Setting up a CC "meet" on Carnival...where/when/how?

[sharecruises]

Hi...

 

I have read of some good "meet ups" on cruises from roll call members...but I have also read of "didn't see anyone" deals where none of the (active) roll call members ever meet up

 

what were YOUR experiences with roll call meet ups?

 

where /when/ how is the best way to meet up???

 

Before...or after...muster drill?

 

Sailaway day...or 2nd (sea) day?

 

How did you "meet" up...?? Beads...tee shirts...or ??

 

Did you find that an "email list" helped ??

 

Door signs??

 

Or...what did NOT work?? Anyone have an "active" roll call but never "met up" with them on board? Were you too busy...or could not find each other or ??

 

I am looking for concrete and helpful suggestions please <grin>

 

thanks in advance

 

(PS...not an offical "CC cruise"....just looking for roll call meeting ideas, thanks again)

[bubbles1209]

We went on our very 1st cruise last June on Elation. The roll call members decided to meet up wearing red bandanas so we could identify each other after muster drill on the Lido deck pool bar. Several showed up, but not everyone. We made great friends, saw each other often through the week and had an awesome time. On our 2nd cruise this past Feb. on Liberty, we all decided to get together on the 1st sea day, thinking that would give everyone time to explore & settle in before we met up. DH, myself & 2 other couples showed up.............and not all at once. That was a not so great one at all. Not sure if I want to try & go to the one this coming June on Valor, after this last one, you almost wanna say what's the point. We probably will, just to see how it turns out. We haven't decided yet the where & when yet, but we'll probably be there hoping others show up.

[CruiseCentric]

Its a good idea to plan a couple of meetings one during sailaway that is close to food and a bar...aft area by the pizza usually works and another one on a sea day. Some like to set up picture pages on the roll call so they can identify each other, then wear beads, leis..hats.

 

The reality is, that many get caught up in their vacation and just forget all about the meet and greet once they get on board. Yet, others have no intention on meeting up, but just didnt want to seem rude on the roll call board. Their main reason for being on the roll call is to get information.

[kyrisong1]

Our group met after the muster drill in the aft pool bar on the Glory, we wore red, white and blue to identify each other, then we set up a meet the next morning, which was a sea day, in the Lobby by the pursers desk for those that didn't have a chance to meet up after muster. We must have done pretty good, cause we're doing a reunion cruise this September. I think meeting up with your fellow CC'ers is the best way to sail, what a great group!!! I have made friends I hope to keep forever. Cheers, Carole

[sharecruises]

Thanks for the ideas...please keep them coming :)

 

Before or after muster ??? Do you think a 2 pm meeting is too soon?

 

I like the idea of a "2nd chance" meeting on sea day...good idea

 

I also agree, some may not want to be overwhelmed with this CC stuff, especially if they have a lot of family they are sailing with.

 

Thanks for the responses, and folks please do share your own "roll call" stories both good and bad !!

[mattmdv]

Our Roll Call is planning to meet on the 1st day at sea. Sailing day may just be to busy, getting on-board, carrying carry on, finding room, getting that first Foo-Foo Drink, checking seating(s) for dinner, making arrangements at spa/salon, muster drill, getting luggage at the room, unpacking, etc. We figure that we will probably all meet in the terminal anyway, as about all of us plan on being there at about the same time. We have never tried to meet up with other CC'ers from a Roll Call, so this will be a learning experience.

Good Luck with your meeting!!!

 

Matt

[SunnieD]

 

This was our group. We met up on the Lido AFT pool deck on the first Sea day. We had a great group and are still in touch with many. We wore beads.

[ballinafad]

We wore leis on our Glory cruise for the first day. We tried to meet up but found that everyone was too busy on embarkation. However, we had many people approach us in the terminal and all day on the ship to introduce themselves as members of our roll call. If we spotted anyone wearing a lei, we approached them. This worked fairly well and we were able to get to know some of our fellow cruisers on an individual basis rather than in a group setting.

[lollyrn]

I haven't been on a Carnival Cruise yet (going July 14th), but when we went on RCCL in September we had a "meet and mingle" set up by the cruise director and directly after that we had a "Cabin Crawl". We ordered T-Shirts before the cruise to identify each other. We started off at the inside cabins and ended up in the Suites. This also gave us the opportunity to see each cabin category. Each cabin was decorated and gave out trinkets and such. Our balcony cabin was right outside of the bridge door and everyone was standing outside of our door waiting on us to catch up to let them in when the Captain came by. We were wearing our tshirts, beads, light up necklaces, etc and he said "It looks like you are having a great time already". We invited him to join us, but I think he had more important things to do! It was a lot of fun and gave us an opportunity to meet the people we had been chatting with for months before the cruise. It was all set up beforehand on the Roll Call Board.

[GoinCruisin]

Carnival doesn't have the official meet and greets like RCL...

 

Always plan several meetings... if you are planning on the first day, count on alot of no-shows... people are just starting their vacation, and spending the time with their family, etc... if you do it after the muster drill, you will lose some that have been drinking for several hours and just forget :p If you plan it before muster drill, you lose the people that are just busy having just gotten on the ship, having lunch, getting unpacked, etc. Our groups always just set a "meeting place", no specific time... we tend to find a place and stick with it, so if people show up, they show up... we always have our group tshirts on so it becomes a "sea" of whatever color our shirts are... we also set up a meeting the following morning, generally when we are having our group picture... so plan 2, you have a better shot of meeting more people...

[bsdmhutch]

When I was on the Celebrity Zenith in Dec 05, 8 of us actually got together the evening before at Bubba Gumps. I met one lady in the airport before her flight (we are both from the Charlotte area) and her friend was actually on the flight with my mom and I. We had a blast that night and actually met up quite a few times on board. Our tables were actually next to each other in the DR too. It was crazy.

 

When we boarded, we all met up at the aft grill and sat and ate lunch. I guess it helped that we had met the night before that way we knew what the other's looked like.

[Wennfred]

My first one was awesome, Everyone showed up to the Meet and Greet and we even took a Group Photo, we even met a second time and had a balcony party. My Second one Sucked, just a few people showed up, the rest that were excited in the Roll Call didn't even bother, the others that we ran into before boarding came up with some lame excuse as to why they didnt make the Meet and Greet. I didn't mind because some people are either shy or not the socialable types.

 

We I like to do is Meet and Greet on Lido Deck Aft after the Life Boat Drill, we can have a sailaway party up there.

 

 

Fred

[sharecruises]

Thanks for all the good ideas...

 

we had apparently all "agreed" on after muster drill but someone decided to "change" it to before...hopefully now we will have it more open ended

 

I liked Lucy's idea of before/after muster drill, just pick a place and go for it, wear beads and some of us have tee shirts from Panama Jack that have the "name" they chose for the group..LOL

 

someone is making name tags so that should work

 

I think the before/after is a good idea, I know some of the people may be later getting in, and /or have family plans. I have to make sure the room stewards get the info from Special Needs to get all the down out of the room and maybe deep clean it cause otherwise I will be walking around with swollen eyes and sneezing haha (*I am very allergic to down...ewww...Marriott also has to do this for me LOL...ahhhh-chooo LOL)

 

I hope that making it more "easy" will make a nice turnout and meet up with a few people at least

 

One of the cruisers on our cruise arranged for those who wanted to be seated together at 2 diff times...one early, one late...they were able to have Carnival link our seating so that is pretty cool

 

It is interesting to read about the various ways that these work out or not. IMHO sometimes they could be overplanned....I like the suggestions to make it "easy" cause "ship happens"

 

(*ps..keep em coming..this thread is very informative..thanks so much)

[memphislonghorn]

I tried to start a roll call on my last cruise, but we never did meet up; everyone had other plans, and we missed each other on the ship on embarkation day. I don't think I'll bother with roll calls anymore. Not that I don't want to meet people, but I have found on both my cruises that my dinner tablemates have always been fun people, and we have become friends during and after the cruise. Carnival tries to match up similar folks at the dinner seatings, and for me, being a solo cruiser, it has worked out well.:)

[silentbob007]

I've had one turn out well on Carnival. The key part, as many have said, is to have distinguishing clothes/decorations and pick a specific area. Not surprisingly, the one get-together at "the bar on Lido deck" didn't go too hot ... however, the one at Orpheous Bar, Lido, 3:00 went together really well. Definitely a good idea to have a second meet set up in case people miss the first one ... hard to spread word when you don't know how to find people.

[LuckyNRobin]

I've been on several cruises, but this is the first time I've been on CC. So far, we're still working on an initial meet and greet, probably after sailaway... just so everyone has time to get settled in. We're looking to meet on Lido deck, since more than half the roll call members are booked on that deck (not to mention it's close proximity to food and booze!)!! However, talking about excursions in our roll call, we've also planned a "group excursion" type thing. Most of us have the "been there, done that" feeling towards Nassau, so we're making plans to meet up and party together at Senor Frogs instead of doing your typical excursion or walk around town. One of the other ladies in the group is also putting together a "Meet and Greet" packet. She's collecting pictures of everyone and the plan is to email everyone the packet a week or so before we sail. So we all know who to look for! Not sure how everything's going to work out, but we hope it turns out great!!