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New! OFFICIAL Meet & Mingles on Your Next 7-day or Longer Carnival Cruise!


LauraS
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We had over 100 signed up for our Vista cruise and Carnival scheduled it for the LAST day of the cruise at a time when people would still be in port.

 

I sent them several emails, contacted John Heald on facebook and even spoke to John Heald on the ship to no avail. They stuck with 4 pm on the last port day of the cruise.

 

Needless to say, no one showed up.

 

That is disappointing. :(

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We had over 100 signed up for our Vista cruise and Carnival scheduled it for the LAST day of the cruise at a time when people would still be in port.

 

I sent them several emails, contacted John Heald on facebook and even spoke to John Heald on the ship to no avail. They stuck with 4 pm on the last port day of the cruise.

 

Needless to say, no one showed up.

 

That sounds like the "farewell party" that they had a few years ago. It was at 5:00 on the last night when people were busy packing.

 

If you plan something at an inconvenient time, no one will come, then we can cancel due to lack of interest. Right?

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That sounds like the "farewell party" that they had a few years ago. It was at 5:00 on the last night when people were busy packing.

 

If you plan something at an inconvenient time, no one will come, then we can cancel due to lack of interest. Right?

 

Sounds familiar for sure

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think some people may be getting confused. On one hand if you're on the roll call for your cruise & someone is arranging an informal meet & greet (usually on sail away) you don't have to sign up. You're on the roll call & that's good.

The more "formal" meet & mingle sponsored by CRUISE CRITIC with Carnival is a MUST sign up and is NOT organized by anyone on the roll call. You are not counted as "going" if you have not signed up. People can still go if not signed up officially but if the minimum didn't sign up with CC then it won't happen.

I just received an email for my July 16 cruise on Valor that said: "This is just a reminder for the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle aboard your Carnival Cruise Line ship that you helped organize on the 07/16/2016 sailing of Carnival Valor. Once onboard, you will receive an invitation stating the date, time and place of your party." Doesn't that sound like I will get an invitation and NOT find it printed in the Fun Times? Confusing! :confused:

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I just received an email for my July 16 cruise on Valor that said: "This is just a reminder for the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle aboard your Carnival Cruise Line ship that you helped organize on the 07/16/2016 sailing of Carnival Valor. Once onboard, you will receive an invitation stating the date, time and place of your party." Doesn't that sound like I will get an invitation and NOT find it printed in the Fun Times? Confusing! :confused:

 

That's what it sounds like - I looked at my email from my Freedom cruise & it just said it would be listed in the Fun Times - no mention of an invitation. I never saw it in the Fun Times, although someone on CC reported it was only on the printed version, not the app version, which explains why I missed it. Maybe they have heard the complaints & decided to use invitations now. Have fun!

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I just received an email for my July 16 cruise on Valor that said: "This is just a reminder for the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle aboard your Carnival Cruise Line ship that you helped organize on the 07/16/2016 sailing of Carnival Valor. Once onboard, you will receive an invitation stating the date, time and place of your party." Doesn't that sound like I will get an invitation and NOT find it printed in the Fun Times? Confusing! :confused:

 

That's what it sounds like - I looked at my email from my Freedom cruise & it just said it would be listed in the Fun Times - no mention of an invitation. I never saw it in the Fun Times, although someone on CC reported it was only on the printed version, not the app version, which explains why I missed it. Maybe they have heard the complaints & decided to use invitations now. Have fun!

 

I would hope CC is working with Carnival to fine tune the M&M so more people would find out about. Cudos to both if this is happening. .

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That's what it sounds like - I looked at my email from my Freedom cruise & it just said it would be listed in the Fun Times - no mention of an invitation. I never saw it in the Fun Times, although someone on CC reported it was only on the printed version, not the app version, which explains why I missed it. Maybe they have heard the complaints & decided to use invitations now. Have fun!

 

I would hope CC is working with Carnival to fine tune the M&M so more people would find out about. Cudos to both if this is happening. .

 

That explains why so many people are missing it. They are looking at an app. I will remind my roll calls to use the printed fun times. Thanks!

 

Sue

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That's what it sounds like - I looked at my email from my Freedom cruise & it just said it would be listed in the Fun Times - no mention of an invitation. I never saw it in the Fun Times, although someone on CC reported it was only on the printed version, not the app version, which explains why I missed it. Maybe they have heard the complaints & decided to use invitations now. Have fun!

 

I would hope CC is working with Carnival to fine tune the M&M so more people would find out about. Cudos to both if this is happening. .

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I would hope CC is working with Carnival to fine tune the M&M so more people would find out about. Cudos to both if this is happening. .

 

I would suggest that if you want to meet..make your own plans..we got no email or anything in the fun times. We wore leis and I found somebody that way at embarkation

Dont be sorry make your own before you go.

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I would hope CC is working with Carnival to fine tune the M&M so more people would find out about. Cudos to both if this is happening. .

 

That explains why so many people are missing it. They are looking at an app. I will remind my roll calls to use the printed fun times. Thanks!

 

Sue

 

We didn't miss ours. It was printed in the paper fun times. We were there, along with other cc members at the time and place given. Carnival was the no show.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It was strange to see that the M&M was actually in the hardcopy Fun Times, not on the Carnival Hub, albeit it was at a very weird time.

 

One other person showed up besides me (and my wife). I went because it was in a location I had not been to on the ship and I was interested to see what that room looked like.

 

An entertainment team member was present (he was nice, but had no clue what CC was or why he was there - other than the CD said he was running late), no signage was out, there were some refreshments in a small side table but there was a small Latin singing group LOUDLY rehearsing while other people used the room as a pass through from one location to another.

 

The CD did come by about 5 or 6 minutes later and we were still there so he stopped to chat with us for a while. He was very nice and we had a very nice talk.

 

I enjoyed it quite a bit because it was almost a totally one-on-one for 15 minutes with the CD and you don't get that very often.

 

Sure, I wish it was better attended, at a more convenient time and more importantly closer to the start of the cruise, but it was still a lot of fun nevertheless.

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Hi Everyone:

 

I apologize for the delay in addressing these issues; I've been back for about a week from a two month medical leave of absence and I'm still catching up (for the 'want to know' folks, i had a total hip replacement). Moving on...

 

During my absence I did receive an email from Carnival's Community Manager, and in response made some suggestions on how to communicate times etc, as well as options for timeframes, etc. We will put our heads together to work this out.

 

Here's how it stands now. This is an official partnership between Carnival and Cruise Critic. Meet & Mingle Parties will be held on all sailings that are 7 days or longer if 25 people register to attend. The time, date and place will be published in Fun Times no later than the night before the day of the party. This also means that it could be published even earlier.

 

There should be light refreshments at these events, but there is no entertainment nor should you expect that staff from Carnival will be there to help you break the ice or act as MC. If they attend, that's great! Remember the reason for this is for you to meet the folks you have been chatting with on Cruise Critic before your cruise -- some folks even know each other for years.

 

If things go wrong with your Meet & Mingle, please write to me at community@cruisecritic.com. Do not post on John's Facebook page as he really won't be able to work out these issues.

 

As I continued to read through this thread, it does seem there has been progress since we launched this partnership. From our viewpoint, it will only get better.

 

Now, what should you do? Or not do? Please register to attend, then actually go. Don't "overregister". By that I mean sign up everyone in your stateroom even though you know they won't go. We do understand plans change, but do your best to attend.

 

My best tip when you do attend? Don't sit down. You are there to meet others -- get up, walk around, introduce yourself. Get a nametag (we have some available on the Carnival M&M page). Remember the real purpose and Enjoy!

 

Laura

Edited by LauraS
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Laura, was the scheduling issue discussed? Seems that this is a major issue? They (the ship) seems to be scheduling very late into the cruise (which I believe goes against the spirit of the meet and mingle concept which is to meet CC members with whom you might mingle with throughout the cruise) or they are held while people are ashore or during dinner times? I believe this issue should be addressed as timing will greatly affect turnout.

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Pssst!

 

Have you seen the new Carnival/Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle button on this forum? Look to your right. Yes...the right. See the button under the first ad? Click Join the Party, well..to join the party! (It will take you to the Party Registration Page!)

 

Enjoy!

 

Laura

 

For the life of me, I do not see a button on the right.

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Laura, was the scheduling issue discussed? Seems that this is a major issue? They (the ship) seems to be scheduling very late into the cruise (which I believe goes against the spirit of the meet and mingle concept which is to meet CC members with whom you might mingle with throughout the cruise) or they are held while people are ashore or during dinner times? I believe this issue should be addressed as timing will greatly affect turnout.

 

Yes, it was discussed and we all agree that it makes sense to have these early in the cruise.

 

However. And it is a BIG however. There are many affinity (paying) groups on board vying for the same space on board. It's the SHIP that has to make a decision and assign precious space to groups that request it. It's a tough job, as space is limited. Paying groups go first, of course, understandable!

 

I'll be passing this info along to Carnival.

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For the life of me, I do not see a button on the right.

 

 

The "button" is on the right side of the board grid -- it is located UNDER the first square ad. It looks like this:

 

meetandmingle_carnival.jpg

 

Also, if you look to the right you'll see a box full of links to information about Carnival Meet & Mingles -- it is above the first ad.

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Hi

 

dothow here. I tried to register for the Meet & Mingle on the Carnival Magic sailing Aug. 13th, 2016. When I go to the page and put in the Magic and sailing date it comes up.

However, the e-mail that is in there is an old e-mail that is no longer in service. I did change my Cruise Critic e-mail. However, the e-mail in the Meet and Mingle is still the old one that does not work. It does not let you change it in the registration form.

We have been on Meet and Greets on other cruise lines and enjoyed meeting others.

We would really like to go to the Meet and Mingle on the August 13, 2016 sailing. There will be four of us. Please I need your advise on how to resolve this issue.

 

Thank you all for your help

dothow

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Yes, it was discussed and we all agree that it makes sense to have these early in the cruise.

 

However. And it is a BIG however. There are many affinity (paying) groups on board vying for the same space on board. It's the SHIP that has to make a decision and assign precious space to groups that request it. It's a tough job, as space is limited. Paying groups go first, of course, understandable!

 

I'll be passing this info along to Carnival.

 

Hi Laura,

 

I would like to add some info I obtained on my Magic cruise in May. There were 4 out of 52 CC members at the CC/CCL M&M. It was held at around 3:30pm on a port day, while most everyone were trying to get back onboard. (monster t-storm occurred). Point being, why was it scheduled at this time??:confused:

 

Well, I/we spoke at length with 5-6 high ranking crew members, who attended and spoke with the 4 of us for an hour. (CD, Ent Dir, F&B Dir., Hotel Dir etc...):)

 

The scheduling point was discussed at length. They all agreed that their schedules were cramped on the first sea day... except for around 10am-11:30am for almost all of them. This also applied to venues!

At least on the Magic, they listened and hopefully adjusted to the comments. Maybe...Maybe Not?:confused:

 

We told them, that he CC/CCL M&M would be more successful if:

 

#1: The M&M should be held on the First Sea Day, early-mid morning would be fine!! Locations are not important, just a quiet place to meet and mingle...even the promenade....aft area....etc..

 

#2: Send an email to the those who signed up for the event, it is a small group of people and well within GS's abilities. Post it in the Fun Times, but in Bold or larger print....can you read this without your glasses....or even see it among the 50 or so other listing of this size font? :)

 

#3: Crew members need only to attend if possible! Even 1 member would be OK, but none are req'd, same as with the CC RC events organized by us for many years...:)

 

We discussed a lot more, but I was very impressed with the Magic's staff and the fact that after 15-20mins, and only 4 of us, they stayed for an hour or so.:)

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Hi Everyone:

 

During my absence I did receive an email from Carnival's Community Manager, and in response made some suggestions on how to communicate times etc, as well as options for timeframes, etc. We will put our heads together to work this out.

 

Here's how it stands now. This is an official partnership between Carnival and Cruise Critic. Meet & Mingle Parties will be held on all sailings that are 7 days or longer if 25 people register to attend. The time, date and place will be published in Fun Times no later than the night before the day of the party. This also means that it could be published even earlier.

 

If things go wrong with your Meet & Mingle, please write to me at community@cruisecritic.com. Do not post on John's Facebook page as he really won't be able to work out these issues.

 

As I continued to read through this thread, it does seem there has been progress since we launched this partnership. From our viewpoint, it will only get better.

 

Now, what should you do? Or not do? Please register to attend, then actually go. Don't "overregister". By that I mean sign up everyone in your stateroom even though you know they won't go. We do understand plans change, but do your best to attend.

 

My best tip when you do attend? Don't sit down. You are there to meet others -- get up, walk around, introduce yourself. Get a nametag (we have some available on the Carnival M&M page). Remember the real purpose and Enjoy!

 

Laura

 

 

 

Hi Laura

 

I just read Leog's post. This is what happened on our cruise 2 months ago.

 

Is there a commitment to actually make this happen or not? It seems it is only done if it is convenient? (on some ships)

 

So what I am asking is, what is it that they said they would do different now, than in the past?

 

To plan and actually have a successful M & G was hit and miss before when we made our own arrangements. You must understand that if Carnival says they will take care of making the arrangements and it just doesn't happen at all, it is somewhat disappointing. It's not like we are going to do it again next week. That is why I felt that until they come up with a plan that we can count on and see happening week after week, we should just continue to arrange our own get together. A meeting mid week or later just defeats the purpose and it seems that when they do that it comes at very odd hours.

 

Really...thanks for your efforts.

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Just got off magic . No meet and greet listed. Carnival dropped the ball again!!!

 

Bummer!

 

I still think it is both CC and CCL's fault for their reluctance to appropriately address the issues regarding the CC/CCL Meet and Mingle. :(

 

I am sorry to hear that the Magic staff didn't respond at all. They are all well aware of the CC/CCL M&M's. Even the CCL group customer service reps are aware but they defer to the ship's staff for the event.?

 

I am not sure how the other cruise lines have coordinated the CC/XX M&M's, but apparently, the other line's home offices are in control, rather than the ship staff, as is the case with CCL.

 

This struggle reminds me of an on going battle with our City's Park Dept, homeowners assoc., and a local commercial company infringing on a park in our neighborhood. You can beat and bang all you want, but unless you have real power (ie...$$$), nothing gets done.... :):)

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Yes, it was discussed and we all agree that it makes sense to have these early in the cruise.

 

However. And it is a BIG however. There are many affinity (paying) groups on board vying for the same space on board. It's the SHIP that has to make a decision and assign precious space to groups that request it. It's a tough job, as space is limited. Paying groups go first, of course, understandable!

 

I'll be passing this info along to Carnival.

 

Hi Laura,

 

I would like to add some info I obtained on my Magic cruise in May. There were 4 out of 52 CC members at the CC/CCL M&M. It was held at around 3:30pm on a port day, while most everyone were trying to get back onboard. (monster t-storm occurred). Point being, why was it scheduled at this time??:confused:

 

Well, I/we spoke at length with 5-6 high ranking crew members, who attended and spoke with the 4 of us for an hour. (CD, Ent Dir, F&B Dir., Hotel Dir etc...):)

 

The scheduling point was discussed at length. They all agreed that their schedules were cramped on the first sea day... except for around 10am-11:30am for almost all of them. This also applied to venues!

At least on the Magic, they listened and hopefully adjusted to the comments. Maybe...Maybe Not?:confused:

 

We told them, that he CC/CCL M&M would be more successful if:

 

#1: The M&M should be held on the First Sea Day, early-mid morning would be fine!! Locations are not important, just a quiet place to meet and mingle...even the promenade....aft area....etc..

 

#2: Send an email to the those who signed up for the event, it is a small group of people and well within GS's abilities. Post it in the Fun Times, but in Bold or larger print....can you read this without your glasses....or even see it among the 50 or so other listing of this size font? :)

 

#3: Crew members need only to attend if possible! Even 1 member would be OK, but none are req'd, same as with the CC RC events organized by us for many years...:)

 

We discussed a lot more, but I was very impressed with the Magic's staff and the fact that after 15-20mins, and only 4 of us, they stayed for an hour or so.:)

 

 

 

ABSOLUTELY... Last week on the Valor July 8th sailing, the Cruise Critic Meet n Greet was held on the last sea day at 2:00 in the afternoon (the day before the cruise ended)... TERRIBLE HORRIBLE timing ... I want to meet the others early in the cruise and not on the last sea day trying to get in that last minute shopping, sun, packing, some of us having the Past Guest Party at the same time... Thanks for looking into this Laura...

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Hi All!

 

We are sailing the Glory on August 27th. There are over 25 of us signed up. We've also set up a Facebook page. I will be sure to promote it with our group as long as I see it in the Fun Times.

 

Thanks for the info! Will update you in September!!!

 

Michelle

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Yes, it was discussed and we all agree that it makes sense to have these early in the cruise.

However. And it is a BIG however. There are many affinity (paying) groups on board vying for the same space on board. It's the SHIP that has to make a decision and assign precious space to groups that request it. It's a tough job, as space is limited. Paying groups go first, of course, understandable!

I'll be passing this info along to Carnival.

 

Laura,

Just wanted the share news of our successful M&M!! We had 135 people officially signed up for July 16 Valor Cruise M&M. I sent the CD a message the day before we left to tell her about our large & excited group. Also let her know I had name tags. A group member checked in at the guest services to inquire about the meeting & was told they didn't have a contact person so Amy took that on.

Our M&M was scheduled for 4 pm on our 2nd sea day in the aft lounge. It was listed in the Fun Times on the tear away schedule & the CD announced it @3 pm when she made her afternoon announcement. The Carnival hostess who arranged the set up met us in the lounge along with the asst CD. Both helped us get everything ready, including getting a drawing set up because the brought prizes! We had 5 bottles of champagne & 5 ships on sticks! We had almost 60 people show up! The head of the hotel department welcomed us & did a Q&A session. CD Classy Cassie talked to the group & helped with the drawings. There is as a long table with hot & cold drinks, cookies, pastries, & lots of other treats!

Amy had arranged a grab bag exchange - willing participants brought a bag of goodies ($10-15) that represented where you were from (state or region). Bags were set on table & those who brought bags drew numbers to see order of selecting. It was so much fun!

Key takeaways- a couple people from the roll call or M&M list need to be points of contact. Laura - would that be you sharing name & cabin # with Carnival or someone going to guest services on the first day? The name tags: the format posted isn't workable with name tag labels. I took screenshots of the one tag & created a master with 10 tags on a page. I printed out the guest list from CC M&M sign up page just before leaving home. On my long flight I filled in the CC usernames for everyone signed up (only making 1 per user name unless I knew there was a spouse from our roll call information). So kids & extra adults did not have a tag. If I already knew their real first name I also had that written in. Saved a lot of time with people "checking in" I had a marker for those to write their name if I didn't know it.

Other than that we had a fantastic turnout & we were grateful for Carnival's support. Especially since the 5 pm Diamond party was next door & most officers were there. 😛

Thank you Laura for all your work to make this happen. 😊

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