Meet but dont Mingle on Indy ??

[Jeannie333333]

Just got off the Indy transatlantic yesterday and wanted to share a little moan about the disappointing way in which the Meet & Mingle was dealt with by the ships staff.

 

Maybe we had been spoiled by the last 2 M & M's on Brilliance & Explorer, on both occasions activities were arranged e.g. small teams for a brief quiz, a nice intro and even the Capt coming along to say hello and greet us !! Neat eh ? :) Both ships laid on fruit juices and nibbles and chose a nice location which became 'ours' for the next few hours...in fact, until we had all 'met & mingled' - the main idea of the m & m I feel !

 

I believe there were approx 130/150 for the Indy M & M (but I stand corrected) and the location was changed to the nightclub on the ship due to the larger numbers. This proved to be a far from great location as it was too dark, with too few seats and no space for the person who was speaking to the group to be easily seen or heard.

 

There was a short welcome fromt he activities manager, then a 'sell' of the Art Auction, followed by a few free gifts. (Thank you, as nice gifts they were too). However, no juice, no nibbles were laid on and there was nothing 'inviting' about it at all.

BUT worse was to come, after approx 20 mins people started to arrive asking where the 'skittles' were being held - and sure enough, the nightclub had been booked for a skittles game / competition - 30 mins after the start of our M & M and we were asked to move.

We had not even completed our gift exchange.

 

I voiced my concerns to the activities manager who had nothing to say in response.

 

The meet and mingle ended soon after as non-cruise critic people were mingling with CC people and no one knew what was going on. This was very sad as a number of us had been chatting online prior to the cruise and wanted to put a face to a name. Needless to say, a number of us kept in contact during the cruise (and also afterwards) and did our own thing despite being made to feel unwelcome by the cruise staff at the M & M.

 

So, apart from having a moan & expressing my disappointment at our treatment - I wanted to warn anyone who is looking forward to your meet and mingle that the staff on Indy do not get the 'mingle' thing and will do very little to host this. Maybe you should just arrange a meet on your own so as not to be disappointed.

 

This is the way I felt & I am sure a number of people will have their opinion that I am moaning about nothing, but I feel so much better now I have got this off my chest & 'warned' others :D

 

Happy cruising folks

 

Jean

[wwcruisers]

We had a similar situation two years ago on Mariner. We had a very large, active roll-call group, and our M&M was held in the overbooked Viking Crown Lounge. It was supposed to have been an hour, but was cut to 30 minutes by an assistant CD (no visit from officers or senior staff), who came in with his microphone and wasted most of our 30 minutes with his RC "info-mercial". He then told us that we had less than 10 minutes for our planned gift exchange. :mad:

[Jeannie333333]

We had a similar situation two years ago on Mariner. We had a very large, active roll-call group, and our M&M was held in the overbooked Viking Crown Lounge. It was supposed to have been an hour, but was cut to 30 minutes by an assistant CD (no visit from officers or senior staff), who came in with his microphone and wasted most of our 30 minutes with his RC "info-mercial". He then told us that we had all of 10 minutes for our planned gift exchange. :mad:

 

 

Its very disappointing, isnt it :(

[narrow56]

I had never heard of Meet and Mingles before coming on Cruise Critic...what is the gift exchange?

[Jeannie333333]

I had never heard of Meet and Mingles before coming on Cruise Critic...what is the gift exchange?

 

People can sign up to bring a gift from their home town / Country and exchange it with others - typical cost $10/15 and is a nice keepsake :)

[heatherb1958]

We were on the last westbound Transatlantic Indie did in November 09, the M&M was held in the deck 5 forward lounge , Imperial , and Joff (CD) officiated , lots of prizes , it was fun.

Shame you did not have the same experience but you know from previous cruises that the recent M&M was not the norm so do not let it put you off joining others.

[bethco]

I've been to a number of Meet & Mingles but never done any kind of a gift exchange. So please do not think that signing up for a Meet & Mingle commits you to bringing a gift with you. With the additional cost of checking luggage on flights and strict weight limits, I doubt that I am the only one who wouldn't want to make that part of my cruise packing.

 

There has been so little activity on the Roll Call for my upcoming Indy cruise that I don't expect to get much out of a Meet & Mingle anyway. But it's good to have a heads up on the staff and their M & M take.

[wannasail4ever]

We were on Allure of the Seas in Oct. and had the exact problem as you. We had a very large CC M&M group who were placed (after changing the time) into the Commedy Club. Can't remember who spoke, but it was the RC song and dance, a few prizes and then get out. There was some shopping talk planned for our space. We were all very upset about it as we too were looking forward to getting to meet those we had been speaking to for months. This was our 10th RCCL cruise and all of the previous M&M's have been good. I wonder why they seem to be placing less importance on this meet and greet. We felt snubbed.

[grand isle joe]

Free Gifts?.....Whooooo-Hooooooo......I Love Free Gifts....

[wwcruisers]

Free Gifts?.....Whooooo-Hooooooo......I Love Free Gifts....

 

 

 

Yep, you can never have too many RC keychains, can you? :p ;)

[wwcruisers]

Its very disappointing, isnt it :(

 

Yes, but same as you, we did not let it deter us. We had shore excursions, a cabin crawl, and other activities planned -- in the end, it was a great cruise! :cool:

[Grandma Dazzles]

Totally agree with you Jeannie - we were on the TA with you - did we ever get chance to meet - I wonder!

 

It was a great bunch of people, and many tried very hard to put together a number of events for the group. Unfortunately the chance to meet everyone was significantly reduced by the staff of the Independence.

 

Overall the cruise was good - thanks to people we met - however was not impressed with the Independence or her staff (other than the waiters in the diamond event each evening). Did not feel the cruise was up to the usual RC standards in many areas.

[Ander026]

Well I will be sailing on Indy on Saturday. So far we have over 150 for our Meet and Mingle. Right now they have us scheduled for the upper level of the dining room. We will see if this changes.

[Jeannie333333]

Well I will be sailing on Indy on Saturday. So far we have over 150 for our Meet and Mingle. Right now they have us scheduled for the upper level of the dining room. We will see if this changes.

 

 

 

Hi,

 

yes, that is where we were scheduled to meet - but it was changed a few days before sailing. i hope you dont end up getting stuck in the nightclub too :(

 

--------------------

 

Sorry if I did make myself clear about the gift exchange..it is entirely voluntary and it is not usual for everyone to join in. I think we had about 40 of our numbers joined in the gift exchange, which is just a bit of fun. Calendars and mugs tend to be the usual gifts, we usually go with a calendar as they are light and easy to pack. However, as I said, you dont have to join in unless you want to.

 

Re the free gifts: usually there is pretty good stuff donated by the cruise company, and tend to be shirts / internet packages etc. They are given out via a raffle. It was interesting to note on our Meet & Mingle that one couple up and left once the free gifts had been distributed - it was clear what they attended for and I dont think it was to meet people !! :rolleyes: Whatever turns you on I suppose....:p

 

---------

 

Thank you for your comments & it will be interesting to see if this is the 'norm' on Indy or we were just unlucky.

We are back on Indy for the Eastbound T/A in April so it will be interesting to find out if they respond to the feedback given at the time and on feedback forms.

 

Jean :)

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Well I will be sailing on Indy on Saturday. So far we have over 150 for our Meet and Mingle. Right now they have us scheduled for the upper level of the dining room. We will see if this changes.

 

Robert, have a great cruise!! :)

[glendon3281]

The last few Meet & Mingles that I have attended have been real bummers with the RC staff doing the 'info-mercial' as someone else stated and no time to mingle. We do not need this time-wasting info...we already know more than most of the staff anyway from being regulars on CC.

 

However, the last few M & M's did include more than enough time for the ship's photographer to take numerous pictures of the group, though. Who wants a picture of themselves with a bunch of strangers that we never got to meet?

 

In the beginning, the M & M's truly seemed to be about US meeting face to face...now it's just a sales pitch. I can remember when we'd all wear name tags furnished by RC. The host would quickly pass around the microphone where everyone got to introduce themselves and what their screen names was. Not to mention snacks, beverages and decent prizes ...other than a key chain and hat.

 

I rarely sign up for the M & M's anymore because of what they have turned into...However, I usually go to the unofficial M & M sail-a-way parties since they are more fun.

 

Just my 2x cents.

[Royalty X]

With all due respect, why should the cruise line have to provide any drinks, nibbles or even free gifts? No cruise companies (RCI or otherwise) has any affiliation with Cruise Critic. They don't really owe any of us anything other than what was promised as part of our fare.

 

Yes, it might be considered a nice gesture, but it certainly shouldn't be expected. If anything, maybe meet and mingle events should be organised on CC beforehand. For example "we'll all meet at this place at this time (choose a bar where trivia and games don't take place) and someone makes up a sign or something alerting fellow CC'rs where they are, or everyone wears a certain colour or carries some sort of item, etc.

 

I just don't get why, when CD's have a whole shipload of people to entertain already, why a group from here (or any group really) needs to be pandered to.

 

I'm not trying to flame, I'm just stating my honest opinion. :)

[Coralc]

With all due respect, why should the cruise line have to provide any drinks, nibbles or even free gifts? No cruise companies (RCI or otherwise) has any affiliation with Cruise Critic. They don't really owe any of us anything other than what was promised as part of our fare.

 

Yes, it might be considered a nice gesture, but it certainly shouldn't be expected. If anything, maybe meet and mingle events should be organised on CC beforehand. For example "we'll all meet at this place at this time (choose a bar where trivia and games don't take place) and someone makes up a sign or something alerting fellow CC'rs where they are, or everyone wears a certain colour or carries some sort of item, etc.

 

I just don't get why, when CD's have a whole shipload of people to entertain already, why a group from here (or any group really) needs to be pandered to.

 

I'm not trying to flame, I'm just stating my honest opinion. :)

 

Because that's the way it used to be....and they were called "Rubber Band Parties" . The Cruise Critic members that used to pre-arrange get togethers wore rubber bands on their wrists and we would get together and meet up on our own.

 

Cruise Critic has become an often quoted source in media and Royal Caribbean was the first to jump onboard with sponsoring the official Meet & Mingles.

 

They don't HAVE to do it. It is very, very nice that they do sponsor them....and if they are going to continue to support them, then Royal Caribbean should commit to doing it properly, not as an afterthought. Or they should drop the commitment altogether and we will go back to doing our own thing. We really enjoy getting together with other Cruise Critic members.

 

You should let LauraS and Xplora know if there were problems with your Meet & Mingle on a particular sailing.

[JamesEM]

We were on the Oasis in Nov. and the CD did a great job, there were pastries, beverages, some nice gifts, and no sales pitches.

[alaska_planner]

i think it very much depends on the CD...

[johneeo]

With all due respect, why should the cruise line have to provide any drinks, nibbles or even free gifts? No cruise companies (RCI or otherwise) has any affiliation with Cruise Critic. They don't really owe any of us anything other than what was promised as part of our fare.

 

Yes, it might be considered a nice gesture, but it certainly shouldn't be expected. If anything, maybe meet and mingle events should be organised on CC beforehand. For example "we'll all meet at this place at this time (choose a bar where trivia and games don't take place) and someone makes up a sign or something alerting fellow CC'rs where they are, or everyone wears a certain colour or carries some sort of item, etc.

 

I just don't get why, when CD's have a whole shipload of people to entertain already, why a group from here (or any group really) needs to be pandered to.

 

I'm not trying to flame, I'm just stating my honest opinion. :)

 

It is public relations, sales, marketing, business common sense.

 

CC is the best resource for any information about cruising available anywhere. When someone wants any info on cruising, this is the place to get it. And lots of cruisers frequent these boards.

 

And when a vendor, whether a cruise line or excurion or port provide poor product or service, it will have a detrimental economic effect on their bottom line.

[bouhunter]

we went to a M&M about 5 years ago and it was pretty much a RCCL sales pitch. Haven't been back to one since. We had looked forward to more opportunity to socialize, but I could have cared less whether or not they provided "juice and nibbles".

[Missus Makkem]

With all due respect, why should the cruise line have to provide any drinks, nibbles or even free gifts? No cruise companies (RCI or otherwise) has any affiliation with Cruise Critic. They don't really owe any of us anything other than what was promised as part of our fare.

 

Yes, it might be considered a nice gesture, but it certainly shouldn't be expected. If anything, maybe meet and mingle events should be organised on CC beforehand. For example "we'll all meet at this place at this time (choose a bar where trivia and games don't take place) and someone makes up a sign or something alerting fellow CC'rs where they are, or everyone wears a certain colour or carries some sort of item, etc.

 

I just don't get why, when CD's have a whole shipload of people to entertain already, why a group from here (or any group really) needs to be pandered to.

 

I'm not trying to flame, I'm just stating my honest opinion. :)

 

Then why do RCI promote them on these boards and on their we site?

[50 Shades of Beige]

We were on the West bound TA on Adventure, and again we were only allowed 30 mins at the M&M before other people started drifting in. Later in the cruise we were invited to a CC lunch and very nice is was too.

[Marley-Bop]

Well said Jean, total waste of time and if RCCL don't want to do this anymore, why dont they just say so!!:mad: