Latitudes cocktail party

[dpepper64]

We are leaving Miami on Saturday in Nov. and have a sea day on sunday.  Will they be having the latitudes party on Sunday or the next day after we leave a visiting port?  Want to make our dinner reservations in 30 days so want to make sure we work around the get together.  Any help would be appreciated.

[purplecow15]

The latitude cocktail parties have been held in the early afternoon on the last several cruises we've been on.

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, dpepper64 said:

We are leaving Miami on Saturday in Nov. and have a sea day on sunday.  Will they be having the latitudes party on Sunday or the next day after we leave a visiting port?  Want to make our dinner reservations in 30 days so want to make sure we work around the get together.  Any help would be appreciated.

It is typically at 1:00 on the first sea day. Wine and tropical drinks. Cheese at best - no real “food”. 
 

Presentation of some of the officers and a sales pitch for CruiseNext certificates. 

Edited June 8 by BirdTravels

[14ersco]

On the current  Getaway cruise we have a note that the party will be the second sea day at noon.

[zqvol]

IMO not worth the effort that it takes to attend.

[Wayward Son]

It's always in the afternoon. Dinner reservations won't be a problem. Been to one. Just long enough to know it will be the only one.

 

[Oakman58]

I quit going to the Latitudes Party, it's nothing more than a sales presentation IMO.

[mking8288]

Welcome back Latitudes reception / CruiseNext sales presentation has been scheduled for noon, 12:30 PM, 1 PM and even at 7 PM in the evening, depending on the ship & cruise itinerary, etc. - there're like 1,800 Latitudes members onboard the TA last month, 900 Platinums and 300 Sapphire ... absolutely a waste of time and a joke.  Stick with one's lunch & dinner plans, especially if you fought to get those specialty dining time/date slots ... we've concluded years ago that one isn't going to miss anything.  

 

Unless, a few cubes of cheese & crackers are important 🙄 plus choice of a few house drinks, complimentary, of course, while it last.  

[ChiefMateJRK]

47 minutes ago, Wayward Son said:

It's always in the afternoon. Dinner reservations won't be a problem. Been to one. Just long enough to know it will be the only one.

 

LOL.  I just attended a latitudes party on the Spirit.  It was held in the OL and they cleared the place out an hour prior.  Why did I go?  Because it was the easiest time the whole cruise to grab a premium seat by the window at the front of the ship.  The "party" was happening back around the stage and I just heard some blah, blah, blah; but the place was otherwise very quiet.  Yes, they did bring me some cheese squares on toothpicks.  Beats a toothpick in the eye! 😎

 

All that said, I agree that they are worthless for anybody with the booze package.

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, Oakman58 said:

I quit going to the Latitudes Party, it's nothing more than a sales presentation IMO.

Back in the good old days they use to have door prize drawings, usually a bottle of wine and some bingo cards, but once we also received a coupon for free laundry.  They stopped doing that years ago, but we still usually attend the party, mostly out of habit, I suppose.  The one real reason we still go, though, is to meet the officers.  We have traveled with NCL enough that there usually are one or more senior officers that we know from a previous cruise.  We always try to get to know the GM.  You never know when having friends in higher places might pay benefits.

Edited June 8 by The Traveling Man

[graphicguy]

44 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

LOL.  I just attended a latitudes party on the Spirit.  It was held in the OL and they cleared the place out an hour prior.  Why did I go?  Because it was the easiest time the whole cruise to grab a premium seat by the window at the front of the ship.  The "party" was happening back around the stage and I just heard some blah, blah, blah; but the place was otherwise very quiet.  Yes, they did bring me some cheese squares on toothpicks.  Beats a toothpick in the eye! 😎

 

All that said, I agree that they are worthless for anybody with the booze package.

Personally, I also find it a way to meet and chat with other cruisers.  The cheese/crackers and drinks are....well....as you put it "beats a toothpick in the eye"!

[Wayward Son]

4 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Personally, I also find it a way to meet and chat with other cruisers.

 

Sure, but the 47 other bars on the ship also work. 🙃

 

[complawyer]

to misquote julius cesar " I came, I drank, I boogied my tushie out of there"

 

it's not 1/2 bad to kill 30 minutes of your time

[ChiefMateJRK]

27 minutes ago, Wayward Son said:

 

Sure, but the 47 other bars on the ship also work. 🙃

 

Yep.  And when you meet new friends there, you know they drink.  I don't trust a man who doesn't drink (Winston Churchill).😎

[ChiefMateJRK]

18 minutes ago, complawyer said:

to misquote julius cesar " I came, I drank, I boogied my tushie out of there"

 

it's not 1/2 bad to kill 30 minutes of your time

Why would I want to "kill time" on a cruise ship?  I cherish (and enjoy) every last minute.  That was one of my gripes about the old, stupid in-person muster.  They robbed an hour of my time, making me put down the drink and crowd under a life boat with people spreading Covid and who knows what else?

[complawyer]

i think we may have discussed this before (or maybe not) my enjoyment comes from merely being on a cruise ship and exploring different parts of the world. at 76, i rarely utilize most of what's available on the ship. i get bored sitting in a cocktail lounge, listening to entertainers that i dont find the least bit entertaining ( just my personal opinion, so dont all jump on this thread), i rarely see anything in the stardust theater that intrigues me enough to go, and i'm perfectly happy to be back  in my cabin with my kindle at 10:30 p.m. while i am definitely knocking your choice of steerage, unlike you, we do use the cabin for more than sleeping or taking a shower. i enjoy chilling in my cabin. Yes, i admit i am a totally unsociable grumpy old man, which accounts for my above-stated position. i can afford to waste a half hour, rather than playing bingo or trivia.

 

the same for the veteran's cocktail party. If ncl is going to be nice enough to acknowledge the veteran's onboard, i can spare the half hour. just nobody better say "thank you for your service:!

[complawyer]

by the way, other than you and possibly cruiseny4life, i dont need to make or meet new friends.

new friends! look up anti-social in the dictionary, and you'll probably find my picture LOL

[Wayward Son]

59 minutes ago, complawyer said:

by the way, other than you and possibly cruiseny4life, i dont need to make or meet new friends.

 

There are a number of other pretty cool CCers around, if you look hard enough. Although that number is quite limited.

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, complawyer said:

by the way, other than you and possibly cruiseny4life, i dont need to make or meet new friends.

I doubt any of us need to make new friends.  I certainly don't.  If it happens, it happens and it is fun.  On my cruise last month, we were reacquainted with a nice couple we spent time with on the Encore in 2021.  Our only common ground was that we drank and enjoyed listening to Alexa work her magic on the piano (Encore OL).  We gathered each night for the privilege.  Imagine my surprise when DW spotted them on the Spirit on the 16 day HI-AK itinerary.  We saw them later and chatted a bit.  Reminisced.  It was fun, but certainly not something any of us "needed."

 

2 hours ago, complawyer said:

i enjoy chilling in my cabin. Yes, i admit i am a totally unsociable grumpy old man, which accounts for my above-stated position. i can afford to waste a half hour, rather than playing bingo or trivia.

Sure.  I can chill just about anywhere on the ship.  I'm not a "totally unsociable grumpy old man."  Well, I am old.  I'm also not "sociable" if anybody really knows what that means.  Grumpy?  Never on a cruise ship unless they run out of Guinness or the band sucks (not really then, I just find another venue).  Why would you be grumpy on a cruise ship?  Why would you want to "waste a half hour."  You really need my coaching friend.  Hopefully we'll meet up on a ship before it's too late!

[kochleffel]

2 hours ago, complawyer said:

by the way, other than you and possibly cruiseny4life, i dont need to make or meet new friends.

 

In the forum for another cruise line, someone asked why participation in roll calls for that line was poor.

 

The reply was "We are all experienced cruisers who know what we like. We don't want to be hawked to join other people's tours and we don't want to meet strangers."

 

It put me off booking on that cruise line for a couple of years. When I did, I found that a high percentage of the passengers were, indeed, experienced cruisers, and that most were  friendly.

[complawyer]

hey chief. maybe i misspoke. im by nature a grump, teetering on curmudgeon, on a cruise ship only in terms of associating with other people. that being said, im thoroughly happy and contented on board any cruise ship (especially if ive booked a suite ha ha).

 

it's just i really dont try to strike up conversations with others on board, and try to avoid it if possible. however, on our last cruise, we met a couple in our hotel in rio, that was taking the same day tour as my wife and i. we saw them again at check in at the pier, and a few times onboard. casually, i mentioned that instead of shore excursions we usually hire a taxi, they thought that was a splendid ide, so we invited them along, we also saw them in a few of the restaurants where we were eating, so we invited them to join us. exception to t he rule, as im usually not that sociable.

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, complawyer said:

hey chief. maybe i misspoke. im by nature a grump, teetering on curmudgeon, on a cruise ship only in terms of associating with other people. that being said, im thoroughly happy and contented on board any cruise ship (especially if ive booked a suite ha ha).

 

it's just i really dont try to strike up conversations with others on board, and try to avoid it if possible. however, on our last cruise, we met a couple in our hotel in rio, that was taking the same day tour as my wife and i. we saw them again at check in at the pier, and a few times onboard. casually, i mentioned that instead of shore excursions we usually hire a taxi, they thought that was a splendid ide, so we invited them along, we also saw them in a few of the restaurants where we were eating, so we invited them to join us. exception to t he rule, as im usually not that sociable.

Yeah.  That's what I thought.  You're a fun person hiding behind a grumpy persona.  😎

 

My prescription:  stop looking for ways to "kill time."  Focus more on enjoying the time God gives you.  That's what I do.  Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[okpaddy]

8 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And pass the ammunition, i.e. Bulleitt Bourbon 🍸

[ChiefMateJRK]

Just now, okpaddy said:

And pass the ammunition, i.e. Bulleitt Bourbon 🍸

Amen brother/sister!!!

[itsnotjustme]

They are no great shakes, but we normally go.  They often have non-standard drinks, so I try something new.  And I often strike up a conversation with one or more other attendees.

 

Also, a good chance to meet a couple of the ship's officers.