What made you miss your Carnival Roll Call Meet and Greet?

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

The last one we had was the best. We had someone willing to set it up through the ship and we all paid $22 each. She collected the money from all of us and we had one of the lounges for about 2 hours which included all the snacks we could eat and all the drinks we could drink. We had a roll call and I think we all showed up; we had the best time! The bartenders worked very hard -- no time to talk to us...

quote]

 

We did the same thing last year. Those bartenders and servers worked hard. We had a 50/50 raffle where the "house" 50% went to the staff as a tip and the winner sent a bottle of wine to the others at dinner. We had about $900 split so the staff (4) split 450. They knew who we were all week and everytime we saw them they thanked us.

[Sol y Mar]

The first one, we missed because 1) We were cruising with a group and I didn't want to "leave" them to meet another group and 2) DH didn't quite understand the whole meeting internet friends yet.

 

The second one we DID go to, but there were several people and many didn't seem to recognize us later on in the cruise :confused: On the first sea day, DH joined them in a slot tournament that ran FOREVER, so I went and did something else (can't handle the smoke in the casino)

 

The third one we went to, made some great friends and ran into them all over the ship :D

 

This next one, I haven't been active on the roll call because of the way one person does their posts. They "enter" after every few words (kind of like a haiku poem)..........when reading it, it's too chopped up for me to stay focused! My DD has been pretty active on it, though and has made some friends to meet on the ship.

 

Sol y Mar

[c&d]

We have been to several and missed a few. We have met some good friends on a few and still keep in contact with them.

 

One cruise was a small group one person suggested we meet each following day at designated time and talk about what we did or plan to do next day. Was great, I suggested that on a future cruise and are smalll group on that cruise met again at designated time and place. We would only meet for a few minutes in afternoons but was more enjoyable than the original m&g's.

 

My upcoming cruise roll call is very quiet. Doubt that we will go to a m&g if they plan one. We are meeting up with friends from another state that will be our m&g.

[tallgibb]

We totally planning on attending ours last Oct. (diff. cruise line) but we flew in on the red eye, and after being up for a day and a half I could not keep my eye's open any longer come 7:30pm (M+G was scheduled for 8pm on first night of a 4day cruise *no sea days). We'll have to see if a M+G gets scheduled for our next cruise! I think they would be fun!

[GottaLuvCruising]

What made you miss yours?

 

We forgot.

[Froufie]

Love the meet and greets - have made many new CC friends - some of who are now my favorite 'cruise buddies'! Like to have them right after muster - and yes you definitely need to 'identify' yourselves somehow - I suggest the beads or leis - and advise people to put them on as soon as they get to port! We have had great luck meeting up with roll call buddies while waiting in line to board! (and I also have a cruise critic t-shirt - you would be amazed at how many people come to me to 'coimplain' about something or other :D)

 

One cruise we even met a few at breakfast on the day of the cruise as there were many of us staying in the same hotel - ended up sharing a cab to port with another couple and hanging out with them in the long lineup! Lots of fun.

 

I find that a M&G set up during the cruise is a bit harder to get to - depending on what is going on....once I wake up the next morning I am off and running (usually 1st trivia game at 9:30 am). But a 2nd M&G is a good idea - we tried to set one up for tea time on last sea day.

 

On one cruise someone organized a 'gift swap' - only if you were interested - you woul bring something from your home state/province - all wrapped up - then we drew numbers and gifts - lots of great ideas and fun....I have heard of slot tournaments, poker crawls and cabin crawls that also sound fun but have never actually done that!

 

The only M&G we missed was on our last Glory cruise.....the ship was late coming in - we did not board til after 6 pm - muster was held the next morning - so I guess 'after muster' meant the following morning? no one showed up - at least not that I was aware of - but I did accidentally bump into a few on the roll call - and we exchanged cabin numbers so we could hook up later! But after 'chatting' for months it was disappointing not to match faces to the names!

 

Would love to cruise with some of my roll call buddies again!

[Name Of The Game]

I'm not a teatotaler, but tend to get a little turned off by people who have spent the last 6 months going on and on about how drunk they're going to be for 7 days ! ! :eek:

 

That's why we didn't go to our last roll call. That group was WEIRD! :eek:

[toby #1]

time flies when you are having fun. that is my excuse and I'm sticking to it. We did lose track of the time.

[The_Geek]

First Cruise we planned on going but my Sister and Brother in Law surprised us by also booking the same cruise as us. We met them while getting on the ship, so I forgot all about the M&G.

 

On our Honeymoon cruise the timing was just off for us.

[misguidedangel]

I have made it two the two that have been scheduled, but the next one will be tight and I dunno if I will make it or not. I was hoping they would do it for the first sea day in the mid afternoon, but many wanted it on embarkation day an hour or so before we leave. Most don't do 1/4 of what I do on embarkation day!

 

I will will be boarding the ship when boarding is called. I will take, at best, 45 minutes to have lunch and then I am off running to explore the ship and start taking pictures. I also have a video camera and that is done after photos are done, and after I get access to my cabin to drop carry on and unpack the carry on. Most people don't even do one full circuit of the ship on embarkdation day before the ship leaves, but I'll do it at least three or four times on embarkation day from Deck 3 to topmost deck! Not only that, if bags arrive I will unpack, and then since I am in a spa category cbin on the Splendor I will be invited for a private tour of the spa before the ship leaves.

 

Thus, between 12 and 3pm I have to do the following:

 

eat lunch

Explore the ship completely

Grab the camera and take as many as 100-150 photos of the ship/surroundings (up to an hour)

Unpack carry on/check out the cabin/chill for a few (up to an hour)

Walk around again with my video camera (up to an hour)

Drop my stuff off in my cabin and off to the spa tour

 

Now, I have to wonder how am I going to find time to squeeze in a 3pm meet n greet on the aft lido deck....I won't rush my tour of the ship, so if I show up at 4:15 or 4:30 that'll be amazing...

 

I like how it was done on the Liberty--she got a hold of Carnival and we got a room for an hour and said what time and all but a few of the 50ish people showed up!!!!

 

I'll try to get to the Splendor meet n greet, otherwise it'll be the cabin crawl when I meet some of the people (probably under 50 of the 90+ for the MnG so far).

[nagster]

Didn't make it to the M&G but did make the cabin crawl last Nov, some of us have even met up after the cruise.

[DaisyGirl55]

I love joining the Roll Calls, and then meeting the people on this ship. Our group that is sailing the Freedom in less than 3 weeks have been chatting away for months now, and we have over 3500 posts to prove it! :rolleyes:

 

We came up with a group name, have a M&G scheduled at a restaurant for those coming in the night before the cruise, we'll be gathering on the ship after muster, we have a cocktail party set up, and most of our excursions have several members sharing the excitement.

 

In fact, we are having so much fun, we are talking about cruising together again in 2011 on the Dream!

[*jess*]

We missed ours because we're super unorganized and can't stick to a schedule if our lives depended on it. By the time we got on the ship, I had totally forgotten when and where it was and we proceeded to just walk around and didn't remember....

[Shipshape7]

Lots of us join the roll calls for our ship and cruise but often never make it there and never meet anyone they made friends with prior to the cruise. I really hope we have a good number show up for ours so I thought.... let's see what causes most to miss it so we can try and avoid as much of that as possible. What made you miss yours?

 

I could never get my family to cooperate. I'm the "on line person" so its understandable that they had no interest. They were more interested in exploring the ship. The funny thing is that DH is the extrovert in real life and I'm the one who can't figure out what to say after "Hi". Our last cruise was just me with two of our daughters and we finally did make it to the M&G for the first time. We had enjoyed a very active roll call and ended up spending over 2 hours chatting. I enjoyed it a lot. I think the family will be more cooperative on our upcoming cruise because the kids are out of the kid's clubs now and want to meet people their own age on our Roll Call. Also, we've all now been on a number of ships, so running around exploring on the first afternoon is less of a priority.

[red1der1]

I missed one last year due to late sailaway. We planned on a sailaway get together once we pushed off but we left so late that we had to get ready for dinner instead so I missed it.

[jayesouthworth]

They are always held on the day the ship leaves and around sail away time. We're busy walking around the ship and finding our way around. We like goingup on the deck and enjoy the departure and waving to the people waiting on shore for the ship to pass by. By the time we make to the M&G, people are already gone. Also, it's kind of nice to just remain anonymous. :D

[FordMastertech]

OK, I've read all the posts and just have to add my two cents....Roll calls and Meet & Greets are all in what you make of them....They can be really great ways to meet new friends or total bombs.....It All depends on the group of people going on your particular cruise.

 

Our First was last Nov. we had about 35-40 Cabins listed in our roll call and out of those at least 12 showed up at the Sail away get together where some said they would show and others said they just couldnt make that one, We found that having a couple at different times worked well, that way you had your choice you could make some, all or Opt out all together. Seeing it was just past Halloween our "official" M&G was set up with Carnival in the piano bar where many more showed the next morning from 10-noon, and a lot of us brought a bag of candy and set them on tables throughout the room, those that had children had them wear their costumes and they trick or treated.....the left over was given to the kids camp. We had name tags and sign up sheets for other planned activites

we chatting and it was nice bumping into them here and there during the cruise the rest of the week. We also took a group picture and posted it on the board when we got back.

 

The other thing that was nice was the fact that there were 4 cabins side by side that were all from our RC list....very unplanned but nice, so we got to chat every evening about our day. Others linked names together for dinner seats together. It was a great group of people and that roll call is still active talking to this day.

 

The Roll call that I am on now, is Much smaller but I feel the people are just as nice. We are planning to meet up at the sail away party....most of us have posted pics and the the few who haven't Know what the few who have look like. But we are also doing the bead thing....But the offcial M&G is going to be after the late dinner in a lounge and I'm sure that there will be some that won't make either of those so we will probably also have one on our full at sea day too.....That way there are 3 different times you can hook up with those you really want to meet.....But seeing that there really are only about 9 couples and a few singles...most of us have linked our names for dinner and will be seated either together or at the next table with each other so we will be able to chat about our day every evening at dinner!!! That should be fun....as I have been talking with these people for over 3 months now....I'd rather sit with them knowing how they are than try to get to know a perfect stranger I know Nothing about in a weeks time! (and perfect example to this is my dh and I went to breakfast one moring in the dinning room other than our own.... we were sat with an older couple from NY and two teens that were friends, none of us new each other....the teens wanted nothing to do with chatting and scoffed down their food, the other couple had personalities of wet noodles and trying to pull a convo out of them was like pulling teeth. They did however chat with each other complaining about stuff cruise related.) Not the way I'd like to spend a week at dinner every night.

 

As much fun as cabin crawls, poker hands and slot games are....most don't pan out unless you really have a big group and everyone is into it. And I say that b/c a lot of people just plain have other things to do... I enjoy what the ship has to offer and usually have a hard time deciding never mind add on another thing.....they are also difficult to do time wise getting everyone to be in same place at same time or to be in their rooms to be called upon!

 

Just my opinion, but I'm entitled to it!! Thanks for listening/reading I enjoyed all the input, and will continue to either be apart of setting them up and going to all that are planned they are great ways to meet new friends!! (even if it's just for a week....Nicer when you continue to keep in touch!)

 

Donna :D

[ManyMore]

Thanks for sharing your stories it is very helpful! I didn't think Carnival did organized roll call meet and greets. NCL has been the best I have seen with that and I don't even like NCL lol

[barbemm]

HI,

I have organized about 5 or six meet and greets and all have been sucessful. I think the reasons are as follows.

 

First of all we had everyone wear a button or a ribbon or something we all could identify. Once it was (right after 9/11) a red, white and blue ribbon attached to a flag pin, once it was a badge that anothr girl took the time to make for everyone (emailed them to all), once it was a red ribbon tied around the wrist....etc....this made it easy to identify people on the first day, even when online for boarding. By doing so, it got everyone excited and mostly all showed for the meet and greet.

 

Second, we always did two, just in case something came up and someone who wanted to attend and couldn't for some reason. Alot of people make the mistake of trying to do it when they first board the ship. Bad idea as most people want to see the sail away on deck, or unpack, or are on their way to dinner (especially if they have early seating). So, usually on the 1st morning they have the welcome aboard show which 90% of the people attend anyway, especially newbies. So, I tell them after the show when everyone is leaving, hang around for a few minutes. Go to the front of the room and sit in the seats to the right of the stage when facing the stage (most don't know the difference yet of port or starboard, so just pick a side and tell them which side it is when facing the stage) You will find if you choose this time, it works well for most. The next one I like to do after the shopping tour info or after the excursion tour meetings. I prefer the shopping tour, because many have already booked their shore excursions and don't come to the meeting and they can also watch it on their cabin tv.

 

Now those have worked well for me, so hopefully it will be of some help when planning yours.

Keep in mind, people are waiting for luggage and unpacking, signing their kids up for carnival camp, getting ready for early dinner, on line maybe changing their table assignments, roaming the ship in excitement to find everything and especially the sale away on deck.

 

Hope you have a great meet and greet!

Regards,

Barb

[Megnolia]

I've been on three roll calls. The first one I don't remember having a meet and greet scheduled.

 

The second, we all got along great, booked some private excursions together and were looking forward to our meet and greet, but we missed the sailing due to a snow storm. After boarding the next day, we eventually met most of our roll call members, but found out that many missed the sailing as well, so it was a small M&G

 

The third I just wasn't really into the roll call, and didn't bother finding out if there was a Meet and Greet.

 

Next time hopefully we get a good roll call going and a great meet and greet!

[1tuckersmom]

My reason also. I think a Meet'n'Greet on sail day is ridiculous, unless later on after the ship is at sea maybe. Many paxs are beat on the first day, then have to crowd a M&G into exploring the ship, eating something from the buffet, getting a few drinks, unpacking, and sailaway. Too hectic I think.

 

A very successful one I enjoyed, met the FIRST SEA DAY at 10:00am on the Aft Lido Deck of the PRIDE near the starboard stairway. Many showed up, rested from the previous hectic day, could bring food from the buffet right through the doorway for a late breakfast, could get a drink at the bar, jump in the adult pool or jacuzzi, or just enjoy the open sea while waiting for everyone to show.

 

If you go to the ROLL CALL, one can also get an idea if you even want to meet these people (or if they want to meet you :rolleyes:). I'm not a teatotaler, but tend to get a little turned off by people who have spent the last 6 months going on and on about how drunk they're going to be for 7 days ! ! :eek:

 

Very well said.... I could not agree more.

[Sangela]

We showed up to all our meet and greets. On our Spirit m&g we had two of them, one at sail away after muster drill on the aft lido deck and one the next AM around 10AM in the atrium.

 

They both worked out nicely and we really enjoyed the people we met, still keep in touch with a couple of them.

 

Hubby was funny, I dragged him to the aft lido deck after muster drill and he was not real enthusiastic about meeting strangers, but after a bit of chatting and socializing agreed that "this is pretty cool!"

 

We are looking forward to our next one in Nov. :)

[cathyoo]

I had nothing in common with them:

 

1. Younger than us

2. Had small kids

3. Were talking too much about drinking

 

How friendly were you on the roll call?

[cathyoo]

The last one we had was the best. We had someone willing to set it up through the ship and we all paid $22 each. She collected the money from all of us and we had one of the lounges for about 2 hours which included all the snacks we could eat and all the drinks we could drink. We had a roll call and I think we all showed up; we had the best time! The bartenders worked very hard -- no time to talk to us...

quote]

 

We did the same thing last year. Those bartenders and servers worked hard. We had a 50/50 raffle where the "house" 50% went to the staff as a tip and the winner sent a bottle of wine to the others at dinner. We had about $900 split so the staff (4) split 450. They knew who we were all week and everytime we saw them they thanked us.

 

What a great idea

[royd1968]

Not one person willing to fess up? drank too much? forgot? little nookie? lol

sorry..decided not to post