Purpose of a Meet and Greet

[Colo Cruiser]

There is always an updated list on the front page of the embarkation day Patter.......

 

 

Captain

Staff Captain

PSD

Customer Service mgr

MD

CD

F&B mgr

Edited April 10, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[baconlover1]

Personally we've had some gift exchanges that were alot of fun.....they've always been optional and held at the end of the get together so if someone doesn't want to take the time to participate they can leave early....its nice exchanging gifts from ones hometown.

 

I also enjoy this portion of the M&G. It is fun to see what others come up with or what their hometown is known for (or at least their opinion of it, lol).

[Shoalwater]

Just as an FYI, The captain was Tony Herriott.

Thanks. I'm abroad and away from my journal to check names from cruises.

 

To be clear about what I said, many of us who organized tours on the SA trip had to front some serious up front cash to hold a guided reservation. Do you think they don't trust us to show up? Anyway, much of what was happening was organizers collecting to insure people would indeed keep to the tour. A few tours with openings (weren't many with this group) did advertise availability. However, I would now advocate meeting discreetly somewhere aboard ship at a set time slot to "collect".

[janacin]

I've been at many Meet and Greets on Princess and have never seen any solicitations or money exchanges for private tours. They were all organized on the roll call and we paid at the time of the tour. On our recent South Pacific cruise, the time was used to get acquainted with fellow cruisers and to organize camera clubs, card games, knitting circles, slot pulls and other shipboard activities with new friends.

 

I've often wondered why someone would volunteer to organize these tours, spending time and money, making overseas phone calls and doing the paperwork. Do they get a commission on the sales or a free tour?

[elliair]

In what way?

 

We almost missed the ship because the tour bus driver locked the keys in the bus with the engine running! If this would of happened on the other side of the island we would have been up a creek without a paddle. The person who got the tour together kept saying "it was an honest mistake." Didn't say it wasn't an honest mistake, that's not the point, he didn't carry a spare key. As it turned out, he found another tour bus driver to take us back to the ship, but we had to wait until he showed up with all of our baggage's that got left on the bus. Two hours wasted! Also, we were suppose to get a lunch. That never happened, he pulled out a baggie of pineapple and passed it around. So, that was a wake up call to me. If it was a Princess tour, the ship wouldn't have left without us.

 

Also, we have met people on the ship that we have made friends with and are still in touch with. It's not just M&G that you meet people that you really like.

Edited April 10, 2015 by elliair

[elliair]

I am with you Caribill. I don't understand elliair's comment. We have probably taken over 150 private excursions and have not had a bad one yet.

 

It only takes one and that's enough for me. I now only book Princess. Yes, it's pricey, but at least I'm guaranteed a wait in case something happens, the price is worth it.

[cougaraz]

It only takes one and that's enough for me. I now only book Princess. Yes, it's pricey, but at least I'm guaranteed a wait in case something happens, the price is worth it.

 

There are also now independent cruise tour operators that will guarantee you return to the ship or they will pay for your hotel and transportation to the next port. In many cases, they are actually offering the exact same tour as the cruise line, at a substantial discount. In fact, you may actually be riding on a bus or in a van with cruise line excursion passengers who booked through Princess and those who booked independently.

[paul929207]

It only takes one and that's enough for me. I now only book Princess. Yes, it's pricey, but at least I'm guaranteed a wait in case something happens, the price is worth it.

Actually, Princess does not guarantee to wait if one of their excursions are late. They only guarantee they will put you up and fly to catch up with the ship.

[smslms]

On our cruise around South America on the Grand Princess in 2013, the Captain announced at the M&G that there would be no selling private excursions at the meeting. He said that if anyone persisted, they would be put off the ship at the next port. That put a stop to the sales.

 

Unfortunately it didn't stop one idiot from getting in the Captain's face about the whole issue.

[hockeygal54]

In reference to the officers showing up question....the organizer contacts the assigned coordinator for that particular ship/voyage and obtains a list of key officers. It's long and drawn out so one must "cull the herd" so to speak. I went to the dollar store and bought a couple packages of invites and they were written by hand with time, place etc and a note basically saying that "while we know you are busy with ship duties, if your schedule permits......" The last one aboard the Emerald had an excellent officer turn out inc CD, FB and even Capt. Himself! Several people remarked they had never seen a Capt show up to a MG, how did I score that? Well like my Daddy always said "you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar"!

 

If pvt tours have been arranged that business needs to be taken care of at a different time/place.

[smslms]

not the captain but I think the hotel manager who went off on us. Wasn't Tony Yeomans captain on that voyage? Never the less, as it was a 49 day cruise with plenty of ports and many veteran cruisers there were a plethora of private tours. I do recall the first M&G was a yard sale of private tours. We were really over the top and none too well discreet. However, "Adolph" didn't have to tear into us like he did at the 2nd M&G, justified or not.

 

"Adolph". REALLY? Interesting comment.

[Colo Cruiser]

"Adolph". REALLY? Interesting comment.

 

 

I know, not cool. :(

[san diego sue]

And to clarify:

If you want Officers to attend M&G:

Coordinator from Princess(who you email and she sets up M&G),

Emailed me two weeks before our cruise to confirm if we want Officers to show up, we need to send them an invitation. No names given by her but was told to check with Passengers Services when I boarded the ship to get names. This was before my cruise on Ruby March 21, 2015 sailing.So I wrote the invites. Knew the names of some key people in advance from Princess emails on my Personalizer(cruise director, Maitre"D, Hotel Manager, Captain) and the rest I got when I boarded the ship. Only one that showed was Hotel Director and his Asst. Stayed on following week and lots showed up to that M&G.

I enjoy those meeting with just our group. Love to meet new people and

with staff, our time is spent speaking to them instead.Still nice but not my preference.

[caribill]

I have organized the M&G for our May 17th trip and was told that I HAD to do a personal invite to the crew or they wouldn't show up.

 

Suggestions on who I should invite? My thoughts so far are to invite the Captain, Chief Engineer, Cruise Director and Customer Relations Manager. I would love your opinion.

 

 

You need the invitations because the staff you would like to attend do not know you are having a meeting unless you tell them.

 

I suggest the Captain (and indicate if he cannot be there, the Staff Captain is welcome), Hotel General Manager, Cruise Director, Food & Beverage Director, Maitre d' and the Captain's Circle rep. Of course attendance will depend on each one's schedule as well as desire to be there.

 

If there is a guest lecturer on board (not the shopping lecturers), he/she would appreciate being there and meeting the roll call group.

 

If the roll call has come up with a souvenir (special magnet, for example), having extras to give to the staff that show up is always a good idea.

[Colo Cruiser]

And to clarify:

If you want Officers to attend M&G:

Coordinator from Princess(who you email and she sets up M&G),

Emailed me two weeks before our cruise to confirm if we want Officers to show up, we need to send them an invitation. No names given by her but was told to check with Passengers Services when I boarded the ship to get names. This was before my cruise on Ruby March 21, 2015 sailing.So I wrote the invites. Knew the names of some key people in advance from Princess emails on my Personalizer(cruise director, Maitre"D, Hotel Manager, Captain) and the rest I got when I boarded the ship. Only one that showed was Hotel Director and his Asst. Stayed on following week and lots showed up to that M&G.

I enjoy those meeting with just our group. Love to meet new people and

with staff, our time is spent speaking to them instead.Still nice but not my preference.

 

Don't know if your M&G was held after Noon but I have been told its best to try and hold it before Noon as they have meetings etc in the early afternoon.

Maybe thats why only 1 showed?

[caribill]

It only takes one and that's enough for me. I now only book Princess. Yes, it's pricey, but at least I'm guaranteed a wait in case something happens, the price is worth it.

 

Sorry for that bad experience.

 

To us, the biggest advantage of the independently arranged tours is that most of them are from four to 15 people and are not on a rigid schedule of exactly how much time can be spent at each venue. So if the group wants to spend more time at a venue or less time at a venue, it can be done.

 

Also, almost every Princess tour involves shopping time whether you want it or not. If those on a private tour want to skip the shopping, it can be done.

 

We have paid less, the same or even more for a private tour than what Princess charges for their similar tour. But in almost every case, we were able to see more places than the Princess tour would as well as be able to go to some places that a large Princess bus cannot get to due to the size of the bus.

 

For example, in Juneau there is a big difference in being on a Princess whale watching excursion with over 100 people vs. being on a boat with six people even though it cost about $10 more than the Princess excursion.

 

Certainly some independent excursions have been better than others, but none we have been on have created bad memories. However, I can recall a number of Princess excursions that did not deliver on what was promised:

 

o An excursion in Argentina to see penguins where the guide told us we had 30 minutes to do so and it was over a half mile walk each way from the bus to the penguins. Passengers on the other Princess busses told us they had over an hour. Turned out our Princess excursion guide thought the bus had parked just a couple of minutes from the viewing area, not 15 minutes away. Once we were all back having spent the entire time just walking back and forth, the guide said she had made an error and we could have another 30 minutes, just enough time to walk back and forth again, not to stop and see the penguins.

 

o A walking tour in Europe where the Princess tour guide walked twice as fast as the tour group could walk. By the time all in the group reached her at each stop, she was already finished with her explanation and was ready to move on.

 

o A tour in Mexico to Mayan ruins where the Princess tour guide sent us walking on one path while he rode a bicycle to the end on another path. We had absolutely no explanation of all the sites we walked past, but could see other groups with their guides at each site learning about what was there.

 

o A Princess tour in the Caribbean which promised scenic stops ("bring your camera" the writeup said) on the way to a beach. The bus did not make any scenic stops at all as the driver was anxious to go back for the next group of people.

 

When we are on a private tour, we make it clear to the guide that we need to be back at the ship at least 30 minutes before the required time. We have never had a problem being back in plenty of time.

 

Sometimes we are on Princess tours, sometimes we are on tours that roll call members have organized and sometimes we are on tours that we have organized and invited roll call members to join. We have had independent tours in Russia, Egypt, Aruba, Alaska, Canada, Peru, Viet Nam, Singapore and a number of other places. We have enjoyed every one of them....and always made it back to the ship in time.

[smslms]

Have to agree with everything Caribill said. We've been on many privately organized tours and I have also organized a number of such tours myself, never had any major problem.

 

On many ship organized excursions there is often practically a free for all getting on and off a large bus. Often when one returns to the bus, even though one may have left an article on one's seat, someone else has moved it and sat there because they happened to like that seat better than the one they chose. It seems to us that most of the people who participate in private tours are more experienced cruisers, with a much better defined sense of etiquette.

[kruisey]

To many Meet &Greets and must admit I enjoy them.:)

Usually I have volunteered to host an event on board so apart from listening to the speeches from Captain and Crew I am usually mingling with everyone and asking if they have or wont to sign up for the event on board.Thats how I get to know everybody by face anyway.......I forget names I am the worst one for that :o:o

Most that want to attend usually have e-mailed me before the event but I find friends of friends are the ones usually late signer uppers,word of mouth,

Otherwise I honestly have never seen an overdoses of folks signing up for private tours...........:)

[trbarton]

I have organized the M&G for our May 17th trip and was told that I HAD to do a personal invite to the crew or they wouldn't show up.

 

Suggestions on who I should invite? My thoughts so far are to invite the Captain, Chief Engineer, Cruise Director and Customer Relations Manager. I would love your opinion.

 

I have not heard of private tours being discussed or such at my previous M&G.

 

I have done many M & G. If you email me at trbarton743@aol.com I will send you the letters that I use to invite officers, my flyer that I send to CC members, my name card template and the table that use to keep people's info.

 

I have been told by another CC member that I know that when they contacted Princess recently they were told that they no longer do this. So what I would do is to make up labels with the title of the officer and affix to to the envelop with your letter.

 

Any other questions please ask.

 

Tom:D

[trbarton]

Having organized many M & G plus tours I have never said anything about tours at my M & G. I have planned a meeting with tour people somewhere else AFTER the meeting was over and nothing was ever discussed or done during my M & G. I would NEVER bring up any private tours during a meeting and would not allow anyone else to discuss the tours either. The organizer has to be in charge so this should never happen.

 

Some post have said that the meeting was boring. Here's what I do and that is to go around the room and have people give there name, where there are from and why they picked there CC name. This has been a good ice breaker. If there are any officers there I introduce them after everyone else.

 

I have also done a gift exchange but only if I have a 2nd M & G and people have signed up in advance.

 

Tom:)

[Griller]

I've been at many Meet and Greets on Princess and have never seen any solicitations or money exchanges for private tours. They were all organized on the roll call and we paid at the time of the tour. On our recent South Pacific cruise, the time was used to get acquainted with fellow cruisers and to organize camera clubs, card games, knitting circles, slot pulls and other shipboard activities with new friends.

 

I've often wondered why someone would volunteer to organize these tours, spending time and money, making overseas phone calls and doing the paperwork. Do they get a commission on the sales or a free tour?

 

I was at one M & G several years ago when organisers were collecting money for tours, I found it totally embarrassing and have not been to a M & G since, and do not like to be associated with CC group when anyone asks me.

Its embarrassing to be seen by senior officers at such a CC M & G and then have to socialise at a MTP lunch or cocktail party.

I have previously been on several private tours and was unhappy about them, one was organised by a travel agent passenger who quite openly admitted he expected to pay for all his cruise expenses as a result of organising the tours. Another one I went on was very very badly organised, the organiser filled 3 buses and at the end I saw money changing hands from the tour company rep back to the organiser after we had all paid.

Not how it should be IMHO. In the early days it was just a passenger who got together a few others and split the cost equally so everyone got a better deal and maybe a better tour than booking through the cruise line.

[trbarton]

I was at one M & G several years ago when organisers were collecting money for tours, I found it totally embarrassing and have not been to a M & G since, and do not like to be associated with CC group when anyone asks me.

Its embarrassing to be seen by senior officers at such a CC M & G and then have to socialise at a MTP lunch or cocktail party.

I have previously been on several private tours and was unhappy about them, one was organised by a travel agent passenger who quite openly admitted he expected to pay for all his cruise expenses as a result of organising the tours. Another one I went on was very very badly organised, the organiser filled 3 buses and at the end I saw money changing hands from the tour company rep back to the organiser after we had all paid.

Not how it should be IMHO. In the early days it was just a passenger who got together a few others and split the cost equally so everyone got a better deal and maybe a better tour than booking through the cruise line.

 

I'm sorry that you have had or seen unpleasant experiences. Since I have organized private tours and plan to do so again I have people pay the tour guide directly. I have organized tours where based on the number of people signed up my cost was free but nothing was ever said between me and anyone else. Again, sorry for your experiences.

 

As I said earlier nothing was ever discussed at any M & G that I organized around private tours and I would never allow it. If I'm aware of someone planning a tour they know to NOT discuss it during a M & G.

 

Tom:)

[Griller]

I'm sorry that you have had or seen unpleasant experiences. Since I have organized private tours and plan to do so again I have people pay the tour guide directly. I have organized tours where based on the number of people signed up my cost was free but nothing was ever said between me and anyone else. Again, sorry for your experiences.

 

As I said earlier nothing was ever discussed at any M & G that I organized around private tours and I would never allow it. If I'm aware of someone planning a tour they know to NOT discuss it during a M & G.

 

Tom:)

 

If organisers are upfront about doing it for a personal benefit whether it is a commission or a free tour for themselves and partner then that would be fine as far as I was concerned, but in the past that has never been disclosed.

 

Of course there might well be a situation where the organiser has done the tour before, and only goes along to bring some experience and added value to the tour for the other passengers and to make sure everything runs smoothly.

 

I think some disclosure right from the first mention on CC would be the honest way to do it, and also of course not to use the M &G as part of the sales promotion.

[san diego sue]

All the M&G I have organized have always asked for and gotten morning

ones. Problem sometimes staff have their own meetings and that is why they don't always show up. On mine on the Ruby March 21 sailing, both the Maitre'D and Captain mentioned afterwards they couldn't attend because they had meetings.

In the past I have invited Circle Host and Future Cruise Consultants.

In almost all cases they had their desk duty the same time and couldn't attend.

[trbarton]

As I have organized many M & G's I was usually having them in the morning. Then one CD, Sammy Baker, suggested that I schedule it in the afternoon because of many meetings in the morning of the first sea day. So I tried an afternoon meeting with no better results of officers attending so I'm back to morning meetings.

 

Tom😎