In the minority

[R Prim]

We just booked a cruise and found out that there will be a HUGE charter group on Board. The Beach Music 20th anniversary cruise. While we love beach music we will not be a part of this group. What can we expect (we are diamond so we know what should happen). Early seating is completing booked and the cruise is not until January! We too are early seating but now I am wondering if the ship will be catering to this group (using the main show room when there would normally be two shows, etc.) We are going with friends so I hate to change all the plans but am seriously wondering if we should consider it.

[cb at sea]

Ah..too bad you aren't part of that group! There will be concerts for the group members, but they usually do at least 1 concert for anyone to attend. There are a variety of GREAT bands...friendly people, all of them...and much fun to watch! Jim Quick and Coastline, Tim Clark Band, Steve Owens and Summertime Band, and, The Fantastic Shakers....what a lineup!

 

For the most part you won't notice any difference in your cruise. Beach music people are friendly and like to dance and listen to great music! A very fun group!

 

I would rather be part of the group, because these band ROCK!, but your normal activities will not be impacted by these folks. I would imagine early seating will open up once onboard, since the "group" is not joined at the hip...the booking agent automatically assigns groups a seating..but the actual group members are free to change that.

 

The only "activity" the group does is listen to the bands. Nothing weird or kinky or intrusive!!

Edited July 17, 2015 by cb at sea

[LHT28]

I am surprised the group did not charter the whole ship

If you are not part of the group I would cancel & book a different cruise

 

Do you know how larger the group will be??

 

It will impact on your enjoyment of the cruise & venues may be closed to you

Edited July 17, 2015 by LHT28

[paul929207]

If it is possible, I would look for another cruise.

[MCC retired]

Depending on just how large a group it is , if it is large it will affect you . It already has with your dinning preference.

Feel fortunate that you are forewarned and can discuss it with your friends with time to reschedule.

[You Me & the Sea]

Depends on the groups size. You say 'huge" so it will likely impact several aspects of your cruise.

[cherylandtk]

If you are on the fence, you can always email the group TA and say you are interested in learning more about this cruise. Then ask what specific events and amenities this group will provide, what is the schedule of entertainment, etc. Mention that you don't know anyone else in the group and want to know if you will be assigned table mates from within the group. The answer may help you to decide.

 

Eta-I checked the website and it does not give any of these details.

Edited July 17, 2015 by cherylandtk

[Krazy Kruizers]

JMO -- but I would change to another cruise.

Many years ago we had a very large group on one of our cruises and it did effect our cruise. The Crows Nest (HAL) was closed many evenings for private parties. The show room had only 1 evening show instead of the normal 2. Several activities that we were used to having on other ships -- weren't offered.

[lannp]

I experienced this a few years ago and if I knew in advance in time to cancel would. Some evenings they took over the one of the rooms so that your choices were limited for evening entertainment. They also set up tables in the lobby, etc. and would congregate there so while passing through the ship you had to navigate through the crowds.

They also would sit down in large groups in the buffet in the daytime and the conversation was so loud sitting there to enjoy a meal was impossible. Tickets to some of the concerts were offered but they were pricey.

[kelkel2]

If it is possible, I would look for another cruise.

 

I would too...

It's very likely that venues that would normally host other activities during normal cruises will be closed off to the general public and will be used for the group's activities.

You will be impacted with a large chartered group on board. If it were me, I would be contacting the cruise line and seeing if they would switch me without penalty to another similar sailing.

[Langley Cruisers]

It's very likely that venues that would normally host other activities during normal cruises will be closed off to the general public and will be used for the group's activities.... You will be impacted with a large chartered group on board.

 

I agree with you and others here, OP will be impacted, despite one person here saying the opposite. I have read on these boards that some public areas are closed off during group cruises - public areas to which I am entitled to go when I pay my full cruise fare, in my opinion.

 

OP, have you decided what you might do?

.

[R Prim]

Oh my goodness! I was so encouraged by the first response I got and so troubled, and yet thankful for all the other input. If it were just me I would not hesitate to change to another ship. I think I will ask our friends to read this tread! I so appreciate each of you that took the time to answer my thread and will keep you posted as to our plans.

 

I have contacted the travel agency handling the charter to try and get an idea of how large it is. On a ship the size of the Valor, how many in a charter would you consider to just be too many to deal with?

[LHT28]

You may want to read this thread on the HAL forum

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2235101

[R Prim]

I just heard back from the travel agency and they have a cut off of 400 people and have 6 rooms left. I don't think 400 out of a total of 2,974 guests should be a problem. Now I am wondering if there is yet another charter group on this same sailing as it appears to be pretty well booked up already. I must admit, we have sailed close to 50 times on Carnival, we have had lots of "groups" on board and I have never worried about a bad experience. Well to be perfectly honest, we have never had what I would say was a bad cruise :) Had some interesting "adventures" but never bad.

[navybankerteacher]

I am surprised the group did not charter the whole ship

If you are not part of the group I would cancel & book a different cruise

 

Do you know how larger the group will be??

 

It will impact on your enjoyment of the cruise & venues may be closed to you

 

It is very rare for a group to charter an entire ship. The promoters do not want to be stuck with filling every last berth; it is much easier to just get sign-ups from as many as want to go.

 

Unfortunately, the cruise line will ordinarily not permit cancellations without cost to the individual, and their practice of not advising potential passengers of the presence of groups works to their advantage.

[LHT28]

It is very rare for a group to charter an entire ship. The promoters do not want to be stuck with filling every last berth; it is much easier to just get sign-ups from as many as want to go.

 

Unfortunately, the cruise line will ordinarily not permit cancellations without cost to the individual, and their practice of not advising potential passengers of the presence of groups works to their advantage.

 

We did a full charter last yr & booked again this yr for Malt shop cruise ...other music cruises by the same company are also full charter

It may depend on the type of music if they can fill the ship or not

 

Mind you the cruise this yr is sold out & waitlisted but the ship only has 2000 people

Yes I agree when you book you pay a higher rate for the cruise & cancellation fees are 100% after you book

 

At least on a full charter everyone is there for the same reason & no one is shut out of the venues ;)

 

To each his own

[Cruisin' Chick]

As others have said, the main concern would be any impact on your ability to enjoy the various venues on the ship and not the type of person in this group, as one poster seemed to focus on.

 

I haven't been on a theme cruise involving entertainment but I would be concerned that my entertainment options would be limited, especially if a main lounge or theater is being used just about every night for this group. The usual shows may not happen then. You already have seen that those booked through this group are getting priority for dining.

 

I have been on cruises with large groups; we all have, but in the best cases, not aware. I haven't had the problem of finding pools or lounges closed to me. The one organized group that I would have preferred not to cruise with was those involved with a "World Tourney of Bingo." I didn't mind the "tourney" was taking up a lounge every day; it was the addictive types who brought a strange vibe to the cruise -- and even some people who were there for the bingo seemed to be embarrassed to be associated with the others. Not kidding about that.

 

Also been on a sailing with a lot of people there for some sort of cardiac equipment thingy...I bet many others didn't even know about this, but those we had met seemed very nice. On another cruise, a large group of French-speakers, including our next door neighbors. Again, I'm sure most people wouldn't have known. There was a channel on the TV that had programming in French on it -- no one in my family knows French, but we did try to watch some of the movies that were dubbed (We had already seen "The Incredibles" so many times, it was fun to watch it this way).

 

I would suggest the OP talk to the friends and look into changing their plans.

[cruisead]

We were on a recent cruise where we knew there was a group of 500 on board. What we didn't know was there was a second group of 650 and a third group of 200. It did negatively impact our cruise as many venues were closed every day or evening for the groups' activities. We noticed that activities for those of us not with any of the groups were severely curtailed as there weren't enough open venues.

[Putterdude]

We have been on several cruises in recent years where large groups had chartered a portion of the ship. There was a country music group one year, the Boston Red Socks fan club another complete with players and media types another year and last year on one of our cruises it was a huge rock and roll charter with oldie groups preforming, dj's, sock hops and alike. In all cases they kept pretty much to themselves, had they private sessions and other than the cowboy hats, bobby socks and saddle shoes, and t-shirts you would not have know they were aboard. Non of the groups impacted our enjoyment of the cruise in the slightest. I wouldn't hesitate to stay with the cruise you have booked.

[R Prim]

Again, thank you so much for all your responses! I have been an office administrator for the past 40 years (just recently retired) thus I tend to take charge. However I am a follower on this cruise and not the leader. For right now we are staying on the Valor in January. I will definitely let you know how it goes. I certainly cannot say I wasn't forewarned.

[LHT28]

xxx

Edited July 18, 2015 by LHT28