Why does Celebrity hold the CC " party" in the AM?

[Kevnzworld]

This is my second Celebrity cruise, and I've noticed a theme. The Cruise Critic connection party is at 10:30 am. Fun! The Captains club party is in the early evening, with free drinks in the sky/ constellation lounge

I know the answer of course. I thnk that Celebrity only deals with Cruise Critic because it has to, but since they can't control the message it doesn't get real sponsorship.

I haven't attended either of the Celebrity connections...our roll call sponsored our own party in the late afternoon of embarkation day fortunately...no thanks to Celebrity.

[Lois R]

That is why we all have choices:) I don't consider 10:30 early

in the morning but then again I am up at 5:15 for work every day.

I have been to many, many CC gatherings. Some are very well

attended and others not as much.

 

Different strokes for different folks:)

[cruisestitch]

After two experiences, it might be too soon to generalize. Sometimes the Connections party is in the afternoon. It depends on how many other groups are on board, what the availability of the different venues is, how many are registered for the Connections party, and who is doing the planning. There have been parties that the Captain, the Hotel Director, the Cruise Director and other staff attend, and some that no officer is there. Sometimes the events/group coordinator gives the party lots of attention, other times it is just a simple meet and greet.

[Lois R]

Oh I totally forgot about the CC gathering when I sailed SUMMIT on

SuperBowl Sunday! They did have that one in the afternoon! It was

about 5:00pm.

 

So Cruisestich, you are correct (as usual:D).....it is not always

in the morning...but I still don't consider 10:30 early:)

[helpthejuggler]

If it were later it would clash with elevenses, lunch or afternoon nap-time. After that it is dinner.

 

Most cruise critic members go to bed at 7pm...;)

 

Gotta be up early to get a full days cruise criticising in. That buffet breakfast isn't going to complain about itself...

[shipshape sam]

This is my second Celebrity cruise, and I've noticed a theme. The Cruise Critic connection party is at 10:30 am. Fun! The Captains club party is in the early evening, with free drinks in the sky/ constellation lounge

I know the answer of course. I thnk that Celebrity only deals with Cruise Critic because it has to, but since they can't control the message it doesn't get real sponsorship.

I haven't attended either of the Celebrity connections...our roll call sponsored our own party in the late afternoon of embarkation day fortunately...no thanks to Celebrity.

 

I think the formal reason would be something like it is the first sea day where passengers are not disembarking for excursions. As to the time slot, again, the earlier the better in that once CC party is over, CC'ers have met and many get together and do other things. Waiting might discourage that and there would be missed opportunities for CC'ers to do things later.

 

I personally have never thought about a nefarious reason, but you could be correct. I think what they do is fine. One's I have attended have had OJ/coffee/pastries/trinkets as give aways.

[buggins0402]

I've only taken two Celebrity cruises and both CC greets were in the evening. But, both cruises were port intensive in the front end - so it was the only time they could do them. Fully expecting a morning gathering next cruise which starts with a sea day.

[boogs]

This is my second Celebrity cruise, and I've noticed a theme. The Cruise Critic connection party is at 10:30 am. Fun! The Captains club party is in the early evening, with free drinks in the sky/ constellation lounge

I know the answer of course. I thnk that Celebrity only deals with Cruise Critic because it has to, but since they can't control the message it doesn't get real sponsorship.

I haven't attended either of the Celebrity connections...our roll call sponsored our own party in the late afternoon of embarkation day fortunately...no thanks to Celebrity.

 

I think the formal reason would be something like it is the first sea day where passengers are not disembarking for excursions. As to the time slot, again, the earlier the better in that once CC party is over, CC'ers have met and many get together and do other things. Waiting might discourage that and there would be missed opportunities for CC'ers to do things later.

 

I personally have never thought about a nefarious reason, but you could be correct. I think what they do is fine. One's I have attended have had OJ/coffee/pastries/trinkets as give aways.

 

And keep in mind that Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are the only ones who provide any type of sponsored event for CC members. On all the other lines someone from the roll call must make the arrangements, and often collect money to pay for any refreshments.

 

We should consider ourselves fortunate that X and RC care about CC members. They don't, as the OP thinks, "only deals with Cruise Critic because it has to". They do it because they WANT to. The OP should be a bit more gracious and not so negative.

 

As to why the Captain's Club member party is in the evening and includes free drinks, this is because Captain's Club is Celebrity's frequent cruiser program. It is to show appreciation for repeat customers, regardless if they are CC members or not. You don't even have to know what CC is to be part of Captain's Club. You only have to have sailed on Celebrity at least once before.

[TRadle]

I’ve always had the impression that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity do care about what is said on these boards. They even joked about it at our Connections party saying that they would prefer to hear about problems while we are on board and not read about it later on CC. :D

[ChiGal1962]

I’ve always had the impression that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity do care about what is said on these boards. They even joked about it at our Connections party saying that they would prefer to hear about problems while we are on board and not read about it later on CC. :D

 

lol, that's not only funny, but actually quite smart :)

 

To the OP, I don't consider 10:30 early, personally. And since there tend to be more ship sponsored activities as the day wears on, I would imagine they would try to schedule parties like this when there were fewer alternative distractions. As someone mentioned before, I'd like to meet up with the CC members early, so that we can plan to do other things later, if that's how things work out.

[Kevnzworld]

Ok, maybe it's just me. When I cruised on Regent every significant " get together, party etc ". was in the early evening, as is the Captains club elite party...5 pm.

My first thought when I saw 10:30 is, it doesn't cost them anything, and it's at a time that will get the least attendance ....

[cruisestitch]

Celebrity hosts other parties for passengers as well -- recently there was a Veteran's Appreciation get-together. I'm not even sure they served coffee or snacks, but it was held one afternoon in Michael's Club, and many attended. You might be surprised how many events there are during the day, and there are only so many venues, so sometimes you'll find the CC party in the late morning, sometimes in the afternoon. Have never seen it in the evening, myself, but then that might mean that even fewer venues were available at those times, and there would be more conflicts with dining hours.

[boogs]

Ok, maybe it's just me. When I cruised on Regent every significant " get together, party etc ". was in the early evening, as is the Captains club elite party...5 pm.

 

And Regent cruises are many times the price of a Celebrity cruise. For the prices they charge, they better be providing some extras to their guests.

 

I'm booked with Celebrity on a 14 day Med cruise in Oct on the Reflection. Fares start at $2,099 per person.

http://www.celebritycruises.com/search/searchResultsVacationItinerary.do?packageid=RF14M059&sailDate=1121021&shipCode=RF&dest=EUROP

 

Regent also has a 14 day Med cruise, but it's starting at $9,599! :eek:

http://www.rssc.com/cruises/MAR121006/Itinerary.aspx

 

For that additional $7,500 dollars PER PERSON they better be providing some decent parties with plenty of free drinks!! :rolleyes:

[Lois R]

Ok, maybe it's just me. When I cruised on Regent every significant " get together, party etc ". was in the early evening, as is the Captains club elite party...5 pm.

My first thought when I saw 10:30 is, it doesn't cost them anything, and it's at a time that will get the least attendance ....

 

Well, it varies no matter what time it is held. I have been to

CC gatherings where there were a smaller amount and others

where lots of people showed up. Whether it was in the morning

or the afternoons, some folks enjoy meeting others from their

roll call and some folks choose not to attend.

[ellbon]

I never go as they are in the morning.. find that Celebrity is being cheap as thry do not want to serve drinks like Azamara does.. Azamara does their parties at 6 pm. all the officers drop in. .the captain also drops in when possible.

so who gives the better party??

Lois, 1030-11 is not early but it cuts into my pool time or sleep time.

[boogs]

I never go as they are in the morning.. find that Celebrity is being cheap as thry do not want to serve drinks like Azamara does.. Azamara does their parties at 6 pm. all the officers drop in. .the captain also drops in when possible.

so who gives the better party??

Lois, 1030-11 is not early but it cuts into my pool time or sleep time.

 

So, let me ask - who charges the most for a cruise, Celebrity or Azamara? Answer - Azamara, with fares almost double what Celebrity charges. So, yes, I would expect for that much more money that Azamara would put on a better party and give up a few drinks for what a person must pay!!!

 

It never fails to amaze me what people expect even though they booked a less expensive cruise. You want free booze - then pay the higher cruise fare charged by a more expensive cruise line and drink up! :rolleyes:

[alcpa1]

I was going to mention the number of afternoon/early evening CC gatherings we have had on all three brands. I can only recall one or two morning CC events in my Cruise Critic years.

Now, I've just got to challenge boogs assertion that Azamara charges double the X. To be fair this may be true to some extent but Azamara includes gratuities, wine at lunch and dinner, specialty coffees all day, quite a few free shuttles to city centers and on and on. When you start to compare per diems do take this pricing strategy into consideration. It's not always apples to apples but it certainly should be a consideration. And it's difficult to compare the itineraries since Azamara does many more overnights.

Last on Azamara and back to Celebrity. We love both lines. After many many cruises we still sail for the itineraries.

[Lois R]

So, Robin I guess it is all about priorites. Pool time is not important

to me. Guess we will just agree to disagree.

[uktog]

Azamaras events are often during first day sail away so not always a time that suits everyone. I do not consider X being cheap in not serving drinks and think that is a harsh remark sorry, it is a case of fitting what works best and being realistic about the bottom line - in the evening many people are having drinks at Captains Club or elsewhere anyway and 1030 may be quite early for some to want to drink.

On Day one 1030 can be too early for us or too late depending on what our body clocks are up to and whether we have travelled west (in which case 0600 would suit us!!!!) or East (1400 would be better!!!) but we try and go whatever

Just my thoughts

A

[excitedofharpenden]

A meeting for a few free drinks? That is not the point of them at all. It's to meet others on your sailing who may or may not have conversed on your roll call. Personally find the first morning following embarkation (providing it works with a sea day) to be convenient for me. As for the Azamara comparison there are usually many more in attendance on X with resultant consideration for the drinks bill.

 

I register for the Connections gathering to meet others, not for a couple of crummy free drinks of an evening. LOL

 

Phil

[CathyCruises]

Hmmm. Food for thought. And MY thought is that there are fewer revenue-producing activities at 10:30 AM (when all our CC gatherings have been held) and therefore the loss potential to the cruise line is minimized. That may be a side benefit; I know that there are limited venues and lots of groups to accommodate and I am thankful that they do as much as they do for us.

[Texed]

I register for the Connections gathering to meet others, not for a couple of crummy free drinks of an evening. LOL Phil

 

Absolutely! :)

[Ando]

1030 works well for me. I can do breakfast and then head off to the CC get together. Any later and my attendance would be somewhat unreliable.....who knows what else may tempt me later in the day ;)

[Denny01]

Guess we could say its because Celebrity is cheap and compare it to a more expensive Line (even when considerng the freebees that Lline adds), but personally, I dont see the Connections Party as a 'party' time but as a 'Connections' time.

 

Many of us have met up only on line and have agreed to some tours and so on, and this is a great time to meet to insure all are still committed, and chance to organize any other events for the CC group such as Cabin Crawls, social events, add people to your private tour, etc. On our S Ameridan cruise, we had our own wine tasting and Spanish classes. Other cruises, the only connection was via that 'party' or didnt attend even that.

 

So its mainly a chance for us to get together and use it as we wish. Ive been to some that are run by the CC group and a lot is discussed and lots of socialization and others that lasted 20min...one of my favorites was when someone who saw the notice joined us thinking it was a chance to complain about that cruise...interesting considering we were on board for less than one day. A classic CruiseCritic type I guess!

 

So, no I dont see it as Celebrity cheaping out. If you dont compare it to Azamara and compare it to Princess which has No get together sponsored or organized by the Line, it helps put it in perspective. Most other Lines the CC group organizes it themselves.

 

Guess we should try accepting a freebe on face value, not complaining it doesnt fit our personal schedule.....I doubt Id make late afternoon and evening ones because Im out and about with my own plans. So 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of another on which works.

 

Den

[excitedofharpenden]

I never go as they are in the morning.. find that Celebrity is being cheap as thry do not want to serve drinks like Azamara does.. Azamara does their parties at 6 pm. all the officers drop in. .the captain also drops in when possible.

so who gives the better party??

Lois, 1030-11 is not early but it cuts into my pool time or sleep time.

I guess if you feel this way then you really aren't that worired about meeting your fellow CCers.

 

Phil