Meet and Mingle Gift Exchange

[rharvey999]

Not a very sexy thread I know but would like to get some thoughts on how others have conducted their gift exchanges during the formal Meet and Mingle on board. As our groups are getting larger we still want to be able to share with each other the gifts that were brought and to learn a bit more about those who are participating. However the old way may be coming too cumbersome. That being said on our last cruise the entire gift exchange consisted of everyone getting a number, going up front and picking up a gift and then returning to their seat. Although it was fast....total about 5 minutes...there wasn't much sharing going on.

 

So for all our the brilliant minds on the RCI CC site. What is the best way you have seen to meet both goals of meeting new people and seeing the gifts while at the same time limiting the time it takes?

Edited April 28, 2014 by rharvey999

[mom4mom]

With our last cruise when you went up to pick up a gift to unwrap, you had to say your name (and maybe even your CC name). Then if you wanted to steal a gift instead of picking from the wrapped gifts, you had to remember the name of the person you were going to steal from. Each gift could be stolen up to three times before it was considered dead. We had lots of fun doing this but with more than 50 people participating, it went very long.

[fischymom]

I have only been on three cruises, we did gift exchanges on one of them and honestly I loved it, wish that we would have on the other two but no one seemed interested enough. I like the exchange. For ours the gift was representative of your area- and we did not know ahead of time but I can't remember how we exchanged.

[mjldvlks]

WE did it on one cruise where we had a very active Roll Call. The idea was everyone was to bring a small gift [we had a small limit -- $5 or $10] that had something to do with where you were from. The one problem we had was we had a fairly large group and did this at the end of our meet and mingle and time was really a problem. Suggest that if you do this: (1) put a nominal and strict limit on gift cost; and (2) make sure you have the time when you actually make the exchange. I also like having a gift theme [like something related to your home -- particularly if your group is diverse].

 

I would not allow gift "stealing" [or whatever you call it when you can take a wrapped gift or take one someone has already opened. In my experience, that takes way too much time if you have more than a few people and it tends to generate hard feelings [admittedly based on experiences in gift exchanges other than cruise groups].

 

It can be a fun thing to do.

[rharvey999]

WE did it on one cruise where we had a very active Roll Call. The idea was everyone was to bring a small gift [we had a small limit -- $5 or $10] that had something to do with where you were from. The one problem we had was we had a fairly large group and did this at the end of our meet and mingle and time was really a problem. Suggest that if you do this: (1) put a nominal and strict limit on gift cost; and (2) make sure you have the time when you actually make the exchange. I also like having a gift theme [like something related to your home -- particularly if your group is diverse].

 

I would not allow gift "stealing" [or whatever you call it when you can take a wrapped gift or take one someone has already opened. In my experience, that takes way too much time if you have more than a few people and it tends to generate hard feelings [admittedly based on experiences in gift exchanges other than cruise groups].

 

It can be a fun thing to do.

 

That is pretty much how we have done it in the past. Must be a Kansas thing. I agree about the "stealing" aspect. If someone brought a gift from their home town, location or of interest to them it might seem a bit tacky of someone to say I don't want that one I want the one over there.

 

We have set the limit of $10-15 and as others have said the gift is representative of the giver in some way.

 

I like the idea of having each person who brought a gift come up and introduce themselves and then select a gift. The giver of that gift then comes to the front until all the gifts have been received.

 

Obviously the more participants the longer the time it takes so if there is a way to shorten it without losing the concept of getting to know each other better....:rolleyes: Difficult decision.

[Goes Cruising]

That is pretty much how we have done it in the past. Must be a Kansas thing. I agree about the "stealing" aspect. If someone brought a gift from their home town, location or of interest to them it might seem a bit tacky of someone to say I don't want that one I want the one over there.

 

We have set the limit of $10-15 and as others have said the gift is representative of the giver in some way.

 

I like the idea of having each person who brought a gift come up and introduce themselves and then select a gift. The giver of that gift then comes to the front until all the gifts have been received.

 

Obviously the more participants the longer the time it takes so if there is a way to shorten it without losing the concept of getting to know each other better....:rolleyes: Difficult decision.

 

This is a very timely thread! I am the organizer of the gift exchange for our TA that leaves Wednesday. I am trying to put together a poem for a "Left/Right" game, but I think I might steal your idea of selecting the order by who gave the gift. How do you start out? Who is the 1st person to go?

[mjldvlks]

That is pretty much how we have done it in the past. Must be a Kansas thing. . . .

LOL -- or maybe simply the "right" way.

 

. . . Obviously the more participants the longer the time it takes so if there is a way to shorten it without losing the concept of getting to know each other better....:rolleyes: Difficult decision.

 

The roll call we had on that cruise had something like 200 couples. Not everyone participated in the exchange, but there were still several. I think our mistake was doing that last when we were under the gun to get finished because some other function was scheduled for the same venue.

[LindaO]

The Freedom cruise that just ended Sunday :( we had a wonderful M&M and gift exchange...

 

It wasn't organized by me, but the lady that did it did a great job! She limited it to one gift per cabin (though it really could have been by person whoever wanted to participate). We lined our gifts up on the bar when we entered and she gave each gift a number. (She used those little tickets like they use for raffles). When it came time for the gift exchange everyone drew from the mirror ticket she put in glass. The only thing I would suggest is that you draw one at a time... and get your gift and open it so we could see what everyone brought. Most of us compared gifts... but some didn't get a chance to thank the giver. I'm not a fan of the stealing of gifts... not in this situation... it is fun at a company party or family event... but when you are with new friends I prefer the straight gift exchange!

 

Happy sailing!!! Whatever you do the gift exchange is a great fun time!! Our M&M was wonderful... Belle (the ship activity director) really did a nice job of getting everyone up and meeting others. The ship also gave away some very nice gifts... including 2 soda packages including the cups!!

[BillOh]

WE did it on one cruise where we had a very active Roll Call. The idea was everyone was to bring a small gift [we had a small limit -- $5 or $10] that had something to do with where you were from.

 

I could have wrote this statement, except we said $15. Like you this was the first time I had done this, and I enjoyed more than I would have thought. Our roll call on Allure went well over 8000 posts we got to know each other well the year leading up. The person organizing that event found a paragraph that had the words LEFT and RIGHT in it at least 20 times. Everyone stood in a circle with their gift in hand and when one of the words was read they passed the gift that direction. There probably was a small chance everyone could have ended up with their own gift, but it didn't happen. It did go quick! I (turning too look at it) can honestly say the gift I received was memorable and is on my office wall today.

[Cigar King]

FWIW, I am not a fan of the gift exchange so we don't participate. With all the luggage restrictions when you fly it's just not enoyable. I suspect I am not the only one who feels this way.

[mjldvlks]

FWIW, I am not a fan of the gift exchange so we don't participate. With all the luggage restrictions when you fly it's just not enoyable. I suspect I am not the only one who feels this way.

 

I am sure you are right and I would never want anyone to feel pressured to participate. But on our particular cruise, we had a huge group with folks from several different countries and all over the US and Canada -- so it was really cool to see what folks brought to represent their homes. The kind of things people brought took up very little space.

[rharvey999]

FWIW, I am not a fan of the gift exchange so we don't participate. With all the luggage restrictions when you fly it's just not enoyable. I suspect I am not the only one who feels this way.

 

That's perfectly exceptable as well. We have never felt compelled nor compelling to anyone else to participate. That is the main reason we hold them after the formal M&M is concluded. Those enjoy it participate. Those that don't...don't. :p

[rharvey999]

This is a very timely thread! I am the organizer of the gift exchange for our TA that leaves Wednesday. I am trying to put together a poem for a "Left/Right" game, but I think I might steal your idea of selecting the order by who gave the gift. How do you start out? Who is the 1st person to go?

 

You know that "who goes first?" question has always concerned me, since I have not real clue to how that selection should go. At times the person most active on the thread (if they are not organizing the exchange) is chosen for no other reason that most know his/her name. I suppose the organizer could choose any method. Pick a number between 1-100.;)

[rharvey999]

This is a very timely thread! I am the organizer of the gift exchange for our TA that leaves Wednesday. I am trying to put together a poem for a "Left/Right" game, but I think I might steal your idea of selecting the order by who gave the gift. How do you start out? Who is the 1st person to go?

 

Rats forgive me. I completely forgot to wish you a fantastic cruise.

[commodoredave]

FWIW, I am not a fan of the gift exchange so we don't participate. With all the luggage restrictions when you fly it's just not enoyable. I suspect I am not the only one who feels this way.

 

I've been to several M&Ms and have never participated in the gift exchange, yet still enjoyed it. Plus, on the luxury lines M&Ms I've attended, there was never a gift exchange organized -- guess they consider it below them.:eek:

[mjldvlks]

This is a very timely thread! I am the organizer of the gift exchange for our TA that leaves Wednesday. I am trying to put together a poem for a "Left/Right" game, but I think I might steal your idea of selecting the order by who gave the gift. How do you start out? Who is the 1st person to go?

 

You know that "who goes first?" question has always concerned me, since I have not real clue to how that selection should go. At times the person most active on the thread (if they are not organizing the exchange) is chosen for no other reason that most know his/her name. I suppose the organizer could choose any method. Pick a number between 1-100.;)

 

How about something arbitrary like who travelled the farthest to embarkation, or the youngest, or oldest? One criteria I would not use is the most cruises -- they get enough already.

[BigEasyCC]

On our last cruise we had a great hometown gift exchange. As we came in, we signed in, got our name tags, then went to the gift exchange table. We were given a number and the same # was put on the gift we brought. Then after our introduction to the ship officers and their speeches, we began with #1, that person came up picked a number out of the bag and got the coordinating gift (as long as it wasn't the one you brought). The person that brought that gift then stood up as the gift was opened and explained what it was or why the person choose that as a representation of their hometown. It really went pretty fast and we all got to learn about our fellow CC members.

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Forums mobile app

[BettyPC]

Gift exchange was great & we did do the "steal" thing! The first pick was determined by number drawn from a hat that our "organizer" had created.

 

No pressure to join in - but it was fun and we got great stuff from Seattle!

[sailingduo]

This is a very timely thread! I am the organizer of the gift exchange for our TA that leaves Wednesday. I am trying to put together a poem for a "Left/Right" game, but I think I might steal your idea of selecting the order by who gave the gift. How do you start out? Who is the 1st person to go?

 

I have found gift exchange poems on the web, our family exchanges gifts this way each Christmas. The one I use has the gifts each numbers then a verse to look for someone with a certain color eyes, hair, or clothing. Our family group has come to love exchanging this way.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Start with the roll call OP or the person that has posted the most times.

[rharvey999]

Thanks folks, you have provided me with some great ideas.

 

May your cruises be many and my bride and I hope to cruise with you all some day.