rcl trying to do away with cruise critic meetings

[ssb]

Cruise Critic is not the only game in town now. 

[Ashland]

There usually scheduled too early for us...not worth it anymore.

[SportsFanatic]

6 hours ago, southeastsun said:

currently on the anthem and had our cc meeting. About 70-80 present and we listened to Dennis's rcl promotion. some interaction but no offer

to pass the mike and limited questions. When it came to raffel time, only 2 bundled gifts of hat, pen, and other small items. NO ADULT BEVERAGES, a first 

for us and we were on Athem in Jan and not a problem, oasis in feb not a problem. I was told this is old policy and now being enforced per Miami, no wine 

to be raffeled. What is going on the other ships? Is this a budget excuse? Limit the gifts and limit the people to "0"?

 

 I don’t know what’s going on with Royal, but I was on Norwegian not too long ago and the cc meet and mingle was awesome! We had eggrolls, chicken wings, and they were constantly bringing around little glasses of beer.  It was really nice 

[Iamcruzin]

4 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Once again RCCL provides a venue and provides some little gift for attendees, (at least they used to), free door prizes, maybe some non alcoholic drinks and assigns staff to be there, yet passengers complain. RCCL would do best by not offering anything, then they can’t open themselves up to complaints. 

 

I’ve only been to three M&M and that was several years ago so I don’t have a dog in the fight. 

 

I thought the the intent was for CC folks to meet each other. The fact that RCCL provides door prizes, seems nice. 

 

 

I have to agree. On other lines like Princess and Celebrity someone on the roll call organizes the event. Some of the leaders put a lot of work into organizing events like the slot pull, cabin crawls, meeting for lunch or dinner. I never saw anything offered as a raffle or even snacks on those lines. The bar was open if you wanted to purchase a drink and sometimes Officers would attend. The fact that Royal offers anything is a nice gesture. I stopped attending the CC events and now meet people through FB. There isn’t any sensorship so you can discuss travel agents or tour groups. For those who are afraid of people knowing all their personal information you can just set up a separate account. I don’t even use my name. It’s no different than CC.

[Ralphinsc]

2 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I have to agree. On other lines like Princess and Celebrity someone on the roll call organizes the event. Some of the leaders put a lot of work into organizing events like the slot pull, cabin crawls, meeting for lunch or dinner. I never saw anything offered as a raffle or even snacks on those lines. The bar was open if you wanted to purchase a drink and sometimes Officers would attend. The fact that Royal offers anything is a nice gesture. I stopped attending the CC events and now meet people through FB. There isn’t any sensorship so you can discuss travel agents or tour groups. For those who are afraid of people knowing all their personal information you can just set up a separate account. I don’t even use my name. It’s no different than CC.

 

I remember organizing the Meet and Mingle for my 2008 cruise. It was a lot of fun and rewarding. Another poster mentioned a white elephant exchange and that was just what we did with ours. Had it in a bar onboard and had the bar bursting at the seams with people. That might of been the high water mark for me. Every cruise since then has been almost exclusively informal meet-ups and such. Hoping to actually see a well attended M&M on my Symphony cruise in a few weeks. 

[hotsmiley]

i cant wait for our upcoming M&M on the Harmony.  we have 250 people signed up.  we also have a Facebook group and told people there to sign up for the M&M on here. 

[Iamcruzin]

8 hours ago, Ralphinsc said:

 

I remember organizing the Meet and Mingle for my 2008 cruise. It was a lot of fun and rewarding. Another poster mentioned a white elephant exchange and that was just what we did with ours. Had it in a bar onboard and had the bar bursting at the seams with people. That might of been the high water mark for me. Every cruise since then has been almost exclusively informal meet-ups and such. Hoping to actually see a well attended M&M on my Symphony cruise in a few weeks. 

I still keep up and socialize with friends I met on a Princess cruise in 2009. It was the largest CC group that I attended. There was a gift exchange and several of us arranged excursions together and had dinner together. They started to go down hill after that. That was also the year I signed up with Facebook. My CC roll call is pretty much dead. The FB page isn't that great either but at least there is conversation and people asking questions about the ship and ports.

[alfaeric]

Interesting that people still have enough people for M&M parties.  Ever since the format changeover, the M&M threads that I'm part of have become largely dead.  Heck, the cruise I leave for next week on doesn't even have a thread.

 

I've also been to a few parties where it met the 25 min, and barely 10 showed up.  And RCI did a great job that ended up being mostly wasted food.  

 

Based on the last few parties I went to, it's no surprise at all that RCI would not put a lot of effort into them.  

[bowler15547]

I think this honestly depends on the group person on board, and how much leg work they want to do to gather the prizes. On the November cruise on Anthem they raffled off tons of stuff. Multiple bottles of wine, bingo packages, stuff from the shops, etc. So I think it is the group person dependent, since its their show, so to speak. 

[bradenj21]

17 hours ago, torpeedo said:

Was on the Rhapsody in Feb and most, if not all, never received the invitation to the M&M at all.  I didn't get one and didn't go so no idea if or how it went.  Cruise before in Dec on Oasis also had many not receiving the invitation. 

How do you get on the invite list in the first place? 

[Clarea]

7 minutes ago, bradenj21 said:

How do you get on the invite list in the first place? 

 

This used to work:  https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/ccEntry.do

[bradenj21]

4 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

This used to work:  https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/ccEntry.do

Thank you! 

[cruiserhal]

We were on the sailing before you and they had a number of gifts including wine.   It was a good meeting and enjoyed listening to Dennis.

[sellwingri]

Was just on a 16 day cruise through the Panama Canal on Jewel and 150 registered for the M&M.  They held it in the Vista lounge that seats around 50.  Probably 80 or 90 showed up with many just standing around. The RCI rep showed up late and raffled off 2 bottles of wine and 2 packages of RCI chatzkees.   Very sad!  It was over in less than 10 minutes.

Edited March 19, 2019 by sellwingri

[John&LaLa]

1 minute ago, sellwingri said:

Was just on a 16 day cruise through the Panama Canal on Jewel and 150 registered for the M&M.  They held it in the Vista lounge that seats around 50.  Probably 80 or 90 showed up with many just standing around. The RCI rep showed up late and raffled off 2 bottles of wine and 2 packages of RCI chatzkees.   Very sad!  It was over in less than 10 minutes.

 

All I read is a 60% attendance rate, guess it could have been worse.  Any idea what the typical percent of no shows is?

[packercruising]

Personally, I like the idea of someone on the roll call setting up the time and place. It has been a long time since I have been to one that had meaningful staff input.

[Beachammo]

11 hours ago, hotsmiley said:

i cant wait for our upcoming M&M on the Harmony.  we have 250 people signed up.  we also have a Facebook group and told people there to sign up for the M&M on here. 

 

Does Harmony have a venue that holds 250 passengers?

[Clarea]

10 minutes ago, Beachammo said:

 

Does Harmony have a venue that holds 250 passengers?

 

Not sure, maybe Dazzles? 

[torpeedo]

3 hours ago, bradenj21 said:

How do you get on the invite list in the first place? 

 

When you register for the Meet and Mingle on Cruise Critic you won't know when or where the meeting is.  When you board the ship, In your cabin you will have an invitation to attend the M&M and a name tag and tells you the date, location and time of the meeting

[Beachammo]

26 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Not sure, maybe Dazzles? 

 

Don't remember where we went for the meet/mingle on the Harmony TA. That had to be over 300 passengers.

[Clarea]

2 minutes ago, Beachammo said:

 

Don't remember where we went for the meet/mingle on the Harmony TA. That had to be over 300 passengers.

 

That bar on deck 4 near the comedy club (Blaze?) might hold a couple hundred people.

[Beachammo]

6 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

That bar on deck 4 near the comedy club (Blaze?) might hold a couple hundred people.

 

Leslie said they held it in Dazzles and we stood in the hallway even though we got there 20mins early. I still don't remember.....lol

[ONECRUISER]

5 hours ago, alfaeric said:

Interesting that people still have enough people for M&M parties.  Ever since the format changeover, the M&M threads that I'm part of have become largely dead.  Heck, the cruise I leave for next week on doesn't even have a thread.

 

I've also been to a few parties where it met the 25 min, and barely 10 showed up.  And RCI did a great job that ended up being mostly wasted food.  

 

Based on the last few parties I went to, it's no surprise at all that RCI would not put a lot of effort into them.  

Agree, lot of cruises like that now. Some my sailings only half or less show up anyway. Not like yrs ago..

Edited March 19, 2019 by ONECRUISER

[vettecruiser1]

Just off Allure and the Activities director recently posted a topic on this board about what we would like to see at the gathering.  So he is still listening, he said most people want booze to be served which they do not have a budget for, but all other suggestions are considered.  His name was Flavio and he checks the board every week.

Edited March 19, 2019 by vettecruiser1

[Jasonmom]

Love the M&G.  Go every cruise since I found cruise critic.  Do always appreciate the free gifts they raffle even though I've never won.