Large musically themed group on our two cruises…impact on the rest of us?

[antmaril]

I was on the Regal Princess in 2019 when the Irish group was on board.  It did not have any kind of negative impact on my cruise.  Had a celebrity sighting, as I was on an elevator with Ronan Tynan (Irish Tenor).  😁

[Host CJSKIDS]

14 hours ago, Coral said:

I would expect some venues to be closed during the day due to "private parties". Yes - large groups over-run the ships. I have also seen where they have an entire dining room to themselves.

 

Some groups are more annoying than other groups.

I agree with this  we have been on a few cruises with large groups  

On one they overtook the back pool and saved seats all the time.  One we didn’t notice much  and the last one was annoying because they did things like close the top deck without warning to us and therefore we couldn’t access the pizza or the burgers area and this was at night during dinner time and later. 

 

[MissP22]

Not that you can avoid any large groups but once we travelled with a group that all managed to arrive at the DR at the same time. (6 PM)

The DR service went from great to dismal in a matter of minutes.

[deultgen]

On 1/12/2023 at 8:48 AM, vmom said:

We will be on the Sky and Regal for a total of 3 weeks.
I found out that one week has a large musically themed group cruise for about 800 passengers and another week has a music themed group cruise for 600-800 passengers.

I’ve never been on a sailing with a large group before, especially one that because they are music themed, could use the main venues for concerts and group events. 

Curious to hear any feedback as to how this impacts the passengers who are not part of the group? 

Wondering if this will make it easier to get a seat in the main theater or will there be fewer shows available for the rest of us? How about other public venues?

 

We have been on two cruises with large 500-600 people groups.  One with a national group of Funeral Home Directors (and their spouses/families) and one with people who collected Pens, yes pens.

 

We found these groups often had events in the morning (like a continuing ed class) for the funeral directors which made some spaces like the pools seem less crowded and then events in the evenings (private parties in large bar areas) which made the rest of the bars and areas less crowded.  I never felt as if it affected shows or other events on the ship.  

[BamaVol]

Our last cruise, NCL Epic, had 2,000 cosmetic sales ladies from China.  That was more than half of the total passengers on the ship. They did occupy some space for private functions, but not much. I would say their presence dominated the entire ship for a week.  Culturally, it was not a good fit with the Europeans and North Americans on board with them. Ports were a relief as they always went ashore to shop. It has taken me 6 years to get over it and want to sail again. I certainly resent the lack of pre-cruise transparency by NCL. 

 

I’d probably be okay with the music themed cruises.  I like Irish music and dance.  But I’d be wary of my cabin location.

 

 

[Hlitner]

Large groups can become an issue.  With a music oriented group, they will certainly have some of their own entertainment groups which usually means that various public venues (like the theater and some lounges) can be taken out of service for "private events."   In an ideal world the Group's entertainment would be open to anyone which can be a real plus.  But if they keep their events "closed" than it, unfortunately, interferes with other non-group cruisers' use of various venues whenever they are utilized for the group booking.   I do think that music cruises are terrific, but they work best when the group charters the entire vessel such as with the very popular Smooth Jazz cruise.

 

Hank

[Honolulu Blue]

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I do think that music cruises are terrific, but they work best when the group charters the entire vessel such as with the very popular Smooth Jazz cruise.

Have you been on the Smooth Jazz Cruise or another music themed charter?  I'd love to hear your stories.  Thanks!

[memoak]

6 hours ago, BamaVol said:

Our last cruise, NCL Epic, had 2,000 cosmetic sales ladies from China.  That was more than half of the total passengers on the ship. They did occupy some space for private functions, but not much. I would say their presence dominated the entire ship for a week.  Culturally, it was not a good fit with the Europeans and North Americans on board with them. Ports were a relief as they always went ashore to shop. It has taken me 6 years to get over it and want to sail again. I certainly resent the lack of pre-cruise transparency by NCL. 

 

I’d probably be okay with the music themed cruises.  I like Irish music and dance.  But I’d be wary of my cabin location.

 

 

No cruise line ever tells passengers about large groups. However if you google your ship and date you can usually find out about them on your own

[dave_k58]

I think I would hate to be on a political charter - whether conservative or liberal.   Or a "lifestyle orientation cruise".  We almost went on a cruise that had a group called " Bikers Gone Wild At Sea" on another cruise line.  Fortunately our TA was able to cancel it for us. 

[sirclean]

Im sure it wasnt Princess, but my parents have done a few cruises with a musical theme. I think that it was related to Gospel Music.  They got some sort of ID but even then, the venues were not large enough for the full group so they had to do the events twice, and even the group members could only attend one of them. 

 

Im sure that my parents enjoyed those cruises, but they are early to bed sorts and given their limitations at the time (pre knee replacement)  they didnt get off on port days.  Those were some of their favorite days as hey noted that the hot tubs helped their knees and were not at all crowded! 

 

Im not sure that they have been interested in getting off the ship at the ports that the cruise visited. Not sure if it is a safety thing, or if they just could not enjoy the extra walking a shore visit would include. 

 

As I was about to post this, I remembered that they said that they ate at the buffet more often because it was too late to get anything from the MDR.  My dad has blood sugar issues, so the buffet is faster for him, but he also mentioned that it was hard to eat and get to the shows he wanted to see. I dont know if those were the Special Group shows or the cruise line shows. 

 

For what it is worth, I dont think that my parents (78 years old) are going to be going on many more cruises any time soon. Im not sure if they would consider another gospel cruise, though. 

[Roberto256]

On 1/12/2023 at 11:17 AM, Rick&Jeannie said:

As far as there being "fewer shows available..."  no, they are not going to cut shows due to the presence of a group.

I don't know about shows in the main theatre...

 

But we were on a cruise with the infamous bears (who were fine, by the way)...

Every night, the Vista Lounge / Club Confusion (sorry, I don't remember the exact ship) was closed for a 'private party'.

 

So, the shows in that venue were cancelled for non-group folks.

 

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, Roberto256 said:

I don't know about shows in the main theatre...

 

But we were on a cruise with the infamous bears (who were fine, by the way)...

Every night, the Vista Lounge / Club Confusion (sorry, I don't remember the exact ship) was closed for a 'private party'.

 

So, the shows in that venue were cancelled for non-group folks.

 

As you said, there are large groups that do have some of the venue's reserved for their functions. Even the aft pools can be overrun with them and although not exclusively reserved for that group alone, most people just avoid using them.

i.e.- Most people just don't care for the activities that take place when those groups get together.

 

[Casey12]

We have had mixed issues with large groups. Almost always venues are closed during the day. They maybe lounges and bars that are not frequented often but I like to go because they are quiet. They may take over dining rooms. I remember once at breakfast in the dining room -- all of a sudden they started making presentations to awards over the microphone. Everyone heard all the awards of the top selling individuals in the general dining room. I have been on tours where 90% of the people on my tour were with this group and they all knew each other. I felt like an outsider. Some groups are very pleasant and others are incredibly annoying.

 

I would be less worried about an Irish singers group or medical convention over some other groups.

[voljeep]

3 hours ago, Roberto256 said:

I don't know about shows in the main theatre...

 

But we were on a cruise with the infamous bears (who were fine, by the way)...

Every night, the Vista Lounge / Club Confusion (sorry, I don't remember the exact ship) was closed for a 'private party'.

 

So, the shows in that venue were cancelled for non-group folks.

 

I "always" check to see if that group will be on a potential cruise of ours... they were a few/many years ago and completely took over the Outrigger Bar and 'adult' aft pool (grand class ship). It was a Halloween cruise and some interesting costumes to say the least.