Is NCL now charging for the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingles?

[Travelicious]

On 8/17/2022 at 5:20 PM, TrumpyNor said:

Just a sidenote:

I organized a CruiseCritic M&G on the Escape earlier this month - the CC roll call had been unusually quiet before the cruise started, and only around 25 persons had signed up on my spreadsheet for the meet & greet participation (total passenger number on that cruise was 4300...!).

 

The M&G was supposed to take place at 12.00 noon on day 2 of the cruise, and early afternoon on day 1 of the cruise (embarkation day), I received a phone call from the group coordinator onboard, letting me know that they unfortunately had to move the time for the M&G forward to 11.00 AM instead of noon. Well, to make a long story short: To keep the roll call and my spreadsheet without too much personal information (as both are there for "the whole world to see"), I only had first names of those who signed up to the M&G plus their nationality. The group coordinator got the list from me, and then did some fantastic detective work and found out the cabin numbers for everyone and left a personal voicemail for each and every one of them, informing about the new meeting time the following day. 

 

And the turn-up was actually close to 20 persons. From NCL all senior officers participated (except the captain himself9, and because the group was so small, they decided to mingle and talk to everyone in person instead of the regular "5-minutes presentation". They stayed for at least 30-40 minutes, gave everyone their business cards in addition to the usual "card with all senior officers listed", and made everyone there feel "special and appreciated". Everyone from that CruiseCritic M&G were invited to be on the "priority tender" in to Santorini the next day, and everyone received some snacks/chocolates from the general manager on more than one occasion. 

 

How much effort that is put in to the Meet & Greet from NCL's side, is entirely up to the general manager and his staff - and therefore it may vary a bit from ship to ship. On the Escape this month I found it to be very good, they showed appreciation both for CruiseCritic members and for Latitude members, and made some effort to make people feel "appreciated". It was simply a great experience that stands out to me among many great Meet & Greet events in the past.

 

 

The staff on the Escape is the best!

[MrsTocko]

On 8/8/2022 at 6:42 PM, casofilia said:

I have noticed that there are people turning up on board who have attempted to enter without a CC name on the ship sign in sheet.   And also trying to get on my spreadsheet without one; I have a peculiar method of arranging a M&G to allow me to make full preparations before I leave New Zealand.

 

I believe that people on the Roll Call  are publishing details of the M&G elsewhere.   I may even go so far as to say that they are attempting to circumvent the idea that it is a Private arrangement between NCL and CC.

I have noticed that 98% of the people that are on my CC Meet & Mingle sign up are also on other social media sites, on a more frequent basis.  I have seen that the people that are NOT CC members, do not tend to go.  I will invite people/guests im traveling with, that have expressed an interest specifically in cruising, and CC and want to know more to join us.  so they can see what it is all about.  Then they can decide for themselves about joining.

 

There are also the people that say they are going to go, and then dont show.  So it is usually balances out number wise.

[inheritst]

On 8/22/2022 at 1:59 PM, MrsTocko said:

I have noticed that 98% of the people that are on my CC Meet & Mingle sign up are also on other social media sites, on a more frequent basis.  I have seen that the people that are NOT CC members, do not tend to go.  I will invite people/guests im traveling with, that have expressed an interest specifically in cruising, and CC and want to know more to join us.  so they can see what it is all about.  Then they can decide for themselves about joining.

 

There are also the people that say they are going to go, and then dont show.  So it is usually balances out number wise.

Well I've been following this with interest. I guess I must be very old. I was cruising when the concept of CC and M&G started. There were so few of us that we would pitch people in line for boarding to join in our meetings. We have always welcomed all fellow cruisers. NCL has never complained about our list growing. Everyone attending is a paying passenger on the specific cruise. Cruise Critic  however does not want any other social media connected. You would be surprised how many cruisers have no idea about Cruise Critic. I wear my Cruise Critic hat the 1st 2 days of a cruise and I would estimate that 70-75% of people on elevators and public areas have never heard of CC. Think of all the 1st time or onetime cruisers. I hate FB but everybody knows of it. The next M&G that I am coordinating ther are 21 on CC with 2 signed up and 168 on FB with 16 signed. I always try to send "outsiders" over to CC, but I believe we should be inclusionary so they can observe and learn the benefits of participating in CC. Don't punish them for their choice of social media.

[SeaShark]

3 minutes ago, inheritst said:

Well I've been following this with interest. I guess I must be very old. I was cruising when the concept of CC and M&G started. There were so few of us that we would pitch people in line for boarding to join in our meetings. We have always welcomed all fellow cruisers. NCL has never complained about our list growing. Everyone attending is a paying passenger on the specific cruise. Cruise Critic  however does not want any other social media connected. You would be surprised how many cruisers have no idea about Cruise Critic. I wear my Cruise Critic hat the 1st 2 days of a cruise and I would estimate that 70-75% of people on elevators and public areas have never heard of CC. Think of all the 1st time or onetime cruisers. I hate FB but everybody knows of it. The next M&G that I am coordinating ther are 21 on CC with 2 signed up and 168 on FB with 16 signed. I always try to send "outsiders" over to CC, but I believe we should be inclusionary so they can observe and learn the benefits of participating in CC. Don't punish them for their choice of social media.

 

It isn't about punishing people for their choice of social media, its just about group integrity.

 

The CC group has made arrangements for a gathering so that Cruise Critic members who participated and interacted with each other on a roll call can have the opportunity to Meet & Greet each other in person. 

 

The FB group should not simply crash an event that another group has planned. If the FB people really want to Meet & Greet each other, then can simply plan their own event...which the CC people should not attend.

 

People seem to forget that the M&G is a PRIVATE event which is not open for just anybody to drop by as though they are entitled to do so just by their presence on the ship.

[cruiseny4life]

2 hours ago, inheritst said:

Well I've been following this with interest. I guess I must be very old. I was cruising when the concept of CC and M&G started. There were so few of us that we would pitch people in line for boarding to join in our meetings. We have always welcomed all fellow cruisers. NCL has never complained about our list growing. Everyone attending is a paying passenger on the specific cruise. Cruise Critic  however does not want any other social media connected. You would be surprised how many cruisers have no idea about Cruise Critic. I wear my Cruise Critic hat the 1st 2 days of a cruise and I would estimate that 70-75% of people on elevators and public areas have never heard of CC. Think of all the 1st time or onetime cruisers. I hate FB but everybody knows of it. The next M&G that I am coordinating ther are 21 on CC with 2 signed up and 168 on FB with 16 signed. I always try to send "outsiders" over to CC, but I believe we should be inclusionary so they can observe and learn the benefits of participating in CC. Don't punish them for their choice of social media.

I'd give you a hug if I could!!

[Beer Belly]

I've had people on FB say they "Hate Cruise Critic", yet will join in on a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet 🙄

[U4icmusic]

On 8/8/2022 at 1:39 PM, njhorseman said:

I suspect  one of four things happened:

(1) You weren't clear that this was a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet and your request was misunderstood

(2) You accidentally sent the request to the wrong person (AFAIK it's supposed to go to the group events coordinator, not the special events coordinator. )Address for the Dawn should be groupeventdawn@ncl.com

(3)The individual you sent it to has been on the job for 15 minutes and doesn't know what they're doing

(4) NCL has found a new previously untapped source of revenue

the email address is specialeventsdawn@ncl.com, not what you posted.

[EllieinNJ]

Some people on FB say it's too hard to negotiate the steps to find the roll calls here on CC and that's why they don't like it.