Meet & Mingle Warning

[carriej73]

Just an FYI to cruisers - we signed up for the Meet & Mingle only days before the trip. It said that it was at 11 am and it turned out to be at 5 pm! A huge difference. My friend & I had already made hair appointments since it was the first formal night. Our husbands weren't as 'into' the meet &mingle as us. I was able to go for a few mintues & she wasn't able to go at all. Just something you may want to check into. I asked the man who was setting up the crackers and he said that it had been 5 pm for a while - well, I guess no one told Cruise Critic! I know I would have been much more friendly if I wasn't in a hurry to leave to get my hair done.

[PVDCruiser]

Just an FYI to cruisers - we signed up for the Meet & Mingle only days before the trip. It said that it was at 11 am and it turned out to be at 5 pm! A huge difference. My friend & I had already made hair appointments since it was the first formal night. Our husbands weren't as 'into' the meet &mingle as us. I was able to go for a few mintues & she wasn't able to go at all. Just something you may want to check into. I asked the man who was setting up the crackers and he said that it had been 5 pm for a while - well, I guess no one told Cruise Critic! I know I would have been much more friendly if I wasn't in a hurry to leave to get my hair done.

 

Unfortunately this seems to be a trend. Luckily we were able to get ours changed!

[Imasealuvr]

Unfortunately this seems to be a trend. Luckily we were able to get ours changed!

 

HOW?

[bpear1600]

The M and M is a complete waste of time anyway. It's certainly not worth changing your schedule for.

[Schplinky]

Unfortunately this seems to be a trend. Luckily we were able to get ours changed!

 

Really? We have about 125 in ours on Freedom and many have emailed requesting the change. They have said no to each of us. It was disappointing but we've just scheduled some of our own meetings, without the RCL sales pitch for the credit card and C&A Society.

[ranchingal]

The M and M is a complete waste of time anyway. It's certainly not worth changing your schedule for.

I totally disagree, but different strokes for different folks.

We enjoy our M & M's. Even if you don't "participate" you can put a face on people in your roll calls. They even have some nice gimmies too!!

[negc]

The M and M is a complete waste of time anyway. It's certainly not worth changing your schedule for.

 

Why do you say that? I don't know what you were expecting but we have attended many M&Ms, some better attended than others, and have really enjoyed meeting the people we have met on the online roll calls. Frequently we have arranged a pre-cruise meeting on our own, but the M&M is a pleasant opportunity to put faces to screen names and has never been, IMHO, a "complete waste of time".:rolleyes: I would never claim that it is important enough to rearrange one's schedule if the time is changed but that is really up to the individual.

[negc]

duplicate post, sorry about that.

[dougp26364]

The M and M is a complete waste of time anyway. It's certainly not worth changing your schedule for.

 

I guess it just depends on how social you are. If just go and sit without interacting with the people you've conversed with online for months, then yea, I could see it being a waste of time.

 

We prefer to go to meet and talk with fellow CC members. It's nice to know a group of people, see them around the ship and have a good time.

[dak_friendly]

The M and M is a complete waste of time anyway. It's certainly not worth changing your schedule for.

 

I've had tremendous amounts of fun at past Meet & Mingles, but those were small groups with a lower amount of signups. I'm getting a little worried because there seems to be a trend forming. It seems more and more people are signing up thus making it much less personal. A lot of these people sign up, never post on the Meet & Mingle Roll Calls, and either skip the Meet or quietly lurk around.

 

If someone is signing up to get something else "free" while on their cruise... don't bother. They serve hors d'oeuvres and some juices. The crewmember quickly raffles off a few prizes and then disappears.

 

If you're signing up to add more presence to CruiseCritic's existence by all means do! This about the closest thing Royal Caribbean is going to have to measure CruiseCritic member's influence out there ... sheer numbers aboard and present to be counted. Think of it as an informal lobbying group to maybe sway some corporate policy.

 

Then again, there are those like me. I like the opportunity to show up and be able to say hello to some people that are just as excited about cruising as I am.

 

---

 

To the OP: That does sound bad that they are rescheduling them later in the day. The ones I've attended have always been around noon. I always tried to keep an eye on the "confirmed list":

 

Confirmed Meet & Mingles

 

This used to give me a heads up on what day/time the meeting takes place so I can plan around it before I step aboard. I think it is a bad policy to start changing the schedule without a little bit of warning because people do book spa treatments and haircuts (like you and your sister did) upon boarding. I'm glad you did get to make an appearance.

[MIcruiser99]

Just an FYI to cruisers - we signed up for the Meet & Mingle only days before the trip. It said that it was at 11 am and it turned out to be at 5 pm! A huge difference. My friend & I had already made hair appointments since it was the first formal night. Our husbands weren't as 'into' the meet &mingle as us. I was able to go for a few mintues & she wasn't able to go at all. Just something you may want to check into. I asked the man who was setting up the crackers and he said that it had been 5 pm for a while - well, I guess no one told Cruise Critic! I know I would have been much more friendly if I wasn't in a hurry to leave to get my hair done.

 

I am curious, where did it say the time that was wrong? I have gone online and each sailing has the same time and place listed for the meet & mingle on our ship.

[hstrybuf]

We've always enjoyed our M&Ms. As the others said, you get an opportunity to put a face to a name. Whether you spend any additional time with them during the cruise is up to you, but we usually do with a few couples to some degree. Plus you're more likely to recognize them as a friendly face when you're around the ship or on shore.

 

You can check the confirmed M&M list for your sailing here:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/ccConfirmedPartyList.do?src=CCC

 

I don't know if this is updated when there are changes, but it doesn't hurt to keep any eye on it.

[john & Gerrie nj]

Granduer July- same thing changed from the notice on the board

we wern't notified missed it.

Sept 9 Explorer it's 11 am 1n portifinos. who the heck wants an M&M

before noon ??????

They should just stop them, beter to not have them than tick folks off.

"Promise me something and then not give it to me and I feel like you

stole something from me" .

Someday we might get to an M&M are they fun?

We are on the empress sept 23 maybe then .

The worst cruise I was ever on was fanfriggintastic

john

[Merion_Mom]

Granduer July- same thing changed from the notice on the board

we wern't notified missed it.

Sept 9 Explorer it's 11 am 1n portifinos. who the heck wants an M&M

before noon ??????They should just stop them, beter to not have them than tick folks off.

"Promise me something and then not give it to me and I feel like you

stole something from me" .

Someday we might get to an M&M are they fun?

We are on the empress sept 23 maybe then .

The worst cruise I was ever on was fanfriggintastic

john

Perfect illustration as to Royal Caribbean's dilemma.

 

No matter what they do, when they schedule it, SOMEONE is going to complain. :rolleyes:

[Calicruisefamily]

I have to wonder if our M & M for Dec is even going to qualify for a party. We have had a few people come on and sign up over the past few months but we hear from them maybe once or twice a month. I would think if you sign up for a M & M it would be nice to at least check-in with the group once or twice a week. The M & M I went to last year only 3 from our board showed up to the party but we had a great time:) And it was fun because we were the same people that would talk every week. I realy do hope more people start to pick-up the pace soon.

Voyager W. Caribbean 12/16/06 "Our First AFT 1688"

Voyager E. Caribbean 11/05

S.S. Azure Seas Baja 11/90

[Tranquil Waters]

I have found the actual M&M affairs as presented by RCI to really be rather boring, "ads before the movie" affairs if that makes any sense. Which is not to say that I do not find CC's M&M section a very positive and useful site. We have met a number of couples that we have enjoyed cruising with because of the forum provided here.

 

But what we have found is that the people that click on-line will find the opportunity to get together regardless of any meeting planned by RCI. In most cases, we have gotten together for a drink right after muster the first day of the cruise. That way if the scheduled meeting is at an inconvenient time, we still have the opportunity to meet each other over a drink. And that is where most of our friendships have flourished in person.

[john & Gerrie nj]

If you don't have something to contribute on topic Don't post.

You contributed nothing, zero, zilch zipp.

I don't care if you have 125,000,000 miles it's rude to flame and single out a person you don't know.

The best cruise ever is gonna be the next one.

john

[rascalious]

Just an FYI to cruisers - we signed up for the Meet & Mingle only days before the trip. It said that it was at 11 am and it turned out to be at 5 pm! A huge difference. My friend & I had already made hair appointments since it was the first formal night. Our husbands weren't as 'into' the meet &mingle as us. I was able to go for a few mintues & she wasn't able to go at all. Just something you may want to check into. I asked the man who was setting up the crackers and he said that it had been 5 pm for a while - well, I guess no one told Cruise Critic! I know I would have been much more friendly if I wasn't in a hurry to leave to get my hair done.

As you are probably aware. the times for the M&M alternate with the itinerary. You were correct to think yours was at 11 am, as that is what the confirmed M&M list shows for your itinerary (Aug 13 - Aruba itinerary). [i reserched your previous posts to determine what cruise you took]

The Barbados itinerary has theirs at 5 pm. I wonder if the Adventure of the Seas staff got confused as to which M&M time went with which itinerary.

I will surely ask when we get aboard next month, as we have 48 registered for our Meet and Mingle.

[cdpteach]

We went to the meet and mingle on the Empress of the Seas on the 8/12 sailing! We had lots of fun. Our Meet and Mingle was at 9:30 am...different than the time posted...we went anyway and had a great time. The cruise member that hosted was great...she answered lots of our questions...and gave us hints as to what to see in port. They had some free food...a bit early for shrimp coctail, but it was delicious. They didn't try to sell any RC credit cards to us....they did have a raffle for all those who were present. My mom, my husband, and myself won! We have booked another RC trip next August on the Explorer. We are already planning on attending the Meet and mingle!!!

[AFT_LOVER]

Over 100 folks at our on Jewel 5/14/2006 (member cruise). We had advertised that we were doing a gift exchange. Get something from your city/state worth $10, then wrap it & bring it for a ticket. The CD drew tickets & called the numbers which folks who had the ticket chose a prize. They even had Bloody Marys, Vodka Martinis & Rum Punch with great food for us. 2 hours of great fun!

 

255 for Freedom on 10/15/2006 but no gift exchange. So not sure what to expect & that is a member cruise also.

[wrp96]

If you don't have something to contribute on topic Don't post.

You contributed nothing, zero, zilch zipp.

I don't care if you have 125,000,000 miles it's rude to flame and single out a person you don't know.

 

She was pointing out something. She wasn't flaming you. RCCL is kind enough to provide a Cruise Critic gathering - unlike any other cruiseline. You didn't like it at 11am. So they set it at 5pm on a different cruise - and then some people don't like that time either as some of the other posts point out. They can't win.

 

By the very nature of these boards people are allowed to say things that you may disagree with - that's not flaming.

[john & Gerrie nj]

single me out that is presonal, I supose you think that a personal

attack is ok ?

Thats the trouble with some people they think no one else has anything to contribute or feelings.

And when you come to the defense of a personal attack post you are no better.

MYOFB.

All the people I have met here are fantastic ---except 2.

This will be my best cruise ever.

"Non Carborundum Ilegitimi"

John

[negc]

single me out that is presonal, I supose you think that a personal

attack is ok ?

Thats the trouble with some people they think no one else has anything to contribute or feelings.

And when you come to the defense of a personal attack post you are no better.

MYOFB.

All the people I have met here are fantastic ---except 2.

This will be my best cruise ever.

"Non Carborundum Ilegitimi"

John

 

Guess you might want to up that total to three. :rolleyes: Pointing out that your complaint only demonstrates how difficult it is to satisfy everyone isn't, IMHO, singling you out for a flame, only illustrating a point which is quite valid. No matter what time RCI sets for the M&M there will be some that are unhappy with the time selected and if they request that the time be changed and their request isn't granted, they are doubly unhappy.

 

Check out more of the threads on these boards or start a thread asking if it is okay to skip the lifeboat drill, not tip the dining room staff for those nights you dine elsewhere, or tell everyone that you will go to the dining room wearing whatever you want, formal night or not, if you really want to see flames. :D

[wraithe]

MYOFB.

All the people I have met here are fantastic ---except 2.

John

 

Maybe you ought to make that three, oops, no four! No one was attacking you, just pointing out that there is always going to be disagreement among a group of people. If you post on this board, it's no longer just your business, it becomes my business and every other reader of this board, who might have the slightest opinion about the topic.

 

As for the original topic, I had a great time at the M&M on Mariner in April (2006), just like on the Roll Call, we had people who sat on the edges and watched the action, and had folks who got right in the thick of it. I had a good time and it was great fun to meet the folks I'd been chatting with. Looking very forward to the Grandeur M&M in OCtober. Happy sailing everyone.

[john & Gerrie nj]

I also was pointing pout that the M&M's have been inconsistant this year.

and that possibly a M&M in that venue at that hour was not the best idea

and that it will probably change a few times.

once again sorry bout that.

john