Roll Call Meet and Greet Party

[richfret]

One thing you will encounter if you organize a Meet & Greet. No matter what your timing, some one will not be pleased. I have organized several and have come to the conclusion that the best time is departure day about an hour and a half before the boat drill. Will every be able to make it? No, but most can. If you schedule it during the week like on the first sea day, there will always be some activity taking place at the same time. I bring up this fact and then ask for a vote by the Roll Callers with the time determined by the majority. Arrival date always wins.

 

As for free drinks, it is so much easier to have a waiter come to your Meet & Greet and serve the Roll Callers if they want to purchase them. Otherwise, collecting the money is a pain. Then there are those whose plane is late getting in. Those who have an emergency and miss the cruise. (It happens.) Those who say they will come and don't. All kinds of reasons.

 

This cruise I am going to schedule a lounge with Carnival although if they don't assign it on arrival date, we will use the Aft Lido Deck as we have done for several cruises. It is mostly covered, has access to drinks, is large enough, has many tables and it is easy to identify some one at a distance. I also make small signs using 8 by 11 paper to identify our group.

 

Don't know if this helps but these are issues to consider.

[SNJCruisers]

One thing you will encounter if you organize a Meet & Greet. No matter what your timing, some one will not be pleased. I have organized several and have come to the conclusion that the best time is departure day about an hour and a half before the boat drill. Will every be able to make it? No, but most can. If you schedule it during the week like on the first sea day, there will always be some activity taking place at the same time. I bring up this fact and then ask for a vote by the Roll Callers with the time determined by the majority. Arrival date always wins.

 

As for free drinks, it is so much easier to have a waiter come to your Meet & Greet and serve the Roll Callers if they want to purchase them. Otherwise, collecting the money is a pain. Then there are those whose plane is late getting in. Those who have an emergency and miss the cruise. (It happens.) Those who say they will come and don't. All kinds of reasons.

 

This cruise I am going to schedule a lounge with Carnival although if they don't assign it on arrival date, we will use the Aft Lido Deck as we have done for several cruises. It is mostly covered, has access to drinks, is large enough, has many tables and it is easy to identify some one at a distance. I also make small signs using 8 by 11 paper to identify our group.

 

Don't know if this helps but these are issues to consider.

Personally, I feel that there is a two fold reason to have the party. One, to meet people face to face that you have been communicating with for months leading up to the cruise, and two, to have an open bar party at a reasonable price. With the deletion of the captain's party prior to formal night and the deletion of the farewell party on the last night, this gathering is the only time for those people that are not going to the Gold/Platinum/Diamond party to engage in a party atmosphere for an hour or two. With the prices that Carnival charges for their drinks, the bang for your buck that you get for two hours of all you can drink for 20 bucks is the same value that the Carnival cruiser gets for sailing Carnival versus other cruise lines.

 

Meet n Greets are nice, but they only accomplish one of the two reasons to have the gathering, whereas a private cocktail party with 2 hour open bar for 20 bucks lets those in attendance get to know their fellow cruisers and at the same time indulge in a reasonable amount of alcoholic beverages of their choice for two hours, thus providing value, which should be the mainstay of any Carnival cruise. ;)

[conradcrow]

good info here...i will be using all these helpfull tips to hopefully get one of these parties going in my roll call! :D

[wrigley80]

Does anyone know the phone number of who I need to contact at Carnival to organize and schedule a meet and greet party onboard??

 

I have called Carnival directly but no one that I have talked to have been able to give me the right number

[Chucklez]

groupeventplanning@carnival.com is what I used to get in contact with them. Since then I have been contacting the Dream's group event planner via her email.

 

Reading a previous post, someone said not to mention it being a CC event. I have and have not encountered any problems setting this up with Carnival.

[kittycrusin08]

I just called Guest Services and ask about a meet & greet to be held in the piano bar. She took all the information and sent me a confirmation of the time and place. She stated it would be in the Fun Times. This is a non pre-paid party but we are going to have bar service, paid individually by each person via their sail & sign card. Ask John H about having the Cruise Director, Steve Kinsley come by and possibly donating something to auction to increase the wait staff's tips. Hopefully, it goes smoothly. We will see next week. ;)

[SNJCruisers]

I just called Guest Services and ask about a meet & greet to be held in the piano bar. She took all the information and sent me a confirmation of the time and place. She stated it would be in the Fun Times. This is a non pre-paid party but we are going to have bar service, paid individually by each person via their sail & sign card. Ask John H about having the Cruise Director, Steve Kinsley come by and possibly donating something to auction to increase the wait staff's tips. Hopefully, it goes smoothly. We will see next week. ;)

Sort of defeats the purpose if you ask me.....like that lame meet n mingle gathering that they have on Royal Caribbean ships. Went to one on my recent RCI cruise and it was basically a waste of time, most of the people that showed up never participated in the roll call before the cruise at all. They just signed up for the meet n mingle to see what kind of trinkets that they could get for free.

[Banditswife]

I just email Group Event Planning groupeventplanning@carnival.com last week this is was the first paragraph in the email...

 

 

We would be more than happy to assist you with arranging a party onboard for your guests. We have attached our Carnival Entertains brochure for your review. It contains a detailed listing of available services and pricing including our Party Packages which are located on page one. Please remember that we require a minimum of 20 guests purchasing a party package (minimum 1 hour duration) to hold party space.

 

I too am the one throwing ours and its my first time :eek:

I attached what was sent to me with all the pricing options, It may be the same as what was posted above if it is I apologize in advance.

 

For example if you do the one hour at $9.95 x15%= $11.44 a person( 228.85 for 20 ppl).. I have a paypal account so I have everyone sending there money there that way they have a copy of the payment and I have it tracked.

 

** On a side note this is the information Carnival told me to have when I'm ready to book...**

Please be sure to include all booking numbers, ship, sailing date, number of attending guests, preferred date, time and duration for the party, any equipment needed and your food and beverage selections.

 

I requested when they send me their money to include there name and CC name along with booking and room number, the reason I asked for the room number is I'm making name tages and purchased wrist bands (super cheap on ebay) and will drop them off at each room with information on the final location

 

I hope this helps let me know if you need any other information

WOW, your fellow roll call members should really appreciate all the work you put into this. I tried one for our cruise & gave up. We are just doing an informal M&G on an open deck.

[wrigley80]

Well I am going to call Carnival today to get the ball rolling for our Meet and Greet party. Thanks everybody for your advice on how to get this organized

[rob352]

What is a good time on the 1st day to hold the M & G ??????

[wrigley80]

What is a good time on the 1st day to hold the M & G ??????

 

We are having ours from 5:00-7:00 pm. Just about everyone who is coming has either Your Time dining or Late seating

[ccruisequeen]

What is a good time on the 1st day to hold the M & G ??????

 

Maybe an hour before muster drill. Then everyone should be there.