Meet and Greet Question

[Elephant Man]

Does HAL have the same or similar system of Cruise Critic Meet and Greet as

X has on their ships?

[kakalina]

One can arrange through ship services to have a meet and greet set up for their cruise. This will include coffee and cookies normally. One can request officers attend for a q&a, sometimes they can.

There is no formal connection between HAL and CC for standard type M&G's. I hope this is what you wanted to know.

[patsnation12]

We just got off the Noordam, and someone from our Roll Call set up a M&G for us. It was held in the Crows Nest on the first day at sea, and Trevor, the CD, and Marcella, the Hotel Manager, were present. We were served mimosas, champagne, wine and soda (complimentary, of course).

 

You can tell the impact that CC has on the cruise lines...Trevor joked that he hoped we would all write great reviews of our cruise!

[sail7seas]

It is common for the person who begins the Roll Call to contact HAL and make the arrangements. Not necessarily that person but often that is the one who does it.

 

[jer_l]

Does HAL have the same or similar system of Cruise Critic Meet and Greet as

X has on their ships?

No it doesn't work the same. On Celebrity you sign up for a cruise critic group and if it is large enough X will plan a cocktail reception. On HAL someone in your roll call has to contact HAL to arrange for a reception. I did this for our 11/24 cruise (my first on HAL) and they were very good about contacting me and making the arrangements with the ship. I told them the approximate number and gave them a day and time. When I boarded there was a note from the beverage manger in my cabin and I went to his office to confirm the arrangements. Whoever makes the plans then needs to notify everyone in the roll call as to time and place--usually before leaving for the cruise.

[gizmo]

I will second that. It is not handled the same way. It is through no fault of Hal. It is a CC thing. Hal attempted to do this but was stopped by CC. RCI apparently has had some kind of deal with RCI since the beginning of this board. (X is owned by RCI) Hal cannot "advertise" a CC party. They cannot put it in their daily program. As other posters mentioned you must contact Hal for arrangements.

[gizmo]

I will second that. It is not handled the same way. It is through no fault of Hal. It is a CC thing. Hal attempted to do this but was stopped by CC. RCI apparently has had some kind of deal with RCI since the beginning of this board. (X is owned by RCI) Hal cannot "advertise" a CC party. They cannot put it in their daily program. As other posters mentioned you must contact Hal for arrangements.

[Jade13]

Does HAL have the same or similar system of Cruise Critic Meet and Greet as

X has on their ships?

 

 

No, and the advantage is that with HAL you can get a meeting space for a CC Meet & Greet assigned prior to having a certain number of people or names and cabins. We had a small group on the Westerdam this year but HAL never questioned it, we had space in the Crows Nest, and both the Captain and Hotel Manager showed up.

 

I am taking my first X cruise and because it is a 5 night (Century rotates 4 and 5 nights out of Miami all winter) they won't give us the space or food. It should not matter as we have the same 2 sea days we had this year on the Westerdam 10 day cruise. It also sounds like Celebrity has the same poor impersonal pre-cruise service they have in their other departments (sorry but I am not impressed with the Celebrity pre-cruise experiance). On Celebrity people need to log in and when they have enough folks they assign the space. Recently on the boards all the Celebrity M&G's were lost in the system (unless x still had the records) so people on the roll calls have to go log in again.

 

With HAL, someone can call call Guest Services and get a full name of someone they can e-mail and discuss the details. You can even request certains spaces if they are available. The Crows Nest or the Piano Bar are popular.

[Jade13]

I will second that. It is not handled the same way. It is through no fault of Hal. It is a CC thing. Hal attempted to do this but was stopped by CC. RCI apparently has had some kind of deal with RCI since the beginning of this board. (X is owned by RCI) Hal cannot "advertise" a CC party. They cannot put it in their daily program. As other posters mentioned you must contact Hal for arrangements.

 

What kind of "Exclusive" does CC have with RCL, and why? Why would CC agree to those terms that other cruise ships can not advertise a CC meeting (like they do for other groups including AA meetings)?

[Jade13]

double post

[bobnsandi]

On HAL someone in your roll call has to contact HAL to arrange for a reception. I did this for our 11/24 cruise (my first on HAL) and they were very good about contacting me and making the arrangements with the ship. I told them the approximate number and gave them a day and time. When I boarded there was a note from the beverage manger in my cabin and I went to his office to confirm the arrangements. Whoever makes the plans then needs to notify everyone in the roll call as to time and place--usually before leaving for the cruise.

jer_l: Whom do you contact to set this up, and how? Thank you.

[bobnsandi]

Oops, sorry about double post...

[Jade13]

jer_l: Whom do you contact to set this up, and how? Thank you.

 

Call Guest Services. Each ship has a Ship Coordinator. They will transfer you to that person.

 

"Azure Seas" cruise? Can I ask?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Haven't been to a Roll Call since Volendam 2006. Have signed up for the Various Roll Calls - 2 Maasdam Feb/Mar 2007, 2 Maasdam Aug, 1 Ryndam Nov. People start the Roll Calls but that is as far they have gone.

 

Checked for Roll Calls for 2 of our up-coming cruises - nothing started yet.

[CroozeAddict]

Haven't been to a Roll Call since Volendam 2006. Have signed up for the Various Roll Calls - 2 Maasdam Feb/Mar 2007, 2 Maasdam Aug, 1 Ryndam Nov. People start the Roll Calls but that is as far they have gone.

 

Checked for Roll Calls for 2 of our up-coming cruises - nothing started yet.

 

Hi KK,

 

That's weird. We have 40 signed up for our meet and greet on the Westerdam. Like what was mentioned previously, the originator of the roll call set everything up and we're meeting in the Crow's Nest at the sail-a-way. We've had a very active roll call since June. It seems like we all know each other very well already. A few of us have linked our bookings to dine together and some are booking shore excusions together. I look forward to this cruise with great anticipation. It will be fabulous.

 

Merry Christmas!!!

[gizmo]

What kind of "Exclusive" does CC have with RCL, and why? Why would CC agree to those terms that other cruise ships can not advertise a CC meeting (like they do for other groups including AA meetings)?

 

Jade,

 

I don't have all the information but from what I remember, it had something to do with an agreement formed by CC and RCI.

 

 

This is pure speculation but it is very possible that RCI might have dumped money into supporting this site way back in the beginning and some type of contract was agreed upon between CC and RCI giving RCI some exclusive rights to use the CC name.

[sail7seas]

There are different owners of this site now, I think. Maybe those old conditions no longer apply.

 

I wonder if someone asks HAL to 'check' with CC if we can now do our arrangements for our Meet and Greets the way (apparently) "X" does. Wouldn't hurt to ask.

 

CroozeAddict......It isn't weird what KK encountered. A Vista ship is larger and there is more chance of having more CC'ers on a given cruise. I have been on "S" class ships where there were only about 4 or 5 that signed up on a Roll Call. If there aren't many CC'ers, there, obviously, won't be a large Roll Call or Meet and Greet.

 

For our Maasdam November 29 cruise, only about 8 people signed up on the Roll Call and no one even mentioned a Meet and Greet until a week prior to our cruise. It was too late and no one did anything.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hi KK,

 

That's weird. We have 40 signed up for our meet and greet on the Westerdam. Like what was mentioned previously, the originator of the roll call set everything up and we're meeting in the Crow's Nest at the sail-a-way. We've had a very active roll call since June. It seems like we all know each other very well already. A few of us have linked our bookings to dine together and some are booking shore excusions together. I look forward to this cruise with great anticipation. It will be fabulous.

 

Merry Christmas!!!

 

Guess we don't choose cruises where a lot of CC'ers are on them.

Bad luck on our part.

[Krazy Kruizers]

sail

 

The same thing was true on the Aug Maasdam cruises. For both weeks Roll Calls had been started weeks in advance - but then they suddenly stopped posting and as a result - no Meet and Greet.

 

Same thing happened on our Ryndam cruise. Someone started the Roll Call months in advance. A few people responded right away. And then nothing put a couple of posts near the end.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for reminding me about our August cruises. I couldn't remember if there was a Meet and Greet and apparently both weeks there was not. I have only been to a few. The one we had on Noordam in January was GREAT. It was fun on Maasdam in June but much smaller........(and it was something of a complaint fest, unfortunately). ;) After that happens, it makes you leery about going to another.

[bobnsandi]

Just got off the phone with Amanda (very friendly and professional) at HAL and she is in the process of coordinating with the Prinsendam to set up a Meet & Greet. Thanks to all who posted on this thread, you've been most helpful.

[innlady1]

We just got off the Noordam, and someone from our Roll Call set up a M&G for us. It was held in the Crows Nest on the first day at sea, and Trevor, the CD, and Marcella, the Hotel Manager, were present. We were served mimosas, champagne, wine and soda (complimentary, of course).

 

You can tell the impact that CC has on the cruise lines...Trevor joked that he hoped we would all write great reviews of our cruise!

 

What time was your M & G, patsnation (you must be a Patriots fan!)?

 

I set one up for our cruise in the Crow's Nest, and it's from 10:30 to 11:30, I believe. Just curious how you rated mimosas...we're getting coffee!

[cruisinjudy]

I wonder how many would be the smallest group for which HAL would set up a meet and greet. So far only three couples on our roll call but we are all interested in meeting. I am hoping someone else will show up. Cruise is February 25th. If not through HAL then we will just agree to meet somewhere on the first sea day.

[sab490]

I wonder how many would be the smallest group for which HAL would set up a meet and greet. So far only three couples on our roll call but we are all interested in meeting. I am hoping someone else will show up. Cruise is February 25th. If not through HAL then we will just agree to meet somewhere on the first sea day.

 

I think someone said a while back the magic number is 35. Don't hold me to that though...the ole memory ain't what it used to be!

 

By the way, it seems to me that the M&G's on HAL organized by us via the roll call are more successful than the "canned" M&M's on RCCL & X. It just seems that the people on the roll call form more of a bond prior to the cruise.

 

- Steve

[LAFFNVEGAS]

The December 15th Oosterdam sailing had about 22 for our Roll Call and we met in the Oak Room near the Crow's Nest.

I have set up several over the years. I have found that if there is at least 20 then I set it up with Ship Services if the number is less than 20 in all these cases I or another member hosted a Sail Away party in their cabin and the whole group showed up. That way we still had a CC Meet and Greet just not offical thru the ship.