Cruise to Alaska on the Radiance. The Meet and Mingle Needs Work

[wackywanderers]

Nice cruise June 2nd to 9th, 2017. Great ship. RCI did their part. We all met in the Starquest lounge. RCI provided food and non alcoholic drinks. However no one got up and mingled. I myself got up and tried to mingle but no one seemed very interested. I have sailed with other cruise lines

using Cruise Critic where there was no coordination. This seemed to work better as everyone met somewhere but had no where to sit and therefore were more or less forced to mingle. My wife and I got to meet several couples this way.

I really think with a bit of tweaking this can work well. Now that most cruise lines have gotten away

from formal dinners where else can you get to meet anyone?

[Biker19]

You can't force mingling.

[DHADEN]

Nice cruise June 2nd to 9th, 2017. Great ship. RCI did their part. We all met in the Starquest lounge. RCI provided food and non alcoholic drinks. However no one got up and mingled. I myself got up and tried to mingle but no one seemed very interested. I have sailed with other cruise lines using Cruise Critic where there was no coordination. This seemed to work better as everyone met somewhere but had no where to sit and therefore were more or less forced to mingle. My wife and I got to meet several couples this way.

I really think with a bit of tweaking this can work well. Now that most cruise lines have gotten away from formal dinners where else can you get to meet anyone?

 

Your Meet & Mingle can vary GREATLY depending on what type of group is in your Rollcall. I can usually tell by the activity in the Rollcall before the cruise whether the participants will be very friendly once on board. Did you have much activity? Did your Rollcall group plan excursions together? Did you plan activities on board as a group (Slot Pull, Cabin Crawl, Pub Crawl, Poker Run, etc.)? Did anyone discuss everyone in the Rollcall meeting on embarkation day for a drink before sail-away?

 

Usually, if you get those kinds of plans then you have friendly people who want to meet and make friends on board.

 

Hope This Helps.

[reallyitsmema]

Nice cruise June 2nd to 9th, 2017. Great ship. RCI did their part. We all met in the Starquest lounge. RCI provided food and non alcoholic drinks. However no one got up and mingled. I myself got up and tried to mingle but no one seemed very interested. I have sailed with other cruise lines

using Cruise Critic where there was no coordination. This seemed to work better as everyone met somewhere but had no where to sit and therefore were more or less forced to mingle. My wife and I got to meet several couples this way.

I really think with a bit of tweaking this can work well. Now that most cruise lines have gotten away

from formal dinners where else can you get to meet anyone?

 

You really never know how a meet and mingle will go, sometimes people are chatty and other times they just stay in their groups. I have found if a rollcall is dominated by someone who has to out post everyone and takes ownership of the rollcall, the meet and mingle becomes all about them. It does make it easier to identify and ignore that type though. Our last few rollcalls have been quiet but we have met a few nice couples who we end up running into all week long.

 

If you are looking to meet others, strike up a conversation with someone in one of the lounges or at trivia. We offered to share a table on day 1 in Park Cafe with an older couple and we ended up seeing them at least once a day the whole week. They were on their first cruise, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. I can only hope I have the energy to do everything they did when I am that age.