Carnival stepping up on Meet & Mingles

[jimbo5544]

Common sense, perhaps?

 

People with early dining are still eating. People with late dining may be getting ready for dinner or at a show.

 

I have only seen one mention of 7pm. The others were at 5:30. I guess my point was, we don't know what the factors are in scheduling this. It does seem to be a feeling out phase of days and times. Give them feedback and see if they adjust.

[jimbo5544]

What day and time. All I keep reading is they are holding them too far into the week around dinner time. Nypac I signed up for one, I wouldn't go either.

 

It's as if they want them to fail, which is the way Carnival works, so they can say they weren't popular so they cancelled them.

 

That makes sense, let's go through the effort of doing these but set them up to fail.:confused:

[mistyinca]

In my experience, if a roll call group doesn't hold something early on in the cruise, no one really makes any more effort to do anything. The only time we had a successful roll call meet up was on my Splendor 2009 cruise. We talked for months prior, met on the first day, did the cabin crawl, had a byo party in one attendee's suite, slot pull, and continued to run into each other throughout the cruise.

 

But timing is key. If you don't meet up with your roll call group early on in the cruise, no one is going to meet up later. So they really need to set them up earlier.

 

Sadly thouh, it sounds like Carnival is putting together a nice event. Continual low turnouts will result in them going away.

 

I feel like cruisers will only show up if they know ahead of time there is a free drink in it for them.

Edited May 10, 2016 by mistyinca

[ryano]

I have only seen one mention of 7pm. The others were at 5:30. I guess my point was, we don't know what the factors are in scheduling this. It does seem to be a feeling out phase of days and times. Give them feedback and see if they adjust.

 

Ours was at 5:30, on the last formal night. While it was a decent turnout, we had lots of "sorry we didnt make it but we had early seating and didnt want to be late for dinner" no shows. Just not a great time for it.

 

On the other hand, Royal seems to be making theirs earlier and ealier on the first sea day. Several reports of 9am or 9:30am. Now who in the world wants to get up that early on their first sea day and rush to meet a bunch of strangers?

 

Im trying not to buy into the conspiracy thing but these times are just well................strange. I could see where people would think they are setting them up to fail.

[Maleeni]

 

Im trying not to buy into the conspiracy thing but these times are just well................strange. I could see where people would think they are setting them up to fail.

 

You don't need an IQ of over 100 to see this. Meet and Greets are not new on Carnival. They've had them for Cruise Critic and Facebook groups for years, just never Cruise Critic sponsored. I imagine Cruise Critic needs the advertising, since melactive membership is at an all time low. It's a last feast at a straw, too late.

 

But Carnival offered to set up a room on every cruise on every ship WAY before Cruise Critic got involved. John Heald would even make sure there was bottles of champagne and ships on sticks to hand out. And it was always at an Agreed time, which I think was first sea day, day 2, early afternoon.

 

 

And now that Cruise Critc is involved, I'm trying to figure out who want them to fail more.

[jimbo5544]

You don't need an IQ of over 100 to see this. Meet and Greets are not new on Carnival. They've had them for Cruise Critic and Facebook groups for years, just never Cruise Critic sponsored. I imagine Cruise Critic needs the advertising, since melactive membership is at an all time low. It's a last feast at a straw, too late.

 

But Carnival offered to set up a room on every cruise on every ship WAY before Cruise Critic got involved. John Heald would even make sure there was bottles of champagne and ships on sticks to hand out. And it was always at an Agreed time, which I think was first sea day, day 2, early afternoon.

 

 

And now that Cruise Critc is involved, I'm trying to figure out who want them to fail more.

 

In 30+ Carnival cruises, I have never seen anything other than a mention in the fun times of a CC sponsored M&G or Carnival sanctioned one.

 

[jimbo5544]

Ours was at 5:30, on the last formal night. While it was a decent turnout, we had lots of "sorry we didnt make it but we had early seating and didnt want to be late for dinner" no shows. Just not a great time for it.

 

On the other hand, Royal seems to be making theirs earlier and ealier on the first sea day. Several reports of 9am or 9:30am. Now who in the world wants to get up that early on their first sea day and rush to meet a bunch of strangers?

 

Im trying not to buy into the conspiracy thing but these times are just well................strange. I could see where people would think they are setting them up to fail.

 

I certainly don't have an answer for the date and times. My guess is that it more tied to a slot that works for them (the staff assigned and venues available). I still see no reason to do these to purposely set them up to fail.

[poobears]

If the point is the meet people to possibly hang out with during the cruise why would you make it mid week or later in the cruise? Wouldn't you make it the first sea day so any new friends would have the cruise to enjoy it together? Isn't that the whole point of a meet and greet? What's the point at all if half the cruise is already over?

[CatgirlNC]

Are people with active Roll Calls (here on the CC forums) still also planning their own unofficial meet-ups in addition to waiting to see when Carnival will schedule one? If I had a really fun Roll Call group, I might want to just go ahead and plan our own on the first sea day to make sure we can do it at a time that is convenient for most people, and early in the cruise, for reasons already listed by others. Then the official Carnival one could be a bonus meet & greet, and maybe even more fun, since many of the attendees would already have gotten a chance to know each other at the first meet-up. And for those who couldn’t make it to the official one (or didn’t see it listed in the Fun Times, or whatever), they wouldn’t have totally missed out on the chance to meet their Roll Call group.

[crusinpsychRN]

We had a huge roll call meet the first day after muster. Had a ship picture taken with so many people. Then they only went to the slot tournament. After that, no one just about. Most missed Carnival's in Fun Times.

 

Chatty Cathy's on line, then no show...

Edited May 10, 2016 by crusinpsychRN

[jimbo5544]

If the point is the meet people to possibly hang out with during the cruise why would you make it mid week or later in the cruise? Wouldn't you make it the first sea day so any new friends would have the cruise to enjoy it together? Isn't that the whole point of a meet and greet? What's the point at all if half the cruise is already over?

 

Not sure, our experience is that it is mainly to put a face to a name. While we have made longer lasting friends from M&G's the vast majority is a one and done (meaning while you may pass somebody during the week), nothing planned or rarely happens with it.

Edited May 10, 2016 by jimbo5544

[almitra]

Our August 14th Dream voyage's M&M has already "made", but it will be interesting to see how many actually show up when it comes down to it. I certainly will post regarding that so we can see if the situation improves a few mos into this new venture. Hoping for the best! :)

[Lace]

If the point is the meet people to possibly hang out with during the cruise why would you make it mid week or later in the cruise? Wouldn't you make it the first sea day so any new friends would have the cruise to enjoy it together? Isn't that the whole point of a meet and greet? What's the point at all if half the cruise is already over?

 

Exactly. There used to be a prearranged Mingle on every cruise. And it was early in the cruise. Just a room with nothing special, other than a few trinkets.

[skiorcruise]

Just off the Glory May 7-14.

 

The Meet and Mingle was announced in the Fun Times, but no special invitation was delivered to our Cabin. The item was the first line in the evening events, not hidden in the schedule. The event was 5-6 pm on the Roatan night (Tues night of a Sat/Sat cruise).

 

The Glory did a wonderful job of setting things up. Ivory Bar, near the aft dining room. Cheese and fruit to munch on, wine and fruit punch to drink. The CD and Entertainment Director both showed up and spent the entire hour talking with the guests. We had a great time. :)

 

Of the 40+ people who signed up, 5 showed up. 4 of these were from my party. Wish I had gotten the name of the other woman who was there so I could thank her. I am very disappointed in my fellow CC'ers. :mad:

 

Dave

[OKC Cruisers]

You don't need an IQ of over 100 to see this. Meet and Greets are not new on Carnival. They've had them for Cruise Critic and Facebook groups for years, just never Cruise Critic sponsored. I imagine Cruise Critic needs the advertising, since melactive membership is at an all time low. It's a last feast at a straw, too late.

 

But Carnival offered to set up a room on every cruise on every ship WAY before Cruise Critic got involved. John Heald would even make sure there was bottles of champagne and ships on sticks to hand out. And it was always at an Agreed time, which I think was first sea day, day 2, early afternoon.

 

 

And now that Cruise Critc is involved, I'm trying to figure out who want them to fail more.

 

As I understand it, Cruise Critic is not involved. The cruise line has just agreed, in conjunction with Cruise Critic to sponsor an "official" Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle. It is the cruise line's staff that sets everything up. The only thing Cruise Critic provides is their name and the forums here to provide the roll calls.

 

We have been attending Royal Caribbean's Cruise Critic Meet & Mingles for years. They have always been held at mid-morning of first sea day. We have been to some that only had about 20 people show up all the way to one where 200+ were in attendance. There is always someone from the Cruise Director's staff in attendance. At some of the bigger ones, the CD themselves and a officer would attend.

Edited May 21, 2016 by OKC Cruisers

[Balto. Guys]

1st sea day at between 10:00 and 2:00 seems like the most logical time to me.

[MistyM]

On the Splendor May 7-15 and never saw it posted although I had received an email right before sailing that it would be held.

[Texasl8dy]

We were on the Freedom 4/30-5/7. Our M & M was held mid week in the Piano Bar at 6:30 PM. It was a very bad time for early diners. They set up a table with coffee, juice and pastries. This would have been SO much better at around 10:00 AM. The CD and ED both attended.

 

 

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