Please rate these cruiselines for our very large group

[SantaFeFan]

I am a fan of Celebrity. Almost all of my cruises has been on various Celebrity ships. I have little practical knowledge of other cruiselines.

 

I am on a committee of a hobby organization that is beginning to research the possibility of chartering a large group, possibly as large as 1,000 people, for a cruise/hobby convention in 2015. The attendees are generally older, with moderate income, and from all over the US, Canada and some from Europe. The organization will be presenting clinics on board, which would utilize five or six meeting rooms to hold approximately 50 people each. These would run from mid morning to mid evening. We'll also have a need for rooms to conduct contests and our own 'company' store selling our personalized hobby related items. Ports of call would have special, organization provided tours of local hobby related sites, attractions and activities.

 

How would you rate Celebrity, Princess, NCL, Holland America and Royal Carribean for our group? I know I haven't provided a lot of detail. We're still hashing out exactly what we would provide for our convention goers.

 

Since I am familiar with Celebrity, I will be posting this to the Celebrity cruising forum as well in order to gain opinions from Celebrity fans to collect as many coments from as varied a data pool as possible.

 

Thank you for your insights and suggestions.

[Essiesmom]

I am thinking that for a group that large with the need for many separate venues, the cruise line may require you to charter the entire ship. In which case, the line would be irrelevant, because the entertainment would be tailored to your needs. Most ships do not have more than two or three meeting rooms available at any one time, so to need five or six would mean utilizing public lounges on the ship, restricting other paying passengers from the use of these areas. I think you need to present this to the cruise lines with smaller ships available, such as Holland America, or Carnival for one of their Fantasy Class ships.

Since your group os of moderate means, I think you will be pricing most of them out of participation. EM

[bob brown]

I would write a sumnation of just what you would like for your group, and then submit them to every cruise line's group sales department for a quote or proposal. Once you have that, you can perhaps ask again for opinions here and of course with your groups selection committee.

[Keith1010]

I agree with Bob Brown. I would start to inquire at a wide range of cruise lines at first.

 

Keith

[dmwnc1959]

The organization will be presenting clinics on board, which would utilize five or six meeting rooms to hold approximately 50 people each. These would run from mid morning to mid evening. We'll also have a need for rooms to conduct contests and our own 'company' store selling our personalized hobby related items.

 

Would this become an issue for other passengers on the ship unless you do a full-ship charter? Taking over numerous public spaces for extended periods of time?

 

In addition to a 'cruise ship' did you ask your members whether there were other options they would like to explore for the venue to hold the convention? A land-based resort or a theme park that would have plenty of entertainment and dining options after all your sales seminars and meetings are held? Places like Branson, Las Vegas, Tampa or Orlando? Even Nashville, San Diego, or New Orleans? Maybe a single city location with various evening options would be easier than picking a cruise line or ship from the numerous possibilities?*

[Krazy Kruizers]

i for one would not want to be a cruise where 1000 of the people are a special group

 

not many ships have tons of meeting rooms for what you are asking -- 50 to a group --20 meeting rooms

 

tying up many areas of the ship from mid-morning until mid-evening -- yo -- not good for the regular passenger

 

do write to the various cruise lines and enquire about chartering an entire ship -- but be prepared -- prices for cabins are usually higher on a charter -- don't know what the people in your group are willing to pay

[firefly333]

I think the question more than likely is which cruiseline is willing to work with you and give you that many rooms to use.. maybe none.

[SuiteTraveler]

Since RCCL's Oasis class can handle 6,000 pax, I think they are probably your best bet. They have lots and lots of venues that are unoccupied during the day and I was on Oasis with a huge real estate group and barely noticed them - just would see their badges in passing. Otherwise, I think you would have to do a full charter of a smaller ship.

[Travelcat2]

I agree that you should check with the cruise line that has large capacity ships (Royal Caribbean). No one wants to be on the same ship as a large group. It skews the entire cruise experience. The more you can keep this group away from the general passenger population, the better.

 

Have you considered an all-inclusive luxury resort? It is much more suitable that a cruise ship (IMO)

[SantaFeFan]

Thanks for all the replies. For the record, I don't think it's a good idea holding this convention on a ship. Others on the committee think it's a great idea, including some who have never cruised before - I think they are pushing this as an excuse to finally go on a cruise.

 

I'll pass along your comments to the committee. The biggest concern I'll emphasize is the lack of meeting rooms. Having been on several cruises I personally wouldn't want to be a bad neighbor to other passengers by tying up areas they thought they would have access to when they booked their cruise.

 

Thanks again.

[marco]

SantaFeFan: You might want to rethink the whole cruise thing. If the organization is sponsoring something like this "just for fun", fine, but a friend of ours did something similar a couple of years ago and the "group" was about 600 people. seminars and clinics going on were extremely poorly attended. Most people were more preoccupied with enjoying the cruise and especially when they had something going on on a port day. He said one meeting had less than 20 people show up for it. I think if you chose a resort location, folks wouldn't feel quite as though they were missing out on something as they are in one location 24/7 and could always add on a couple of days after your conference if they really wanted to "vacation".

[kitty9]

The most meeting rooms I've seen on any ship is 5, and that's on the biggest ships. Why would anyone want to go on a cruise and spend so much time in meetings? I'm not sure any ship large enough for your group would have the requisite meeting space, and the largest ship's will be too large, so your group would negatively impact the other passengers. Ships that could handle a full charter would be too small to accommodate your overall needs.

[Colorado Kat]

Write up your requirements, and submit them to all the cruise-lines. You may have to be flexible with dates. Only after you have quotes from them will you be able to proceed.

 

I do think a land-based resort might be better, as well. But you won't know till you ask.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Tuesday, 19 APril: Results show: Brooke is encased in pale gold cellophane, wrapped mummy-style and skin tight as is her preference. The dress is cocktail length.

[Colorado Kat]

Write up your requirements, and submit them to all the cruise-lines. You may have to be flexible with dates. Only after you have quotes from them will you be able to proceed.

 

I do think a land-based resort might be better, as well. But you won't know till you ask.