cocktail party

[Jimmy Geegitz]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to organize a cocktail party. I saw on the boards somewhere you can have a cruise critic cocktail hour and pay a head charge for the bar.

[KruznKel]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to organize a cocktail party. I saw on the boards somewhere you can have a cruise critic cocktail hour and pay a head charge for the bar.

 

Try calling this number.. it all depends how many you have in your group..

 

“REQUEST A QUOTE”

Call 1.866.257.0816 or we’ll call you

Get the answer specific to your program questions

[smarks]

Hi, I set one up in May and it is so easy. You will need at least 20 people. I set this up for people on my roll call. After we had 20 people I e-mailed Carnival at: www.groupeventplanner@carnival.com I think this is correct. After we decided on the 1 1/2 hr. open bar I had everyone send me a check. The party has to be pre-paid. After I received the checks for 20 people I called the # that they sent me and booked our party. I was able to add more as more people wanted to join us. We ended up with 79 people. It was a blast and we had 3 bartenders. Here is some of the information that was sent to me.

These prices are as follows:

· One Hour Open Bar with Dry Snacks is $9.95 plus 15% service fee per person.

· One ½ Hour Open Bar with Dry Snacks is $14.50 plus 15% service fee per person.

· Two Hour Open Bar with Dry Snacks is $17.00 plus 15% service fee per person.

The event planner will answer any of your questions. You can call the wedding planning dept. also and get to the right person. Enjoy your planning.

T

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Smarks I Have 9 people in my grorp cruising. Did you recruit people on

CC and have them mail you a check? I am new to CC so I am not sure how to get people to sign up.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

How do you set up a roll call?

[BoooBooKitEFk]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to organize a cocktail party. I saw on the boards somewhere you can have a cruise critic cocktail hour and pay a head charge for the bar.

 

I just set one up for our roll call. Call 800-438-6744 x 70006.

 

Make sure you DO NOT say you're with Cruise Critic. You must have at least 20 people. They will give you the choice of paying now, or putting it on your Sail & Sign card once on board. They want ONE payment, not 20 separate ones.

 

I would caution you though, to either do name tags or wristbands (I am doing both) so that the waiters know who has paid and who hasn't. I bought a lot of 100 wristbands for $8 online.

 

Ours is set up for 90 minutes, though you can do a 60 minute on as well. They include dry snacks. Also, if you have minors attending, the price for their admission is quite a bit lower, so be sure to ask about that.

 

Good luck, and enjoy your cruise!!

[amedawn]

Here is your roll call for your cruise...http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1017405 :)

[jetskier]

How do you set up a roll call?

 

Here is a link to the Dream rollcall for Oct 30, 2010.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1017405

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Thanks for the help.

BOO Boo why not tell them your with cruise critic?

[smarks]

I see that others have posted your roll call link. We had a very active roll call. I just asked if anyone was interested in a private open bar party and they started posting. I was surprised at how many people we ended up with. We had such a great time. Carnival did tell me I had to pay in advance. So I collected the money in advance and sent another member of the roll call a confirmation of our party so if anything happened he would have all the info. Some roll calls are very active and some are not. I hope you get a good one. Happy sailing.

[afcj1]

I've organized 2 of these, 1 in Dec and the othe just now, for our sailing on the Dream in Nov. It was MANDATORY to pay in advance. Once enough ppl were interested, I had everyone send me cash, check or MO for the amount. Carnival wanted the $$ 4 weeks prior to sailing, at which time I received a date, time and place.

 

Ask ppl on your roll call, but it really depends how active it is and you are. It's a great deal and a lot of fun if there's participation. I'd warn you tho, do not pay in advance for anyone or be saddled with an amount if they let you pay on board. If ppl are willing to commit, they'll send you the $$, especially if you're active on your RC and ther's enough interest.

 

BTW...it makes no difference it you mention CC:confused:

 

Hope it works for you.

[LuvCruising01]

I've organized 2 of these, 1 in Dec and the othe just now, for our sailing on the Dream in Nov. It was MANDATORY to pay in advance. Once enough ppl were interested, I had everyone send me cash, check or MO for the amount. Carnival wanted the $$ 4 weeks prior to sailing, at which time I received a date, time and place.

 

Ask ppl on your roll call, but it really depends how active it is and you are. It's a great deal and a lot of fun if there's participation. I'd warn you tho, do not pay in advance for anyone or be saddled with an amount if they let you pay on board. If ppl are willing to commit, they'll send you the $$, especially if you're active on your RC and ther's enough interest.

 

BTW...it makes no difference it you mention CC:confused:

 

Hope it works for you.

 

excuse the soapbox on this...:eek:

 

disclosure: we are still fuming from our failure to secure one..

here was OUR experience and yours may differ..

 

I will start venting 3...2...1..ok buffer time skip if needed:

 

UMM, those who told Carnival they were with CC groups were LUCKY...3 people from my cruise roll call will tell you as well as MANY others on other threads, IT MATTERS! True test is to call and ask, Note:they get your booking # so good luck trying to call back later saying you need a party for "friends *not cruise critic* as they DO share notes on your booking history in office.

If you mention CC membership or hint at it, oh, they WILL call you back if they need to (if they told you incorrectly) and tell you that their policy is to not do the parties for *cruisers not booked together on the same reservation* or for CC members because of some inane policy about web bloggers or service level expectations or some bull hockey reason or that they have no way of keeping track (whatever).

They say something like.."oh your cruise critic, well, we have a policy to not do prepaid cocktail parties whoever told you different was wrong. we can book a room for pay as you go cocktails though..."

 

Not to mention if you were to book you MUST have all money ahead of time (more than 14 days for deposit and 7 days for full payment? never got past that part), know the exact number of guests, and have someone to keep watch to keep freeloaders out.

 

 

end venting session, please have a nice day and I hope you are successfull in your attempt.

please share your results once party is booked. :)

[afcj1]

excuse the soapbox on this...:eek:

 

disclosure: we are still fuming from our failure to secure one..

here was OUR experience and yours may differ..

 

I will start venting 3...2...1..ok buffer time skip if needed:

 

UMM, those who told Carnival they were with CC groups were LUCKY...3 people from my cruise roll call will tell you as well as MANY others on other threads, IT MATTERS! True test is to call and ask, Note:they get your booking # so good luck trying to call back later saying you need a party for "friends *not cruise critic* as they DO share notes on your booking history in office.

If you mention CC membership or hint at it, oh, they WILL call you back if they need to (if they told you incorrectly) and tell you that their policy is to not do the parties for *cruisers not booked together on the same reservation* or for CC members because of some inane policy about web bloggers or service level expectations or some bull hockey reason or that they have no way of keeping track (whatever).

They say something like.."oh your cruise critic, well, we have a policy to not do prepaid cocktail parties whoever told you different was wrong. we can book a room for pay as you go cocktails though..."

 

Not to mention if you were to book you MUST have all money ahead of time (more than 14 days for deposit and 7 days for full payment? never got past that part), know the exact number of guests, and have someone to keep watch to keep freeloaders out.

 

 

end venting session, please have a nice day and I hope you are successfull in your attempt.

please share your results once party is booked. :)

 

What a polite way of venting:D I'm sorry that you've had what sounds like a HORRIBLE experience setting one of these up

 

I'll clarify...our party that was in December on the Dream, couldn't have been better. This was not a CC sponsored cruise, so we obviously had different reservation #'s. I was the POC and once on the Dream, I met our contact who'd be setting up our party.

 

I mentioned CC when the event planner was discussing the payment and it's terms. I told her that I didn't know anyone personally, because we had all been communicating on CC. No problem.

 

This most recent event is for a CC group cruise. I called Carnival and when they pulled up my booking # they could tell that I was in the CC group. They asked me to please contact Johna and ask if it was OK for me to work directly with them, so they were ammenable to this. Unfortunately, due to the group booking Johna wanted to be responsible for working with Carnival. I collected the funds and worked with the RC members on dates/time choices, which I did. We have 60 ppl signed up and I've sent my $$ to Johna. We have a group leader, tho I'll be the POC for our cocktail party. Easy, peasy.

 

As I mentioned in my previous post, yes, payment was/is required in advance. I'm lucky enough to have a sister with a POB, so I didn't need to broadcast my address on these boards.

 

As for the "freeloaders" crashing the party, Carnival puts a sign up, notating that it's a "private" party. Aside from that, I told the CCL rep and the bartenders that anyone who paid was given a wristband, so they knew who to serve.

 

I don't know if this helped, but again I'm sorry for your poor experience.

[Grits53]

I guess it depends on which ship you are on. We did a CC roll call cocktail party on the Triumph last May, and I never covered up the fact that this was a CC party. There was no problem with booking this CC cocktail party. In fact, they even provided a piano player. (It was in the piano bar.) All the guests had a great time. I believe we had about 40. Note that there is a cut off date for booking the party and making your payment in full.

I received most of the money from roll call members via PayPal and only had a few who do not use PayPal and sent checks. Then I paid for the party with my PayPal debit card. If you use PayPal, there is a PERSONAL tab when you go to the Send Money page. Click on that tab, and then choose GIFT. That way, PayPal does not charge any fees for this.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Thanks for the Input. If anyone reading this is on th Dream Halloween cruise I plan on trying to organize a cocktail party. Let me know if you would be interested in attending.

Thanks

[CapeCodCruiser]

excuse the soapbox on this...:eek:

 

disclosure: we are still fuming from our failure to secure one..

here was OUR experience and yours may differ..

 

I will start venting 3...2...1..ok buffer time skip if needed:

 

UMM, those who told Carnival they were with CC groups were LUCKY...3 people from my cruise roll call will tell you as well as MANY others on other threads, IT MATTERS! True test is to call and ask, Note:they get your booking # so good luck trying to call back later saying you need a party for "friends *not cruise critic* as they DO share notes on your booking history in office.

If you mention CC membership or hint at it, oh, they WILL call you back if they need to (if they told you incorrectly) and tell you that their policy is to not do the parties for *cruisers not booked together on the same reservation* or for CC members because of some inane policy about web bloggers or service level expectations or some bull hockey reason or that they have no way of keeping track (whatever).

They say something like.."oh your cruise critic, well, we have a policy to not do prepaid cocktail parties whoever told you different was wrong. we can book a room for pay as you go cocktails though..."

 

Not to mention if you were to book you MUST have all money ahead of time (more than 14 days for deposit and 7 days for full payment? never got past that part), know the exact number of guests, and have someone to keep watch to keep freeloaders out.

 

 

end venting session, please have a nice day and I hope you are successfull in your attempt.

please share your results once party is booked. :)

 

Was this on your cruise in 2007 or for your upcoming cruise?

[Antelopian]

Were you in a private room for the party and what were the dry snacks?

[happy cruzin]

excuse the soapbox on this...:eek:

 

disclosure: we are still fuming from our failure to secure one..

here was OUR experience and yours may differ..

 

I will start venting 3...2...1..ok buffer time skip if needed:

 

UMM, those who told Carnival they were with CC groups were LUCKY...3 people from my cruise roll call will tell you as well as MANY others on other threads, IT MATTERS! True test is to call and ask, Note:they get your booking # so good luck trying to call back later saying you need a party for "friends *not cruise critic* as they DO share notes on your booking history in office.

If you mention CC membership or hint at it, oh, they WILL call you back if they need to (if they told you incorrectly) and tell you that their policy is to not do the parties for *cruisers not booked together on the same reservation* or for CC members because of some inane policy about web bloggers or service level expectations or some bull hockey reason or that they have no way of keeping track (whatever).

They say something like.."oh your cruise critic, well, we have a policy to not do prepaid cocktail parties whoever told you different was wrong. we can book a room for pay as you go cocktails though..."

 

Not to mention if you were to book you MUST have all money ahead of time (more than 14 days for deposit and 7 days for full payment? never got past that part), know the exact number of guests, and have someone to keep watch to keep freeloaders out.

 

 

end venting session, please have a nice day and I hope you are successfull in your attempt.

please share your results once party is booked. :)

 

 

 

Ummmmm....you may want to check out post #51 by Host Laura on http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1280156&page=3....

 

She has been in touch with Carnival regarding the "CC" cocktail party controversy.

[Grits53]

Were you in a private room for the party and what were the dry snacks?

 

Yes, it was a private party, and they put a sign out by the door stating this. On the Triumph, we had ours in the piano bar. The dry snacks were various kinds of chips and pretzels and "chex mix".

[LuvCruising01]

Thanks for the link to the other discussion. Missed it.

Was this on your cruise in 2007 or for your upcoming cruise?

 

No, upcoming cruise

 

Ummmmm....you may want to check out post #51 by Host Laura on http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1280156&page=3....

 

She has been in touch with Carnival regarding the "CC" cocktail party controversy.

 

Yes, but unfortunately this was after my call and after two callbacks from

carnival reps who confirmed with their

supervisors. We should have started planning

earlier as there is nothing we can do now.

[richstowe]

QUESTION - Understand Carnival wants payment in advance and a minimum of 20 But

Can you add another 5 or so ,and pay for them on board? It seems posters here have stated all must be prepayed.

Carnival really won't allow you to add another bunch to a private party even if you willingly pay for them?

[Jimmy Geegitz]

QUESTION - Understand Carnival wants payment in advance and a minimum of 20 But

Can you add another 5 or so ,and pay for them on board? It seems posters here have stated all must be prepayed.

Carnival really won't allow you to add another bunch to a private party even if you willingly pay for them?

 

Yes, I believe you can add on when on board. You just have to prepay for at least 20.

[jetskier]

QUESTION - Understand Carnival wants payment in advance and a minimum of 20 But

Can you add another 5 or so ,and pay for them on board? It seems posters here have stated all must be prepayed.

Carnival really won't allow you to add another bunch to a private party even if you willingly pay for them?

 

They can be added to the group and paid for in advance at least two weeks before you sail. If after that time, you can see the Group's Coordinator onboard the ship and they can charge it to your S&S card.

 

Dave

[honeybee1983]

Do they close down a bar or are you there while its open to the public and that why you need wristband

[Grits53]

Do they close down a bar or are you there while its open to the public and that why you need wristband

 

On the Triumph, we had it in the piano bar, which is not open in the early afternoon. It was a private party with a sign outside the door stating that it was.