Attention Carnival Executives/boardwatchers!

[Mrs.G's Mr.G]

We have been to several Meet & Greets on Royal Carrib. & they furnished a private room, snacks and some drinks ( juices, coffee, etc) No free open bar. No big deal, but it does make you feel appreciated.

 

Doug

 

Flame me if you must, but why do some people here on Cruise Critic think they are entitled to special privileges just because they are members? My wife and I went on 2 cruises before we discovered this site and we still managed to have great cruises.

 

We have learned many useful things here, have been able to save hundreds of dollars because of the things we have learned here and have made life long new friends because of roll calls. We have passed along the things we have learned to others here and to friends that have never heard of Cruise Critic. That is my belief a few of the main reasons for this site.

 

But yet some how, people feel that because of what is done here through message postings that they are really really extra special guests. Like a previous poster stated, if you want those things that other lines offer then go sail on those other lines lines. Carnival is not obligated to treat us any better than any other guest on board.

[golfadj]

Flame me if you must' date=' but why do some people here on Cruise Critic think they are entitled to special privileges just because they are members? My wife and I went on 2 cruises before we discovered this site and we still managed to have great cruises. [/color']

 

We have learned many useful things here, have been able to save hundreds of dollars because of the things we have learned here and have made life long new friends because of roll calls. We have passed along the things we have learned to others here and to friends that have never heard of Cruise Critic. That is my belief a few of the main reasons for this site.

 

But yet some how, people feel that because of what is done here through message postings that they are really really extra special guests. Like a previous poster stated, if you want those things that other lines offer then go sail on those other lines lines. Carnival is not obligated to treat us any better than any other guest on board.

 

Carnival has no special obligation to any of us here.

 

However many of us (we have been doing 3 cruises per year on Carnival for past 5 or so years) have been very good customers and would be nice to have some mucky muck from the ship stop by to say hi during a meet and greet.

 

The cookies are no big deal as they are readily available elsewhere.

[Corntea]

I have just a rranged for a Meet & Greet for all CC members! On your next sailing, there will be a M&G with full meals served and all the coffee, tea and juice you can consume. They are going to fly in people from all ove the world to serve you with a smile. They can accomodate several hundred people. You have to have a secret card to get in, (very exclusive to CC members only) it's in the Lido meeting room. Enjoy! ;)

[suzinva]

On our last M&G on the Legend, we just had the "basic" which was fine with us. They arranged for us to have the Piano bar with a bar tender, which was what was necessary, a place to meet and someone to make us drinks :p Lo and behold, when we arrived, we found the Captain, the hotel director, another officer (sorry, don't remember who) and Wee Jimmy, our cruise director. The Captain and officers greeted everyone and stayed for a few moments, Wee Jimmy stayed and conducted a trivia session, handed out medallions, "solid gold plastic ships on a stick" and champagne. It was a helluva lot of fun! I know that it's not the norm but I really appreciated that they went out of their way for us.

 

We were offered a cocktail party pay-per-person thing but we opted not to. Myself, I don't feel slighted or less appreciated as a customer that they don't provide the "freebies" that other lines do. I'm pretty grateful they offer us a free room and the services of a bartender. Land-based hotels and such would charge for the use of the space and personnel. CC is a "private" site, not affiliated with the any cruise line, and therefore, none of the cruiselines are under any obligation whatsover to do anything for us. And they don't for any other "private" groups. I'm not privileged by being a member of CC, heck, my dog could join if she could grow thumbs. Heck, sometimes I don't even want to admit that I come here :cool:

[crusinpsychRN]

Worst meet n greet I've been to was on RCL. They had store bought cookies available. Staff had a drawing for some rather tacky items. No one in the rather chatty cathy group even spoke to one another! It was awful! My kids swore never to attend again.

 

On the Legend our group paid for a party and it was handled very nicely. The alcohol flowed freely and they were rather strong drinks. Had a great time and a great group.

[crusinpsychRN]

I'm not privileged by being a member of CC, heck, my dog could join if she could grow thumbs. Heck, sometimes I don't even want to admit that I come here :cool:

 

Huh??:confused:

[Koval]

It is not that hard, Just request a meeting place

Ask Host Mach, or send JH a request for where and when

and they will give you a room for your meet and great.

normally in the am.

then request a couple pots of coffee from room service,

if you have a lot of people, have a few of them request a couple pot also

and have them bring the pots of coffee to the room provided.

There will be ice Water and cups provided already.

Pour the water from one or two of the pitchers into the cups provided,

grab a friend and the empty pitchers and head to the Lido Deck

get a tray or two and a big plate and fill the plate with danish

and the rest of the tray with Coffee cups.

fill the empty pitchers with OJ or another Juice and head back to your meeting place.

It takes a couple of Mins, and from that point on, you can let someone else wait on you hand and foot.

It is not that hard.

But to tell you the truth, not much eating or drinking was happening, as everyone had just had breakfast,

But I got some for just in case, next time I will bring less.

Here is an Idea for anyone, how about you all meet at 9:00am in the Main dinning room,

then they will even take your orders and bring it to you, ask for the big tables by the windows.

I think that could really work. You may not see the Captain, but they staff would be all around you.

I am not being snarky here, I think it is a good idea, that I might just try :)

[okgirl]

We have been to several Meet & Greets on Royal Carrib. & they furnished a private room, snacks and some drinks ( juices, coffee, etc) No free open bar. No big deal, but it does make you feel appreciated.

 

Doug

 

I'll keep the more casual M&G on CCL and save my money.

 

I will say that most of the time, if I'm cruising with the Crazies then our M&G's as well as our paid for cocktail parties have been well staffed and attended by several senior officials.

 

When I'm just cruising on my own, I don't often participate to any great extent in any roll call activities including M&G's.

[Mikel1733]

Just because we are cruise critic members doesn't mean we should get anything special IMO. Our last cruise with CCL our roll call had a meet and greet with a cocktail hour. The CD stopped by for a few minutes and welcomed us (this was sailing day before we left port) and the drinks flowed very freely at a cost of only $11 per person. I thought this was very nice and really don't expect anything more. If people at the party are frequent CCL cruisers then any reward should come from the past guest program.

[Koval]

I think you must be confusing this with a paid for cocktail party. I have been to several of both. Never had any dry snacks or a free open bar at a M&G, though a meeting space is provided if you ask for one.

 

The cocktail party on the other hand is a paid for party $11.44 per person and does include open bar and dry snacks for one hour and does require at least 20 participants.

 

Hopefully, someone on your roll call knows that a cocktail party needs to be arranged in advance, you have to make sure that everyone that attends is listed on the roster (they might check) and that a single person has collected the money, because the entire cost goes on just one person's S&S account.

In the post they said "at a reasonable price to us" not Free...

so yes she may have been talking about the Cocktail party,

her group might be doing their M&G while having a Cocktail Party, Grand Idea ;)

Although we save that for our Good bye Friends Farewell get together at the end of the cruise...

where we all get together one last time and exchange info, hand out prizes and just have a good old time...

other than the FCC (Sold on board only)

the cocktail parties are the best value you will find on the ship (pre arranged before cruise, put on one persons Credit Card, not the SS card,

the stragglers that didn't pay, but show up end up on that one persons S&S card,

so be sure to have a list of paid members and collect money from those who did not pay but showed up)

[Carnival_Brides]

I seem to be an outlier here based on the other comments, but I personally don't care that Carnival doesn't provide anything 'special' for CC Meet & Greets. When I go to a Meet & Greet, it's about meeting the people from the Roll Call that I may have been chatting with for several months leading up to the cruise.

 

I see people writing to JH's blog saying that the Captain or a Senior Officer from the bridge, and the Cruise Director should come to the M&G and say hello. While it would be a nice thing if they did, this isn't the purpose of a M&G in my mind.

 

Yes, participants of Cruise Critic are members of a forum that discuss cruises, and are more likely to encourage others to cruise compared to the 'average' cruisers, however I don't think that should warrant a sense of entitlement to special treatment from what may be extended to any other group on board.

 

I agree with you. I don't understand the entitlement either. I don't understand why people think the 5-100 people who attend a roll call M&G anymore important than the other 2500-3500 guests on board the ship?

[Georgiagolfer]

It is not that hard, Just request a meeting place

Ask Host Mach, or send JH a request for where and when

and they will give you a room for your meet and great.

normally in the am.

then request a couple pots of coffee from room service,

if you have a lot of people, have a few of them request a couple pot also

and have them bring the pots of coffee to the room provided.

There will be ice Water and cups provided already.

Pour the water from one or two of the pitchers into the cups provided,

grab a friend and the empty pitchers and head to the Lido Deck

get a tray or two and a big plate and fill the plate with danish

and the rest of the tray with Coffee cups.

fill the empty pitchers with OJ or another Juice and head back to your meeting place.

It takes a couple of Mins, and from that point on, you can let someone else wait on you hand and foot.

It is not that hard.

But to tell you the truth, not much eating or drinking was happening, as everyone had just had breakfast,

But I got some for just in case, next time I will bring less.

Here is an Idea for anyone, how about you all meet at 9:00am in the Main dinning room,

then they will even take your orders and bring it to you, ask for the big tables by the windows.

I think that could really work. You may not see the Captain, but they staff would be all around you.

I am not being snarky here, I think it is a good idea, that I might just try :)

 

Mach is no longer a Host.:(

[Georgiagolfer]

Worst meet n greet I've been to was on RCL. They had store bought cookies available. Staff had a drawing for some rather tacky items. No one in the rather chatty cathy group even spoke to one another! It was awful!

 

Ditto for our last RCI M&G. The others were better, but still not great.

 

A M&G is for passengers who meet on FB or CC, or some other social network in order to put a face to words, so why should the cruise line even be a part of this?:confused:

[LHP]

The bottom line is that RCCL (I don't know about NCL) does this as part of their advertising budget. With them sailing at 93% capacity, they have to spend their money this way.

 

 

Personally, I would rather Carnival keep my cruising rates low and let Cruise Critic members arrange their own meet and greets.

 

I mean.....really, it does not take a rocket scientist to go on a roll call and say...

 

MEET HERE at THIS TIME.

[Sargent_Schultz]

or for someone to collect the money and have a $12 cocktail party as a meet and greet. Do other cruise lines other this and if so, at what price?

[WISH84]

Mach is no longer a Host.:(

 

WHAT??? I've noticed he wasn't showing where they are listed but I was hoping he was on vacation!!!

[alreadypacked]

Carnival doesn't care about this type event. It's not a revenue generator in their eyes. They are more worried about attracting first time cruiser than keeping the ones that they have.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head.

[Counsel]

last February - one of our members contacted JH, and he set up one of the rooms, snacks, had it posted in the Fun Times, and we had several officers in attendance for a Q & A period. Karl with a K, the Captain!!!, and several others were in attendance. Cash bar was available...

 

Bruce

aka Counsel

[Sargent_Schultz]

What in the world makes some people think CC or any other special interest group is entitled to anything other than what they pay for?

 

I know I don't want any part of my cruise price or impact on my CCL stock dividend to go to subsidizing that nonsense.

[Musky Ike]

Carnival has no special obligation to any of us here.

 

However many of us (we have been doing 3 cruises per year on Carnival for past 5 or so years) have been very good customers and would be nice to have some mucky muck from the ship stop by to say hi during a meet and greet.

 

The cookies are no big deal as they are readily available elsewhere.

 

Agreed, it is not a matter of entitlement. Some cruse lines seem to choose to take the time to recognize those groups that might encourage others to sail their line. In this day and age many people are deciding what line to sail with on line research. Groups like CC can help get the word out good or bad.

[H82seaUgo]

How about doing something really nice for the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet Groups. I have read that some lines give private rooms, munchies, etc, and sometimes even a tour of the ship. It would be great public relations for the line, and make your fans even happier. Last year we had a nice time at the back of the Pool deck on the Glory and met some nice folks however I think if the line just put a little thought and attention into groups like this it would be a win-win situation for all. Yes...I know food is available all the time. I just think it would be nice to do something for these groups.

My husband and I had a nice time conversing with others from all over the country. We had fun with a voluntary group grab bag too!

Anyone else have any thoughts?

 

i thought i read there was such a lack of interest in these scheduled setups after the brand ambassador had these set up on every ship and every sailing, that most cd's have already dropped arranging and printing this in the fun times.

[H82seaUgo]

ccl doest like cruise critic.. you can tell by when jh refers to this site and the site i wont mention where rumors get started

 

and then mentions it when the hits are dramatically low just to stir up his base of humiliated ex-members.

 

or the coming of some loyalty program.

[erinmarie424]

We had the cocktail party on the Elation - just over 20 people, they provided two bartenders for us. We all sent $14 to one of the CC members via PayPal ($11.44 plus a nice extra tip for the bartenders.) Service was awesome, drinks were good, dry mix was not great, but I wouldn't hesitate to participate in another one. This is available to any group that wants one, not just CC members, which in my opinion is how it should be.

 

A bunch of us left the lounge when the cocktail party ended and went to the library for the CC Meet and Greet that was printed in the Fun Times - nobody there except us so we left after five minutes....LOL

[bazarr2]

i thought i read there was such a lack of interest in these scheduled setups after the brand ambassador had these set up on every ship and every sailing, that most cd's have already dropped arranging and printing this in the fun times.

there were also a lot of problems of groups wanting to change the times, places that it got to be a pain to plan things. Not to mention the arguments the happened during....:eek:

[WiCruiseDreamer]

If you feel that another cruise line takes better care of the customer then cruise with that line. I however feel that carnival takes care of me just fine.

 

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