First Time Cruiser Planning for a LARGE Group!

[Broccolilust]

Hi Everyone! I posted on the Ports Of Call board, but got a limited result. I've gotten such a good result from posts here on the HAL board before though that I thought maybe I could pick your brains too!

I'm going on my first cruise in April 2010 on the Oosterdam for 7 days to the Mexican riviera. I'm of course, very excited, and its even better that my bf's Step-dad is paying for everything excluding alcohol (except dinner wine) and gambling. Now, I've since found out that there's actually 19 people hes paying for. Yeah. He's apparently loaded. (I think that he said he's pre-ordered 7 CASES of wine for dinner.) Anyway he's bestowed upon me the pleasure of being the 'Shore Excursion Coordinator' for the trip. I think initially it was to plan ONE group shore excursion, but I'm not sure anymore. Its a group of 19 people of varying ages, ranged between 2.5 and 83 years of age.

I just got the email/phone number list and I need to apparently email or call everyone, introduce myself for the first time (eek!) and then tell them their options for shore excursions. Pretty much I think he wants me to email a kind of survey that says you can a) plan your own with the ship or without, or b) Choose one of the below and the most popular one wins.

Pretty much my question is this - What is the bet way to organize this? Also, any recommendations for what would work for such a VARIED group would be really helpful. It has to have elements that are exciting for younger people; we've got kids aged 15, 9 and 2.5 yrs and younger adults (20s and 30's) and elements for older adults ranging from their 50's to 80's, keeping in mind the mobility restrictions of an 80-something year old woman. We're going to Mazatlan, Pureto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas. I've already made plans for Mazatlan for my BF and I, so It looks like this fiasco will be at Cabo or PV.

Soooo... I'm intimidated!:eek:

They're really trotting me out, huh?:p

[mountainmare]

Do not try to have onr excursion for everyone. As coordinator do the legwork for each port and tell people what their options are.

[PatsyAnne]

I'm with mountainmare on this, one of the joys of a cruise for a large group is the ability to go your own way during the day and then come back together in the evening.

 

One thing I've done for vacations (for much smaller groups) is prepare a presentation (I used PowerPoint but anything you can put information in would work) for each port, with information about the port and then the recommended excursions for that port. So for Cabo, you'd include information about where the ship is parked (I think tender for Cabo), what it's known for, and then a list with descriptions of the excursions. I used the port information from CC, added from other online resources and guide books, and excursion information from the HAL website. The HAL website has a personalized pdf file of the shore excursions available for your specific cruise. That way, each person will be able to do exactly what they want, except maybe the toddler:rolleyes:, and you're not stuck in the middle guessing for them.

 

Enjoy your cruise, you'll have a wonderful time!

[Cfanatic]

I agree with previous posters! We did a family reunion cruise a few years ago - 36 of us between the ages of 6 months and 86 years.

There is no way to please everyone - you shouldn't even try! Offer a few suggestions (or for those who are old enough - give them HAL's website and let them look for themselves) and let everyone choose.

It would be nice if some of the younger folk would spend a little time with the older ones (my 11 year old great-niece spent one day ashore taking her 86 yr old great-grandmother and 82 yr old great-aunt shopping and they all had a great time) but you can't expect to find something in every port that EVERYONE will enjoy.

[Aunty Pat]

I’ve done this itinerary 3 times and traveled with family groups. More than one group excursion is to many to reach agreement on. If you BF’s step dad is paying for everyone, your best bet on accommodating everyone is a boat based excursion. Everyone can enjoy a nice sail and the active ones will have an opportunity to snorkel and the ones with mobility issues can sit back and enjoy the show. The Jolly Roger cruise in either Puerto Vallarta or Cabo is good options for this.

 

 

Also go for assigned seating for diner as this may be the only time everyday that you can get everyone together. There are tables for 10 in the upper dining room. With as you wish dining you'll have a hard time getting tables together at the same time.

 

Aunty Pat

 

Barefoot Windjammer - Phantom ‘81

K&D German Rhine Line ‘84

NCL - Norway ’85, Pride of America ’05, Southward ’87, Star ’97 & ‘05, Starward ’92, Sun ’02 & Windward ’93

RCC - Song of America ‘89

American Hawaiian - Independence ‘98

HAL - Volendam ’99, Noordam ’06, Oosterdam ’07 & ‘09, Statendam ’02 & ‘08, Prinsendam ’03 & ’06, & Zuiderdam ’04, ’06 & ’07, Westerdam ‘09

Carnival - Spirit ‘05

Celebrity – Summit ‘05

Cruise West - Yorktown Clipper ‘06

Princess - Golden Princess ‘07

A & K - East Queen ‘07

Cunard - QM2 ’08

Pending Cruises:

Crystal – Serenity, December 10, 2009

Oceania – Insignia, June 17, 2010

[cb at sea]

This is a "lose/lose" situation for you. There is no way that everyone will want to do the same thing at the same time.....and it will be a nightmare.

Let everyone decide what to do when they want to do it.

[SAN]

I agree with everyone else that it is too hard to plan excursions for everyone. We took a similar cruise with 32 family members to Alaska. Everyone planned their own excursions, whether it was separate or together with others from the group. We all ate at different times for breakfast and lunch but had dinner together every night, which was a highlight for us.

 

I am now planing a group tour with 19 family members for Europe. I have found private excursions or ship excursions for us. I have e-mailed the information to all and asked for their ideas. I will compile the replies and send them out to our group and see who wants to go together and who wants to do their own excursions. For those who want to do separate excursions on their own, they will book those themselves and I will book the private ones.

 

I hope this helps. Good Luck!!

[Broccolilust]

Hi Everyone thanks for the quick replies! I agree, it does kind of feel lose/lose! Let me explain a little better... BF's Stepdad can be difficult. He's been kind of unclear in terms of what he wants me to do. At this point between BF's Mom and what he's said, we're planning to offer this 'option' to everyone at ONE port and they're on their own for the other two. I believe that he does want me to go over the ship/non-ship options for each for everyone in an organized fashion. BF's Mom and I agree that it'll be more fun to compare notes over dinner than be together all the time. Unfortunately once Stepdad has an idea in his head were all pretty much along for the ride. Luckily, he understands that not everyone will want to do everything so that may be my option. I guess I need to compile a list of choices for each port.

Argh.

I still can't believe I have to call stepdads 80-something year old mom and intro myself and try and explain this madness...

[CowPrincess]

If you absolutely MUST do this, and absolutely MUST arrange a shorex, I'd suggest you get hold of Mazatlan Frank and see what kind of "one size fits all" tour he could set up for the large group of you in Mazatlan.

 

Alternatively, find a place with a van large enough to fit everyone, and arrange maybe a 3-hour tour of Mazatlan, with an OPTIONAL self-arranged add-on of a couple of hours on Stone Island, for those of the group who would enjoy a water taxi ride, a walk, and then some time on a rustic beach. There are "water toys" available for rent on Stone Island, and a couple of nice restaurants. So those who don't want to do Stone Island can go back to the ship, and those who are interested, CAN do it.

 

Personally, I've done this for 3 people and won't do it again. If you have no option but to do this, you have my best wishes! My best advice is give people a chance to not participate, or to bail out early. :) Good luck!

[leoandhugh]

I know that this is of little or no help, but your BF stepdad is more than "difficult". As a first time cruiser, he is asking too much of you and you will be so stressed that you will not enjoy the cruise and that is too bad. Even if you were experienced and got advise on these boards that might help, I think he has gone overboard on expecting you to do this. Just shows that money does not = understanding and being thoughtful of others. What does the BF think of this - after all, it is his family? I suggest you discuss in detail with BF, come up with a plan, and let him talk to his stepdad and get you out of the middle.:)

[Tarrytown Lad]

h I know that this is of little or no help, but your BF stepdad is more than "difficult". As a first time cruiser, he is asking too much of you and you will be so stressed that you will not enjoy the cruise and that is too bad. Even if you were experienced and got advise on these boards that might help, I think he has gone overboard on expecting you to do this. Just shows that money does not = understanding and being thoughtful of others. What does the BF think of this - after all, it is his family? I suggest you discuss in detail with BF, come up with a plan, and let him talk to his stepdad and get you out of the middle.

 

I don't know about all of that, Leo & Hugh, we think that the Stepdads' decision to "pay for everyones cruise" excuses almost any bad behavior short of murder! LOL

 

We would like to point out to poor Broccoli lust that there ARE some Travel Agents who are more able to manage a booking for this kind of occasion than are the others.

 

Which TA you choose is a key factor in this type of trip.

 

We just finished a cruise celebrating our 25th Anniversary, and the reception that was organized on the ship (through our TA) was fantastic.

 

Other couples also celebrating milestone anniversaries on our cruise were very disappointed, so we were glad that we did the homework and found a TA who was able to work with us and HAL to make it special.

 

In fact, our cruise was so special that we're going to try to post the video of our renewal ceremony either here or on Youtube.