rude groups at sea

[thulewx]

I failed to mention in my review of the 13-20 Feb Westerdam cruise that there were at least 4 groups on board: a medical emergency technician's group, a Christian fellowship group, our Thule Reunion group, and a group from a company called Consul. All were well behaved except the Consul group.
On our last night at sea, they had a meeting of some sorts, complete with presentations and awards in the room off to one side in the Crow's Nest - not the Oak room, but an area open to the lounge. During their meeting, one of the women in the group came over demanding that the band lower it's volume so they could hear their presentations (because of this, every time the band would end a piece, the real audience would all applaud louder than ever). Then this "rhymes with witch" came and demanded that the group stop playing completely for 30 minutes, while they had their awards presentation. Meanwhile, we other passengers were forced to sit and wait while the musical group was forced to take a half-hour break. Many of us went to the Food and Beverage manager who was in attendance and complained about the Consul group's poor planning and behavior, but were told there was nothing that could be done. Left a very sour feeling in many people's minds. The group would also frequently try to take over various areas and acted like basic boors. Fault lies in two places: The ship should have steered the group to a different venue for this meeting, and the group should have acted like adults.

[doone]

That would make me angry as well. Why would anyone ever have a presentation scheduled in an area where a band is playing is beyond me. THEN everyone else in the lounge area is made to suffer, that's just not right.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I know the area that you are talking about on the Westerdam. I, too, wonder why they were not given another room to have their presentations. That room is not very large, so it can't hold a lot of people. But it does allow smoking. Could it be that they had some smokers in their group?

Also, if they did have some smokers in their group, some of the meeting rooms like the Hudson Room, etc., are non smoking. And those rooms are just as big to hold a presentation meeting.

I would be upset as well.

Hope you made a comment on your "comment" card.

[dakrewser]

Would that be Consul Risk Mgmt of Herndon, VA and Delft, the Netherlands?



Perhaps , though, they had no choice in the selection of a room and the F&B mgr is the one who put them there!

-dave

[heyabbott]

Would that be Consul Risk Mgmt of Herndon, VA and Delft, the Netherlands?



Perhaps , though, they had no choice in the selection of a room and the F&B mgr is the one who put them there!

-dave

That absloves them from the being there but not their behavior. But your point is well taken, it's ultimately the fault of management and not the pax. The F&B mgr should be taken to task?

[ekerr19]

I thought the thread topic was "nude groups at sea" when I first glanced at it, yikes!!! :eek:

[KatWag]

This would have been a great time for an unaccompanied ad hoc karaoke session by the "regular" passengers. I wish I'd been there. I do a beautiful rendition of cat in an alley. :)

Kathy

[tomc]

Could it be that this group also had their expectations, which did not include a band? They could have been told that their presentation would be in a fairly quiet area -- meaning both they and you got screwed by the F&B who had to fit two conflicting groups into one space.

[bepsf]

Could it be that this group also had their expectations, which did not include a band? They could have been told that their presentation would be in a fairly quiet area -- meaning both they and you got screwed by the F&B who had to fit two conflicting groups into one space.

That could be, but the answer is not for a member of the group to take it upon themselves to tell the band to stop playing, nor for anyone to go to the F&B, as that is not the person who dictates where groups meet.

The answer is for the head of the group to take the issue to the Hotel Manager (who arranges meeting rooms) and/or the cruise director (who is in charge of the entertainment).

Clearly, this person was out of line.

[jhannah]

This points out the great difficulty in trying to accommodate groups meeting on cruise ships. The vessels are not set up for true "seminars at sea." No real private meeting rooms. There isn't much choice of location for the HM to place such meetings to insure relative peace and quiet while not infringing on the enjoyment of nearby guests.

[kryos]

On our last night at sea, they had a meeting of some sorts, complete with presentations and awards in the room off to one side in the Crow's Nest - not the Oak room, but an area open to the lounge.
Sounds like more the fault of the ship's staff than the group. If I was attending an awards presentation, I'd want to be able to hear the speeches too. Though I wouldn't be so obnoxious about it, I would definitely expect an official of my group to talk to the bar manager about "turning the band off" until we were done.

No, the fault lies clearly with whoever schedules these groups. They should have had their own private room for the festivities ... i.e., the Half Moon Room or some private area where bar service could be rolled in and they could enjoy their awards presentation in peace.

Now as for taking over other areas of the ship, again ... fault of the staff, in my opinion. They should have had rooms reserved for their functions and should have been very clearly informed that they could not monopolize public areas as they were for the enjoyment of all of the passengers.

If HAL does not have facilities available for these groups (and I know that's not the case because I've traveled on a group cruise where we did have rooms made available to us for special functions ... rooms that would have seen no other use anyway), then they shouldn't book the groups.

Somebody at HAL clearly dropped the ball in this case.

At least that's my humble opinion ...

Blue skies ...

--rita

[soccerfootballmom]

This would have been a great time for an unaccompanied ad hoc karaoke session by the "regular" passengers. I wish I'd been there. I do a beautiful rendition of cat in an alley. :)

Kathy


I'm thinking the "witch" has "Lost That Lovin Feelin' " aka Top Gun... That would've been hilarious ...someone should've gotten the whole place going...;)