Tips for group cruise

[Obsi]

I'm organising a cruise for a social club (RHS), we're doing the Southern Australia 8 day cruise next January.  So far we have 100 ladies coming!  (aged between about 45-90. We have a lady celebrating her 90th on the cruise!!!!!!!!!)

 

Sorry for the long post!

I've been on 2 cruises myself (one private and one as part of the same group), but I've never been the organiser of one before, so I'd like to do it right :)  Especially since I've also been asked to run the next one (To NZ).  Any tips or advice you can give would be appreciated.  Things I might not have thought of?   (I've tried searching the forums for advice, so apologies if there are already threads on this).

 

Some things I'm doing:

 

• Bookings - The ladies contact me with their info, I choose the cabin locations (based on what class they want) to try and group us together as much as possible, and then give that info to my TA who books the cabins in - so I don't have to handle the money, but I get to know what cabins everyone is in (The TA told me they can't give out that info to me for privacy reasons unless I do it the way I am where I choose the cabins and then tell the TA which one to book).

 

• I'll send out a list of cruise tips a few months before we go to help first timers.   Also when we board I'll give everyone a little goody bag that will have a few trinkets and things as well as a little booklet that has our hunt (below), a fun crossword, our itinerary details, important tips, as well as a list of all our room numbers in case anyone wants to contact each other  (The ladies have the option to not be listed in this)

 

• I'm organising a scavenger hunt (mostly taking photos of things and answering questions) for a bit of fun - which lasts the whole cruise and they email me the photos after the cruise.  I figure that way we don't have to try and meet up on the ship to do the judging, easier with that many people to do it afterwards (also then we can use the photos to share online - and I'll make a video montage of them all as a nice reminder of our fun times)

 

• We are set to traditional dining, so we'll have a chance to meet up each night for dinner, but otherwise I figure we'll be free to do whatever during the day (too many people to wrangle!) Although at dinner we can discuss what things we might like to do the next day, and perhaps meet up in smaller groups.  I would like to have an afternoon tea for just us to celebrate the birthday (as it's on a sea day, which is convenient) - I've tried emailing Princess to ask about this, still waiting.  Might have to get the TA to contact them for me.

 

• We also are arranging with others in our social club who live at the 4 port stops to organise a lunch gathering in those ports for the ladies to meet up  with members from those locations - which will be optional, since some may like to do shore tours or stay onboard - and we'd have trouble finding a venue to fit us all in anyway.  Have also asked the TA to look at what tour options would be available and I'll pass that info on.

 

 

One issue I've yet to find a good way to overcome is communication onboard.  That was the big problem we had on the last group cruise, and it made everything difficult.  We had to just pass messages on to whoever we saw and hope it reached everyone, as we didn't even know the cabin numbers or names of everyone  (and it didn't work, our formal night photo was short 6 people because we never found them for the entire cruise!).  So that's why this time I know everyone's cabin numbers!

 

I know there is the princess at sea app, but this has limitations for a group this size (100+ people) as everyone needs to login and get their number, and give that number out to everyone so they can be added - to enable them to message each other.  We can only do that once onboard, and some of the ladies are not tech savvy.  (Some such as myself don't even have a smartphone - and I'm the youngest in the group 😉 )  So I foresee that being a logistical nightmare and won't even bother trying.  We could phone each cabin but that's not very practical.   I tried asking Princess if I could leave a clipboard at passenger services so that we could use that to leave messages for each other (of the "we're meeting at whatever bar at 7pm tonight" variety) - but they said no.  They wanted me to buy a special table space for $25 a day that has to be constantly staffed by someone!, or just kept saying they had the app... even though I explained how that was not suitable in our situation.   

 

I thought about hanging a small magnetic clipboard on my cabin door, but I didn't want to have to have 100 ladies traipsing past my neighbours all cruise (we're not all in the same area of the ship, although I am close to the lifts which helps a bit) - I can't think of anything else that might work though.

[dog]

Meet each day-same time same place.

or

buy internet package-one per cabin.

[SinbadThePorter]

2 hours ago, Obsi said:

One issue I've yet to find a good way to overcome is communication onboard.  That was the big problem we had on the last group cruise, and it made everything difficult.  We had to just pass messages on to whoever we saw and hope it reached everyone, as we didn't even know the cabin numbers or names of everyone  (and it didn't work, our formal night photo was short 6 people because we never found them for the entire cruise!).  So that's why this time I know everyone's cabin numbers!

 

Or a modification of the above idea, designate a group leader who keeps contact with everyone in their group and have the group leaders meet in a specified location every morning. You could even have the group leaders post updates on each of their doors to solve the crowding issue.

 

The first responsibility of command is delegation.

[Grburkart]

Wow! Your task ahead isn’t for the faint of heart but good for you for doing this. 

I have experience planning events and I like to have full control over the planning stage or it becomes like herding cats. Peoples inputs are important but you’re not going to be able to please everyone at the same time. 

I could go on and on about the infinite amount of things you have to do with such a large group. Time will be your best friend. 

Personally, with a group this size, I would drop the TA and deal directly with Princess. 

 

Glenn

[wheezedr]

I have sailed on Princess Cruises in the past where there were large groups on board, both English  and/ or non-English speaking.  On multiple occasions these groups have had easels with information boards set up in a visible but not obstructive part of the atrium.  The leaders could post schedules and information and tours members could swing past to read it.  Sure it was in a public place but meant nothing to the rest of us.  I am not sure whether Princess or the group provided the board and easel.

 

One other thing you might want to ask Princess is with regards to the dining arrangements.  You will obviously have multiple tables to which members of your group are assigned and normally they would stay at the same table throughout the cruise.  However if your ladies are like my friends who travel together they may want to juggle seats different nights and you should inquire if that will be an issue.

[h-sar]

39 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

Or a modification of the above idea, designate a group leader who keeps contact with everyone in their group and have the group leaders meet in a specified location every morning. You could even have the group leaders post updates on each of their doors to solve the crowding issue.

 

The first responsibility of command is delegation.

 

I second this excellent suggestion. Have 5 of you responsible for 20 people each and, as stated above, put a magnetic dry erase board on each of those 5 cabins for messages to the smaller groups.

 

Re: the private tea bday celebration. If you’re unable to have Princess do this, just give them advance notice that you’ll be coming with 99 of your closest friends to the next tea 😁 so they have enough food.  Can’t see why you won’t still be able to hold your celebration...might even be more fun with other passengers enjoying the revelry! I can see them giving you one part of the MDR.

 

OP, you’ve taken on a huge responsibility, but it’s evident that you’re giving this a great deal of thought. Hopefully, you’ll continue to get some good suggestions from others that will ease your burden somewhat. Sounds like a fantastic time coming up!

[Obsi]

I've already gone through a TA.   I asked Princess what deals they could offer a group booking and they only offered the normal online price with no OBC included, whereas the TA offered $35 per person OBC - so I did that to get us a better deal.  Although that worked out to be a slight nightmare as I ended up having to change to a different company for the remaining half my bookings because my first TA (who was a group booking manager) was super slow and made heaps of mistakes ... for example  she once took 21 days to actually book people in, from when I emailed the info until the cabins were actually reserved!  with only a "sorry I was busy" excuse... Several cabins were reserved and then lapsed because she didn't get around to contacting the people for their deposits..... so I had her manager take over... and he was no better -  booked a cabin I'd asked for (adjacent to another of us), but somehow it later changed to an upgrade booking so that cabin became vacant and we only discovered this when he booked more of my ladies into that instead of into the cabin I'd asked him to (why he decided to put them somewhere other than where I'd asked is another matter!)....   ugh!   So I moved companies and now I have my 100 bookings spread over 2 different TA, which mucks up the totals for my free berths, but I wasn't giving any more business to that useless company any more!  and the new guy is very efficient and so far no mistakes!  (he's also local so I can go in if needed)

 

Overall though I've found when I contact Princess myself I either get no reply at all, or mostly unhelpful replies.  The TA has had better success actually getting communication from them.

 

1 hour ago, SinbadThePorter said:

The first responsibility of command is delegation.

 

😄  The only problem is that I have learned that sometimes you can't rely on others do to the things they have promised to do.... 

 

But I do like the idea of having some minions!  Since we're booked into various different places around the ship (as people wanted different cabin types), I can get someone from each section to be the contact point in their section -- which will save people having to wander around the ship to get to my cabin or an info point (if I was able to have one). I'll only need to make sure they put the notices up.  That should work well!!!    Seems so obvious, but not something I'd thought of - Thanks!

I was thinking of having a morning meeting spot as well.  On the previous group cruise that's how we met up (breakfast and dinner) which worked well.  But some may want a buffet breakfast and some may want MDR breakfast - Likewise some may sit with us at traditional dining and some may prefer to eat at a specialty place occasionally, or eat at a different time.  So that's why I wanted a backup plan for communications, as it's unreasonable to expect 100 people to be at the same place to get messages.

 

1 hour ago, wheezedr said:

On multiple occasions these groups have had easels with information boards set up in a visible but not obstructive part of the atrium.

 

That sounds sort of like what they offered, but at a price of $25 per day, which I wouldn't have been happy about but would have done it, if they also hadn't required it to be constantly staffed (and only allowed up during certain hours)  -- clearly something designed for a commercial group or something, not just a social club gathering.  Admittedly when I originally asked Princess myself I was estimating about 40-50 people coming along and they offered no solution (other than the app).  I got my TA to pester them on that again and they told her about the $25 table option as the only option.... But now it's 100 people I might get my new TA to see if he can persuade them to let us do something like that, or give other options.

 

1 hour ago, wheezedr said:

One other thing you might want to ask Princess is with regards to the dining arrangements.  You will obviously have multiple tables to which members of your group are assigned and normally they would stay at the same table throughout the cruise.  However if your ladies are like my friends who travel together they may want to juggle seats different nights and you should inquire if that will be an issue.

 

Good point.  We do generally wear nametags so that might help a bit :)  Although we all wear the same coloured outfit, so that makes us a bit difficult to differentiate. 

 

I also have the added complication that because my booking is actually over 2 TA, I won't get all my tables together (I assume), so we could be at opposite ends of the dining room (which wouldn't be terrible I guess).... and 12 of my ladies booked privately through their own TA (against my express request not to), so aren't on my group booking.  Which is annoying for both the aspect of it not counting towards my total cabins but also because then they won't be allocated seating with us.... So I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to work that out since I can guarantee some ladies who are booked in to dine with us probably won't on some days, and those private-booked ladies would like to dine with us but there might not be room. 

 

Added to that, Last cruise we were given a 5:30pm dining time and some ladies felt that was too early so ate elsewhere.  So when they offered 5:30, 6pm and 7pm, I'd booked in for the 6pm slot this time, but then I got an email to say they are now only offering 5pm and 7pm.  7pm is too late to eat if you want to see the early shows, but 5pm is too early for some people.  So that might dissuade some ladies.  I did ask my TA to ask Princess if there was any chance we could get a 6pm seating anyway since we're a large group, but they said no.   (That was the useless TA, so she may not have even asked for all I know)

 

I thought perhaps simply work on first-in-best-dressed type situation.  Gather in the foyer and as we have enough to fill a table we go in.  (Except we don't want to be in the way).  Because if some ladies don't dine with us we could end up with empty seats that the other ladies could have taken.  

 

So that's in the "too hard basket" at the moment!  Will definitely have to chat with Princess about what to do.

[Aus Traveller]

Any Time Dining would probably work well. As you mentioned, have the group meet outside the restaurant on deck 6 (maybe a bit off to the side near the shop that sells watches. That is outside the Ladies toilet.) When you have enough people for a table, just proceed in. The queue goes from that side of the doorway into the dining room. You could also see the Maitre d' on embarkation day and mention that you have this large group. He may be happy to accommodate you all, or at least many of you, in one area of the dining room.

[caribill]

1 hour ago, Obsi said:

😄

 

I also have the added complication that because my booking is actually over 2 TA, I won't get all my tables together (I assume), so we could be at opposite ends of the dining room (which wouldn't be terrible I guess).... and 12 of my ladies booked privately through their own TA (against my express request not to), so aren't on my group booking.  Which is annoying for both the aspect of it not counting towards my total cabins but also because then they won't be allocated seating with us.... So I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to work that out since I can guarantee some ladies who are booked in to dine with us probably won't on some days, and those private-booked ladies would like to dine with us but there might not be room.     Call the TA that does the good work and ask him to link the reservations he has which will clue in Princess that the group wants to be seated "together." Get the special linking code that Princess gives him. Give that code to the useless TA and ask her to add that to the reservations she has and hope that she follows through. And give that code to those who used their own TAs and ask them to contact their TAs to have the code added to their reservations.

 

I said "together" because you will fill over 25% of the dining room and it is likely that the tables will be scattered around the dining room unless your TA that does the good work can contact Princess and arrange for all the tables with that linked code to be in the same area.

 

Quote

 

Added to that, Last cruise we were given a 5:30pm dining time and some ladies felt that was too early so ate elsewhere.  So when they offered 5:30, 6pm and 7pm, I'd booked in for the 6pm slot this time, but then I got an email to say they are now only offering 5pm and 7pm.  7pm is too late to eat if you want to see the early shows, but 5pm is too early for some people.  So that might dissuade some ladies.  I did ask my TA to ask Princess if there was any chance we could get a 6pm seating anyway since we're a large group, but they said no.   (That was the useless TA, so she may not have even asked for all I know)

 

The only thing you can probably be certain of is that the actual dining times will neither be 5 PM or 7 PM. The times in the Personalizer are basically holding spots for early or late dining and most of the time will be different on the ship.

 

How essential is it that all 100+ people eat at the time time? The group may be happier if those who want  early seating do so and those who want the late seating do so, no matter what times these turn out to be.

 

See comments in red above.

 

You did not ask for advice on selecting a travel agent for a cruise, but if you do this again check with a number of agents to see what pricing they can arrange. I realize that booking terms are different in Australia than in the USA, but in the USA a TA can get a sizable discount for a group of your size and pass on savings much better than the $35/person your TAs are providing.

 

Good luck with the enormous task you have undertaken. It is equivalent to herding cats.

 

[Expat Cruise]

I think your travel agent is taking you for a ride. You should be getting one out of every eight cabins free. 100 Guests is about 50 cabins.  So  lets use a low average cruise fare of $1250 per guest or $125,000 dollars for the group in basic cruise fare. Travel agents earn a commission of 10 to 16% on average, so $12,500 to $20,000 dollars and the agent is offering $35 dollars per guest leaving  $85 to $165 per passenger for the agent? Sorry does not seem right. 

 

Also the fact that the agent said cannot tell you passenger information is also wrong, as long as the passengers  approve it is not a issue. I think you need to look for a much better group agent. 

 

[Obsi]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

See comments in red above.

 

Thank you for the advice about the link code!

 

It isn't essential that we do all eat together, but I think it would be nice to do so, as we will have the daytime separated so catching up at least most evenings would be nice I think.  But if people choose to dine elsewhere or at different times, then that is absolutely fine.

 

1 hour ago, Expat Cruise said:

I think your travel agent is taking you for a ride. You should be getting one out of every eight cabins free. 100 Guests is about 50 cabins.  

 

It's not free cabins, it's 1 free berth for every 16 passengers/8 cabins (not including the port fees, 2 occupants per cabin)   - which is what both TA companies told me, as well as what I've heard is what Princess does.... so I believe that is correct?

We really only have 2 major TA companies here in Aus, so I did only talk to those 2 and Princess...  It's only an 8 day cruise, so they said that they weren't able to offer any great deals on a cruise that short.

 

The $35 OBC pp was what both companies told me was what they could offer as the group amenities points.  Princess said they couldn't offer that.   The first TA did give me other options but I felt that was most useful for everyone (rather than wine and such)

 

I'll be taking 1 free berth for myself (I think I'll deserve it!) then I'll split the remaining money between everyone who was on my booking.   Although because I have 27 booked with TA #1 and 18 booked with TA#2  (as well as 16 people who booked privately), I believe I only qualify for 3 free berths from TA#1 and 2 from TA#2.      So far.  I am hoping I get more bookings in too.

 

1 hour ago, Expat Cruise said:

Also the fact that the agent said cannot tell you passenger information is also wrong, as long as the passengers  approve it is not a issue. I think you need to look for a much better group agent. 

 

Well, they did say that they would have to ask the passenger if they could pass the info on, and could do so if the passenger said yes.  But I figured that was too risky that if the TA somehow forgot or ended up refusing to pass it on, I'd not have the details.  But collecting it myself means I definitely have it.   The last group cruise the organiser didn't realise that the info wouldn't be passed on and only found out just before the cruise.  So then we had no idea who was on the cruise, only how many.... so that was something I swore I'd not make the same mistake on.

 

It has been a massive MASSIVE pain though, since over half of the ladies have printed off the booking sheet and posted it to me (and then about half the ones who emailed, sent me a scan/photo of a handwritten sheet), so I have to decipher the handwriting, which has been problematic...... in many cases.  So I'm trying to work out how best to do it next time to retain the info myself but with less hassle  (I've tried setting up a trybooking page just to get the booking info, but a lot of the ladies don't like to do things that way).  I am going to have a chat to the new TA and see what we can do for next time.  I think I'll end up having people book with him direct and hope I get all the info passed on.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Obsi
clarifying

[Expat Cruise]

9 minutes ago, Obsi said:

 

It's not free cabins, it's 1 free berth for every 16 passengers/8 cabins (not including the port fees, 2 occupants per cabin)   - which is what both TA companies told me, as well as what I've heard is what Princess does.... so I believe that is correct?

We really only have 2 major TA companies here in Aus, so I did only talk to those 2 and Princess...  It's only an 8 day cruise, so they said that they weren't able to offer any great deals on a cruise that short.

 

The $35 OBC pp was what both companies told me was what they could offer as the group amenities points.  Princess said they couldn't offer that.   The first TA did give me other options but I felt that was most useful for everyone (rather than wine and such)

 

I'll be taking 1 free berth for myself (I think I'll deserve it!) then I'll split the remaining money between everyone who was on my booking.   Although because I have 27 booked with TA #1 and 18 booked with TA#2  (as well as 16 people who booked privately), I believe I only qualify for 3 free berths from TA#1 and 2 from TA#2.      So far.  I am hoping I get more bookings in too.

 

 

Well I have  never had any dealings with the Australia booking site. But I knowon the US Site we got 1 cabin free (plus port fees, tips) out of every eight.  Second 8 days is not a short cruise, the industry average is less than 8 days. (7 days median)  The facts are the facts your TA are making a lot of money hear and becasue they can take advantage of you they have. Good luck making this work, it seems you are way over your head here.   Maybe you should step back and  rethink this.  

 

I'm dealing with just setting up Meet & Greets, diners and tours for about 40 people and it is a lot of work. Have you set up spread sheets to track the guests with complete information, do you have a back up plan in place if you cannot make the cruise last minute? If you no show to boarding what happens with the group does someone else have all the information? Have you been in direct contact with the promotions department of princess to see what they can offer you? Are you even aware that they will make closed bars/ clubs available for your group to have Meet & greets?

 

Really not trying to give you a hard time here but if you don't have a very good plan you will not have a good cruise. It is vacation for you not a job. You want to be able to relax and enjoy the cruise.

[Obsi]

Hmm...  well the free berth (not cabin) what I was told by 2 different companies, and I think Princess themselves....  So maybe it's different here in Australia?    The length of the cruise I though affected the number of amenities points allocated (longer cruise, more points?).... But again, both (different) travel companies quoted the same OBC offer, and Princess themselves wouldn't give any at all.... so that was the only difference in what the 3 companies were offering, their cabin pricing was the same and they all offered the same free berth deal....  

Anyway, what's done is done.  It would be nice if I'd got it cheaper or better deals for the ladies, but they seem happy with what they have and maybe I can do better next time.

 

I don't think I am way over my head.... maybe just a little 😉    I've run events for our social club before, just not a cruise - and in many ways a cruise is easier since I don't have to hire a venue (that is cheap, nice and close proximity to public transport and accommodation), hire entertainers and stress about the catering (for all kinds of dietary requirements) and insurance and all that.  Basically we're all booked onto the same cruise - accommodation, catering and entertainment is then taken care of :)  I could just leave it at that, and I believe other organisers have done that in the past.  I just want to make sure that it all runs fairly smoothly, we can communicate well while we're there and have some extra enjoyment of doing some things together as our group.

 

It's also far too late to step back and rethink it.  It's January next year and I have 100 ladies already booked in with their deposits paid.  But I think I'm doing alright in the organising.... I'm sure there are lots of things I've missed, but I have time still.

 

25 minutes ago, Expat Cruise said:

Have you set up spread sheets to track the guests with complete information, do you have a back up plan in place if you cannot make the cruise last minute? If you no show to boarding what happens with the group does someone else have all the information?

  

Ohh yes  :)  I've actually been planning this for well over a year.   I don't even just have to keep info on who is in what cabin (and which TA they booked through).   I also have to keep track of which people belong to which chapter within our social club (and make sure their cabins are close where possible - even if they book months apart) ... we have ladies from 20 different chapters, from both Australia and New Zealand on this cruise. I also need to know who are the leaders of those chapters (if attending).  So believe me, I have everything documented!! 😄  Printed and in a folder on my desk, as well as backed up on 2 different computers and 2 flashdrives, just in case something happens to the computers 😄 I even have the deckplans with everyone's cabins marked!  (both digital and a printed one with pink highligher 😉 )   A copy of the recently updated info is going to be given to my backup person when I see them next week.

 

We had someone in our social club who was planning a big convention, suddenly pass away.  And she'd not left details behind for people to work out what was going on, and it caused chaos (and the event had to be cancelled).  So I'm careful not to let that happen.

 

When we get onboard all the info (including the port meetups) will be sorted out and will have been emailed to everyone long beforehand as well as included in a booklet they get in their goodie bags.  So if something happens to me (God forbid!  I earned this cruise!!!), everyone will have the info to continue on without me.

 

28 minutes ago, Expat Cruise said:

Have you been in direct contact with the promotions department of princess to see what they can offer you? Are you even aware that they will make closed bars/ clubs available for your group to have Meet & greets?

 

That I have not 😞   because as I said, when I've called and emailed Princess over the last year I've not found them particularly helpful.  I'd gone into this thinking that a group of 50 people (that I was originally hoping for) would be considered large enough to attract some sort of extra attention, but so far they really haven't seemed to care at all.  Best I've been told was we could have some sort of meeting room at the terminal to wait in before boarding.

Last cruise they did put on a little celebration in one of the bars for us (and advertised it in the patter), but that was organised when we got on board - so I figured I will try and do that when we get on board if I can't get Princess to arrange anything before then.

 

But as we have almost a year before the cruise, that was the sort of thing I was going to start working on.  I originally tried organising this sort of thing last year but nobody seemed interested in planning so far ahead, so I thought I'd wait a bit then try again.

 

I originally asked bad TA #1 about having a special event onboard (I have something in mind) and she'd come back saying yes Princess had given the OK.  When I asked her to confirm recently she said Princess are now saying I'd have to ask the event manager onboard when we get there if we can do it.  Which is too late!  But I also don't trust TA#1, so I tried emailing Princess myself but no reply.  I'll have to call them.  Maybe now I'm at 100 people we'll get a bit more special treatment?  Not holding my breath though.   Which is fine, we don't need special treatment, but it would be nice :P 

 

So I need to ask to speak to the promotions department?  I think that's the problem, I've just been speaking to whoever picks up the phone and mostly those people don't seem to be in a great hurry to help me on matters more complicated than a normal booking.

[Coral]

The next time - I would have the passengers contact the agent themselves and then report back to you their cabin number. Or have them give the agent the ok to release the cabin numbers to you. Just tell the agent to try to get cabins near each other, though I don't think that is necessarily important. This will save you so much time!

 

Sounds like a nightmare between dealing with 2 agents but I would have switched also. 

 

I would have pre-set times and locations setup before the cruise for quick gatherings.

 

Good luck!

[Gayl4b]

As to Meet & Greet: they are in a different department.... if you tell me which ship you're on, I'll give you there contact info. They can set up your meeting spot for you. They respond within a day with room reserved.  Odd that your TAs don't know that 

Edited February 4, 2019 by Gayl4b

[phabric]

From my Roll Call someone always contacts Princess for a lounge/bar for a Meet and Greet for our Cruise Critic group so they do set up locations for groups.

 

I have been on a Princess cruise where there was a easel set up for I think AAA group with daily events, off to the side by the Vines Bar.

 

Your TA should be able to set things up for you.  They might not talk to you since there are agents involved with the reservations.

[Obsi]

7 hours ago, Coral said:

The next time - I would have the passengers contact the agent themselves and then report back to you their cabin number. Or have them give the agent the ok to release the cabin numbers to you. Just tell the agent to try to get cabins near each other, though I don't think that is necessarily important. This will save you so much time!

 

That would be so much easier but it's a little more complicated than a normal situation because while we're all part of the same social club, there are individual chapters within the club, and not everyone knows each other (some aren't in the same state or country).   So most of the ladies want to have their cabins with others in their chapter to stay close to people they know, but won't necessarily book at the same time (some like to book in ASAP, some need to wait to see if they can come).  So the TA would also need to know which chapters the ladies are coming from, and plan out the cabin positions to keep them together.  Ideally I need to know what chapters the ladies come from for my records, and if the leaders of those chapters are booked in.  So the TA would need to pass that on too, or the ladies would have to contact me to give me info as well as booking in themselves.

 

But I guess ultimately it's something that will impact their experience if the ladies don't let me know their details and I then can't contact them and don't know which chapter they are from.  So I should let them take responsibility for that.  I can check with the agent from time to time to make sure he's given me everyone's details and make him chase up permissions on anyone he hasn't.

On the booking form I gave the ladies the choice to have the cheapest cabin in their chosen class, or a location close to others in the group.  I think all but 1 (of those who booked with me) have chosen to be with others in the group over the cheapest price (although usually I can get them with others for the same price).  So that is something very important to most of us.

 

 

7 hours ago, Gayl4b said:

As to Meet & Greet: they are in a different department.... if you tell me which ship you're on, I'll give you there contact info. They can set up your meeting spot for you. They respond within a day with room reserved.  Odd that your TAs don't know that 

 

Thanks!!    It's the Golden Princess.

It was the bad TA#1 I'd been asking about what sorts of things we might be able to get as a group......  who should have known since she's a group booking manager rather than just your average store based TA....  But she's also fairly useless I have come to discover.  The new TA I have is just a store one (from a small local store), so he doesn't know much about group bookings and I haven't specifically asked him about stuff like that since I assumed TA1 had covered that.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Obsi

[Coral]

3 minutes ago, Obsi said:

 

That would be so much easier but it's a little more complicated than a normal situation because while we're all part of the same social club, there are individual chapters within the club, and not everyone knows each other (some aren't in the same state or country).   So most of the ladies want to have their cabins with others in their chapter to stay close to people they know, but won't necessarily book at the same time (some like to book in ASAP, some need to wait to see if they can come). 

You deserve your free birth 🙂 

[Obsi]

😄  Ohh yeah!

But it has been fun, don't get me wrong! :) 

[Aus Traveller]

It sounds like you are doing a great job. Don't stress too much.

 

If you plan a group cruise in the future, I suggest you don't go with one of the 'big' TAs. I think you would get a better deal, and more personal service, from one of the agencies that specialises in cruises. We can't mention TA's names here, but they all have the word "Cruises" in their name.

 

Did you consider my suggestion of Anytime Dining? I know that's available on the Sea Princess and the Sun Princess, so it's likely it is also available on the Golden.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Aus Traveller

[Gayl4b]

I think Jan James at jjames@Princesscruises.com is the person you're trying to reach to get a private meeting site /  Meet & Greet / maybe even a whiteboard in the plaza during the cruise. Her direct phone number is 661-284-4452. Suggest you ask for Skywalker Lounge 1st sea day at 11am

 

 If it's no longer her then she will simply tell you who the new person is.

 

Edited:  Might be a little bit early to ask for the room but you need to let her know that you've got 100 people booked on this cruise. And that there are certain things are going to need in order to keep in contact with each other. Definitely a meet and greet site. Maybe even the cruise director so that he can put up a whiteboard if she cannot.  I've seen the whiteboard set up for groups of 50 or more. ASK

Edited February 4, 2019 by Gayl4b

[Aus Traveller]

I note that someone suggested you should delegate some of your tasks. I agree with your approach. Delegation sounds good and it can be OK in a work situation where you know the strengths and weaknesses of your staff and they have an obligation to perform, but with a volunteer organisation it would most likely lead to you having to chase people up to see if they had done the job. The end result would be more work and stress for you and ill-feelings from the people you have to chase up or "sack".

 

By the way, I have organised some very large events and I chose to do the lot myself without a committee. Everyone else in that organisation who has done the job, has had a committee. I had a committee of one - me.

[Gayl4b]

Although anytime dining is available it might be simpler to have assigned seating to keep the entire group together. JMHO

[Aus Traveller]

10 minutes ago, Gayl4b said:

Although anytime dining is available it might be simpler to have assigned seating to keep the entire group together. JMHO

I am just concerned that the early time slot for dinner will be earlier than a lot of the ladies want and the later time slot will be too late.

[Obsi]

9 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

It sounds like you are doing a great job. Don't stress too much.

 

If you plan a group cruise in the future, I suggest you don't go with one of the 'big' TAs. I think you would get a better deal, and more personal service, from one of the agencies that specialises in cruises. We can't mention TA's names here, but they all have the word "Cruises" in their name.

 

Did you consider my suggestion of Anytime Dining? I know that's available on the Sea Princess and the Sun Princess, so it's likely it is also available on the Golden.

 

Thanks 😄   I agree with delegating...  I both agree that you should delegate, but that doing so can be more work in the end.   Unfortunately almost every experience I've had with trying to rely on someone to do something for me, has ended up with them dropping the ball and I then have to fix it - with more stress than if I'd just done it myself from the start.  It's not that I want it done perfectly or want control, it's just that too many people have let me down in the past so I am very hesitant to leave too much up to other people.

 

I wasn't sure whether to trust companies that weren't well known ones,  because I'd hate to go through one and have them collapse and then everyone has lost out. But for the next cruise (which will be to NZ) I'll do a bit more research into different agencies.  

 

I definitely am considering the anytime dining - that would suit us better since we can then arrange to dine at 6pm which is what I think would be best, rather than being stuck at either 5pm or 7pm.  I'm fairly sure my useless TA told me we couldn't do anytime for a large group, but that was probably incorrect :P   So I'll have to find out if we can. 

 

The only disadvantage is that last group cruise we had such a fantastic waiter because he got to know us and he was a bit more fun with us, which made dinner more enjoyable.  So anytime dining I assume we'd not be guaranteed to have the same staff.  But if we were at the same tables each night at the same time, would we end up with the same staff?

 

12 minutes ago, Gayl4b said:

I think Jan James at jjames@Princesscruises.com is the person you're trying to reach to get a private meeting site /  Meet & Greet / maybe even a whiteboard in the plaza during the cruise. Her direct phone number is 661-284-4452. Suggest you ask for Skywalker Lounge 1st sea day at 11am

 

 If it's no longer her then she will simply tell you who the new person is.

 

Hmm, I was given that email address last year when I called Princess... and I emailed her back in May and got no response at all.  I didn't bother to follow up then because I had plenty of time.  But I'll try again (and keep trying :P)

Skywalkers sounds good, I'd not thought to use there.  Nice and quiet/private during the day and would fit us all in (where we can sit and relax).  Thanks!