Tell me about the Cruise Critic Party

[edhopper]

Going on the Millennium Alaska Cruise at the end of next week.

Should I sign up for the Cruise Critic Connection Party.

What exactly is it? Thanks for any info.

[ramman]

:D a chance for a face to face with posters that you have done battle with on the boards :D

 

Really, it is just a simple social event including some snacks and beverages.

[mahdnc]

I encourage you to sign up for the CC party and for your sailing's roll call thread on Cruise Critic. The party serves 2 purposes:

 

1. gives you a formal chance to meet the other people on your roll call that you have been posting back and forth with many a time up to your sailing date.

 

2. there will be Celebrity reps as well that kickoff the party which will have pastries, coffee, etc. At our last CC party earlier this month aboard Summit, I think we had around 8 Celebrity personnel while only 10-12 of us CC'ers showed up.

 

That brings me to my last point, usually the CC party is held during the 1st morning of the cruise--usually at around 10am which makes it difficult to attend sometimes.

[Lois R]

I encourage you to sign up for the CC party and for your sailing's roll call thread on Cruise Critic. The party serves 2 purposes:

 

1. gives you a formal chance to meet the other people on your roll call that you have been posting back and forth with many a time up to your sailing date.

 

2. there will be Celebrity reps as well that kickoff the party which will have pastries, coffee, etc. At our last CC party earlier this month aboard Summit, I think we had around 8 Celebrity personnel while only 10-12 of us CC'ers showed up.

 

That brings me to my last point, usually the CC party is held during the 1st morning of the cruise--usually at around 10am which makes it difficult to attend sometimes.

 

Hi David,:) wow....you almost had more staff than ccrs?...how

active or nonactive was your roll call?:confused:

I sail Solstice in 10 days and over the last couple of months we have

only had about a dozen "regular chatters" but get this....when you

check the site for the CC party, it shows over 100 people have

signed up:eek:....now, how weird is that?:confused:.....

 

A few of us are going to do a gift exchange.

But out of 100 I am betting maybe 1/4 will show up. (Hopefully

the participants in the exchange will be there). Well, I counted

the gift exchangers and there are about 35 of us.....so who knows,

maybe the gathering will be larger than I thought.

[cruiserssandr]

I encourage you to sign up for the CC party and for your sailing's roll call thread on Cruise Critic. The party serves 2 purposes:

 

1. gives you a formal chance to meet the other people on your roll call that you have been posting back and forth with many a time up to your sailing date.

 

2. there will be Celebrity reps as well that kickoff the party which will have pastries, coffee, etc. At our last CC party earlier this month aboard Summit, I think we had around 8 Celebrity personnel while only 10-12 of us CC'ers showed up.

 

That brings me to my last point, usually the CC party is held during the 1st morning of the cruise--usually at around 10am which makes it difficult to attend sometimes.

We don't have a sea day till the last day of our cruise. I wonder what how a CC party for this cruise. This is our first Celebrity cruise but we have been to many CCD get togethers on NCL and Royal Caribbean. It was a lot of fun to actually meet with people you had been "talking" with for months.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

The connections parties vary by sailing and by how active the roll call has been. On our May cruise to Alaska, they had to move us to the Bar at the Edge of the Earth or whatever they call the lounge up front because we had so many people signed up. My last two cruises this year Celebrity has sent all its top officers to the connections party. It's a great chance to meet them and the others you've been chatting with on the boards before your cruise.

 

I recommend taking the time to go. Enjoy your cruise!

[mahdnc]

Lois, yes there were almost more staff than CCers. Our roll call thread was not very active although I noticed that most of the Jul/Aug Summit roll call threads were not active as a whole.

 

We had a CC registration at closing of 56 people. Of that I am thinking maybe 10-12 showed up. That is approximately the number different posters that we had on our roll call. In contrast during our prior cruise (Millennium Mediterranean Jun 2007) we had 34 people show up and a CC registration of 115 or so. The 10am meeting time is not convenient and in both cruises the ship's clock advanced 1 hour forward during the night before the party which is a real killer!!

 

I am guessing that Celebrity (or the ship's staff) is getting pretty good at estimating how many passengers will show up to the party based on the registration count. So with our relatively low registration count, I was pretty impressed with the number of staff that showed up to the event. The CD that was there (Robert Wheatley) said that Celebrity understands how important Cruise Critic is to managing customer satisfaction/perception.

[harryfat1]

On our Infinity cruise last summer to Alaska, we barely were able to get the 25 minimum for the cruise connection party. Few folks from our roll call had to go to the various boards and “recruit” other passengers on our sailing to come to the roll call and sign up for the party just so we can qualify.

 

As others have said, typically it is held on the next morning after you board at 10 AM, at which time many people are busy going about their activities on the ship, so low attendance can be expected. However, Celebrity does send its staff out to meet with passengers and if you have any questions/concerns, it’s best to talk to the higher up folks than the front desk workers.

 

I believe on our cruise, we had the cruise director, hotel director, assistant hotel director, chief engineer and couple other “ brass” folks to greet us. So I give Celebrity kudos for making an effort to show up.

 

I believe they close the connection party sign up few days before sailing, so if you want to sign up, don’t wait too late.

[Lois R]

Lois, yes there were almost more staff than CCers. Our roll call thread was not very active although I noticed that most of the Jul/Aug Summit roll call threads were not active as a whole.

 

We had a CC registration at closing of 56 people. Of that I am thinking maybe 10-12 showed up. That is approximately the number different posters that we had on our roll call. In contrast during our prior cruise (Millennium Mediterranean Jun 2007) we had 34 people show up and a CC registration of 115 or so. The 10am meeting time is not convenient and in both cruises the ship's clock advanced 1 hour forward during the night before the party which is a real killer!!

 

I am guessing that Celebrity (or the ship's staff) is getting pretty good at estimating how many passengers will show up to the party based on the registration count. So with our relatively low registration count, I was pretty impressed with the number of staff that showed up to the event. The CD that was there (Robert Wheatley) said that Celebrity understands how important Cruise Critic is to managing customer satisfaction/perception.

 

Hi David,:) I hope the folks who are part of the gift exchange

show up..that would be a nice size anyway..and if you bring a gift,

you get a gift;). So, unless folks just decide not to show up

(which is always a possibility) there should be at least 35.

I know some others are doing a slot pull but I didn't sign up for

that one.

I don't know who the CD is on Solstice right now. I know it was Paul

(I don't know him) and then John Grantham (I met him before) but

not sure who will be participating.

Oh well.....I bought my gift already so I am going;)

[mahdnc]

Lois, our Summit roll call never got advanced enough to do a gift exchange, slot pull, cabin crawl, etc etc. Because we have to travel during summer vacation and spring break, I think alot of the hard core (and value seeking) CCers aren't on those sailings so the roll call tends to be tamer.

 

I really look forward to seeing your Solstice review. I am sure you will have a good cruise!

[Lois R]

Lois, our Summit roll call never got advanced enough to do a gift exchange, slot pull, cabin crawl, etc etc. Because we have to travel during summer vacation and spring break, I think alot of the hard core (and value seeking) CCers aren't on those sailings so the roll call tends to be tamer.

 

I really look forward to seeing your Solstice review. I am sure you will have a good cruise!

 

Thanks David:)

[germanyboy]

Dont forget--need to be signed up for cc party 3 or 4? days before your cruise to be on the invite list

[JimnKaren]

I am jealous that you got soooo many staff members to show at your CC party. Once, we didn't even get the CD to show! Ouch!

 

It is good to finally match faces with names, etc. It gives one a chance to already have 'friends' when you get there. CC parties can be fun, or somewhat not fun. It all depends on how many show and what their attitude is.

 

Go to the party, it makes Cruise Critic a more valued entity in the eyes of the the cruise line.

 

Jim

[mahdnc]

Jim,

Our last cruise was back in 2007 so I don't know when this shift started. but I will tell you that I was surprised how many officers and staff were visible and accessible during our entire Bermuda cruise starting with the CC party.

[juneday]

I have noticed once or twice that people have mentioned that there are soft drinks and nibbles given out but seems that there is no alcohol at these cc get togethers, well on the last one we attended last year they were indeed giving out free alcoholic drinks in fact they were free flowing, Have things changed now? Just wondering.

[Lois R]

I have noticed once or twice that people have mentioned that there are soft drinks and nibbles given out but seems that there is no alcohol at these cc get togethers, well on the last one we attended last year they were indeed giving out free alcoholic drinks in fact they were free flowing, Have things changed now? Just wondering.

 

Sounds like you got something special:D. No free booze at any of the

ones I have attended.:eek:

[Jeaneee]

Hi David,:) I hope the folks who are part of the gift exchange

show up..that would be a nice size anyway..and if you bring a gift,

you get a gift;). So, unless folks just decide not to show up

(which is always a possibility) there should be at least 35.

I know some others are doing a slot pull but I didn't sign up for

 

 

Hi lois, I was just wondering, what is a "slot pull"?

[Lois R]

Hi David,:) I hope the folks who are part of the gift exchange

show up..that would be a nice size anyway..and if you bring a gift,

you get a gift;). So, unless folks just decide not to show up

(which is always a possibility) there should be at least 35.

I know some others are doing a slot pull but I didn't sign up for

 

 

Hi lois, I was just wondering, what is a "slot pull"?

 

Hi Jeaneee,:) I have never participated in one but I think everyone

puts in 20 bucks and if someone wins, the money gets split between

everyone who put in $.

Maybe someone who has done it before can give you a more

detailed answer (or a more correct one).......;)

[harryfat1]

I have noticed once or twice that people have mentioned that there are soft drinks and nibbles given out but seems that there is no alcohol at these cc get togethers, well on the last one we attended last year they were indeed giving out free alcoholic drinks in fact they were free flowing, Have things changed now? Just wondering.

 

Maybe it has to do with the itinerary? On our Alaska cruise, this was done on day 2 (next day after boarding) at 10 AM on a sea day as we were doing the inside passage.

 

So maybe if day 2 was a port day on your cruise, they move it later on in the evening and bring out the alcohol? Otherwise, 10 AM seems to me to a bit early to start giving out free booze. Unless you are in the camp of drink early and drink often, then we are all good.

[lvcruiser]

I think they use the itinerary to assist in determining how many passengers may show up. On our last cruise, we had 38 sign up for the party, but only a dozen or so showed because it was at 9:00AM the first morning and we were arriving in port at 9:30. It was held in Michael's and the CD and his assistant were the only crew. The CD stated that they usually like having the parties on sea days, but our only one was on the sixth day of the cruise, and they felt it unwise to wait that long. On the cruise before that, we had an active roll call thread, over 80 people signed up for the party and over 40 showed. It was on a sea day and they held the party in the top deck bar and lounge. Six crew members assisted in putting on that party. On no party I have ever attended has there been free alcoholic drinks; coffee, juice and soda were available.

[kitkat9438]

Hi John and Lois.

 

On our last cruise on the Summit we actually had several officers attend and we were also given champagne and mimosas. We had a pretty good turnout.

 

Lois, you are correct about the slot pull. There are two different ways to play it, either $21 per couple or $21 per person. A $1 machine is picked out and each takes a turn (either as a couple or individually) putting their money into the machine and playing. You will get 7 pulls playing a max of $3 each time. After everyone has had a turn playing, the winnings are then split among the people who participated. This can get quite lively with a lot of cheering and so on and other cruisers will stop and check it out to see what's going on. On Princess we were even given drinks for free while we played because we had such a big crowd. Now that was fun.

[juneday]

The cc gathering I refer to was a sea day and at 5pm and there was plenty of free alcohol, wasted on me as I do not drink but DH most have just struck lucky, see what happens this time on the Eclipse in 3 weeks, cant wait.;)

[CruisinNole]

On our recent Solstice cruise, there were over 90 registered but maybe 25 showed up. We had coffee and danish in the atrium area. I think it was the Passport Lounge. The CD and his assistant were there. I think the main problem is timing. It was held at 10:00am on the first sea day and there was a galley tour and some other activities scheduled around the same time. We went on the galley tour and got to the Cruise Connection party a little late.

[jspirit]

Last summer on the Solstice in Europe, we had a great group of Officers attend, including the Captain who stayed for quite awhile chatting with each of us.! CD, Hotel Mgr.,Restaurant Mgr. all attended. This summer on the Eclipse, not sure what happened but neither of the Weir brothers or any other officers attended. Only our group coordinator, Nichole, was there and she made up for all of them. Love her!

Last sea day, the Captain invited us all for a group photo with him on the Bridge. Nice gesture!

[PartyAllDaTyme]

I recommend attending the Connections party, especially for newbies. As has been said, it's a great way to meet your fellow cruisers, and we got some great tips from some of the more experienced hands at our last one. It's fun to feel a bit like a privileged VIP, attending an event that most others on the cruise don't even know about, even if it is only the assistant CD, cheese, crackers, some pastries, coffee, juice and soda.

 

One thing to mention is the occasional failure of Celebrity to make sure everyone gets their invitation. On our last cruise, I'd estimate less than half of the people at our sailaway party knew when the Connections party was being held, and we passed the word to all we could. It was noted by some that our turnout was smaller than usual, and likely due to others not getting the invitation. So if your invitation to the Connections party is not in your cabin along with all of the other "welome aboard" paraphernalia, call Guest Services.