Is there a group boked on my cruise?

[Toad]

In another posting on this site, someone was able to state that certain groups were booked on a specific cruise. How does one go about finding this information? We will be cruising on the Veendam March 18 2007 and I am wondering if there will be any specific groups on board. How could I find out about this? I also wondered about the Amsterdam on January 2, 2007.

[WindyCity]

Best way I know is to Google it - put in the ship's name and departure date - then check the entries.

[Southbound]

You can also try http://www.geocities.com/cruise_trubey/

[lougee1043]

the trubey site is no longer being kept up to date

[Southbound]

Thanks, loungee1043. That's too bad, it was a good site.

[lougee1043]

Thanks, loungee1043. That's too bad, it was a good site.

it certainly was -- trueby posted not that long ago that the work in keeping the site up to date was prohibitive

[jagsfan]

I found out there's a group on my cruise when I called ships service and
found out the 6:15pm dining was full because of a group. If you ask the
right person they might be able to tell you.

[lougee1043]

Best way I know is to Google it - put in the ship's name and departure date - then check the entries.

did that -- found the crossword puzzle group that i knew from trueby--also discovered a wellness group will be holding seminars and my favorite is that there will be at least 120 bell ringers on board this cruise--- at least we will know when dinner is lol

[Toad]

Thanks all. Tried the google search and didn't et anything. I wonder if this is a good sign?

[Ziggy7]

Thanks all. Tried the google search and didn't et anything. I wonder if this is a good sign?I would say yes it is :)

[Ziggy7]

did that -- found the crossword puzzle group that i knew from trueby--also discovered a wellness group will be holding seminars and my favorite is that there will be at least 120 bell ringers on board this cruise--- at least we will know when dinner is lolOh my!!! Hope they only play at dinner time LOL Otherwise you'll be hearing bells the whole cruise LOL

[lougee1043]

Oh my!!! Hope they only play at dinner time LOL Otherwise you'll be hearing bells the whole cruise LOL

according to the site -- they have sessions on sea days --wonder which public rooms they will be taking over

[mechcc]

according to the site -- they have sessions on sea days --wonder which public rooms they will be taking over

Probably the meeting rooms or the theater so shouldn't interfer with your enjoyment.

[lougee1043]

Probably the meeting rooms or the theater so shouldn't interfer with your enjoyment.

have a feeling they will need more room then the theatre -- these are bell ringers and everyone will need a table to put their bells on -- hope they dont take over te crows nest

[Atomica]

I was on the Oosterdam in February, and on our sailing there was a MacMania/Photoshop group sailing.

Honestly, it never really interfered with anything I wanted to do, and I hardly knew the group was there. Now, being a Mac user, it was cool to talk with some of the "Mac" people that were there, but really, they only seemed to take over the conference rooms & Queens lounge every now and then.

Now, I suppose it all depends on what group may be on your sailing with how disruptive it is. But if you didn't get any google searches, that might be ok!

[kryos]

according to the site -- they have sessions on sea days --wonder which public rooms they will be taking over
These don't sound like very large groups. They will probably be using rooms that are designated for meetings and corporate groups. The "public" rooms that the group will use should be ones that wouldn't be in use for the general ship population anyway. Even if the "bell ringers" use the show lounge ... it will probably be during hours when that lounge wouldn't be in use anyway.

That's the problem with trying to determine if there's a group on your cruise. There is a group pretty much on EVERY cruise ... in fact, often several of them. But most of the groups are not that large and their presence isn't even felt by everyone else. The problem occurs when there is a large group ... one that takes over the majority of the ship's cabins. Then you've got a problem because that group will have a lot of influence and thus will be catered to. A group like that will be permitted to take over the dining room for one of the seatings, the show lounge on a particular night for their own private entertainment, the pool area on a nice sea day for a private party, etc.

The unfair thing is that Ship's Services will not clue you in if there is a large group on your sailing. You pretty much find out when you get onboard and find out that your dining time has been changed because the group has the dining room at your preferred seating time, or you can't enjoy Sailaway at the main Lido Pool because the group is having their own private Sailaway party.

Travel agents should band together and make their voices heard in situations like this ... and pressure the cruise lines to disclose to inquiring parties booked on a sailing whether or not a large group will be onboard.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[lougee1043]

These don't sound like very large groups.>>>>

That's the problem with trying to determine if there's a group on your cruise. The unfair thing is that Ship's Services will not clue you in if there is a large group on your sailing.Travel agents should band together and make their voices heard in situations like this ... and pressure the cruise lines to disclose to inquiring parties booked on a sailing whether or not a large group will be onboard.

as i posted there are already 120 signed up for the cruise and its still 5 months away

contacted my ta and he said the same thing -- they wont tell the tas anything re groups on board

[serendipity1499]

as i posted there are already 120 signed up for the cruise and its still 5 months away

contacted my ta and he said the same thing -- they wont tell the tas anything re groups on board

120 people is really not a large group...When you have 1/4 or 1/2 of the ship booked by a single group, it can become disruptive to non-group passengers..

Rita did acknowledge that she knew Cruise lines will not divulge their group bookings to TA's..But she went on to say; if enough of the top selling TA's pressure the Cruise Lines, perhaps one day they will change that policy & advise when questioned about large group bookings...It's the old saying " The squeaky wheel gets .........", or is it " The Ringing Bell gets......."

[kryos]

if enough of the top selling TA's pressure the Cruise Lines, perhaps one day they will change that policy & advise when questioned about large group bookings...It's the old saying " The squeaky wheel gets .........", or is it " The Ringing Bell gets......."
I still can't believe the cruise lines can get away with that sort of thing. I'd much prefer to be bumped because the sailing got chartered than to sail with a large group onboard who is getting first priority for everything.

I remember reading on another board about a large group taking over a sailing on Regent ... a luxury line. The group took over about two-thirds of the ship, and they were treated first class all the way ... group seating for dinner, relegating other passengers to the buffet ... priority tendering on the motu, etc. Everyone on that sailing paid top bucks, yet the group went first class ... everyone else was relegated to coach. There were some riled up people ... and I don't blame them. Regent is not cheap and the people who are willing to pay the premium to receive luxury treatment expect to get it.

I don't know what the end result of that incident was ... whether people got a credit or some other type of consideration ... but I sure know that the cruise lines should not be allowed to permit any one group to take entitlements away from other passengers. They shouldn't be allowed to close down public areas for private parties, take over an entire seating in the dining room, or lock other non-group passengers out of the more popular shore excursions, etc.

I'd be very interested to hear what TA's think of this, and if they've ever had one of their customers come back from a trip steaming mad about a large group that took over their cruise.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[cruisinbulldog]

... but I sure know that the cruise lines should not be allowed to permit any one group to take entitlements away from other passengers. They shouldn't be allowed to close down public areas for private parties, take over an entire seating in the dining room, or lock other non-group passengers out of the more popular shore excursions, etc.


--rita[/quote]

Amen to that.. We all pay good money to be on the ship.. It would be one thing if the cruise line would warn you of a large group, but they try to keep it a secret.. Tell me if I am wrong but don't these large groups get better rates than we do!!

[lougee1043]

Amen to that.. We all pay good money to be on the ship.. It would be one thing if the cruise line would warn you of a large group, but they try to keep it a secret.. Tell me if I am wrong but don't these large groups get better rates than we do!![/quote]

dont know about any other groups but the bellringers certainly werent getting any bargain compared to what im paying for my cabin

here are the prices taken from the bell ringers web site

Inside Stateroom from $1016.91
Oceanview Stateroom from $1176.91
Verandah from $1266.91
Prices are per person based on double occupancy and subject to availability. Airfare is additional. Port charges and Government fees are included. Other restrictions may apply.