? 

So groups of 10 are considered super spreaders now?  If that is the case, I'm in a super spreader event daily or possibly several times a day.  

[Ocean Boy]

20 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

It wouldn't be a 2020 cruise critic thread if vaccines weren't brought up..............

And how they are going to return everything right back to how they used to be.

[Cruise a holic]

I guess the Meet and Mingle events aren't the cruise lines Priority-  Perhaps they will discontinue for a while-then maybe in 2022 return- who knows.  More importantly, I hope we can safely  return to cruising by the summer.  The "new" normal.

[twangster]

Date: March 1, 2023

Future CC Thread: Will the M&M from like 4 years ago ever return?

 

User post #1:  What's an M&M?  Like the candy?

[DaniDanielle]

Only time will tell what things will be like😷

[ShmuelCharlie]

On 12/6/2020 at 2:16 PM, Cigar King said:

Personally I think this is a good time to end this practice.  Lately the Meet and Mingles are little more than an opportunity for Royal to pass out some cheesy trinkets and bad drinks.  Many people leave after the gifts are gone.  I've had a better time at informal gatherings organized in the roll call.  Just my two Quatloos.

I wouldn't exactly call those lanyards cum notepads, lapel pins or the destinations door magnets "cheesy trinkets". Those took some time and $ to develop, produce and distribute to CC members who bother to attend. Also, they last quite a few years beyond the time the sailing of the cruise.  

 

When I was aboard the Indy of the Seas in the fall of '14 where those notepad/lanyards were given to attending CC members, I used the door magnet as a way to not only decorate my door but also to distinguish my cabin door from everybody else's. In addition, lapel pins are always a great gift to hand out, especially for collectors like me. 

[ShmuelCharlie]

7 hours ago, twangster said:

Date: March 1, 2023

Future CC Thread: Will the M&M from like 4 years ago ever return?

 

User post #1:  What's an M&M?  Like the candy?

To User #1, no, M&M is not the candy. M&M is the abbreviation for Meet & Mingle, the shindigs where CC Roll Call members attend to meet the people behind the forum postings and converse w/them about their lives and other interesting subjects. The M&Ms are held during the first Sea Day of the cruise in a lounge that is unavailable for use by other pax.

 

M&Ms have two types: hosted by the cruise line or unhosted. Hosted M&Ms offer attendees drinks,  snacks, and "Hello My Name Is" stickers, along w/small gifts. Unhosted M&Ms have no drink or snacks, and the host is usually a self-appointed Roll Call person who also maintains the Google Doc spreadsheets of CC members, independent tours, and scheduled events. In addition to line M&Ms, there are Sailaway events held at bars located at the highest pax deck on Embarkation Day.   

[ShmuelCharlie]

9 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

I guess the Meet and Mingle events aren't the cruise lines Priority-  Perhaps they will discontinue for a while-then maybe in 2022 return- who knows.  More importantly, I hope we can safely  return to cruising by the summer.  The "new" normal.

Or, once pax consider themselves safe from Covid infection, M&Ms could resume but with limited attendance, e.g., in a big lounge that allows for social distancing minus required mask wearing. The M&M could also be unhosted by the line if the line thinks they're low priority. May I suggest to CC that the Roll Call honcho for a particular sailing consider co-hosting the sailing's Crown & Anchor frequent cruiser party to recognize members for their loyalty to the line? 

[ShmuelCharlie]

9 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

So groups of 10 are considered super spreaders now?  If that is the case, I'm in a super spreader event daily or possibly several times a day.  

Yeah, that's what I keep hearing on the news, especially on CNN. Avoidance of super-spreader events was one reason my extended family decided to have a smaller Turkey Day feast this year, which was held earlier than the holiday to accommodate two family members who had to work on the holiday itself. Avoidance of a super-spreader event was another reason to cancel my family's annual New Year's Day party. Good thinking and planning ahead by my medical family members!

[ShmuelCharlie]

9 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

Guess you don't read the news....or you only read CNN.  Cruises already started, and RCCL already started.  Now it's not in the USA, but it has started and was successful.  Having a vaccine will certainly be helpful, but required in the USA, is extremely doubtful.  I did notice that CNN likes to throw this out there for reactions.....but it's tabloid news only.

Actually, I do watch the news, whether it comes from networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC, along w/CNN and the CC news bulletins. From the latter's bulletins, I've learned that many European cruise lines--ocean and river--have resumed their sailings, but only to European, Asian, and other countries whose borders have re-opened to travelers. We Yanks, however, remain unable to cruise on Europe-based ships because of the recent surge in Covid cases. Some lines have resumed sailing starting this month, while others plan to resume sailing in January. 

[twangster]

I stopped going because it was basically turning into a raffle before everyone left.  

 

I won a really cheap RCI backpack once that lasted as long as they joked it would.  Had to use dental floss to sew the detaching shoulder strap back on by day 4.

[ShmuelCharlie]

On 12/6/2020 at 6:11 PM, Ashland said:

Not worth it to us anymore to get up that early on a sea day.

That's sometimes how I feel if the M&Ms are held @ 9-ish and just after breakfast in either the MDR or the buffet.  However, I attended an M&M held at 10-ish in Cellar Masters a year ago this past August aboard Celebrity Reflection where I met quite a few fellow posters of that sailing's Roll Call. After the M&M had concluded, some Roll Call folks had gathered in the Casino next door to play a "Battle of the Sexes" slot tournament on dollar machines. The women members won the tournament. I had fun though! 😀

 

[ShmuelCharlie]

On 12/6/2020 at 6:24 PM, mek said:

I enjoy them on longer cruises - especially TA's, but find them pointless on 7 night itineraries.

Concur. They're very good to have on 12+ night cruises within the Med, on the Atlantic toward the Canaries and Azores, or the Baltic and Northern Europe. Those are good because we're together for that long a time aboard ship.

 

I agree w/you that for 7-day sailings, the M&Ms are pointless. For example, I recall an M&M event that was attended by three people and nobody to distribute the "Hello My Name Is" sticker at the Solarium Bar aboard Oasis in the fall of '15. The three attendees were me and one other couple who took the time and trouble to wear Mardi Gras beads to attend the extremely uneventful M&M event an hour after the Muster Drill and during Sailaway at Port Everglades. What a waste! Even worse was the attempted gathering at Dazzles, the disco on Deck 8: another event not attended by Roll Call members.