is there a large group on your ship [Archive] - Cruise Critic Message Boards

Grampy

September 12th, 2006, 07:26 PM

just go to google and type in the name of your ship as i recently did
"oosterdam january 6, 2007" and start looking at all the titles that come up --thats how i found my group of bellringers

The group on my cruise sounds interesting.

October 7, 2006 Infectious Disease :eek:
14 Category 1 CME Credits
7-night Mexican Riviera from San Diego
Holland America's ms Oosterdam
October 7 - 14, 2006

WNYCRUISER

September 12th, 2006, 07:47 PM

Grampy

September 12th, 2006, 08:20 PM

Not to worry, they will be staying in the VD Cabins!:p

Good one.:D :D

michmike

September 12th, 2006, 09:08 PM

RuthC

September 12th, 2006, 09:35 PM

That's good information to know. I just tried it for the Zaandam Voyage of the Spammed and found the Cruise Critic group is the only one. So far, so good.
Then I checked on the Prinsendam Top of the World cruise for next summer and found a Cruise Critic roll-call! I hadn't even thought of checking on that yet!

At least there's no groups I'm not part of. :)

fcorey

September 12th, 2006, 10:00 PM

The group on my cruise sounds interesting.

October 7, 2006 Infectious Disease :eek:
14 Category 1 CME Credits
7-night Mexican Riviera from San Diego
Holland America's ms Oosterdam
October 7 - 14, 2006

Grampy I am on the same cruise, I've been unable to find out how large a group this is... Have you stopped by the roll call? We are trying to figure out how many CC members we have aboard, about 24 by our last estimate, so we are going to try to have HAL arrange a little get together for us

sail7seas

September 12th, 2006, 10:10 PM

I just checked our Maasdam second week of back-to-back and found CME...... Anesthesiologists. Won't have to worry about them partying too hard. They'll probably put each other to sleep. :D

LetsGoAgain

September 13th, 2006, 12:22 AM

this is good info to know.. was another thread recently about whether to worry about a group of 700 on board..

From my own experience I'd try to avoid a large group. We sailed a few years back with a large group of dixieland jazz fans and musicians... you couldn't get away from it or them.. nice people overall, and until that week I didn't mind some dixieland now and again.. but they were playing in the lido at bfast.. at the pool at lunch.. in various lounges thru out the ship during the day.

On the plus side, I spose they COULD have been Amway dealers or evangelicals.... but any group that comprises more than 20% of the passenger load is going to be problematic imho....best to be avoided if you can
Now you are making me worry.....we are sailing on the Westerdam-Nov 26 and there is a "jazzfestatsea" group that will be present-dixieland jazz fans and musicians according to their website. HAL will only confirm that they are on the sailing, not the size of the group, or what lounges and areas they will be taking over. I have had concerns regarding what you say above and have thought about switching to the Zuiderdam-Nov 25, and now I am may want to do just that. Was the jazz music all that was available for entertainment when you were on that cruise, or was the usual entertainment still being offered?

Thanks for you input.

Grampy

September 13th, 2006, 12:30 AM

Now you are making me worry.....we are sailing on the Westerdam-Nov 26 and there is a "jazzfestatsea" group that will be present-dixieland jazz fans and musicians according to their website. HAL will only confirm that they are on the sailing, not the size of the group, or what lounges and areas they will be taking over. I have had concerns regarding what you say above and have thought about switching to the Zuiderdam-Nov 25, and now I am may want to do just that. Was the jazz music all that was available for entertainment when you were on that cruise, or was the usual entertainment still being offered?

Thanks for you input.

I will trade you my Infectious Disease group for your Jazz group. :D

lougee1043

September 13th, 2006, 12:43 AM

I just checked our Maasdam second week of back-to-back and found CME...... Anesthesiologists. Won't have to worry about them partying too hard. They'll probably put each other to sleep.

its not always a question of them partying hard --its also a question of how much public space will they take over -- the crows nest--- the theatre or a complete time sitting in the dining room

Grampy

September 13th, 2006, 12:50 AM

Grampy I am on the same cruise, I've been unable to find out how large a group this is... Have you stopped by the roll call? We are trying to figure out how many CC members we have aboard, about 24 by our last estimate, so we are going to try to have HAL arrange a little get together for us

I have read through your roll call. It looks like quite a group. We will stop in and say Hi.

Bill S

September 13th, 2006, 12:51 AM

I haven't checked my future cruises yet, but on our ill-fated Statendam cruise a few years ago, the group on our cruise was:

"SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST DENTISTS"

Krazy Kruizers

September 13th, 2006, 05:28 AM

Oh goody - another toy area for me!!

michmike

September 13th, 2006, 07:34 AM

They still had the normal entertainment - nightly shows, strings in explorers, piano bar, etc..

They did put on their own shows in the show lounge earlier in the evening.

They didn't RUIN our cruise, but we've been much happier on other trips where there was not a large group who tended to monopolize things.

sail7seas

September 13th, 2006, 09:47 AM

its not always a question of them partying hard --its also a question of how much public space will they take over -- the crows nest--- the theatre or a complete time sitting in the dining room

Yes, Lou......Don' I know that!!

I'm the one who has reported here a few times about the cruise we 'endured' where a group so large took over so much of the ship that they really did tell us we were a nuisance and in the way.

We were barred from the Crows Nest 8 nights out of 10; forced to leave aft pool very early afternoon of a bright, sunny, gorgeous sea day etc etc etc

I get it!!!

riz

September 13th, 2006, 10:12 AM

On our Zuiderdam cruise last year we had a very large group sailing with us...it was a "Christian" cruise. Neither one of us being religious we were a bit wary of this group "taking over" the cruise.

As it turned out...this group was very large but some of the greatest people we have cruised with before...we met many in our travels that week and were invited to join them on many occasion. We debated going to their services even as it was a gospel group and it was something we had never experienced. We felt that despite this being a very large group they did not impact our cruise at all...if anything made the experience better.

Just to add...for those saling with CME groups...they are always quite small...usually no more than 20. CME is continuing medical education....something those of us in the medical profession need to do to keep our licences current by collecting a certain amount of credits per year. It is like a university course at sea. By doing it on a cruise ship it essentially makes having to do something that sometimes is a bit of a drag a fun experience.

Krazy Kruizers

September 13th, 2006, 10:13 AM

lougee1043

September 13th, 2006, 10:19 AM

I tried googling a cruise - got a bunch of junk.

I even went to a couple of sailings - i.e. - especially sails' second week on the Maasdam - I didn't see anything about a CME group.

What am I doing wrong??

there is usually a lot of "related" stuff there when you google-- you do have to scroll thru a lot of that to find what you are looking for

what is your ship and cruise date --

arabrab

September 13th, 2006, 11:15 AM

We had a continuing ed course for anesthesiologists on our last cruise. I never noticed them, and never noticed any significant rooms being closed off because of them. The art auctions are way more intrusive IMO. I wouldn't worry about continuing ed courses at all.

Shelli

September 13th, 2006, 12:10 PM

Not terribly long after we booked our 10/28 Zuiderdam cruise, I went to the roll call board and found the thread for that cruise. I was surprised to discover that it's being booked by an agency called Aquafest as a gay cruise! **********************************rev_halloween2k6.htmAlthough I do hope that all of their planned activities don't make us feel too excluded or barred from ship areas we wish to go, I also have to say that I'm really looking forward to Halloween! I'll bet it'll be a lot of fun just to see the costumes, even though we won't be part of their planned party! I don't know how many have signed up with Aquafest, but with nearly 2,000 total pax, I'm sure those of us who aren't part of their group will still have lots of our own fun.

sail7seas

September 13th, 2006, 12:11 PM

Just to add...for those saling with CME groups...they are always quite small...usually no more than 20. CME is continuing medical education....something those of us in the medical profession need to do to keep our licences current by collecting a certain amount of credits per year. It is like a university course at sea. By doing it on a cruise ship it essentially makes having to do something that sometimes is a bit of a drag a fun experience.

Thank you.

Yes...I understand the CME groups are usually quite small and that CME courses are held to provide continuing professional education.

My husband also has to take continuing professional education hours each year.

I was teasing about the anesthesiologists 'putting themselves to sleep'. :D I gave myself a chuckle with that one. :)

svpoole

September 13th, 2006, 04:26 PM

Now you are making me worry.....we are sailing on the Westerdam-Nov 26 and there is a "jazzfestatsea" group that will be present-dixieland jazz fans and musicians according to their website. HAL will only confirm that they are on the sailing, not the size of the group, or what lounges and areas they will be taking over. I have had concerns regarding what you say above and have thought about switching to the Zuiderdam-Nov 25, and now I am may want to do just that. Was the jazz music all that was available for entertainment when you were on that cruise, or was the usual entertainment still being offered?

Thanks for you input.

The jazzfestatsea group is limited to 250 people "due to the size" of the lounge on the ship. Evidently, one of lounges will be utilized for their numerous concerts. 250 people shouldn't effect things too much for everyone else.

sail7seas

September 13th, 2006, 04:38 PM

You won't be bothered by a group of 250. You may hear their music......but how bad can that be? :)

svpoole

September 13th, 2006, 04:59 PM

I'm looking forward to it.....beats the blaring rock music that has been mentioned. Will bring back memories of Main St. at Disneyland when I was a kid.

LetsGoAgain

September 13th, 2006, 11:44 PM

You won't be bothered by a group of 250. You may hear their music......but how bad can that be? :)

We are certainly looking forward to hearing some of the music, just perhaps not at breakfast in the lido! We were on another cruise on the Zuiderdam a couple of years ago which also had a large political convention onboard. Many times during the cruise various public areas were closed for their activities, and it did affect our choices for entertainment at times. Since I believe that there is never a bad day when you are on a cruise ship, I was fine, and am sure we will totally enjoy our upcoming cruise. I guess I am just anxious that everything will be as wonderful on this cruise, which is my sister's first, as it was for us the first time we were on the Volendam(still my favorite ship!). I am looking forward to recapturing a bit of that "first cruise" excitement thru her! And thank you svpoole for your information on the size of the group, I appreciate it.

cool change

September 13th, 2006, 11:54 PM

I just found out that I will be on the Halloween cruise on the Westerdam with CC members. I think thats for a Christain Conference. I wonder what part of the ship they will take over.

lougee1043

September 14th, 2006, 09:59 AM

I just found out that I will be on the Halloween cruise on the Westerdam with CC members. I think thats for a Christain Conference. I wonder what part of the ship they will take over.

when you google and come up with the name of the group and if you go to the groups web site you may get an idea of how many pax they will have in their group -- that how i found out that as of now there are 134 bell ringers in the group on my ship --their names and cities were posted

jagsfan

September 14th, 2006, 05:53 PM

I tried googling Volendam December 3 2006, and got pages of web sites,
mostly cruise agencies, cruisecritic references etc. What the heck am I
looking for? help, I'm lost in the wilderness...........Mimi
the reason I'm concerned is that I had to have Ships Services get us into
the dining seating we needed, because a group was in there. We booked the
cruise in July,so I was surprised to have the dining room full.

lougee1043

September 14th, 2006, 06:59 PM

[quote=jagsfan]I tried googling Volendam December 3 2006, and got pages of web sites,
mostly cruise agencies, cruisecritic references etc. What the heck am I
looking for? help, I'm lost in the wilderness...........Mimiquote]

you are looking for any links that are not from a travel agent or cruise line---look at the link headings for anything that sounds like it might be a group on your cruise ----i did take a look and it seems to me that yu are group free

ozland

September 14th, 2006, 07:19 PM

Lulley766

September 27th, 2006, 02:56 PM

Thank you so much for posting this. We cancelled our 8/5/07 Noordam Alaska cruise when we found out a group of 500 "Inspirational" people would be aboard. Having been on large group cruises before we know that whether they want to or not, they take over everything. This group took ALL the late dining for that cruise and the latest dining available was 6:15 to the rest of us! Doesn't seem fair on the part of HAL to do this, but business is business. We were never able to figure out exactly what they were (preachers, motivational speakers or whatever). Well, after you posted your thread I went and checked. They are televangelists! Thank goodness we changed. It would have gotten really ugly with my group. Thanks so much. These boards are invaluable in the most unusual ways.

trubey

September 27th, 2006, 03:21 PM

A Googling suggestion for those having trouble locating groups who might be on their cruise:

WhenI was keeping up the group cruise website, I very frequently used the word "join" when doing my searches.

And, if HAL won't disclose the size of the group, the sponsors might if you say that you are interested in joining. susana.

crystal808

September 27th, 2006, 03:32 PM

I just found out that I will be on the Halloween cruise on the Westerdam with CC members. I think thats for a Christain Conference. I wonder what part of the ship they will take over.

LOL! There's a small group of CCers going on the Westerdam...the Hal-O-WeenDam group. CC = Cruise Critic, unless you know something I don't!! :D

Haven't seen or heard about a group "Christain Conference" on board...just a group of some 25 +/- cruise critic members!

Of course, you may already know that....! ;)

Paul
who's off to Google his cruise! :eek: Nope...just us!

Southbound

September 27th, 2006, 03:48 PM

We're on the CC Westerdam Halloween cruise and initially had booked it as a b2b with the 11/5 sailing. With many thanks to Trubey, I learned the 11/5 will be having a religious group on board -- can't remember the exact name of the group; something about a Jews for Jesus affiliation. I checked their website and it was sold out, so I immediately canceled our 11/5 booking.

shonuf

September 27th, 2006, 06:26 PM

I know I've checked our cruise before, especially since HAL originally booked us on a chartered cruise, and didn't find any groups but..........I just checked and found two groups on our cruise; but I don't think they'll be large enough to affect the cruise experience. One is for autoharpists (I might even sneak in and listen if they'd let me) and the other is for people who have COPD. Good idea to check tho, especially prior to final payment.

innlady1

September 27th, 2006, 06:58 PM

We're either booking the Noordam or Maasdam for a February cruise. How does one find out, ahead of time, what groups are on board? You've all brought up some great points!
Thanks in advance!

happy cruzer

September 28th, 2006, 09:35 AM

We're either booking the Noordam or Maasdam for a February cruise. How does one find out, ahead of time, what groups are on board? You've all brought up some great points!
Thanks in advance!

Hi, Are you famaliar with the search engine - google. that's what lou and trubey's post on this thread are referring to.

www.google.com (http://www.google.com)

will get you a search engine. It will ask you for search parameters. In your case just type in

Noordam Feb 2007

and it will do a search and come back with some "hits" some will just be ads from TAs wanting to sell cruises online. Others may be from organizers of the large groups.

give it a try, and let us know how it goes!

innlady1

September 28th, 2006, 10:51 AM

Thank you, happy cruzer! I will give it a try.....

kryos

September 28th, 2006, 02:02 PM

I just found out that I will be on the Halloween cruise on the Westerdam with CC members. I think thats for a Christain Conference. I wonder what part of the ship they will take over.
Depending on the size of the Christian group, they could utilize either the Wijang Theater or the main show lounge during certain times of the day for their services. No big thing. Those venues are not used all day long for general ship activities anyway ... so losing them won't present any hardship.

Blue skies ...

--rita

crystal808

September 28th, 2006, 03:18 PM

Just to reiterate, and clarify: I'm on the Westerdam, 10/29 cruise. The only "CC" group that I've discovered aboard is the Cruise Critic bunch! There's only 20-25 of us, and I doubt we'll be much of a problem! Of course, with the fearless Ziggy as our leader, one can never be too sure!1 LOL

Of course, I may be mistaken...won't be the first time! :D

Paul
cc'er
HAL-O-WeenDam cruise

kryos

September 28th, 2006, 08:05 PM

Thank you so much for posting this. We cancelled our 8/5/07 Noordam Alaska cruise when we found out a group of 500 "Inspirational" people would be aboard.
The host of the cruise is a televangelist ... not the group. I located the group sailing on the website of the travel agency hosting it, but cannot post the link or the name of the agency since that is against CC guidelines. But the televangilist, who is the director of Turning Point Ministries is hosting this cruise as a part of his ministry. I am sure they would not be a bad group to sail with, as most probably don't drink, and Christians generally don't carouse. They would probably be quite an unobtrusive bunch as they would have their "services" during the day in lounges that wouldn't be used for any other purpose during those hours anyway. Believe me, I wouldn't hesitate to sail with that sort of group. The environment aboard ship would probably be quieter and more relaxing than most other sailings without groups. :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

cool change

September 28th, 2006, 11:17 PM

crystal808

September 29th, 2006, 07:43 AM

This thread is great. I know that its the Cruise Critic group that will be on Oct. 29th Westerdam. I will be with you. I was kidding with my comment. I think I had Christain Conference on the brain because we will also be with the Jews for Jesus ( if thats what they are) on Nov. 5th.

It's easy to get things a bit "jumbled" when planning multiple weeks! I just thought the C C designation of "Christain Conference" was a hoot, particularly when exchanging messages with a lot of the CCers in our group over the past few months!

We'll look forward to seeing you on board! We'll be the ones in the CC t-shirts, caps, etc.!!!

Paul

happy cruzer

September 29th, 2006, 08:19 AM

At the small private university I attended CCers where

Church Career majors. Did you ever think about how many people actually work in churchs? Choir directors, administrators, ministers, day care, etc. And at smaller churchs they get to wear many of these hats. Learn something new every day.

have fun everyone.

ncdeac

September 29th, 2006, 09:01 AM

Shelli...

My husband, my parents and I are all booked on the same Halloween cruise as you. I think it is going to be a hoot! I was a little concerned about the size of the group taking over the entire ship so I called my TA and asked her what she thought. She actually called Aquafest two different times and was told by two different people that it looked like they were only going to have around 250 to 300 or so this year. I think that will be the perfect size. Like you I can't wait to see their costumes. I am getting so excited!

DCT61

September 29th, 2006, 12:55 PM

Shelli/ncdeac..My partner and I are on this cruise with the Aquafest group, and we were notified that the official count of people signed up is 350. Not too overwhelming. Since neither of us are into the "costume thing" we'll be watching with interest right along with you. Im sure we're all going to have a great trip!