Washy washy CC meet and greet

[Kaboochi]

Let me start by saying that I enjoy cruising CCL. But, when it comes to the cruise critic gatherings, the fail. On 2 other comparable cruise lines the meet and greet has all of the department managers in the room to speak with the CC guests. Plus, you are given a preprinted card with their phone numbers if you need their assistance.

 

Carnival needs to step it up a notch. Just my opinion.

[cruise_girl2002]

Let me start by saying that I enjoy cruising CCL. But, when it comes to the cruise critic gatherings, the fail. On 2 other comparable cruise lines the meet and greet has all of the department managers in the room to speak with the CC guests. Plus, you are given a preprinted card with their phone numbers if you need their assistance.

 

Carnival needs to step it up a notch. Just my opinion.

 

look at what you are paying though. and last time I cruised on another line (cough rcl cough)I signed up for the m&g, paid, said I would get the invite....NEVER SHOWED UP!!! still ticked 2 years later

[jsfromsc]

I enjoy chatting with people here on CC, but when I cruise, especially on the first day, I'm not interested in a planned event. Our last cruise was a Baltic itinerary. Neither my husband nor I could sleep on the plane crossing the Atlantic so we pretty much crashed the first night. We were lucky we were able to wake up and eat dinner. We did end up meeting some CC folks on our tours, and that was great, but we are capable of entertaining ourselves and don't need to attend cocktail parties. Also, I don't think Carnival is responsible for the turnout at a meet & greet or to provide extras to folks just because they met up on Cruise Critic. That doesn't make you any more special than anyone else on the cruise.

[what to go here and there]

M & G = meeting others from the roll call that I have been chatting with about our vacation.

 

Does not matter to me if I meet the chief, captain or even cruise director

 

I have had more attendance at Slot Pulls than the M & G or even the cocktail party..

[Colorado Kat]

It's hit or miss. Sometimes there are terrific roll calls, and we go on excursions together. Sometimes people are busy, and they don't make the Meet & Greet.

[michelle1836]

OP- how much are the meet and greets on the other lines? or are you talking about the regular non paid ones?

[seannyice81]

From what I read, it seems Carnival could put a little more effort into M&Gs.

 

Honestly though, I haven't really signed up for or attended any. I enjoy meeting new people and being social. I do enjoy bumping into CC members while on my cruise, but I always forget or find myself distracted by something else.

[Cruisin Dave]

FYI,

John Heald will now put together a time and place for a M&G. The CD will show up or his assistant and there will be gifts from CCLto give away. The M&G will be placed in the Fun times. All you have to do is have someone from the group email John with the ship, date and appr how many.

Dave

[misguidedangel]

There are two types of MnG`s

 

Drinks--you pay and Pre-arranged, also knows as specific date and time

 

The one where you pay on Carnival you just go to the said place where they said it will be and usually everyone shows up. Other cruise lines might do it differently...

 

Impromptu, aka let`s meet at the back lido bar meet.....These are clearly the hit and miss MnG`s....I remember one where around 130 people said they would show up. Less than 30 people showed up. We all had a good time and those of us who did show up ran into each other and did hang around here and there....

 

I have also had two pre-arranged rooms for a MnG and one went off great and we had around 50 or so people, almost all of the people who said they would show did....we all knew each other well by that time and we had an awesome time..the other fizzled out and only a handful of people showed up. One or two people were organizing this and that, planning this and that, it may have worn people out by cruise time and they just passed on it....They did do a drink function and I guess it wasn`t a pretty sight with the bartenders being over run with people wanting as many drinks in the hour as they could get their hands on!!!!! We didn`t go to that one....heard the story about it when we got back....

 

Good luck with the next MnG that is arranged with the hopes it turns out better than others have

[golfadj]

Almost always noone from the ship will show up. Will say that on our last cruise we had a cocktail party and the CD did come for a bit.

 

Carnival doesnt like CC and has no interest in promoting it.

[Piper934]

look at what you are paying though. and last time I cruised on another line (cough rcl cough)I signed up for the m&g, paid, said I would get the invite....NEVER SHOWED UP!!! still ticked 2 years later

 

Not sure who you paid for rcl. Been on several cruises and attended meet and greets. No charge. Rcl does a nice job, cruise staff present, raffles, snacks. Very well done. No charge, just register and have 25 or more people.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Forums mobile app

[CruisinCarps]

When John Heald posted that they were offering up champagne and other goodies for M & G, I thought that was above and beyond. I just want to meet the other cruisers from our roll call. I think Carnival owes us nothing in that department. I would think they already have enough on their hands, duty-wise, etc. JMHO :)

[Lerin]

I'd rather not meet the captain or whomever at a M&G.

I want to meet people I've been chatting with online with the possibility of continuing to interact with them throughout the cruise. Especially when I want to do trivia and my dh wants to go to the gym.

 

We signed up for a "connection" on Celebrity which was supposed to have a bit of fanfare. However they messed up our cabin and we didn't receive the invite until the day after it happened. I was NOT happy at all and was never able to figure out who I'd met online. :mad: If Celebrity hadn't tried to be all fancy with invites and just let us exchange cabin #s like in Carnival roll calls, that wouldn't have happened.

[mikenhe]

we had a m&g in june on the breeze.. nothing official - just met at a bar on embarkation day. low expectations - all met and exceeded.

 

Did one on ncl that was a no show. 2nd on ncl had 150 turn out - pretty good.

the breeze one was the best though. all wearing beads and had already all chatted on here - worked out good.

 

 

I just don't see that meeting the cd/first officer/ or who the hell ever will improve your cruise so much that you have to do it or bitch when it doesn't happen.

[golfadj]

we had a m&g in june on the breeze.. nothing official - just met at a bar on embarkation day. low expectations - all met and exceeded.

 

Did one on ncl that was a no show. 2nd on ncl had 150 turn out - pretty good.

the breeze one was the best though. all wearing beads and had already all chatted on here - worked out good.

 

 

I just don't see that meeting the cd/first officer/ or who the hell ever will improve your cruise so much that you have to do it or bitch when it doesn't happen.

 

I just think it would be interesting to talk with them. RCCL's capt's are out and about quite a bit and found them very easy to have a conversation with.

[Mysticks1]

All lines do it differently. I have never paid to attend one and have done two on Royal Caribbean. They provided drinks and pastries and small gifts for everyone who attended and I think a couple of small door prizes to be given away.

On our last cruise on NCL our M&G was in one of the specialty restaurants and they had several different drinks and snacks. All of the upper staff came including the Captain. They all introduced themselves and told briefly what they did and we were given a card with the contact numbers of all of them (except the captain). No gifts or door prizes that I remember. We had a group of no more than 50 that showed up. The Captain invited all of us for a bridge tour on our last sea day. It was nice.

I don't think that what Carnival does is lacking just that a couple of the other lines do more for the Meet and Greets. I also paid more for the cruises on those lines so I am not unhappy with what Carnival does.

If you want what the other lines offer all you have to do is book with them instead.

[Lovefuninthesun]

I enjoy chatting with people here on CC, but when I cruise, especially on the first day, I'm not interested in a planned event.

 

Agree

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 5 using Cruise Critic App

[mondello]

I've often read where Carnival doesn't like CC; yet I've seen M&G listed in the FunTimes. JH has provided a couple bottles of bubbly and a couple of ship-on-a-sticks.

 

I personally don't see the need for any officers to make any extra effort to attend a small gathering when there are thousands of other PAX aboard.

[foxesden1]

look at what you are paying though. and last time I cruised on another line (cough rcl cough)I signed up for the m&g, paid, said I would get the invite....NEVER SHOWED UP!!! still ticked 2 years later

 

RCL does not charge for M&G. That's CCL

[hannahsmomtoo]

Im sorry you had a bad experience...

 

We sailed the Magic 10/6 and did a 2 hour 'all you can drink" meet and greet.. It was amazing. Carnival's staff was incredible and they TRULY meant "all you can drink"...

 

There was maybe 40 of us in the Magic's "Vibe" club ( reserved ) and a great time. We paid $23 a person.. one of the highlights of the trip and we all became a big family

[hannahsmomtoo]

I WILL say....

we did not do It thru CC.....

Just as a private party.... our roll call met on a social networking site.

 

I have also heard there is no love lost between Carnival and CC....we were much better off being Unassociated.

[luvsviola]

I enjoy chatting with people here on CC, but when I cruise, especially on the first day, I'm not interested in a planned event.

 

This is me. I hate small talk. My own hangups, I know. I'm cruising with 3 young kids, and if I get a few minutes without them, I just want to sit on my balcony and relax. I know some people love the M&Gs, but I prefer to be anonymous.

[carolinaviking71208]

Let me start by saying that I enjoy cruising CCL. But, when it comes to the cruise critic gatherings, the fail. On 2 other comparable cruise lines the meet and greet has all of the department managers in the room to speak with the CC guests. Plus, you are given a preprinted card with their phone numbers if you need their assistance.

 

Carnival needs to step it up a notch. Just my opinion.

 

Kinda think the officers and department heads have more important duties to tend rather than trying to make Cruise Critic members (who make up an extremely small percentage of passengers) feel more special than the other 2000-4000 guests.

 

I've seen complaints here and on FB about Carnival's meet & greets or lack there of and I personally think it makes us look like a bunch of self entitled snobs.

 

I enjoyed the informal meet & greet we had on my first cruise. We just sat around a group of tables and swapped stories.

Nothing formally arranged. Just someone saying "let's meet at x location around y time".

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kaboochi]

OP- how much are the meet and greets on the other lines? or are you talking about the regular non paid ones?

 

I have never paid to go to a M&G

[shawne71]

I enjoy chatting with people here on CC, but when I cruise, especially on the first day, I'm not interested in a planned event. Our last cruise was a Baltic itinerary. Neither my husband nor I could sleep on the plane crossing the Atlantic so we pretty much crashed the first night. We were lucky we were able to wake up and eat dinner. We did end up meeting some CC folks on our tours, and that was great, but we are capable of entertaining ourselves and don't need to attend cocktail parties. Also, I don't think Carnival is responsible for the turnout at a meet & greet or to provide extras to folks just because they met up on Cruise Critic. That doesn't make you any more special than anyone else on the cruise.

 

Totally agree! :D