Azamara Meet and Greet

[luv2travel90266]

I recall on Celebrity getting an printed invitation which might have been on the bed or outside the door but got our attention. We had a very successful meet and greet with perhaps 2-3 dozen attending. One couple we met on that cruise has travelled with us since and lives an hour away, has become a regular golf partner and we were invited to their daughter's wedding. Lots of new friendships develop in meet and greets!!

[takemewithyou]

1 hour ago, luv2travel90266 said:

I recall on Celebrity getting an printed invitation which might have been on the bed or outside the door but got our attention. We had a very successful meet and greet with perhaps 2-3 dozen attending. One couple we met on that cruise has travelled with us since and lives an hour away, has become a regular golf partner and we were invited to their daughter's wedding. Lots of new friendships develop in meet and greets!!

I think it helps when someone on the roll call takes responsibility to gather the names and update the roll call regularly!  Also I try to post the link to sign up on Azamara for meet and greet and regular.y remind people to check the daily program and expect that the gathering may be the day of embarkation.

[Baynanno1]

In days gone by there was always an invitation on the bed on arrival, albeit in among all the other papers.

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, Baynanno1 said:

In days gone by there was always an invitation on the bed on arrival, albeit in among all the other papers.

And people claimed they missed the party because they hadn't noticed it.  

[Mackdogmolly]

7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

And people claimed they missed the party because they hadn't noticed it.  

Pretty sure the invitations are a thing of the past

[tyler6597]

In the past before Covid the Meet and Mingle has usually been the first full days at sea in the morning before noon. I'm sure the lack of sailing during Covid has screwed up a lot of things but it's time to get back to normal and have a great time. There seems to be a lot of angry people in general and I just wish it would stop.

Tyler

[uktog]

20 minutes ago, tyler6597 said:

In the past before Covid the Meet and Mingle has usually been the first full days at sea in the morning before noon. I'm sure the lack of sailing during Covid has screwed up a lot of things but it's time to get back to normal and have a great time. There seems to be a lot of angry people in general and I just wish it would stop.

Tyler

I think Azamara's problem is being itinerary intensive, the first full day at sea could even be the last day -, as was the case on our recent cruises.  But I agree sea day morning is better and even when Day 2 is a sea day Azamara still tend to set the get together at the same time as sail away or just after which is no good.

[Riocca]

15 minutes ago, uktog said:

I think Azamara's problem is being itinerary intensive, the first full day at sea could even be the last day -, as was the case on our recent cruises.  But I agree sea day morning is better and even when Day 2 is a sea day Azamara still tend to set the get together at the same time as sail away or just after which is no good.

This has always been a problem with most of our Azamara cruises that the get together has clashed with sail away, some ports it’s not a problem other than it’s better to be on deck that in a dark venue often the Show-lounge.
We board Onward on Saturday only a short cruise but no sea days, next March on a 10 day cruise there’s only one sea day on day 5 and October another 10 day cruise with no sea days.

On Quest in August it was scheduled an hour before sail away, with the latest version of safety drills maybe that’s the answer, although again many, including the ship, weren’t ready for it.

[Mackdogmolly]

Yes, there probably is never going to be a perfect option. On the pool deck at sail away might be a nice compromise, unless the weather was horrible.

[Riocca]

Wasn’t until we came over to Celebrity / Azamara in 2010 that we came across the Meet & Greet concept, didn’t happen on P&O and never saw it advertised on Princess. I did organise one on Princess afterwards but it was like pushing jelly uphill, wouldn’t do it again.

So it seems to me that only the RCG companies take it seriously most other lines, not that we’ve been on them all, leave it to the Roll Call to organise a meeting. I stand to be corrected we’ve been on 14 different lines but there’s plenty more we haven’t had experience of. 
 

Possibly Azamara are moving this way, when you think of it logically most Roll Calls are about organising private tours the very thing cruise lines are trying to sell you. I think CC meetings will still be facilitated but not in the high profile way it has been in the past.

[Mackdogmolly]

And I am sorry for beating a dead horse, but if Azamara is not really supporting these events, then why do they send confirmation emails such as the one below:

 

Thank you for registering for our upcoming Azamara Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle party. You are confirmed to attend!

Please keep this email as confirmation of your registration. As of today, you have registered 24 guest(s) for our Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle Party on PR departing 19-November-2022.

We’ll be in touch with additional details related to your registration as your voyage approaches. In the meantime, join the conversation with other guests on your upcoming sailing through the Azamara Cruise Critic Roll Call forum. This is a great opportunity to meet fellow Cruise Critics on your voyage.

Thank you for registering, and we look forward to seeing you onboard!

Sincerely,

Azamara®"

[nordski]

59 minutes ago, Riocca said:

Wasn’t until we came over to Celebrity / Azamara in 2010 that we came across the Meet & Greet concept, didn’t happen on P&O and never saw it advertised on Princess. I did organise one on Princess afterwards but it was like pushing jelly uphill, wouldn’t do it again.

So it seems to me that only the RCG companies take it seriously most other lines, not that we’ve been on them all, leave it to the Roll Call to organise a meeting. I stand to be corrected we’ve been on 14 different lines but there’s plenty more we haven’t had experience of. 
 

Possibly Azamara are moving this way, when you think of it logically most Roll Calls are about organising private tours the very thing cruise lines are trying to sell you. I think CC meetings will still be facilitated but not in the high profile way it has been in the past.

Interesting background. On our first Azamara cruise in 2011the M&G was hosted by a member of the Roll Call and, as you suggest, although I didn’t appreciate it at the time it involved some serious commitment on her part.

 

Gradually the concept evolved with drinks, food, and the presence of some of the ship’s officers.

 

Perhaps surprisingly, I found that initial experience more personal and we formed a friendship that has lasted to this day.

 

So I would still value the lower profile that you mention at the end of your post.

[Host Jazzbeau]

17 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

And I am sorry for beating a dead horse, but if Azamara is not really supporting these events, then why do they send confirmation emails such as the one below:

 

Thank you for registering for our upcoming Azamara Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle party. You are confirmed to attend!

Please keep this email as confirmation of your registration. As of today, you have registered 24 guest(s) for our Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle Party on PR departing 19-November-2022.

We’ll be in touch with additional details related to your registration as your voyage approaches. In the meantime, join the conversation with other guests on your upcoming sailing through the Azamara Cruise Critic Roll Call forum. This is a great opportunity to meet fellow Cruise Critics on your voyage.

Thank you for registering, and we look forward to seeing you onboard!

Sincerely,

Azamara®"

Maybe Lee Hetherington is wrong?  On Journey Oct. 6 we were able to sign up for the M&M on the Azamara website, they published the time in the daily program, they closed off part of the room for us, and they served bubbly.  No officers present, but that's fine by me because they tend to dominate the gathering and take away from its intended purpose (meeting the folks we've been chatting with on the CC Roll Call).  We had a good turnout, and everybody seemed to have a good time.

[uktog]

13 minutes ago, nordski said:

Interesting background. On our first Azamara cruise in 2011the M&G was hosted by a member of the Roll Call and, as you suggest, although I didn’t appreciate it at the time it involved some serious commitment on her part.

 

Gradually the concept evolved with drinks, food, and the presence of some of the ship’s officers.

 

Perhaps surprisingly, I found that initial experience more personal and we formed a friendship that has lasted to this day.

 

So I would still value the lower profile that you mention at the end of your post.

I agree. Lower profile and please somewhere where we can circulate eg the Living Room or Pool Bar. The library with everyone strung out sitting or the Cabaret which is even worse as you get blocked in rows was never ideal. 
On Celebrity having it more organised enabled drinks to be served in an otherwise pay to drink environment. Luckily we don’t have that issue on Azamara 

[nordski]

50 minutes ago, uktog said:

I agree. Lower profile and please somewhere where we can circulate eg the Living Room or Pool Bar. The library with everyone strung out sitting or the Cabaret which is even worse as you get blocked in rows was never ideal. 
On Celebrity having it more organised enabled drinks to be served in an otherwise pay to drink environment. Luckily we don’t have that issue on Azamara 

Apt description of getting “strung out” or “blocked in rows”. That first rather informal M&G was, in some ways, the best one I have attended.

But it does put some pressure on the Host/Hostess to make it work and to aid, if possible, the circulation.

[tgg]

Although I think circulating is great, I would like a more organized introduction process so that I can match names with the people whose posts  I've been reading for months.  In years past, this was always organized by the Cruise Director.

 

 

[Mackdogmolly]

53 minutes ago, tgg said:

Although I think circulating is great, I would like a more organized introduction process so that I can match names with the people whose posts  I've been reading for months.  In years past, this was always organized by the Cruise Director.

 

 

On my first AZ cruise, the meet and greet was hosted by someone (cd?) with a microphone, who kept things lively and gave everyone an opportunity to introduce themselves. I think name tags with CC names and actual names would be a good idea too. There was also a waiter who circulated with drinks.

[Lookyboy]

On 10/24/2022 at 2:34 PM, tyler6597 said:

In the past before Covid the Meet and Mingle has usually been the first full days at sea in the morning before noon. I'm sure the lack of sailing during Covid has screwed up a lot of things but it's time to get back to normal and have a great time. There seems to be a lot of angry people in general and I just wish it would stop.

Tyler

All our meet and mingles have been on the sail away evening so far.... before covid. Didn't have one on our last Azamara in May, but maybe we missed it without the usual invitation in our stateroom.

[uktog]

19 hours ago, tgg said:

Although I think circulating is great, I would like a more organized introduction process so that I can match names with the people whose posts  I've been reading for months.  In years past, this was always organized by the Cruise Director.

 

 

Given what we have been told, the cruise line is not going to resource this event so we need to look for a different model unless cruise critic can confirm they have come to another arrangement with Azamara.  

 

I have had experience of smaller unhosted get togethers when the number of enrolled guests did not meet the cruise line minimum (which was set at 25 if I recall, although quickly Azamara realised that number was unrealistic and they worked to a lower number).  One I was at had 14 guests (so not untypical of an Azamara roll call turn out the event) and was the best I was ever at.  To be honest, it did not need an organised process, it was a typical get together, like happens say at a small training event, where people clustered, circulated and introduced themselves then moved to meet others.  Some who wanted to meet many swapped around groups quicker than others who were happy with an overall chat with a smaller number.  Those who had organised "tours were proactive in identifying tour members as they circulated.  Most of us are very used to that kind of group socialising anyway so its no big deal.  

 

Unfortunately the structured events with microphones have not been as good lately indeed two immediately pre pandemic were painful to say the least - you either had a cruise directors speech and we were left with very little time to do any introductions (and were evicted from the Cabaret lounge after the allotted 30 minutes as the CD had to leave and of course you could not be left there "unattended") or you had a cruiser who liked the sound of their own voice and wanted to tell you how many cruises they had done etc etc etc and go on and on and on so the next person did the same and in fact the whole group were not able to do introductions because time had passed.

 

I think informal circulating with a set time and venue used for all cruises will be better and if it is less structured its less of an issue being at sail away so if that happens people can drop out for a few minutes if there is something they want to see.  If they said pool deck unless the weather is inclement in which case living room port side (where the side sofas are) that would work well and would be an ideal compromise.  Both these venues are very externally visual so those interested in sail out are not so removed from what is going on than say the library, which of course would not work anyway on Onward.

 

Maybe name badges, maybe not - the cruise line is probably not going to organised them - and again in other walks of life we are no longer using badges but focussing on verbal introductions at smaller events

[Mackdogmolly]

8 minutes ago, uktog said:

 If they said pool deck unless the weather is inclement in which case living room port side (where the side sofas are) that would work well and would be an ideal compromise.  

I agree. A set venue that wouldn’t really interfere with sail away sounds like a great idea.

[tgg]

If there are only 14 people who show up, then no need for name badges.  I've been to Meet & Mingles with 40 people - and I knew who I wanted to meet based only on their screen names. 

 

When these were hosted events, people introduced themselves by their screen names, their first names, and where they were from. True, some were a bit full of themselves based on how many cruises they had taken,  but most people were short and sweet.

 

If these are now non-hosted events, I think name badges would help with a large group. 

 

 

[takemewithyou]

We are on Onward in Dec and I have seen a few mentions of the card room area in the living room being used as the location for the meet and greets.  There are still some views there and it is probably more of an unused area at that time.  Works ok for me, but the other side, with the couches, is nicer.

 

I think the days of a more formal CC party with CD and microphone are gone.  I agree it’s probably better to have the more informal gathering anyway so people who have private tours can find each other easily and people get more time to circulate and find those they have been chatting with on the roll calls,

[PirateWife]

Interesting comments. The M & Ms I went to before Covid were fun and well-attended. Since then, not. People went to the site of the event, sat and talked to people that they already knew, and nothing was shared. No one introduced themselves except for the one I stood up and had everyone introduces themselves, give us their CC name, and, possibly, share something. For first time cruisers with Azamara, these get-togethers can be really helpful.

[nordski]

2 hours ago, PirateWife said:

Interesting comments. The M & Ms I went to before Covid were fun and well-attended. Since then, not. People went to the site of the event, sat and talked to people that they already knew, and nothing was shared. No one introduced themselves except for the one I stood up and had everyone introduces themselves, give us their CC name, and, possibly, share something. For first time cruisers with Azamara, these get-togethers can be really helpful.

Great idea to become a facilitator and ensure that the gathering had a purpose and a positive result.

[GUSGB]

Meet and Greet on Onward today at 1730 was a bit of a “damp squib”. We were allocated the port side if the living room. But that was occupied by other guests partaking of the tapas! If Azamara want to be associated with these type of events, they need to make a bit more effort. If they don’t, then say so. 
I did, however, meet some very nice fellow Cruise Critic members.

I do not know what the answer is to this conundrum, maybe others have ideas.