Meet and greets

[smurf1635]

This is the first cruise that I"ve joined the roll call and which means I"ve never attended a meet and greet. What can I expect at my first meet and greet?

 

Robin

[Musky Ike]

This is the first cruise that I"ve joined the roll call and which means I"ve never attended a meet and greet. What can I expect at my first meet and greet?

 

Robin

That varies depending on the group. Some are loads of fun with slot pulls and other fun activities, others are just meet on your own for a drink and that's it. We have found the the roll call groups seem to be more into it on the Caribbean itinerary's than the northern routes. A lot of it is what you put into it so jump in and have some fun with it. It is nice just to put faces to those on your roll call.

[Astro Flyer]

My 1st experience earlier this year had only 6 attend the informal & formal M&G events but that was a port intensive cruise from LA to Vancouver. Both of our recent Quebec to Ft Lauderdale M&G events were very well attended.

 

While it was disappointing to have so few join my 1st M&G, it did allow me to get to know them better. The last cruise had a very active roll call but unfortunately with an hour M&G there wasn't enough time to meet everyone. Some of those I frequently posted with before the cruise, I didn't get to meet. One of the guys made up great name tags for everyone which made it much easier to identify each other. It was held in Skywalkers & a few of the lower level officers attended.

 

Even so, there was some great things discussed pre-cruise but I only got to know one couple well on the last cruise & had fun with them. I truly enjoyed the M&G but based on my limited experience realize there just isn't enough time to meet & greet everyone! ;)

[Pam in CA]

It depends on the group and the organizer. On my Star cruise next March, brunches and other get-togethers are being organized. I think there are about 200 on our roll call so besides the onboard meet and greets planned, there are lots of private tours being organized.

 

Most of the time, the organizer plans on a time and place to get-together; it's up to the people on the roll call whether to show up or not. Sometimes ship's staff such as the CD and/or Captain show up. Princess does not usually provide beverages or snacks but some CDs do.

 

A M&G can be everything from a few people to over 100. It all depends on the cruise and those on the roll call.

[caribill]

If the M&G is a reasonable size, then the cruisers will introduce themselves and give a little of their cruisingh background. If there are many people there, this becomes impractical.

 

The organizer usually will bring labels to wear so that you can see who everybody there is and put faces to those you have been communication with over the Internet.

 

Ship's senior staff is usually invited and often one or more will show up and talk a little and answer questions. This can be anybody from the Captain to the Cruise Director.

 

The M&G is also a time to break off into groups who are participating in shore excursions organized by roll call members. This is a time to set up a place and time to meet for the excursions and sometimes for the excursion organizer to collect payment for the excursion.

 

But mostly it is a time to become friends with fellow cruisers.

[paul929207]

Each roll call is different as it reflects the person organizing it. Since we sail mostly on the small ships there are usually 30 or 40 people attending. Usually, the officers will introduce themselves and answer a few questions. Then we go around and introduc ourselves. Most times, someone offers to arrange a luncheon for a sea day.

[neilrr]

I agree with Musky Ike -- The Caribbean itineraries lend it self to a more party crowd -- and not to be snobbish :D-- the Northeasterners i.e. NY, Boston, Washington -- tend to be more of the party people... We have been on the Alaskan cruises 2x and talk about "dud" M&G's... Another great time with multiple Officers in attendance was on Celebrity in Northern Europe and Russia...

 

It also depends on the people making the get togethers. Being from NYC - you know the "Party People" :p -- we have coordinated informal & formal meets, slot pulls, galley and bridge tours, cabin/pubcrawls, given trophies for best cabin, worst cabin, next time I'll take the upgrade, etc... and had loads of fun. It is a lot of work, and on one cruise -- I think the Cruise Director was a bit jealous -- also security was chasing us around the ship... :eek: We did stay ahead of them - that was on the pub/cabin crawl - what a great time that was...

 

Anyway, it all depends on the crowd and having someone to take the initiative... Just go with the flow and have a great time... :)

[Seafoam Green]

Our M&G for the 10/29 repositioning cruise on the CB was great. Our roll call has 5,800+ posts and is still active. That should tell you that we had people who wanted to be part of the group. I believe that we had close to 100 people at the M&G and the captain stopped by say hello.

 

Before the cruise, there were great pieces of info shared, excursions planned, and some of us used to have a Saturday afternoon 'sailaway' party online as we watched CB leave NY Harbor (NYC webcam) in the weeks leading up to our cruise. We had 'countdown' music videos provided every Friday on the roll call, too.

 

If you are lucky enough to have motivated and fun people on your roll call, your M&G should be great.