QM2 post-refit TA log

[pepperrn]

Pepperrn, how do they know who you are on the FB in terms of linking your name here to your name on Facebook?

Well they wouldn't , but maybe those who request to join these fb groups don't provide a suitable mug shot as part of their Avatar or the admin team who monitor them are not really convinced that the request is genuine.

Hi Jacqueline and Bell Boy, great to read your posts :) ,

 

When I've applied to join facebook pages the admins have looked at other groups I belong to, and other "liked" sites I have shown interest in (etc). Names, avatar photos are irrelevant (both can be faked).

After establishing that I am a "real" person, they approved my membership. This has happened many times. The longest this process has taken is approx an hour (not 12).

 

And none of this did I go through to join the vastly superior CruiseCritic...

 

Happy sailings to you both :)

Edited July 16, 2016 by pepperrn

[BlueRiband]

Pepperrn, how do they know who you are on the FB in terms of linking your name here to your name on Facebook?

 

If pepperrn needs to link FB with his screen name here then they are expecting him to prove that he is "worthy" of membership. Having a love for sailing QM2 won't cut it with them. :( That's their prerogative - and loss. Just another example on why CC community standards don't allow promotion of these private social media groups here.

Edited July 17, 2016 by BlueRiband

[Solent Richard]

Definitely, glad you are sticking with us !

 

Good morning Hostess.

 

May I be allowed the opportunity to put the record straight regarding what appears to be a slight digression.

 

I originally responded to a comment, well it actually came across as a moan, regarding numbers attending an onboard 'meet' that appeared to have been not so popular as an alternative Facebook group gathering.

 

As is often usual there then follows a degree of digression and secretly I'm more than happy to see various views aired. Wouldn't life be dull if we all had the same views?

 

There was however no intention whatsoever to either entice or encourage any members to jump ship. I offered an answer that obviously didn't meet with universal approval.

 

My personal view is that both are well capable of working in perfect harmony. It's just that the fb group members feel they can be a little more 'free' with the dissemination of personal details, sailing programmes and personal photographs.

 

What is also of more interest to me is the diversity of cruise lines on Cruise Critic: a quick check of my profile will reveal that I contribute to a broad spectrum of cruise lines, both river and ocean. That divergence in particular is the in depth strength of this board.

[Solent Richard]

Hi BlueRiband,

 

How interesting you should say this... I found out today that I am one of the ones who "isn't wanted" on one of the much-hyped Cunard facebook groups (it claims to be "popular"... it has 202 members... )

 

When I joined CruiseCritic ten years ago it took seconds.

I tried to join a "popular" Cunard facebook group early this morning; I am still waiting (8.15pm) to be admitted by either of the two admins.

 

Clearly I am being sent a message; "we don't want to offend by actually rejecting you, but if we wait long enough, you'll go away". So I will.

 

So, given my experience today, I'll stick with friendly, experienced, knowledgeable, fun and open (and actually popular) CruiseCritic.

 

Best wishes to you :)

 

Good morning Pepperrn.

 

Just to clear the air, it obviously wasn't either of the groups that either I and other CC members administer.

 

One doesn't have that many members while the other has 1,395 members as of this morning.

 

While I cannot speak for other group administrators I personally don't live on the internet and certainly don't spend my weekends as a social secretary.

 

Have a nice day, the sun is shining on the Solent.

[Jacqueline]

Honestly, Pepperrn. Anyone can set up a Facebook account with any picture and name and country for that matter. You can even switch gender !

I wouldnt take anything to heart. It's easier to bounce people off.

[RogerP2]

 

There was however no intention whatsoever to either entice or encourage any members to jump ship.

 

Of course not - imagine the splash that would make :)

[moinmoin]

Heard the bell is now located in the bulkhead in the Lookout?!? if so hopefully temporarily only.

[pepperrn]

Heard the bell is now located in the bulkhead in the Lookout?!? if so hopefully temporarily only.

Hi moinmoin,

 

You'll be pleased to know that the "Lookout Bell" is a different bell that has been there from 2004. The bell that was in the Grand Lobby has still to find a new home (it is said to be in the Purser's Office).

 

Best wishes,

[moinmoin]

Hi moinmoin,

 

You'll be pleased to know that the "Lookout Bell" is a different bell that has been there from 2004. The bell that was in the Grand Lobby has still to find a new home (it is said to be in the Purser's Office).

 

Best wishes,

Thanks, Pepperrn! Very pleased and was already wondering how she should fit in there....

[pepperrn]

Thanks, Pepperrn! Very pleased and was already wondering how she should fit in there....

Dr Stephen Payne has written;

"On the centreline of the Lookout, a small display case is inset into the deckhouse bulkhead and was originallly intended that a set of British Mint coins from 2004, commemorating the year the ship entered service, would be displayed ... Unfortunately, the specially commisioned coin display was lost in transit to the ship and was never replaced. One of the ship's bells is now exhibited in the recess"

("Queen Mary 2, the first ten years", Dr Stephen Payne, Haynes 2014)

Edited July 18, 2016 by pepperrn

[sfbearcat]

The bell should be returned to the exact spot where it was ..the space that was between the 2 scenic lifts. Plenty of room now and would be fine there. I am guessing this space is now reserved for the sales tables and those evening formal pictures !

[pepperrn]

The bell should be returned to the exact spot where it was ..the space that was between the 2 scenic lifts. Plenty of room now and would be fine there. I am guessing this space is now reserved for the sales tables and those evening formal pictures !

I agree, return it.

 

However, I can hear shoreside "The ship's bell... or the tables of tat... such a difficult choice..." :rolleyes:

Edited July 18, 2016 by pepperrn

[3rdGenCunarder]

The bell should be returned to the exact spot where it was ..the space that was between the 2 scenic lifts. Plenty of room now and would be fine there. I am guessing this space is now reserved for the sales tables and those evening formal pictures !

 

But formal pictures by the bell could be nice! And don't they have enough space in front of the ship for the tat tables????

[Solent Richard]

Of course not - imagine the splash that would make :)

 

LOL.

 

I'm well used to creating a splash as this excellent piece of cooperation between Cruise Critic and a Facebook group proved...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2365904

[Solent Richard]

But formal pictures by the bell could be nice! And don't they have enough space in front of the ship for the tat tables????

 

Oh I expect some young entrepreneurial member of the photographic team will hit on an idea soon.

[maggiemou]

Sorry to be off topic but picking up on a few comment on meet & greets.

I have arranged lots of these for members of Cruise Critic. My last big ones were on the 2014 world cruise on QE where I held six meetings for different segments. Over 250 attended.

Arranging a M&G takes time and effort. No point in saying see you at 2-0pm in the Commodore Club . Wrong time for a start. 2-0pm is when lectures, recitals, films take place.

Best time IMO is 12-00 noon . Arrive 12-0 noon after morning activities and before lunch is a perfect time. Arrive sit down listen to Captains midday broadcast and start at 12-15. Finish after 45 mins or latest 13-30 in time for last orders for lunch in the MDR.

It takes time and effort to get a meeting set up. I always inform Cunard we will be doing this and arrange for refreshments or just ask for a staff member to pop in and say hello often the Captian will come after his speech. Commodore Rynd came on my QM2 meetings.

I make sure there is a notice in the daily programme to say it is happening and post some directions into the Commodore. Staff will clear the area for you if you ask. On the last world cruise, I made name tags using the CC template that you can download from this site. I printed them all off in advance and made a clip for them.

I always dress up as Maggie Captain of the CC meeting and I make a welcome speech to break the ice. I make it fun as I am a fun person. Afterwards, people mingle and chat. They leave when they want to do so.

 

Last November on QE I could not get enough people from the roll call on here so I posted it up on two Cunard Face Book forums that I am a member of. I got lots more people so arranged a meet & greet for "forums" rather than a CC meeting . It went into the daily programme as A Forum Members meet & greet.

Around 50 plus arrived and we had tea coffee biscuits laid on which I had arranged. Everyone chatting after I had introduced a few people by name from three different forums.

There is room for both Face Book and Cruise Critic as both have a different take on things. FB is more fun and banter. CC is more serious stuff. I use both and enjoy both.

So next time why not combine social media meetings and CC meeting together as I proved it can work.

Dressed as Maggie Captain of Cruise Critic meet & greet.Wearing my I love Cruise Critic badge. :)

Chatting with forum members face obliterated to spare the person :)

[Bell Boy]

Spot on ! down to earth, and always to the point as usual Maggiemou ;)

[Salacia]

Apologies to the OP for continuing this off topic discussion regarding Meet and Greets, but I thought this guideline from Cruise Critic might be of interest, and a specific response to Maggiemou's guestion "...So next time why not combine social media meetings and CC meeting together as I proved it can work..." (copied from post #191)

 

"Cruise Critic's Policy Re: Facebook Roll Call Groups

Cruise Critic loves Facebook. in fact, we maintain FB pages for all of our sites (Cruise Critic, CruiseCritic.co.uk, our Australia site, etc.). We have many people who participate on both our FB page and our message boards. We have no issues with people linking their own, personal FB pages in their profiles, or on your signature on Cruise Critic forums. You understand that doing so allows our members to know your "real life" name.

 

ROLL CALLS created on FB are not anonymous. Most of them are open to the public. Even if they are private groups, once you are accepted into the group everyone will know your real name. In doing so you have pretty much told all those people -- strangers -- when you will be away on vacation. The fact of the matter is most people do not understand how much personal information they are sharing.

 

On Cruise Critic roll calls, everyone is anonymous. You have the ability to remain as anonymous as you'd like throughout the entire Roll Call timeframe and throughout your entire cruise if you so desire. You can be JoeCruise101 until the day you disembark. The choice is yours, you share as much or as little as YOU choose to; everyone starts out on a level playing field on Cruise Critic. Anonymous user names only.

 

Also, FB Roll Calls have already proven to divide Roll Calls. People, for whatever reason, who cannot seem to get along may open a FB group and then want more people to participate, so they harvest members from the original ROLL CALL. There have been actual disruptions encouraged on FB directed towards our ROLL CALLs.

 

We believe a ROLL CALL created on Cruise Critic should stay here. We've worked long and hard to create this community, and have provided a certain level of trust and privacy for our members. If they choose to participate in a FB Roll Call, they'll have to learn about it somewhere other than Cruise Critic.

 

We request that you not solicit people to your Facebook page on any of our ROLL CALLS." copied from http://boards.cruisecritic.com/faq.php?faq=rollcalls#faq_fb

 

Salacia

[Host Hattie]

Thank you for pointing out the guidelines on roll calls and Facebook groups, it isn't usually much of a problem on Cunard roll calls fortunately.

My understanding is what Maggie suggests is not soliciting people from the roll call to a Facebook group but just arranging events from separate virtual locations which may coincide on the ship.

 

I have checked the roll call for this crossing, were any arrangements made ? I saw a few suggestions but nothing concrete.

Edited July 20, 2016 by Host Hattie

[Salacia]

Thank you for pointing out the guidelines on roll calls and Facebook groups, it isn't usually much of a problem on Cunard roll calls fortunately.

My understanding is what Maggie suggests is not soliciting people from the roll call to a Facebook group but just arranging events from separate virtual locations which may coincide on the ship.

 

I have checked the roll call for this crossing, were any arrangements made ? I saw a few suggestions but nothing concrete.

 

Maggiemou is suggesting combining "social media meetings and CC meetings together". My understanding is that Cruise Critic "meet & mingle" parties are for Cruise Critic members. But if I'm understanding correctly, it's fine for others from various social media groups to be included as well, which as Maggiemou said "worked" for her. Actually, Maggie wrote that it was listed in the Daily Programme as "a meet & greet for "forums" rather than a CC meeting".

 

For those who've attended Cruise Critic Meet & Greets as they have evolved over the years on Cunard, what has been suggested is a sea change. I have no idea if they will catch on or not, but if they do, that will be the end of Cruise Critic Meet & Greets, replaced by "A Meet & Greet for Forums" (or, in the interest of grammatical correctness, "A Meet & Greet for Fora"):)

 

Salacia

Edited July 20, 2016 by Salacia

[Host Hattie]

Cunard does not have formal Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle parties in the same way as other lines - e.g you register online via Cruise Critic and the cruise line does all the work.

There are details and a list of participating cruise lines here.

 

The Cunard meetings have always been passenger organised and as such roll call members are free to make their own arrangements and bring along whoever they like.

[Solent Richard]

Oh I expect some young entrepreneurial member of the photographic team will hit on an idea soon.

 

How amazing is that?

 

I picked up this morning from a fanzine member on the current crossing that the bell was brought out for photographs on a formal evening.

 

The cynic in me will of course think that there is a certain reasoning in this as the bell is certainly an iconic symbol.

[pepperrn]

I'm certain that maggiemou's meet and greets are fantastic; well organised, well attended, superbly planned, great fun and very memorable.

Sadly, I've not yet had the honour and pleasure of meeting maggiemou. But I certainly hope that I'll meet this gracious lady one day (and soon!).

 

I do sincerely believe that there is room on the ship (and days in the voyage!) for BOTH CruiseCritic and Facebook groups to hold their own M&G, esp if facebook groups seem to favour a different time-slot to the traditional "2pm in the Commodore Club first day at sea".

Or if enough people are members of both types of internet groups, a joint get-together; sounds like fun :) .

 

My "gripe" wasn't aimed at Facebook groups; I belong to several. My issue was about my contrasting experience... between joining the huge, countless thousands-of-members CruiseCritic, and one of the "leading" (but still small) facebook Cunard groups.

 

The former was quick and easy, the latter wasn't achieved after waiting twelve hours to be admitted (I gave up waiting; I could still be waiting now for all I know. Other truly popular facebook groups admit new members in minutes).

That indicates to me that this "popular" facebook group is not regularly monitored. If the owners/moderators/adminstrators of the group (in this case two of them) are ignoring their own site, you can almost guarantee the members are asleep as well.

How many times have I joined internet sites or chat rooms, only to discover the place is actually dead...

 

On many facebook groups (and some internet chat rooms) maybe only 5% of members actually regularly post anything. The remaining 95% are silent. So, on this particular "popular" facebook group, with 202 members... it'll be the same dozen people chatting to themselves... over and over.

 

That's why I will continue to favour CruiseCritic, with so many experienced members, that 5% is actually a vast pool of information, with huge numbers of regular posters. Fantastic :)

 

Again, let me state, I was talking about my experience trying to join a certain "popular" FB group, not FB meet and greets, however, or by whomever, they are organised.

 

I'm willing to bet that maggiemou's are quite the best :) .

 

Happy sailings to all.

[pepperrn]

Cunard does not have formal Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle parties in the same way as other lines - e.g you register online via Cruise Critic and the cruise line does all the work. ...

The Cunard meetings have always been passenger organised and as such roll call members are free to make their own arrangements and bring along whoever they like.

And long may that difference continue :) .

 

My experinces when Cunard get involved in selecting a venue for a "M&G" are not good (they'd hold it within the double bottom of the hull if they could). I've been in dentist's waiting rooms with a more welcoming atmosphere than some of meeting rooms in ConneXions...

(One I attended, some years ago, that a fellow passenger had asked the Purser's Desk to organise, a guy knocked on the door, entered and after looking at the three of us waiting, paused... and then said "I'm here to view the body" :( )

 

Far better Cunard passengers organise things themselves, IMHO :) .

Edited July 21, 2016 by pepperrn

[Janix]

I'm certain that maggiemou's meet and greets are fantastic; well organised, well attended, superbly planned, great fun and very memorable.

Sadly, I've not yet had the honour and pleasure of meeting maggiemou. But I certainly hope that I'll meet this gracious lady one day (and soon!).

 

I'm willing to bet that maggiemou's are quite the best :) .

 

They certainly are, well organised and fun ! We have been with Maggie on 3 World Cruises and she certainly knows how to involve people in the Meet & Greets. She also did not arrange only one, there was usually one per sector so newcomers could join in as well, and as everyone knows its great to put names to faces !

 

One of the major plus points was that none were too big, small select groups which allowed people to chat and mingle, and then recognise each other further down the cruise. I once attended a M&G on a Celebrity ship where there were hundreds attending, all spread around a too large room, so you never really got to meet anyone except the person you sat next to? After a small introduction everyone got up and left, never to be seen again :confused:

 

I do sincerely believe that there is room on the ship (and days in the voyage!) for BOTH CruiseCritic and Facebook groups to hold their own M&G, esp if facebook groups seem to favour a different time-slot to the traditional "2pm in the Commodore Club first day at sea".

Or if enough people are members of both types of internet groups, a joint get-together; sounds like fun :) .

 

A joint get together certainly worked on the 2015 World Cruise and boosted the numbers attending, although in total there may have been not more than around 20-25 attendees. One of the problems as I see it, is the fact that when the M&G is posted in the ships newspaper as a Cruise CRITIC get together, people imagine that it is a meeting for the disenchanted who wish to criticise everything.

 

We have had, in the past, people pop in to see what we are all moaning about, and are quite surprised when we say the meeting is not in fact a moaning session and that we are not a bunch of troublemakers. So then the next question always is - why call it a Cruise Critic meeting then ?

 

Would it not be better to list it as a Cruise Forums Get-Together or something similar ? I'm sure someone can up with a catchy name ?

 

We have made many long lasting friendships from these meetings and find them very useful. Keep up the good work Maggie.

 

John & Andrea

Edited July 21, 2016 by Janix