Hosted cruise question

[heathriel]

In our group’s case, it was a combination of the two:

 

We did have parts of the ship blocked off from regular use by other members that normally would have been able to use it (the chapel is usually the preferred room for Friends of Bill W. Meetings, for example), and we *also* spilled over into the normal ship activities due to large numbers when “off hours” — so for some that could be the worst case scenario.

 

I think it does depend on the group, though. We worked with the ship to have the least obstructive hours and prepped our attendees with a code of conduct to basically, well,  not be A**holes. A lot of people are just like “my money, my vacay.”

[Paula_MacFan]

We were on an 'oldies' music cruise -- not on purpose -- and found out after we booked.  They took over the venues and we didn't get to see anything all week in the Vista as they used it for special concerts.  It wasn't horrible, but I wouldn't book another trip like that again if I knew in advance the large group was onboard.

 

Another time we were on a cruise sponsored by a rock and roll radio station -- again, we weren't part of the group.  They were the biggest (nice) bunch of partyers, and mid-way through the cruise several types of beer were out of stock 🙂  That was a first for us on Princess -- running out of booze!  LOL

 

I realize neither of these examples are the same as the OP's original question -- just thought I'd chime in on groups in general. 

[triple7tahoe]

10 hours ago, iamaqt2 said:

I did, but none responded.  I'm assuming they have a group page elsewhere as our roll call has 24 followers and is very slow.  Many of the original posters have canceled the cruse.

It's on the Ruby 2/25 Panama Canal sailing.

We are on that cruise (not as part of a group) but we do know many folks that are on it and the return cruise as well. Many are part of group belonging to a Sacramento area TA. They could easily number in the 100s 🙂

 

 

[Waynetor]

I've had a very large Super Bowl group - they took over the theatre for the game but that was it.

Also had a dance group that took over the aft lounge each evening after 9pm but that was all

Also had a rock and roll group that used the theater each afternoon.

 

 

 

[Thrak]

We had a large group from our roll call on a 28 day cruise. We reserved a conference room a few times but the other conference rooms were empty so no impact on others. We also had folks meeting for games but were allowed to use a dining room during the day for that so again, no impact. (Unlike big groups that take over a bunch of places in the buffet for their games.) We had an outstanding roll call group. Sadly, we will never be able to recreate that cruise as some of the South Pacific islands we visited are no longer allowing cruise ships - at least not ships as large as the remaining Princess fleet has.

 

============================================

 

When we had the "hosted" cruise the TA had a condo in Cabo and we were invited to a special deal in the public area. (The living areas were off limits.)  The TA hosted this event and served a ton of Mexican food along with beer and margaritas and, of course, water and soft drinks as well. It was well attended and added to the value of the "hosted" portion of the cruise. There was no fee to the passengers and it was a nice perk.

[iamaqt2]

Thank you all for your informative answers... I've learned a lot about the difference between theme cruises, group cruises and hosted cruises.  
 

One of the cruisers from this TA hosted cruise did get back to me.  The numbers may have changed due to Covid, but there are/were close to 200 cruisers sailing with this TA.  And it seems some of you are also familiar with this TA. 

According to  this person,  there will be little impact to the venues onboard.  Other than them joining in any patter activities all cruisers might enjoy.  

Thank you all for the enlightening and frightening look at large bookings lol.

[Mike45LC]

I was on a Princess cruise that had a large gay group -- I am thinking the name was "Bare Backers"?  They took over the hot tubs and a couple of the pools.  Not that the rest of us were banned, just that the tubs were fully occupied, constantly.

[jimbo1683]

41 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

I am thinking the name was "Bare Backers"?

Lol hope you averted your eyes

[Thrak]

I have no issue with the "hosted" cruises but would never knowingly book a "theme" cruise or a cruise with a large "specialty group".

 

Some "specialty" cruise links:

 

https://*****/

 

https://www.concertsatsea.com/

 

http://www.mahjonggcruises.com/

 

https://www.bearcruises.com/about-cbc

 

https://www.mollieb.com/2021-polka-princess-cruise

 

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

20 hours ago, iamaqt2 said:

Thank you all for your informative answers... I've learned a lot about the difference between theme cruises, group cruises and hosted cruises.  
 

One of the cruisers from this TA hosted cruise did get back to me.  The numbers may have changed due to Covid, but there are/were close to 200 cruisers sailing with this TA.  And it seems some of you are also familiar with this TA. 

According to  this person,  there will be little impact to the venues onboard.  Other than them joining in any patter activities all cruisers might enjoy.  

Thank you all for the enlightening and frightening look at large bookings lol.

That was nice of them to respond. I would have no worries whatsoever. Enjoy your cruise!

[MissP22]

18 hours ago, Thrak said:

I have no issue with the "hosted" cruises but would never knowingly book a "theme" cruise or a cruise with a large "specialty group".

 

Some "specialty" cruise links:

 

https://*****/

 

https://www.concertsatsea.com/

 

http://www.mahjonggcruises.com/

 

https://www.bearcruises.com/about-cbc

 

https://www.mollieb.com/2021-polka-princess-cruise

 

 

Also https://atlantisevents.com/

[Honolulu Blue]

18 hours ago, Thrak said:

I have no issue with the "hosted" cruises but would never knowingly book a "theme" cruise or a cruise with a large "specialty group".

 

Themed cruises are mostly easy to avoid (I'll discuss a few exceptions below), since they won't show up on any of the regular cruise booking sites - including the cruise line's own.  They can only booked from the charter company.  Hosted cruises, cruises with specialty groups, and partial charters are much trickier to find and avoid.  They can be disruptive, and I have sympathy for those who aren't part of the group who get in the middle of it.

 

But what happens when the cruise line itself gets involved in the themed cruise game?  Princess had a few cruises with comedy and 80s themes in the fall.  They set them up with almost no notice - just a month or two.  Yes, I'm sure it was a tactic to try to fill some ships at a time when it was difficult to fill any cruise ship.  It worked on me - I booked one of the 80s cruises that sailed in November.  It was interesting.  There were some people (like me) who were young in the 80s and especially enjoyed the themed trivia and rocked out to the 80s tribute acts in the main theater.  But the vast majority of the passengers were the typical Princess crowd to whom the 80s was just another decade and who enjoyed the other shows and trivia that were aimed more to their preferences.

 

And of course, three months ago, Princess announced the ultimate themed cruise - one based on the show that put their name on the lips of the American public.  I don't need to name it, do I?  There are many scheduled activities based on the show and its cast (and former cast).  This one was set up with short notice too, by cruise ship charter standards - it's scheduled to sail in February.  The original cruise was set up months earlier and its roll call was sluggish - five or six posts - when I bumped it up with the post announcing this charter.  Then things started to pick up, and now it has 14 pages and still gets several posts a day. I would apologize for those who are stuck on this themed cruise, but those that hated that show probably headed for the exits months ago.

[heathriel]

This reminded me of this article — sometimes the hosted cruises don’t have any participants 🙂

 

https://www.insider.com/goop-at-sea-gwyneth-paltrow-first-cruise-2021-11?amp

[skynight]

Wonder. If large groups cause more negative results and negatives to the brand and $$ than say not allowing such groups.

[txjim09]

On 1/13/2022 at 9:27 PM, iamaqt2 said:

According to  this person,  there will be little impact to the venues onboard.  Other than them joining in any patter activities all cruisers might enjoy.  

Appreciate you reporting back, welcomed info.  I'm also on the cruise and noticed the TA discussion early on.  Might have to shift a bar once or twice but should be no problem.  Wish I had a TA with such a devoted following!

 

The only worry I have is port access and have been following cruise ship visits to our stops using ship tracker sites.  Fingers crossed, no issues thus far!