Is There a Way To Determine If a Group Is Booked On Your Cruise

[coy860]

I have been "burned" by HAL twice with large groups being booked on my sailings. Public areas are closed off for group functions, one night the entire pool area was off limits to non-group members.

 

It was one of the reasons that we have not sailed HAL in our last 14 cruises.

Lo and behold, we booked the Veendam sailing Nov. 4 and I now see a group booked.

Although we booked almost a year in advance, we could only get a suite guarantee at that time.

I would be happy to change my sailing, since I really don't like this practice of large groups all but taking over the ship.

[O2cruise]

Coy, I think you should be ok with the Wine group. HAL is actually advertising the fact that Mr. Owen in on the sailing, and I'm guessing it shouldn't be a really large group. Hopefully, ;) here's a link to HAL's webpage about Mr. Owen

http://www.hollandamerica.com/signatureofexcellence/culinaryartsschedule.do

[hammybee]

I don't know where someone would vacation to avoid the potential of a large group. Resort hotels and all cruise lines covet large group business. Groups are everywhere. If we can't beat em, maybe we have to join them, a group, that is.

[RCrpntr]

Richwmn.... thank you for the list. We're from Warner Robins, Georgia... and we switched our booking from the Veendam 12/16 to the Westerdam 11/25.

 

The price was the major factor but that group of 300 on the Veendam made us a bit uneasy.

 

BTW.... you may or may not know this... but that is not the current Georgia state flag. :)

[knitlady037]

I found a group from Elmira, N.Y., A cme medical group, And the Wnnipeg Humane Society on this sailing. Now showing no veranda cabins available.

[jaja]

February 27th 2008 Noordam

 

 

February 27, 2008 Primary Care: Breakthroughs in Preventive Medicine

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[happy cruzer]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=647656

 

Looks like Carnival is getting sued for booking a large group. I guess this will die out or be found to have merit.

[O2B@C]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=647656

 

Looks like Carnival is getting sued for booking a large group. I guess this will die out or be found to have merit.

 

Looks like that thread has gotten killed. At least, I can't get into it. Couldn't find anything on Google about any such lawsuit, either. Doesn't mean it's not happening - just not picked up by the media (yet).

[happy cruzer]

A Frisco, Texas couple was suing because of the alleged actions of a gay and lesbian group ( writing from memory so don't kill me on the details) on the Fascination.

[O2B@C]

Aaah - thanks - found a news item:

 

http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_292214947.html

[frankie-toronto]

I sure as hell would not want to meet that couple who are suing for Gay and Lesbian Group - of course they are ignorant - that is discrimination of the worst...

[ekerr19]

I sure as hell would not want to meet that couple who are suing for Gay and Lesbian Group - of course they are ignorant - that is discrimination of the worst...

 

Wow - I'm surprised by this... the couple seemed really grounded to me. I think the story itself alludes to much, (much) more happening on board than what was shown/revealed.

 

I probably wouldn't want to be on board with exhibitionists and cross dressers either, sorry - it has NOTHING to do with discrimination, just personal preference. It should have been disclosed to the other pax ahead of time, in my opinion.

[gphelps99]

Westerdam, May 25th, 2008 Alaskan Cruise the 173rd Airborn Brigade reunion. //www.173rdairborne.com/2008_reunion.htm

:D

[momtodogs]

We're leaving Saturday on the Mexican Riviera cruise. I did a search and found this group will be aboard. No idea how many.

 

http://www.fanclubcruises.com/glenn_yarbrough.htm

 

I didn't see it on your list (which is great, BTW):D

 

Also, there's a link to the site's general cruise list on that page.

[AECrowell]

We'll be on the Maasdam's Panama Canal cruise Feb. 9 thru 24, 2008, as part of a cultural tour organized by the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation (information at http://www.satromtravel.com). I think our group is a little over 100 people the last I heard. Although we'll be having lectures and group meetings, I don't know whether we're large enough to "take over" any areas of the ship.

[Roz]

Alumni and Friends of the PA State System of Higher Education (representing the 14 universities in the state system) will be on the following 2 cruises:

 

Maasdam - Canada/NE - June 28, 2008

 

Rotterdam - Black Sea - September 29, 2008

 

 

Roz (proud alumna of Indiana University of Pennsylvania)

[Suzanne123]

I'm not on your cruise, but I went to IUP, too!

[Roz]

Hi Suzanne,

 

I'm not going on either cruise...just posting for informational purposes.

 

IUP will always be the Indians to me; don't like this Crimson Hawks stuff. :(

 

Roz

[LouisV]

Does anyone know what group is sailing on Nov 9, 2008 on the Westderdam on a 14 day cruise. My mom and I booked this cruise and my TA sent me an email saying the cruise was canceled due to a group booking...

[Roz]

Pmatch,

 

That's unusual for a group to book a 14-day cruise. Have you tried doing an online search of the date and ship? Sometimes that turns up something. Here, I have it - a ballroom dance group called "Let's Dance". I'm imagining they'll take over public areas like the show lounge, Crow's Nest, and Ocean Bar, so you would probably rather not be on board with them.

 

At least you have a year to book something else.

 

Roz

[LouisV]

Pmatch,

 

That's unusual for a group to book a 14-day cruise. Have you tried doing an online search of the date and ship? Sometimes that turns up something. Here, I have it - a ballroom dance group called "Let's Dance". I'm imagining they'll take over public areas like the show lounge, Crow's Nest, and Ocean Bar, so you would probably rather not be on board with them.

 

At least you have a year to book something else.

 

Roz

 

Thanks Roz! I guess it's back to square one with planning!

[doorcountydi]

Well, I can see that the cruise line would love to have large groups...although with cruising being so popular these days, is there a chance they wouldn't fill up the ship anyway?

If I were Holland America, I would be wary - it would be a bit of a cr*p shoot without knowing what kind of group you are booking. For instance:

I just got off the Westerdam a few weeks ago...the second leg of my trip (Oct 28-Nov 4) was Western Caribbean and a wonderful medium-sized Jazz group was on board--they were polite and friendly, had their jazz groups play in the public areas and on Half Moon Cay, etc. They didn't hog the ship.

On the other hand, the first leg (Oct 21-28) in the Eastern Caribbean had chemical company employees (about 400 of them, with their wives, etc.) on board--it appeared to be the top 400 sales people. They acted like they owned the ship, shouting across the rooms at each other, using the "f" word and otherwise swearing, dressing (the women barely dressing) like they were in a sleazy bar, loudly drinking long into the night. Enough of them were behaving like this that it tainted the HAL character atmosphere. They really should have been on Carnival. Sorry if there are any Carnival fans out there, but the Fun Ship is their reputation.

I am not sure how you prevent this--obviously some groups are great (and I agree that most times you're not even aware there's a group on board, as long as they don't usurp public space for private events to the point where HAL's usual and loyal customers feel they are getting less than they paid for).

That was the first time I've run into a bawdy group on HAL, but I'll bet it won't be the last. :(

Diane

Diane

[rocks]

That is SOOOO nice you you to do, Rich!!

Checking the Westerdam 10/19/08 & it says TBA

Wondering what that means. 'To Be Announced' does that mean there is one, but we just don't know who?

THANKS again for keeping this list! :)

rocks

[richwmn]

That is SOOOO nice you you to do, Rich!!

Checking the Westerdam 10/19/08 & it says TBA

Wondering what that means. 'To Be Announced' does that mean there is one, but we just don't know who?

THANKS again for keeping this list! :)

rocks

Yes, the tba was on the organizers website for to be announced. I went back and it now has a title. The list has been updated.

 

Rich

[O2B@C]

Pmatch,

 

That's unusual for a group to book a 14-day cruise. Have you tried doing an online search of the date and ship? Sometimes that turns up something. Here, I have it - a ballroom dance group called "Let's Dance". I'm imagining they'll take over public areas like the show lounge, Crow's Nest, and Ocean Bar, so you would probably rather not be on board with them.

 

At least you have a year to book something else.

 

Roz

 

I just got back from a 7-day on Westerdam that had a small "Dance Camp" group on it. They were nice folks, and really didn't interfere with normal enjoyment of the ship at all. They mostly used the Queen's Lounge and some of the conference rooms, and maybe the nightclub, at times during the day when they wouldn't be used for public events anyway. They did have a few lessons in part of the Crow's Nest during the day, but they only used the dance floor area; the rest of it was open, and they weren't playing music so the lessons were fairly easy to ignore. On the other hand, this was a pretty small group - I think only about 50 students and 5 instructors. I can see that a larger group might be more disruptive.