Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, luv2travel90266 said:

I have headed 3 roll calls on  Azamara and a number of them on Celebrity. I found and put together small group private tours of 6 to 8 at a lower cost with much better attention by the guides. It depends how much you like being on a big bus with 40  of which several are also late fir the bus. All being done online prior months before the cruise. I agree that the meet and greets are poorly attended partially due to them being done during sail away and partially do to no invites separate to a line in the daily schedule. With all going on with the boarding I do understand the staff on board has higher priorities.  

I agree that roll call private tours are a great benefit.  But Azamara killed them with the $1,000 OBC promotions that basically force you to take ship tours.  So I hope they will go back to the older promotions that cut the fare without turning the savings into OBC.

[luv2travel90266]

As long as they allow you to use the OBC for other services (specialty dinners and chefs table) the OBC won't cover all the excursion costs for a cruise. I do agree with you that the OBC is built in to the cruise price and the excursions are a highly profitable revenue source for Azamara. 

[aussie travel bird]

On 9/12/2023 at 9:36 AM, luv2travel90266 said:

As long as they allow you to use the OBC for other services (specialty dinners and chefs table) the OBC won't cover all the excursion costs for a cruise. I do agree with you that the OBC is built in to the cruise price and the excursions are a highly profitable revenue source for Azamara. 

This is rather off topic.

[cruisersoz]

On 9/8/2023 at 4:38 AM, luv2travel90266 said:

Someone from a roll call needs to begin the process. I did it for 3 cruises. One had no one showing up. Azamara will put a one line on the daily schedule which will be missed by most. 

Which post should I comment on???    The common thread is that the M&M is poorly promoted.  I agree having completed a France Intensive cruise on Pursuit from 1 Sep to 12 Sep.  The event was just buried as a line entry in the schedule of events in Insider.  My wife and I and one other couple turned up.  Lots of snacks and drinks to be shared.  No ships officers to be seen.  Pathetic!

[Mackdogmolly]

1 hour ago, cruisersoz said:

Which post should I comment on???    The common thread is that the M&M is poorly promoted.  I agree having completed a France Intensive cruise on Pursuit from 1 Sep to 12 Sep.  The event was just buried as a line entry in the schedule of events in Insider.  My wife and I and one other couple turned up.  Lots of snacks and drinks to be shared.  No ships officers to be seen.  Pathetic!

So sad. It’s such a great way to meet others on your cruise!

[wjfan417]

There was only one other couple at the Meet & Mingle on the current Pursuit voyage. Lots of drinks and appetizers though! They even waited until slightly after Sailaway (1/2 hour) to hold it.

[takemewithyou]

1 hour ago, wjfan417 said:

There was only one other couple at the Meet & Mingle on the current Pursuit voyage. Lots of drinks and appetizers though! They even waited until slightly after Sailaway (1/2 hour) to hold it.

Did you have an active roll call?

[Mackdogmolly]

58 minutes ago, luv2travel90266 said:

Roll calls are not active

The roll call for my upcoming Viking cruise is almost completely silent - and I’ve tried!!

[takemewithyou]

I guess I have been lucky.  My roll calls on Azamara have been active, but I worked to make it that way.  I posted regularly….not every day, but at least weekly.   I offered to maintain a list of all participants and I updated it and posted that weekly. I frequently posted the expected date and time of the CC gathering onboard and reminded people to watch the list of events on the first day aboard so that they could meet all the participants.  I have either printed name tags or brought the supplies so people could fill them out themselves.  It seems that once someone offers to do these things, people respond and participate.  Conversation begins on the roll calls and continues.

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

The roll call for my upcoming Viking cruise is almost completely silent - and I’ve tried!!

There is no reason for Viking roll calls:  with excursions included the biggest reason for getting together has been eliminated.

[Mackdogmolly]

57 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

There is no reason for Viking roll calls:  with excursions included the biggest reason for getting together has been eliminated.

Not sure I agree with you completely. I have lurked on some of their roll calls where they have organized meet and mingles. But it is a process that involves contacting someone onboard the ship with the names and cabin numbers of those who are interested. Not a particularly easy task for a newbie on a quiet roll call. But I, for one, enjoy starting a cruise already knowing a few people, whether or not I am sharing private excursions 

Edited September 30, 2023 by Mackdogmolly

[Melissaghoti]

Meet & Mingle hasn’t really recovered from pandemic hesitance to, well, meet or mingle. It also gets low billing in the Insider. On the cruise I’ve just returned from, I was the only person to show up at the ACD’s single/solo meet-up. A week later he’d found half a dozen others, had a dinner for them and they hung out together for the rest of the cruise. It was very nice, although I was spending my time with others who hadn’t been invited. They hadn't seen the info in The Insider, so weren’t aware that the meet-up happened. I’ve also wondered if ‘singles’ suggests to some people that it’s a sort of speed-dating get together!!

[wjfan417]

17 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

Did you have an active roll call?

Yes, and I posted several times to be sure and check the Insider as soon as you board because they’ve been having them the first day recently.

[Ithikan]

On Journey now, and the M&M was offered at 5:30. It was listed in the daily schedule both under "Get-Togethers" and within the Events timetable.  Cruise Director Darren attended with some waitstaff, drinks, and nibbles.  There were 4 of us when I arrived (admittedly a bit late), and we did not linger.  A far cry from the "old days," but this has not impacted our enjoyment of this Melbourne-Auckland cruise.

[Mackdogmolly]

We have a large, active roll call for our 2/18 Quest Antarctica cruise, so I am hoping for a well attended, well publicized M&M!