RCCL Meet & Mingle Survey

[masterbaker]

Good to hear that some others of you have suggested games and activites to get people out of their seats, I did too. Some people are just shy when it comes to meeting people. I also suggested it be on sea days and at a time that didn't conflict with Crown and Anchor activites (or comps that are offered to C&A members) Making it a true cocktail party would also be nice, even if it was just a complimentary glass of champagne to break the ice and show some appreciation.

 

 

Brilliance 4/19/04

[MARSHA E ROS]

SAILED GRANDEUR 4/3 - GOT MY INVITATION THAT MORNING, BUT KNEW ABOUT THE M&M FROM MY E-MAIL. GOT SURVEY TODAY WHEN I OPENED E-MAILS. WILL DO RIGHT NOW. I REALLY ENJOYED MEETING EVERYONE AND PUTTING FACES TO THE NAMES. HOPE THEY DO NOT DISCONTINUE. I HAVE ALREADY SIGNED UP FOR THE M&M ON THE 10/23 NAVIGATOR!

[rascalious]

Got it, too! I have attended one meet and mingle and it was poorly attended. Do I think it should be discontinued? No. I only hope more who sign-up will attend. We met some of the folks we had chatted with here - that was great! We had "friends" the whole week of our cruise. Please attend if you register!

We signed-up for the next cruise as soon as we booked. We will surely attend, can't speak for the others.

 

NCL Norway 7/2001 E. Caribbean

Carnival Victory 7/2002 W. Caribbean

RCCI AOS Southern Caribbean 9/2003

RCCI AOS Southern Caribbean 9/19/2004

 

Until Adventure of the Seas - (Aruba/Curacao)

[tinkerme1]

I, too, received the survey and completed it.

 

My suggestion was to hold the "M&M" at a time when more folks could attend, not during a "dinner seating" or late in the cruise. I think the M&M is a nice perk which costs very little and gives you a good feeling about meeting and speaking with RCI staff and friends you have met on-line.

 

If you are listening RCI, this would be a grave mistake to eliminate the M&M. Ramp it up and make it more interesting!

 

Celia

 

"Jewel OTS " 06/04 # 11 & 12

"Brilliance OTS" 04/05 # 13 & 14

 

 

[abridalmaven]

As a natural born organizer I make sure that all of the posters on the roll call ( or at least I try) have a way of communicating so we all know when the party is. I have never missed one. I feel that if the party does not go well, it is really the fault of the participants, not the cruise line. I have done meet and mingles even before it was official And after a good roll call connection most of us a very eager to meet and had a great time once we did.

 

My vacation pics

http://community.webshots.com/user/abridalmaven

Norwegian Dawn May 23

[gambler]

just filled out mine also.

 

Monarch of the Seas 09/92

Majesty of the Seas 11/93

Sovereign of the Seas 09/94

Majesty of the Seas 11/95

Grandeur of the Seas 11/99

Grandeur of the Seas 11/00

Grandeur of the Seas 06/01

Grandeur of the Seas 02/02

Navigator of the Seas 12/02

Rhapsody of the Seas 06/03

Radiance of the Seas 11/03

Grandeur of the Seas 05/04

Navigator of the Seas 11/04

[kc320]

kammer, I had the same problem as you. I tried to fill mine out & the same message popped up. bummer, I really wanted to fill one out.

 

Sovereign Again

Halloween on the Serenade

[mconthehighseas]

I made several suggestions:

 

-announcing the meet-up on line before the cruise (half of our meet-up was spent wondering where some of the people we met online were! and of course, they never got invites)

 

-giving us a free drink to help the shy people come out of their shells (our cruise hostess DID do a game to try to break the ice, but some people were still nervous around new folks)

 

-having a member of the staff we never see, like the head chef, or a performer attend (if people who have been to other meet-ups knew there would be something new and different, they would be inclined to keep attending)

 

We had about 15 people at our meet-up, and it was very low key, despite our cruise hostesses hard work. We had the business director come talk to us about booking their next cruise while on-board, but the new people were still trying to find what was on the current cruise, so it was hard to concentrate. We did get a lot of good stories about the newest ships coming up, so I am very glad we went, even if I didn't win the Royal Caribbean computer mouse.

 

Adventure of the Seas 9/21/03 - wish I was still there!!!

[superjerryw]

I told them that the main problem was the time they had the meetinigs. On our last cruise the meeting was at 5:30 PM on a day we were in port and came back to the ship at 5:00PM. We had dinner at 6:00PM so by the time we showered and changed it was too late to go. I suggested the meetings be at 4:00PM on a sea day so everyone is on the ship and no one is in a rush to go to dinner.

 

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Donuts, is there anything they can't do....

[joycemh]

Got mine also and just sent it back about 15 min. ago.

 

Joyce

[jean-lynd]

I'm glad you all started talking about the survey here. Mine had gone to my junk mail folder so I would never have known about it. I found it this morning and filled it out. I hope they don't discontinue them. I felt that ours was held at a pretty convenient time - 11:45 am on the first sea day but there were still only 13 people there. Also, I had received the email before the cruise and an invitation in our cabin so everyone should have known about it. I think it's a shame that more people don't show up. Our event was very nice.

 

Century 11/1997

Explorer of the Seas 8/24/02

Majesty of the Seas 2/17/03

Voyager of the Seas 2/22/04

<IMG

 

 

[lscole]

I got mine yesterday completed and sent back. I suggessted that they make an announcement when the party is. I've gone to one M&M, the other two, time was inconvient and the other the thread was pretty slow and had no interest in meeting the people. The one I did attend was a lot fun but it's funny everyone different in person.

 

Happy Cruiser

Brillance of the Seas Panama canal Jan2005

Radiance of the Seas Thanksgiving 2004

Vision of the Seas Oct 2004

Radiance of the Seas Jan 2004

Adventure of the Seas Nov 2003 25 th Anniversary

Enchantment Oct 2002

Rhapsody Alaska Aug 2001

Horizon Bermuda July 2000

Sovereign Jan 1996 and November 1991

Monarch Nov 1993

Majesty Nov 1992

QE2 transatlantic July 1986

Countess March 1986

[JMG]

We got the survey also.

 

RCI DOES announce the party. After you get your confirmation you should check the RCI website. They list the confirmed M&M and list the time and place of the gathering. Our M&M group had that information before we sailed. If you go to top of page and hit Confirmed M&M, you see the list.

 

I recommended that they did NOT do trivia contests. Our group planned our own introduction by planning an informal meet at the Sky Bar after the muster drill. The next day ws the official M&M. People arrived and we were standing around talking, getting to know each other when we instructed to sit down for a trivia contest. It was fun but when the contest was over, people left - and we had no time to M&M! The contest took time for RCI to develop but people had other stuff they wanted to do. We hardly got to speak to some of the group.

 

[This message was edited by JMG on 04-14-04 at 01:07 PM.]

[cruzinpsycharnp]

I got the "too many from your demographic"...those of us who got that all live in Florida. On Princess they didn't host a party, we just had one ourselves and it was great fun. The people who seemed uncomfortable were SO's of CCers. On Carnival we had a great group too we planned ourselves.

 

till Mariner

Queen Elizabeth 1963

Florida 1966

Mardi Gras 1980

Holiday 1982

Tropicale 1999

Pride 2002

Grand Princess 2003

Mariner 2004

[DedeM]

Another Floridian here - I couldn't fill mine out either.

 

I hope they don't have silly games. I outgrew that stuff after all the silly bridal and baby showers games. NOw that I'm in my 40's, I'm very glad I don't have to do that anymore just to be coaxed to talk to people (and I am VERY shy!!)

 

Our group is sailing on the Navigator 5/1/04 and we already have a 170+++ page thread going on at the Roll Call board. I don't think we'll have a problem with turnout. We're also meeting at the heliopad after the muster drill.

 

Navigator of the Seas 5/1/04

[allisons]

I filled mine out.

RCI Sovereign of the Seas 12/27/96 Bahamas 3-night
RCI Nordic Empress 1/19/98 Southern Caribbean 4-night
RCI Viking Serenade 12/27/99 (Millenium Cruise) Mexican Riviera 7-night
RCI Adventure of the Seas 1/12/03 Southern Caribbean 7-night
RCI Serenade of the Seas 1/3/04 Southern Caribbean 7-night
RCI Navigator of the Seas 1/8/05 Western Caribbean 7-night
RCI Explorer of the Seas 1/15/06 Western Caribbean 7-night

Days until my next cruise . . .
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=800080&cdt=2005;1;8;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[MelindaF]

I got the email regarding the survey but when I went back to take it today the email had been deleted accidentally. Could someone post the link for me? I would appreciate it!

[gailc]

I just filled out my survey. I didn't have any suggestions. Our M&M was held on the 2nd day which was our Sea Day. It was held at 11:15am & was well attended. We had received an invitation in our cabins.

JMG - Hi Joy! Bruce & I were on your cruise. Thanks again for the name tags. They are in our photo album. I think almost everyone showed up for our M&M. We had about 40 there. I have to admit that I don't remember the Trivia contest. I was probably talking!!

We all got a Cruise Critic pin. I was very excited to get mine.

Gail

[JMG]

Hi Gail!

How are you doing?? You were not sleeping. Joe and I did a 7 day on the Voyager in March. The M&M on the Brilliance was really nice. I did not see you after our last stop. Did you go on the shore excursion? IF so, how was it? We ended up getting our money back after getting soaked and the time confusion.
Good to hear from you!
Joy

[Kathie44]

Filled mine out yesterday. Ours was held on the Adventure on Tues. of our 2/8 S. Carib sruise. The time was OK,(an hour before main seating) but most of the attendees seemed to already know each other. Plus they were smoking like chimneys and that discourage us from going over to them. Neither of us can tolerate smoke. We sat away from them with a couple and chatted over drinks. One of the men from the other group came over and chatted briefly. It was OK, I guess, but not the mingling experience I expected. I wouldn't pay a surcharge for it.
I did get an E-mail notification and invitation in our cabin this time. Last Aug. on the Summit I didn't go because I never got the info.

Explorer E. Carib. 1/12/02
Explorer W. Carib. 1/18/03
Summit Alaska cruise/tour 8/3/03
Adventure S. Carib. 2/8/04

[negc]

Our last three M&Ms were well-attended and beverages were served. We had a chance to talk personally with the Cruise Directors and at one the Captain even stopped by for a few minutes. Of course our pre-cruise thread was very active and many of us organized a dinner meeting the night before the sailing. I don't automatically think that RCI's survey indicates that they are seriously thinking of discontinuing M& Ms or charging for them (that would definitely kill them IMHO), but rather the good practice of seeing how they can improve their product. I did indicate that I thought it would be good if they strongly encouraged M&M registrants to seek out and participate in the thread devoted to their upcoming cruise. That way you get to know the folks you'll be cruising with and more anxious to put faces to names when you board. It has worked for us and we have made a number of long term friends who we look forward to meeting again on future cruises and at future mix and mingles. That said, the mix and mingle meeting would not be my primary reason for sailing with RCI but it is a nice enough perk that I hope it continues. Incidentally our last M&M was at 11 am on the first day at sea, a time convenient to most everyone

Bill

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2004;10;28;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]  Jewel Repositioning

[gailc]

Hi Joy! Did you watch the Voyager on The Travel Channel last nite? It was a rerun but was a very good show. It is Cruise Week on The Travel Channel so check your TV schedule to see the rest of the week. It's too bad you did not go on the tour. It was our 2nd time on it, & this time we saw many more animals, etc. We didn't have any more rain. You would have enjoyed it. You weren't the only ones that cancelled. We are going on Adventure of the Seas on May 2. It's a 1 time 10 day itinerary & then it goes into drydock. It will be our 2nd time on AOS. We also have a Roll Call for this cruise. We have over 80 people signed up for the M&M. Waiting to see when it will be held. Hope as many show up as they did on the Brilliance. It does make the cruise that much nicer.

Gail

[reggierail]

I got mine too. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Reggie [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=CD20CD&cdt=2004;10;17;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Rhapsody 10-17-04

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=CD20CD&cdt=2004;12;06;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0700[/img]
Mercury 12-06-04

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=CD20CD&cdt=2004;03;29;17;30;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img] Monarch 3-29-04

Viking Serenade 1998
Viking Serenade 1999
Voyager of the Seas 2000
Viking Serenade 2001
Majesty of the Seas 11-2002
Norwegian Sea 11-2002
Vision of the Seas 11-2002
Mercury 5-03-03
Monarch of the Seas 6-09-03
Mercury 10-12-03
Monarch 11-17-03
Monarch 1-19-04

God bless the USA and all freedom loving people. May God protect all those who fight and die to protect those freedoms.

[siouxsieq]

I also received the survey link; however, I have not even cruised yet (1st cruise with RCCL sailing 5/9 on Rhapsody of the Seas); therefore, I have not completed it.

I do feel that if they were going to charge a surcharge to participate in the M&M, they could probably get away with that IF they were to give an on-board credit or drink coupons for the same amount to those who actually show up. That way, those who said they would attend but do not would lose out on the surcharge and RCCL would at least be compensated for their time...and those who do show up lose nothing!

By the way, I work in the marketing research industry and the results for most of these types of surveys are rarely made public. So, if you are expecting to see the results, it probably won't happen (except in what changes may come about as a result).

Happy Cruising!
Siouxsie Q (Suzy Q)