Groups using public rooms

[BeachGlass]

I think its time to bring this subjectinto the open..I have been reading post on various cruise lines regarding the public rooms that are being closed off ( to "regular" cruise passengers ) for use by on board groups. Most recently HAL also a lady who objected to the observation lounge on Celebrity's Mercury being closed for a group meeting while the ship was in Hubbard Glacier !!

We were on the Crown Princess last November and EVERY DAY the Skywalker lounge prime viewing area was closed off for use by a group..one time the group consisted of 15 people, but the entire lounge was closed.

This does not seem fair to the paying passengers who should be able to use all public facilities...if the cruise lines want the group business they should have a meeting room area..just like a resort hotel.

I hate to say this but, with non-stop aggressive sales...plenty of loud obnoxious drunks, unsupervised children , wait staff that barely have a command of English...and now closure of public rooms, cruising is not what it used to be.

[Jeanie821]

Having only done group cruising, I feel I should attempt to respond to your post.

 

I've cruised twice, once on Carnival and once on Royal Caribbean, with a group of Christian singles. When you've got a large group - we had 35 on Carnival and 130 on Royal Caribbean - holding a meeting in someone's stateroom is obviously not an option. And we also are paying customers. Maybe we don't drink or gamble, but we paid just as much as anyone else for the privilege of cruising. Since our focus was on group activities, obviously, we needed somewhere to meet, and for that, our group leader requested meeting space from the cruise director, asking that we inconvenience other passengers as little as possible.

 

The cruise director would reserve meeting areas for us that were not otherwise in use. For example, on the Enchantment of the Seas, we were assigned to places for our day meetings like the theater, the Spotlight Lounge, and the Viking Crown Lounge, which are only open at night. Likewise, for evening meetings, we were assigned the conference room, which is normally used during the day. I don't remember anyone complaining about us using the lounges when we did - but there was one man who said that his wife was complaining because there was a singles group on board and she was afraid the ladies might come on to him! (I overheard, and told him, "Don't worry, we believe in the sanctity of marriage. We're not down with other people's property.")

 

For smaller group meetings - for example, the Praise and Worship team - we either met in a public area such as the Windjammer (only taking one table) or in someone's stateroom. We're cruising again next year, and my roommate and I opted for a deluxe oceanview room so that our group would have room to practice.

 

Sounds like the CDs on the cruises you referred to may have dropped the ball. But please don't condemn the groups themselves. Ultimately, it's the CD's decision as to where they (we?) should meet.

[takeavacation]

The Viking Crown Lounge is not only open at night -- but, if that is where they put you -- then that is that. Many people enjoy viewing the seas, coastlines, pool decks from up there because you can see so much -- and stay out of the wind/weather. I think that if the group isn't occupying the entire space it should be available to others.

[kitty9]

I would have to concur with the original poster on this issue. Large groups or partial charters DO have an impact on cruises, and mostly to the negative. You should follow the thread on Crystal's board about a recent bridge group of over 200---that's a lot of people when you consider the ship holds only 900. The non-group passengers couldn't book either of the wonderful alternate restaurants because this group was given early priority and booked them ahead of time, shutting out all the other passengers. They also completely booked the spa/salon, so no one else could have use of those facilities. And then, they took over the two largest, and most popular, lounges most days for their group and on a number of nights also, not allowing regular passengers the use of the main music/dancing lounge until after 11pm. While they are paying passengers, what of the other full fare passengers who were completely unable to have use of most of the cruise ship for their entire voyage? Personally, I feel large groups need to be limited in size, depending on the size of the ship and passenger load. Whenever one group takes over venues for their exclusive use, it's completely unfair to every other passenger.

[BeachGlass]

Jeanie821 is missing the point...

no group should be allowed to take over public rooms, thereby keeping other fare paying passengers out. Rooms should not be closed completely when a small group is using an area. Large groups should be accomodated

in meeting areas that are not public rooms

[Jeanie821]

Darcie, while I understand your point, please try to understand that not all groups are like what you've described. I've compared our fare to what standard fares are on RCCL, and we pay about the same. Our group also tries to be considerate of others on board - as I mentioned, only two outside of our group were aware that there was a group aboard the Enchantment. We didn't overbook the spa, we didn't kick anyone out of highly desirable public areas, we didn't lock anyone out of shore excursions - heck, I don't think we even had a chair hog in the group. We just tried to be as unobtrusive as possible while having as good a time as anyone else.

 

And I don't think I'm missing the point. I'm trying to point out that while we did utilize the conference room (which is designed for group meetings), it was also in use by a corporate organization, and obviously we couldn't use it at the same time as another organization. The CD just put us in a lounge that was not otherwise in use. While I'm sure that others use the Viking Crown Lounge during the day, I can't see anyone hanging out in the Spotlight Lounge on the Enchantment of the Seas during the day. The theater is also not generally in use during the day. Obviously, one cannot shoehorn one hundred thirty people - or even thirty people - into a private stateroom. Trust me, we tried.

[kitty9]

Jeanie, there is a difference between groups, and where they are assigned to have their meetings. Being in a conference room, which is specifically designed for meetings of the kind your group had, is not a problem. Plus, you're talking about a cruise ship of more than a couple thousand people, and your small group had no impact on the other cruisers. But when you get a really large group that are a higher percentage of the total cruise population, that does impact most other cruisers.

[madjohn]

I have no problem with a private company (cruise company) having groups of any size on the ships. The problem is when large groups are booked that will then be given some special treatment to the detrament of other passengers and the other passengers are not given the information ahead of time. I cant speak for other cruise ships but on Princess there web site gives specific information to passengers in regards to there cruises. They could just as easly tell me about the 500 wild orgy christen bridge players and that so and so will be closed or unavailable to other passengers. Then I can decide it I want to be with these people and make my plans. If I board a ship and areas I wish to use are closed due to some activity as described then I will raise a stink.

[Jeanie821]

Jeanie, there is a difference between groups, and where they are assigned to have their meetings. Being in a conference room, which is specifically designed for meetings of the kind your group had, is not a problem. Plus, you're talking about a cruise ship of more than a couple thousand people, and your small group had no impact on the other cruisers. But when you get a really large group that are a higher percentage of the total cruise population, that does impact most other cruisers.

 

The problem is when large groups are booked that will then be given some special treatment to the detriment of other passengers and the other passengers are not given the information ahead of time. I cant speak for other cruise ships but on Princess there web site gives specific information to passengers in regards to there cruises. They could just as easly tell me about the 500 wild orgy christen bridge players and that so and so will be closed or unavailable to other passengers. Then I can decide it I want to be with these people and make my plans. If I board a ship and areas I wish to use are closed due to some activity as described then I will raise a stink.

 

I agree that very large groups on small ships can create a problem. Large groups that book on small ships - like the 500 wild orgy bridge players MadJohn refers to - don't have the sense God gave a cactus. Groups like that need to consider a possible full-ship charter.

 

I also agree that cruise lines need to be more forthcoming about groups that might be booked on a ship. While most people might not be bothered by 100+ born-again Christians in a conference room (as long as they're not proselytizing on deck - which, by the way, we did not do), they would probably be bothered by the 500 wild orgy bridge players. (Now that would be a sight!)

[Happy ks]

With ships that hold 2000+ passengers, a group of 35-200 barely have an impact...at all. Most of the time other pax would not even be aware that there is a group onboard unless they happened to walk by a sign that stated so.

 

I think the OP is referring to groups that hoard entire areas of the ship all week. We've been on a cruise like that and while the group of people were nice, we felt cheated out of full use of the ship. The areas they took over were theirs for the week; the movie theatre, the card room, small lounges, one elevator (yes, for religious purposes, they could not touch the buttons of the elevator) with an elevator attendant. They were blocked off 24/7, not just for meeting times, there is a huge difference.

 

Full charters would be great, but not all groups have that many attendees. Many ships today hold anywhere from 2000 all the way up to over 3500 pax, not many groups have those huge numbers.

 

My suggestion would be to accomodate large groups together, dividing up the public space amongst them. I don't think it would be difficult to do, the cruise lines could just make X amount of cruises available each year for large groups. They already charge a premium for these types of groups, so a few leftover cabins wouldn't do much harm.

 

If I ever found out another cruise I had scheduled had a group of several hundred people, you can bet I would reschedule. I have nothing against the groups, it's none of my business.