Which areas will be blocked due to groups on board?

[MouseBerry]

Hi,

in our upcoming cruise on Koningsdam starting 12 June there will be a Quilting Group on board. While DW is a big quilting fan we are wondering which usually public areas might be blocked. Any experience on that topic? I guess it depends on the size of the group. And of course I have no idea how big this group will be. But as quilting cruises happen quite often I guess the topic is popular in particular for US people.

 

cheers

MBerry

[School library lady]

There was a quilting group on our cruise to Hawaii last November on the Eurodam. They were set up in two-three rooms on the same deck as the shops. If I hadn’t been walking by I would never have known they were on the ship.

[CruiserBruce]

Unlikely you will be impacted at all. Typically these are very small groups. Don't over think this.

[Cruise4food]

7 minutes ago, School library lady said:

There was a quilting group on our cruise to Hawaii last November on the Eurodam. They were set up in two-three rooms on the same deck as the shops. If I hadn’t been walking by I would never have known they were on the ship.

Same for a quilting group on a 14 day Alaska cruise. They had a permanent presence in one meeting room near Explorations Cafe/ Library. A couple of times they hosted an open-house for other passengers to visit.

 

I have seen portions of the Crow's Nest reserved for a group (not quilting), and on rare occasions, the entire Nest.

 

Edited May 26, 2019 by Cruise4food
clarify other groups.

[Daisyloo]

On one cruise we were on, most nights a large section of the Crow's Nest was taken over by a group.  Not quilters, they were HAL big-wigs.   

[Himself]

I know that when National Review has a group they take up the Second sitting in the Main Dining room.  The also use the big theatre for daytime talks for their members..  On one cruse  I was on, there was an IRISH group that did their concerts in the Queens Lounge and bouncers at the door to keep those not part of the group from crashing.  Other small groups one does not even notice.

[Sharon in AZ]

A large bridge group was on one of our cruises and our experience was similar to School Library Lady's experience.  We knew they were there but it wasn't enough to interfere with anything we did.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have been on ships with quilting groups -- small of them.  Assigned to one of the small conference rooms.  They did not disrupt any other passengers or viewing areas like the Crow's Nest.

[Moriah]

KDam is a big ship, group will likely be quite small and there is a chance that if you didn't know in advance they would be  on board, you could go your entire cruise without knowing.  Enjoy your cruise!

Edited May 26, 2019 by Moriah

[MouseBerry]

Thanks for the consistent information.

Actually we were not very much concerned.

It´s just management of expectations.

 

cheers

MBerry

[kevingastreich]

The only reason we knew was because we saw people knitting all the time in every conceivable place you can imagine. EVERY!  Thankfully it is a very innocuous and unassuming hobby.

[TAD2005]

On a November 2016 cruise on the Oosterdam, we had a political group, The Nation Magazine.   This was after the November 2016 presidential election, so there were not too many happy faces.   But they did take over the upper level of the MDR and many members wore their magazine provided t-shirts to dinner, even on Gala nights.   These were not the classier Polo-style shirts with collars, just plain, $10 t-shirts.   The MDR supervisor chose to do nothing.  There was even an occasional person marching through the Lido deck with big, home made signs with a political message.   Not exactly what I wanted to see on a cruise.  

[Karen13]

We were on an Alaska cruise three years ago when there was a large religious group who took over the whole MDR for the early sitting, meaning no other passengers were able to eat then, as they objected to sitting in the same room as other guests drinking alcohol.

On one occasion we were in the lift between evening venues carrying our drinks, and one woman even turned her back on me and faced the wall rather then look at me carrying a glass of wine. 

My husband and I paid to dine at Tamarind three times so we could eat at a convenient time for us as a result. We complained to HAL on our return home and got £500 future cruise credit as compensation for our inconvenience, as we had not been informed of this prior to our booking.