Carnival doesn't give ANY perks for meet and greets?

[smiles32617]

Okay i have a couple questions.... Has anyone ever received any perks or free stuff from carnival while attending a meet and greet on there ship? Has any one ever received any perks or free stuff on any other cruise line?? Just wondering. we have a roll call of like 40 and carnival said nope. i would think they would give out something but i guess not. just wanted othe peoples feed back. thanks for your time and happy cruising!

[Sue L]

I don't think Carnival sets up anything or has any kind of party. Rccl gives the roll call a party (over 25 people) and they give away a bunch of stuff.

[smiles32617]

Yeah the only thing they said they could/would do was block off a room for us. its not a big deal i just wanted to get peoples opinion. thanks for your reply

[98Charlie]

Yeah the only thing they said they could/would do was block off a room for us. its not a big deal i just wanted to get peoples opinion. thanks for your reply

 

That's about all I've ever seen Carnival do on any of our Carnival cruises. The meet & greet is pretty much up to the people on the roll call in what, where and when it will happen.

 

Dianne

[dlbutler5]

RCCL and CC arre linked that is why they make a bigger thing out ot the Meet and Greet

[G'ma]

Yeah the only thing they said they could/would do was block off a room for us. its not a big deal i just wanted to get peoples opinion. thanks for your reply

 

The only time you will see included snacks and drinks is when the booking is a group booked with the group department. If the group reaches a certain size, they will add in a get-together for a certain price. The price is then split up among the group members and becomes part of the total price. They don't give them away free.

[flowerchild]

You can organize your own party through Carnival; our roll call members called Carnival's wedding department and organized a cocktail party. $11.44 pp for an hour of open bar and dry snacks, 20 person minimum. A second hour can be added, also. We collected the money via paypal and are looking forward to our Meet and Greet on the Valor later this month!

[magictam]

Has any one ever received any perks or free stuff on any other cruise line??

 

On my first cruise with Holland America I attend the meet & greet from our CC roll call. We were served complementary Champagne, Orange Juice and Coffee with a variety of hor'dvers (sp?) with a space provided. On my next cruise also with HAL but a different ship, only Coffee and cookies were served complementary with a space provided.

I thought this was usual with the cruise lines, until I read on CC that it's not with Carnival.

No biggie, just load up at the lido before the meet and greet.:D

[LHP]

I prefer to set up our own Meet and Greets...and keep the cost of cruising LOW on Carnival!!

 

The more they give away, the more they have to charge for their cruise.

[trock]

Give a shout out to Host Mach.. he had some information from John H.. that over 25 people?? and with some advance notice he would try to help...

:)

[onceagain]

One person said - "Rccl gives the roll call a party (over 25 people) and they give away a bunch of stuff." - that might be true, but remember they are quite a bit more expensive than Carnival. If you book through Carnival's group department you'll save money, that perks enough for me!

[firefly333]

You can pay per person for the M&M, like around $12 for drinks or $18 for snacks with the drinks or some such if there is a mimimum # of people.

 

Iv seen lots of roll calls do it, so I know some do pay per person if they dont want to do their own party.

[firefly333]

I prefer to set up our own Meet and Greets...and keep the cost of cruising LOW on Carnival!!

 

The more they give away, the more they have to charge for their cruise.

 

Most of the prizes on RCL was pretty minor. We won an ink pen and a broze medal you wear they had left over. The BIG prize is the mouse with the floating ship that everyone wants. Hardly enough to change the cost of cruising lol

[tally10]

October will be our first experience with Carnival in over twenty years, so I am surprised that they do basically nothing. RCCL's Meet & Mingles have had a wide range of prizes (they have a raffle) from pens and other logo wear to bridge tours, depending on the ship. Celebrity's have been complimetary coffee and pastries, but no prizes. The cruise directors were all in attendence as were the captains. Like the previous poster said, it wouild not be enough to raise cruise prices. On our last cruise, DH won a full body massage. Unfortuately, he was too ill with noro and pneumonia to use it. I enjoyed it very much:) .

[CruiseCentric]

October will be our first experience with Carnival in over twenty years, so I am surprised that they do basically nothing. RCCL's Meet & Mingles have had a wide range of prizes (they have a raffle) from pens and other logo wear to bridge tours, depending on the ship. Celebrity's have been complimetary coffee and pastries, but no prizes. The cruise directors were all in attendence as were the captains. Like the previous poster said, it wouild not be enough to raise cruise prices. On our last cruise, DH won a full body massage. Unfortuately, he was too ill with noro and pneumonia to use it. I enjoyed it very much:) .

There is a deal in place with ROYAL and X which allows them to have Official Meet and Greet for Cruise Critic groups. I think the stipulation is they have exclusive rights to such events and other cruise lines cant have Official meet and greets.

[jdbmga]

On our recent Mariner cruise the prizes given away were nothing like a free massage, unfortunately.

 

The best prizes were a bottle of red wine and a bottle of white wine. I don't even remember the other prize (it wasn't great)

 

No mouse w/ floating ship either. :(

 

Granted the employee that was in charge of our M&M was new. It was his first but you'd think that they would have told him what to do and what to raffle off.

[let_them_eatcake]

We had a mix and mingle on the Grandeur on RCCL. we got cruise critic lapel pens and lRCCL little notepads. We had lemonade, tea, finger foods and a few staff stopped by. However the best part of the mixer was having the entire area to ourselves w/ beautful sea views.

[paulekrause]

On the NCL Dawn we were provided with danishes, cookies, coffee, Tea OJ and ice water and a question and answer time with a member of the crew and a corporate exec even though only a few of us showed up

[jean212]

On my last Holland America M&G, we had a private area up at the top bar to meet on the 2nd day of the cruise. Would you believe they had an open bar for one hour? A lot of Officers came by to introduce themselves. Our M&G coordinator really did some work, she even organized a private tour through the kitchen with the head chef.

[steveaaaaa]

There is a deal in place with ROYAL and X which allows them to have Official Meet and Greet for Cruise Critic groups. I think the stipulation is they have exclusive rights to such events and other cruise lines cant have Official meet and greets.

 

Why is that?:confused:

How is that?

 

Steve

[tally10]

The ones we have been to have varied depending on the size of the group. The one last spring was a HUGE group (most were thread lurkers but not writers) and I think that influences the freebies that are given away. That was on the Jewel of the Seas. Yet, the one we had on the same ship in 2004, had minimal gifts (my son won a RCCL cap) as there were only 14 of us that came to the meet and mingle. However, the CD and captains have always shown up, even if it was just for 10 minutes or so. I didn't realize that RCCL and X had exclusive rights to this.

[LHP]

Most of the prizes on RCL was pretty minor. We won an ink pen and a broze medal you wear they had left over. The BIG prize is the mouse with the floating ship that everyone wants. Hardly enough to change the cost of cruising lol

 

Unfortunately, the "prize" is just the tip of the financial iceberg.

 

There must be corporate staff to coordinate each Meet and Greet, if this is (as indicated on here) an "official" perk for Cruise Critic members.

 

Then someone on the ship has to be responsible for gathering such "gifts" and making sure everything is in place.

 

Then there is the wait staff to open up bars in the selected location that have to be staffed.

 

Personally, I am smart enough to tell a bunch of folks to meet at the Aft Pool bar at 3:00PM all by myself for free!! ;)

[LHP]

The ones we have been to have varied depending on the size of the group. The one last spring was a HUGE group (most were thread lurkers but not writers) and I think that influences the freebies that are given away. That was on the Jewel of the Seas. Yet, the one we had on the same ship in 2004, had minimal gifts (my son won a RCCL cap) as there were only 14 of us that came to the meet and mingle. However, the CD and captains have always shown up, even if it was just for 10 minutes or so. I didn't realize that RCCL and X had exclusive rights to this.

 

That would be the sad side of it. When RCCL goes to all that trouble and two people show up.

[jsmac3]

There is a Carnival Conquest review, I think it is something like "The Jones Conquer the Conquest" and according to the review, John Heald assisted them in setting up a meet & mingle, and some give-aways/prizes and refreshments were provided by Carnival. A piano player provided entertainment, and I want to say the cruise director was there. You might check it out, and possibly contact John HEald.:)

[jdbmga]

Neither the CD nor the Captain came to ours. :( :confused: