Most Traveled Passengers Luncheon

[asctony]

This was recently posted about the Sun Princess and the Most Traveled Passengers Luncheon. What is your opinion on this? Would you rather have a luncheon or a cocktail party?

 

'There will be no Captains lunch on this cruise, he prefers cocktail party so I'm sure we'll be invited to that'

 

Not to sound to hard, but many times we have not seen the Captain at the luncheon. Many times we have sat with the First Officer.

 

In reality, the lunch is not really for the Captain, but for the most traveled cruisers. This will be a big disappointment.

 

Is this a cost cutting thing or does it come out of the Captain's private pocket? What about the people who don't like to drink?

Happy Cruising!!

[LARGIN]

This was recently posted about the Sun Princess and the Most Traveled Passengers Luncheon. What is your opinion on this? Would you rather have a luncheon or a cocktail party?

 

'There will be no Captains lunch on this cruise, he prefers cocktail party so I'm sure we'll be invited to that'

 

Not to sound to hard, but many times we have not seen the Captain at the luncheon. Many times we have sat with the First Officer.

 

In reality, the lunch is not really for the Captain, but for the most traveled cruisers. This will be a big disappointment.

 

Is this a cost cutting thing or does it come out of the Captain's private pocket? What about the people who don't like to drink?

Happy Cruising!!

 

Not really a lunch for the Captain, but a Captains Circle luncheon for passengers with the most cruises, not sea days. You get to eat a nice lunch with the staff. In some instances, the Captain will opt for a private afternoon cocktail party for those passengers plus his special friends. I have been to both.. There is more interaction with the Captain and his staff at the cocktail party than the luncheon where people are sitting at assigned tables. Myself I prefer the cocktail party. For people that do not drink, there are plenty of non-alcoholic drinks you can order.. The idea is to mingle, not get drunk..

[Toto2Kansas]

Actually, we seem to enjoy the Captain's luncheon more than the cocktail party. It always is one of the best meals we enjoy while onboard. Maybe we have gotten lucky but the captain has always shown up for the luncheons, has your picture taken with him, and then is seated with the most traveled of the group. Second is usually with the staff captain who is usually much more talkative we have found.

Everyone eats while not everyone drinks, so I think this is a great option. But I think it is totally up to the Captain of the ship you are sailing which one HE prefers.

 

"Is this a cost cutting thing or does it come out of the Captain's private pocket?"

Your joking here right? LOL

[cruiserforlife]

We were hoping to have CC luncheon on this cruise because those have been the best meals we have had on previous cruises.

 

Alas,a cocktail party will be the only option for us this time.

[GottoCruise]

I agree w/Toto - much prefer the luncheon....and never been on a cruise that didn't have one....maybe the "shorter" Carribbean cruises (we don't usually do those!)

GotTocruise (aka Renee)

[asctony]

'Not really a lunch for the Captain, but a Captains Circle luncheon for passengers with the most cruises, not sea days.' Yes, other soft drinks are served and people should not get drunk. However, a luncheon is really tops! We attended a brunch on the Sun last February and it was not as good as the luncheons.

 

From what I have been told by the Captain Circle Hostess, it is based on number of Days and not the number of cruises. Normally the top 25 - 30 people plus special invites attend a sit down luncheon. Out of the last 4 that we attended in the past 2 years, 2 were not attended by the Captain. One time the Captain just showed up for entry photos, then left.

 

"Is this a cost cutting thing or does it come out of the Captain's private pocket?" No joke, serious. What I mean by the Captain's pocket is that he has a slush fund for socializing and in the past the top officers did, too. Maybe Princess has reduced this, too. Fully understand the cutbacks are being made since the price of cruising is cheaper now than it was 20 years ago.

 

Have attended Captain's Cocktail Parties separate from the normal welcoming party and the CC Luncheon.

Happy Cruising!

[Coral]

I have only been to 3 of them - 2 on the Dawn Princess and 1 on the Coral Princess.

 

On the Coral - it was a luncheon (Alaska cruise). I didn't like the entree served (only 2 choices) so I sat and played with my food the entire time. It was in the Sabitini's area. The Captain did not show up - he was packing as he was to leave the ship after our cruise.

 

On the Dawn Princess - it was an evening reception (both were Alaska also). The Captain was present for both but limited on the first cruise. He scheduled this at the same time we had to leave port so he had to leave to "drive the ship out".

 

The Captain Circle person (Diane) said that the Captain decides what he wants to do (reception or luncheon/brunch). On some ships - the cocktail party makes more sense is what she said (Sun/Dawn).

 

I actually prefer the reception because at lunch - I sat next to the CD and Future Cruise person and didn't get to talk to anyone else. I have yet to be invited to this in the Caribbean.

[Pam in CA]

I get invited to the Captain's cocktail parties and avoid them like the plague. I don't really drink and you wind up standing around doing nothing. So, count me out on a Captain's cocktail party.

 

We were invited to the Captain's luncheon while on the Coral and sat at the table with the Captain. It was in Sabattini's and the food was great and sitting with the captain were terrific. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

[patlanta]

I especially enjoyed the luncheon. The food was exceptional. Everyone was given a photograph of the people at their table, which included the ship's representative who was your host.

 

Pat

[CruiseAholic]

Have been to a good number (32 Princess cruises to date) of these, both luncheons and cocktail party.

 

I enjoy both, but if I had to choose, would choose the cocktail party.

 

Interestingly, on the Golden Princess (I was #3 most travelled), there was nothing.

[bdjam]

My experience is a whole one luncheon on board Regal Princess. The lunch was exceptional, and sitting with the two chief engineers was probably more informative than sitting with the Captain. In fact I got a lot of insight into the Dawn Princess engine issues during this time.

Anyway, given the cocktail parties are probably as costly as the lunch – weigh out the price of drinks and appetizers vs. lunch – I don’t think there’s cost cutting going on. In fact I would have been thankful for the offer of the invite lunch or cocktail party.

[LARGIN]

 

From what I have been told by the Captain Circle Hostess, it is based on number of Days and not the number of cruises. I think she was incorrect.

 

Have attended Captain's Cocktail Parties separate from the normal welcoming party and the CC Luncheon.

Happy Cruising!

 

The Captains Circle luncheon is for passengers with the greatest number of cruises not seadays. Passengers with the most seadays are rewarded during the Captains Circle Cocktail party for all Captains Circle members. In reality there are usually 4 parties:

 

Captains Cocktail Party for all passengers.

Captains Circle Cocktail Party for all Captain Circle members (usually 50-75% of all passengers are eligible)

Captains Luncheon/Cocktail Party for Captains Circle members with the most cruises.

Captains private cocktail party for Officers and their guests..

[spongerob]

I'm not sure that's right, Larry, but in the world of Princess there can be more than one way to interpret anything. I have always understood that invitations to the luncheon/cocktail party were based on total days, not cruises. It gives extra consideration to those who take longer cruises, as it should. It's a far cry from a 3-day coastal cruise to a 20+day exotic.

[LARGIN]

I'm not sure that's right, Larry, but in the world of Princess there can be more than one way to interpret anything. I have always understood that invitations to the luncheon/cocktail party were based on total days, not cruises. It gives extra consideration to those who take longer cruises, as it should. It's a far cry from a 3-day coastal cruise to a 20+day exotic.

 

I agree, but the most seadays gets you a gift and a bottle of champagne at the CC cocktail party. Most of the people at the luncheon on our last cruise were elites which is based on the number of cruises, not days.. We were invited because there were only 15 elites on board and so they invited the high number Platinums..

[CruisinChris]

I believe the invitation is based on days sailed. Our Captain's Circle hostess showed me the list which had names and days sailed right next to the names. I don't think it matters whether you're platinum or elite. (It is not beyond the realm of possiblity that a platinum member may have sailed more days than an elite member).

[Toto2Kansas]

There must not have been many Ellites on the TP last October then. Although we only have 13 Princess cruises so far, we have as many, if not more days then some Elite members because of our longer cruises. We were the 3rd or 4th highest traveled passenger at the luncheon.

So, I think I have to agree with Rob here. I think it is days sailed with Princess instead of just number of cruises that are counted for the luncheon.

[asctony]

Largin: Just reviewed our past 5 cruises with Princess and we attended each Captain's Luncheon. The selection was based on the number of sea days and not the number of cruises. We were the within top 3 passengers with the most cruise days on 3 of those cruises. We missed out on our Coral Princess cruise in Dec 04 by 5 days of being in the top 3. The couple that beat us out on the Coral had 283 days to our 278 days. They only had 23 cruises and we had 32.

 

Every Captain's Circle Hostess that I talked to on those cruises explained to me that it, the Captain's Luncheon, was based on number of days not cruises. The CCH had a computer generated list showing the number of days and normally the top 25 - 30 people were picked from that list. There were occasions when a few selected passengers were asked to join the luncheon.

Really it doesn't matter if it is number of days or cruises to me. I do know what the 4 parties are that you referenced in your post.

Maybe some day we will be on the same cruise and we can both get the same answer.

 

Personally, I hope to have a luncheon instead of a cocktail party regardless of the cost of both. We do appreciate whatever is provided. I was just interested to get opinions from others on their preferences.

 

Until the next Captain's whatever, Happy Cruising!!

[ERsecurity]

We attended a luncheon on the last two cruises. They were one of the highlites of the cruise. The food was exceptional.

 

On the Caribbean Princess they even combined the luncheon with a tour of the galley WHILE IT WAS IN OPERATION. That was a sight to see.

 

The amazing thing is very few people even know that this goes on....

[LARGIN]

I stand corrected... :D

[catdancers]

What would say would be the LEAST number of cruises or sea days to qualify? I understand it varies each cruise, but just wanting a generalization.

[mii]

I also,like catdancers, want to know what the least number of cruises or sea days to qualify.

 

Marilyn

[Coral]

Catdancer - it really varies per cruise. On both of my Alaskan cruises, there were very few repeaters and only 2 elite members. There were people invited to the cocktail party with only (5) seven night cruises.

 

On the other hand - I have a friend who is Elite and was not invited to the cruise on his San Francisco 10 night Mex Riveria cruise. There were so many repeaters on that ship - he wasn't even close. Usually they pick the top 20 passengers so it can vary quite a bit.

 

I have only made the party on Alaska cruises. I have spoken to the Captain Circle Host on my Caribbean cruises and she indicated that I was not even close to being invited.

[cruisingfreak]

Catdancer - it really varies per cruise. On both of my Alaskan cruises, there were very few repeaters and only 2 elite members. There were people invited to the cocktail party with only (5) seven night cruises.

 

On the other hand - I have a friend who is Elite and was not invited to the cruise on his San Francisco 10 night Mex Riveria cruise. There were so many repeaters on that ship - he wasn't even close. Usually they pick the top 20 passengers so it can vary quite a bit.

 

I have only made the party on Alaska cruises. I have spoken to the Captain Circle Host on my Caribbean cruises and she indicated that I was not even close to being invited.

 

Maybe we'll finally get a chance to be invited to a luncheon or cocktail party, when we do Alaska next year.

 

 

Minette

[spongerob]

Maybe this will give you an idea of how many days are needed. On the last couple of cruises we have been on, the Circle Host has asked anyone with more than 150 days to register. If you have less than 100 days, you are probably completely out of the running.

[mafig]

What would say would be the LEAST number of cruises or sea days to qualify? I understand it varies each cruise, but just wanting a generalization.

 

This may depend on the cruise. The couple with the most days on our cruise last week had over 400 days, and they won the prize as having the most days. They said they usually win in the Caribbean, but the Med is a different story, they sometimes don't even get a bottle of champagne.