Tips for group cruise

[blazerjan]

Wow.... that's going to be a challenge.   Nineteen of us took a cruise last October and because we were in New England/Canada most of us had cell service and were able to create a group text before we even boarded and communicated that way.     Maybe you  could preplan a few  gatherings and let everyone know before the cruise, then  use that time to announce any other items that come up.     Or create a calling tree where you call five cabins and they each call 5 cabins... and so on.    The phones on the ship have voice mail.      Just a few suggestions.  Hope you have a wonderful time!!

[Obsi]

Yes I'd like to pre-plan as much as possible to make it easier.

 

The other thing Jan told me in the email was to do with the easel/noticeboards people have mentioned.  She said:

"Please be advised that we do not have noticeboards, the group will have to schedule/arrange for a Hospitality Desk and provide us with exact date and exact times they will need it.  The desk must be manned at all times or it will be taken down.  The group leader or someone from the group will be seated at The Hospitality Desk as an information station for their group.  There is a daily charge for this desk.  If they wish to have this arranged please let us know the dates and times and who will be charged for it. "

 

The TA#1 had told me that before and that the cost was $25 per day for that.  So in Australia they don't seem to allow any free option.  Which is a shame (surely the issue of communication in groups comes up all the time) But that's ok - we'll use our cabin doors instead.

The problem with a calling tree is that if someone forgets to call their 5 people, then that creates a branch that doesn't get notified - it also relies on everyone checking their cabin phone to see if they have any messages.  I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I've found that when dealing with groups of people, you have to expect that sometimes you'll have some people who are less reliable than you'd like.  I don't want that spoiling anyone's trip.

If we can have the situation where 2-3 people have a small notepad on their doors, and it's the responsibility of people located in those areas to check that door for messages - then it's only 3 people who have to do their job keeping people updated, and if people don't check and miss out on info, then that's their fault.  So less likely (I hope) for there to be a break in the chain.

If only their princess@sea messenger had a group mode - (a bit like whatsapp or a group message on fb).  Where a group booking could be assigned a group ID code, and everyone in the group could put that code in and get access to the group chat.  Rather than it being just a one-on-one thing requiring everyone to have shared their ID with everyone else to be able to receive messages.  Still some of my ladies won't be up to using that, but it would at least mean anyone who is could use that and we'd only have to fill in those who aren't connected to that.