Finding out if there is a group on our cruise

[bobsfamily]

No, it adds up. I called my PVP 10 days out and booked an interior at a very good rate. I assumed while I was on board the convention had some cancellations and these cabins were released for sale.

Ah, yes that would do it...

[hattack]

You validated my point by booking at the last minute (so it does add up)...the group had reserved ( or charter) the entire ship and by contract with Carnival allowed the cruise line to sell cabins that were the result of cancellations within the group at a deeply discounted rate

 

If you had asked your PVP why the low rate was available so close to the sale date, if they had indicated there was a large group onboard would you have taken advantage of the discounted rate and cruised anyway

 

it's actually a pretty standard practice on the part of Cruise Lines in their charter contracts...folks who just love to cruise and willing to do so at the last minute in return for a cheap rate are not bothered by who the large group onboard and make their own entertainment

[momof4boys]

Can I ask, just out of pure curiosity, what is the reason for not wanting to be booked on a cruise with a group? I'm booked as part of a group for my Oct cruise, and I can't imagine why we would be nothing anyone. We will be doing seminars on the ship and themed excursions, but that's about it.

 

My only complaint is that groups often take over lots of areas of the ship. They want to be together so they go to the disco together, and depending on the group, the DJ will play music geared towards that group. They take over Karaoke, some of the bars, Picture areas, etc. Once a group had the main theater several times so they moved bingo and some other activities to other places.

[hattack]

Of course, you can have a greater chance of avoiding large groups, by selecting cruise ships that hold less than 500...may cost you more (luxury high end) or you don't have the bells & whistles (much older vessels)....the affordabilty of cruising no longer precludes most Americans from doing so

 

One should never prejudge a specific group on a cruise ship based upon it's affinity but sadly it happens ...I have been cruising since the 70's and remember when the cruise line assigned you to a specific table (with your own name tag) and before even being introduced on the first night before the waiter handed out the menus that a couple would go to the maitre de and request a change immediately in front of us and then spent the rest of the week avoiding us....I. of course, went out of my way to speak to that couple every chance I had during the week...;)

[hattack]

There are travel agencies that specialize in :cool: alternative groups:cool: on select sailings that enhances the cruise experience thru greater numbers...if a large group is on a new mega ship (4000+) there are enough public rooms that no one large group can dominate

 

One of the reasons that I enjoy full charter cruises is that everyone onboard is there for the same reason

[bakersdozen12]

I'm still wondering if someone could answer the question I have about the conference rooms on the ships (in my case it's the Dream, not sure which other ships have them). Aren't those rooms private rooms that wouldn't be open to the public when not booked for a group? Just curious.

[KenMo]

I'm still wondering if someone could answer the question I have about the conference rooms on the ships (in my case it's the Dream, not sure which other ships have them). Aren't those rooms private rooms that wouldn't be open to the public when not booked for a group? Just curious.

 

The conference rooms would not be private. Pax can go in there if they wanted a quiet place to read, for example.

 

If there was a private function, as in a group function, there would be a sign outside the door that there is a private function going on.

 

And I'm sure if they wanted to have a public event in the conference room, like maybe an art auction or something, they could use it for that as well.

[crazyfrazee]

:rolleyes:

[Jdfireman]

This is great again Google works wonders... Google some groups on cruises and your head will spin

[crusinpsychRN]

Large groups taking over venues is the problem. One Gospel group allowed interested cruisers to listen to them singing. 2 of the women in the group were in the Legends show and were fantastic.

 

A beauty pageant group took over several venues at once. One room had access to Serenity. At first I would go the other way then decided forget it, just walked in not making any spectacle and went to the Serenity using the door as usual.

 

One trip had a huge number of people all wearing Bob's Family t-shirts. Wow! That's a big family. Then I noticed none of them were speaking to one another. Then saw there were many ethnic groups. Strange family. Than I couldn't stand it anymore and asked if they were on a family cruise. "No, that's the name of our travel agency, Bob's Family."

[travler27]

Doesn't matter if you agree. Doesn't matter if you think someone is a bigot. Doesn't matter if you like big groups. Doesn't matter if you don't like big groups. Doesn't matter how you define a big group. If you don't want to spend a week on a cruise ship with a big group you really need to do your due diligence. Google is your friend. Use it before clicking "Book Now".

 

If you don't mind cruising with 800 accordion playing, polka dancing, Amway selling, ultra liberal conservative, trumpet drummers then just book it.

 

Different strokes for different folks.

[hattack]

Great story about :)Bobs Family:) thanks for sharing...when large groups reserve public rooms for private functions (the sign in the front), they are paying for that exclusive use as a rider in their group contract (actually very detail including sit up/ break down cost, cleaning, required staffing (bartenders, waiters, catered food, by the hour)..not unlike, you as an individual wanted to reserve a public room for your private use, as long as you pay for it

 

If the group or private party did not reserve and pay for it in advance (thus no sign) in theory everyone has access to that area....classic example, a group may say let's meet at the Alchemy Bar at 4 pm for drinks, if I walked in the group can't throw me out...I may not feel comfortable if I find the group not to my liking (and thus leave without being asked) but the bartender will gladly serve me

 

The most common is a large group "takes over" in the disco at night after the main shows...the DJ's are paid to get folks out on the dance floor (they purchase more drinks when they are thirsty from dancing fast)...the DJ will thus play a majority of the type of music that the majority of the patrons like...however...the really good DJ's are trained to have "situational awareness" of everyone in the room (and outside the door passing by) so they will play a wide variety and pace of music to try to please everyone...if the large group is "rowdy" the DJ can play a set that will encourage them to leave

 

Sometimes there is the opposite issue...often large groups will bring their own paid for entertainment for their private functions....the private entertainment is often better then what the ship is offering to everyone...cruisers who are not a part of the large group, will sometimes not understand the situation and think they are "entitled" to attend the show...savy CD's will station staff members outside the event to explain and usually that is enough..often general guests will offer to pay a "door surcharge" which of course they are told that is not permitted....most often the CD will work with the Group Leader to do a joint function in the Atrium on a full day at sea open to all as a gesture in the spitit of cooperation

[isaiahsnana]

I traveled with family and friends (7 of us) to Alaksa last summer on NCL. There was a large group (probably close to 1000) employees of a particular company. They had a lot of venues taken over during our cruise but the big problem was that each evening, one of the two MDR was closed to regular passengers. It was changed every day, so you could not make plans to meet at a particular time at a particular MDR. WE would arrive at the one we agreed upon to be told we had to go to the other one. Of course, by the time you find your group and relocate, the wait list was enormous at the open MDR, forcing us to wait an hour with three small children or eat at the buffet, which we finally just did every night. We did get smart and go by their functions table and look at the activities they were planning for the day so we could plan accordingly, but the MDR choice was not listed on their activities sheet.

[hattack]

Valid point...also great information to share...find out where the group information desk is located right after you board and just swing by everyday

[bobsfamily]

Great story about :)Bobs Family:)

This was not my family! Although I might be able to get 50!

[Ally22]

The Circle C used the conference room for dodgeball tournaments. It was fun to watch :)

[Webecruzen]

We arrived to the Port of Miami several years ago to realize we were sailing with a couple hundred fraternity members. I was not a happy camper. They were well behaved young men in classes most of the cruise. They were always well dressed and well mannered. I was wrong in judging them as a party group. In April we cruised with 500 employees from a company with open drink cards they took over all the bar areas. Yes many of the hallways were puke splattered by the time we were headed back to our room. Not a pretty sight not to mention the smell of the hallways. I believe as a passenger you should have a right to know when there is a large group like this sailing with the option to cancel without penalty. If that had been my first Carnival Cruise it would have been my last. It was truly a four day booze cruise.

[Baded]

I was on a cruise with over 500, 15 year old girls. It wasn't fun, they took over the pools, hot tubs, elevators and trying to eat at the buffet was a problem. Even the comedian joked about how bad it was.

[JinxyB]

I was booked on the Glory a few years ago and found out through CC that a very large group (over 50%) of passengers were part of a group called Drag Stars at Sea (associated with RuPaul's TV show). I personally did not have an issue with the people/lifestyle in the group, just that such a huge group would be on board closing down venues, taking over the pool, etc. which could possible effect my enjoyment of the cruise. I called Carnival to inquire just how many people were booked in this group and they would not tell me. I ended up cancelling and booking on NCL for the same week (already bought plane tickets). Turns out Carnival pissed a lot of people off by not telling booked passengers about this group and offered anyone sailing on that particular cruise a complete refund of the cruise plus airfare.

 

IMO, large groups should just charter an entire ship.

[Elaine5715]

Great story about :)Bobs Family:) thanks for sharing...when large groups reserve public rooms for private functions (the sign in the front), they are paying for that exclusive use as a rider in their group contract (actually very detail including sit up/ break down cost, cleaning, required staffing (bartenders, waiters, catered food, by the hour)..not unlike, you as an individual wanted to reserve a public room for your private use, as long as you pay for it

 

If the group or private party did not reserve and pay for it in advance (thus no sign) in theory everyone has access to that area....classic example, a group may say let's meet at the Alchemy Bar at 4 pm for drinks, if I walked in the group can't throw me out...I may not feel comfortable if I find the group not to my liking (and thus leave without being asked) but the bartender will gladly serve me

 

The most common is a large group "takes over" in the disco at night after the main shows...the DJ's are paid to get folks out on the dance floor (they purchase more drinks when they are thirsty from dancing fast)...the DJ will thus play a majority of the type of music that the majority of the patrons like...however...the really good DJ's are trained to have "situational awareness" of everyone in the room (and outside the door passing by) so they will play a wide variety and pace of music to try to please everyone...if the large group is "rowdy" the DJ can play a set that will encourage them to leave

 

Sometimes there is the opposite issue...often large groups will bring their own paid for entertainment for their private functions....the private entertainment is often better then what the ship is offering to everyone...cruisers who are not a part of the large group, will sometimes not understand the situation and think they are "entitled" to attend the show...savy CD's will station staff members outside the event to explain and usually that is enough..often general guests will offer to pay a "door surcharge" which of course they are told that is not permitted....most often the CD will work with the Group Leader to do a joint function in the Atrium on a full day at sea open to all as a gesture in the spitit of cooperation

 

So, true about a good DJ. At Sail Away, there was a number of women, drunk and shaking all the money makers..and the DJ put on salsa music and the booty dancers tapped out as the salsa dancers classed the place up.

[hattack]

The reality is there will be more larger & diverse groups onboard regular (non charter) cruises moving forward so if your goal is to avoid them, it will be harder to do so...in part because cruise lines are very aggressive in marketing to attract them as a way to introduce cruising to a population that would not consider a cruise if it were not for the group affinity.& fill cabins during off peak weeks......cruise lines monitor these groups to ensure no 1 group constitutes more than 49% of the capacity of the ship for logistics and scheduling of public rooms....in theory (from the cruise line perspective) mega groups (1000 or more) become great candidates for potential private charters on older & smaller ships on 4-5 day sailings and provide economic incentives to accomplish that....sucess in that endeavor will lead to full charters on the newer mega ships on a yearly bases (i.e. Music Theme Cruises)

 

If you look at the design and layout of the brand new mega ships being introduced into service these days they are designed for larger groups to peacefully coexist onboard with the balance of the guests....onboard CD staffs have learned thru experience to have a "playbook" and "profile" ready for each sailing to work with the group leader, so everyone enjoys their cruise and returns to cruise with the same line again....for 1 week everyone can coexist on a cruise ship and get along....

[crusinpsychRN]

This was not my family! Although I might be able to get 50!

 

When I see one of these threads I think about you and remember you responded when I first told about that. Glad you saw it again!

[bobsfamily]

When I see one of these threads I think about you and remember you responded when I first told about that. Glad you saw it again!

LOL, yes I do remember now that you mention it.

Sigh, the family is now me and the wife(which is great!)... the "kids" are grown and doing their own thing but I would not want to change the name. Back when I joined they were young and I never thought they would ever leave the nest...

Edited May 27, 2015 by bobsfamily