What happens at the connections gatherings?

[deneen716]

We are new to Celebrity. This will be our first connections gathering. What should we expect?

[Gonzo70]

The main purpose is to meet the people from the Roll Call face-to-face. Celebrity usually provides some light refreshments such as coffee, tea, and some danishes. Celebrity usually has at least one officer present who says a few words and sometimes several officers (even the Captain on occasions) attend. Some Roll Calls organize a gift exchange, and this may take place during the Roll Call. For the most part though, they are unstructured and simply an opportunity to chat and mingle with people from the Roll Call.

[cruisestitch]

It's a meet and greet for your fellow Cruise Critic members. Sometimes it's morning coffee and pastries, other times in the afternoons. Rarely wine or beer is offered. Sometimes some of the officers show up and you can meet them and ask questions about the ship or the itinerary. There's a lot of variation depending on how many CC members have signed up and how many actually show up. If you have had a very active Roll Call, it can be a lot of fun putting faces to the screen names....

[Lsimon]

I've found there is a very wide difference on what Celebrity does for the gathering beyond providing a room.

 

 

We've been a connections parties were there was a full continental breakfast (Coffee, OJ, Pastries, Cookies, tea), and some were there was just coffee and tea.

 

The least involved party we've been to had just the event coordinator. There were no name tags and no one from Celebrity spoke. The cruise director did stop by and say hello but was there less than 5 minutes and didn't address the crowd as a whole.

 

The most involved party was hosted by a hotel director and the cruise director. They had name tags for the group and there was coffee, tea, juices, ice water and pastries. The captain and several other senior officers stopped by and the Captain mingled with the people for a while and then addressed the crowd for a bit and told everyone to give the event coordinator their names and that all would be invited to a bridge tour.

 

At some there is no program, just a meeting place for the roll call participants to meet and at the other extreme the whole event was more or less run by the cruise director or hotel director from beginning to end.

 

At some we have the room for as long as we want and at some there is a an hour or less and another event is scheduled for the room immediately afterward.

 

As you can see from my comments there is no formal structure across the fleet and personnel. In most cases the event is somewhere in between the extremes I've laid out above.

 

It also depends on the events the people in the roll call have planned. Some roll calls have been very organized with activities such as a gift exchange, cabin crawl and slot pull but most roll call groups don't make those kind of plans. Depends a lot on the size of the roll call and if anyone wants to take charge of such events.

[bob brown]

Some roll calls have phenomenal activity. Some even have their own websites with fantastic organization into organized activities throughout the cruise. They have a logo designed for their particular cruise, and sell commemorative pins, t-shirts, etc. It usually is for some sort of maiden cruise or a new ship on a new route that draws a lot of interest from CC cruisers. They even plan a pre cruise party the night before at some restaurant at or near the cruise port that many are staying at or near.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

There is a difference between roll call activities and the Connections party, but of course they generally overlap. You don't have to be a member of your roll call (or even a member of Cruise Critic, for that matter) to join the Connections party, and there are those on a roll call that do not sign up for the Connections party. Roll call events such as gift exchanges can be done at the Connections party, but there is certainly no requirement that it be done there or done at all.

 

Our last roll call was very active, and we were offered champagne (or sparkling wine, at least) and mimosas, some hors d'ourves. Name tags were available. The hotel director, events coordinator, food services director (probably not the correct title) and one other officer (memory fails me) were present. We were offered a bridge tour and a galley tour, where on the latter the champagne and mimosa was again flowing. I don't know if the level of activity had anything to do with it, but a member of our roll call did a B2B with a roll call that was very inactive-- he reports that the Connections party for that next cruise was very understated and low-key.

[CRUZBUDS]

We had a very special Connection party on the Century in September.

 

It was scheduled for 5:00 PM which is a very unusual time for a CC party, and we we're all that happy with the time.

 

The CD said they did not have a single connection party the whole season in Alaska. To celebrate ours, we had a full blown cocktail party in Micheal's Club.

 

We had senior officers and an open bar. Then we figured why the unusual hour!

 

Don't count on that.... cookies and coffee are more the norm. :D

[H2Oregon]

On our recent cruise on Constellation they provided wine and beer in Michaels club. This was the fist time I have seen them provide drinks at a connections party.

[jdvmd]

There is a difference between roll call activities and the Connections party, but of course they generally overlap. You don't have to be a member of your roll call (or even a member of Cruise Critic, for that matter) to join the Connections party, and there are those on a roll call that do not sign up for the Connections party. Roll call events such as gift exchanges can be done at the Connections party, but there is certainly no requirement that it be done there or done at all.

 

Our last roll call was very active, and we were offered champagne (or sparkling wine, at least) and mimosas, some hors d'ourves. Name tags were available. The hotel director, events coordinator, food services director (probably not the correct title) and one other officer (memory fails me) were present. We were offered a bridge tour and a galley tour, where on the latter the champagne and mimosa was again flowing. I don't know if the level of activity had anything to do with it, but a member of our roll call did a B2B with a roll call that was very inactive-- he reports that the Connections party for that next cruise was very understated and low-key.

 

We had a gathering at 5 p.m. on the Summit last April. Several officers, champagne, mimosas, appetizers, name tags and little pins that said Cruise Critic. We were also offered a bridge tour. It was a very nice event. In contrast on the Solstice, we had 135 people sign up for the Connections party but only 50 were given invitations. We didn't get one and kept wondering when we were going to meet our fellow roll callers.

[TeaBag]

Our is well over 400 people, so I doubt they will be doing something special. We have a web site too. It's the best managed roll call I've ever been part of.

[Lsimon]

....on the Solstice, we had 135 people sign up for the Connections party but only 50 were given invitations. We didn't get one and kept wondering when we were going to meet our fellow roll callers.

 

I've heard of this happening before. I usually make a note on our roll call just before the cruise letting people know this has happened before and that if they don't have an invite in their cabin on embarkation day to give a call down to guest relations.

[jdvmd]

I've heard of this happening before. I usually make a note on our roll call just before the cruise letting people know this has happened before and that if they don't have an invite in their cabin on embarkation day to give a call down to guest relations.

 

That was our mistake not knowing it would be in our cabin. We went to Guest Relations but much too late and missed the gathering. It was a real shame as we had a lot of chatter before sailing on the roll call and really wanted to meet the folks.

[jdvmd]

Our is well over 400 people, so I doubt they will be doing something special. We have a web site too. It's the best managed roll call I've ever been part of.

 

Wow! That is not a roll call. That is a small town, bigger than where I grew up!

[CRUZBUDS]

400! I hope you have a good time, but our experience with large ones is it is hard to connect with anyone -- it's just too many people :eek:

[PartyAllDaTyme]

We had a gathering at 5 p.m. on the Summit last April. Several officers, champagne, mimosas, appetizers, name tags and little pins that said Cruise Critic. We were also offered a bridge tour. It was a very nice event. In contrast on the Solstice, we had 135 people sign up for the Connections party but only 50 were given invitations. We didn't get one and kept wondering when we were going to meet our fellow roll callers.

 

I forgot about the little pins.

 

On Solstice 2 years ago, many did not receive their invite, either. We had an unofficial sailaway party and so spread the word. The lesson would be-- if you don't have an invite waiting for you in your cabin when you embark, ask Guest Services!

[Vagabondage]

What I'm interested in from all you Connections veterans is what time the roll call gathering was held. I know it varies, but wonder if there is a trend. I read on these boards about one that was scheduled when almost everyone was off doing port activities, so hardly anyone showed. Does that happen often?

[A Sixth?]

Here are some pictures of CC parties :rolleyes:

 

[Gonzo70]

What I'm interested in from all you Connections veterans is what time the roll call gathering was held. I know it varies, but wonder if there is a trend. I read on these boards about one that was scheduled when almost everyone was off doing port activities, so hardly anyone showed. Does that happen often?

 

If the first full day is a sea day they often are late morning that day.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

What I'm interested in from all you Connections veterans is what time the roll call gathering was held. I know it varies, but wonder if there is a trend. I read on these boards about one that was scheduled when almost everyone was off doing port activities, so hardly anyone showed. Does that happen often?

 

It can vary, but they try to accomodate the time of ports of call and other shipboard activities. Our cruise was port-intensive-- ports the first five full days. The only sea day was the sixth, on the way back to San Juan. Our party was at 5pm on the first full day, late enough for everyone to be back aboard, early enough not to interfere with the first seating for dinner. Others on the same itinerary had reported that the party was held earlier in the day, so many were ashore and missed it.

 

Here are some pictures of CC parties

 

Let's not be spreading false information, here. Those were taken at your place last weekend.:rolleyes:

[Texed]

This will be our first connections gathering. What should we expect?

 

You get to guess how old their avatar pictures are. :rolleyes:

[bighairtexan]

I'd say generally, if your 1st full day is a sea day, that's when it's very likely to be... starting between 10 and 11 in the AM.

[miXterOB]

Too funny A Sixth?

[Italy52]

What I'm interested in from all you Connections veterans is what time the roll call gathering was held. I know it varies, but wonder if there is a trend. I read on these boards about one that was scheduled when almost everyone was off doing port activities, so hardly anyone showed. Does that happen often?

 

We were on the Millennium this past May and our Connections party was poorly planned: scheduled on formal night during dinner time and not everyone received invitations. Hopefully, things will improve for our upcoming June B2B cruise.

[Bridge Maven]

You get to guess how old their avatar pictures are. :rolleyes:

 

Texed, that is funny :)

[deneen716]

Thanks for the replys. I would love a bridge tour? :)