Meet & Greet ?s

How does one go about setting up a meet & greet onboard?

Is there a minimum number of people required?

Where is the event held and when?

Is there a charge for this from HAL?

Thanks for the info in advance.

Hi, Larsenbiz; it's really easy to set up. I just arranged for 2 of them on our recent Maasdam cruise (it was a back to back so there were 2 segments) and it all went so easily, thanks to HAL.

First, I'd say about 3 weeks beforehand, when you know pretty much how many people will be involved, you'll want to contact Ship Services to make the arrangements. They have several people there who share the responsibility for the various ships; the person who handles the Maasdam handles a couple of other ships so I'm assuming similar arrangements are made to cover all of the ships. Someone there will tell you who to contact for your particular ship.

That person will e-mail you a form to fill out and return via e-mail. The form's not a perfect fit for our needs; it's probably more suitable to a travel agency representative arranging for a meeting or something, but it'll work just fine. Fill out as best as you can. As best as I could tell there are no minimums on the numbers but they need to know how many to set up for. You want to ask for the "tea, coffee and cookies" option; that's free and unless you are willing to pay for it :eek: don't request a microphone, audio equipment, that sort of stuff. That does cost.

You need to have a time and preferred place in mind when you fill out the form. I asked for a consensus among those who would attend from the roll call so I knew that for our group, they preferred first sea day and I asked the Ship Services person (who seemed to have copies of recent daily programs) what hour would best avoid conflicts with popular events that our roll call members would be wanting to attend. I took her advice on setting the time.

I got a confirmation back almost instantly and I printed it to take with me, just in case. I stopped by Guest Services and asked that the Bar Manager (who Ship Services told me is the set-up person on the Maasdam; perhaps that varies) confirm that we were set for the next day and within an hour I had a message on our cabin phone that he had received the request and we were expected. I went up to our designated spot in the Crows Nest about 15 minutes early and everything was beautifully arranged, with a "private party" sign and chairs pulled into a sort of circle for easy conversation. We had about 25 people; they might arrange things in a different way for more or less people. I also reminded the Bar Manager that we weren't paying for any drinks; our members were "on their own" for any charges--just to protect myself from any misunderstandings. The bar staff was available should anyone want a drink but they didn't intrude; just waited to see if anyone asked for their service.

The confirmation form will say that ship management persons would try to attend but it wasn't guaranteed. Both the Hotel Manager and the Cruise Director came to both of our meet/greets and our members enjoyed talking to them.

One more thing. I think it's really important that we remember formally to thank these folks. I wrote little notes to the Bar Manager, HM and the CD and dropped them by the Guest Relations desk to have them delivered, using the occasion to thank that staff again as well. I did this because I believe it is the correct and polite thing to do with no expectation of anything more but the feedback I got from all involved led me to believe that they don't get a lot of thanks; I was warmly thanked for the notes. Needless to say, the next meet/greet went just as well and I did the thank you notes again. I also wrote extremely favorable comment cards for each person who helped us as well. I sincerely believe it's the least we can do. Setting up an event like this which probably isn't going to generate any income for the ship and takes up the time of several important people for sometimes a very small group is a very gracious thing for them to arrange to drop into their busy schedules.

Another thing, you might use your cabin numbers list to take a little walk around the ship and drop off reminder slips (print and bring with you) so people don't forget to come. The event won't be in their daily program! And you'll give a copy to the Hotel Manager (on this ship that was the right person; I've heard that on other ships the Bar Manager asked for it) and if that person doesn't attend give it to the front desk to deliver, so they will have it if there's an event that the group might be invited to.

Do as much preparation as you can before you leave home; i.e., printing up the cabin numbers list (a couple of copies) and reminder slips, maybe bring something to write thank you notes on (although you can get ship stationery), etc. saves a lot of time once you are on the ship.

Have fun doing this!

marney

marney at wilde dot org

HI,

I will try to share what I know as I just set one up for our Nov 15th cruise on the Eurodam.

How does one go about setting up a meet & greet onboard?

I found out that you need to contact HAL's Onboard Events Department. There are different people assigned for different ships. For the Eurodam it is Brenna Rondorf. I don't know who it is for the Oosterdam. I would use the HAL's website or call HAL on their 800-number to see if you can get a name.

Is there a minimum number of people required?

I don't know if there is a minimum or not. I originally emailed and said there were going to be around 20 people but now our rollcall has grown and I have since contacted them that probably 40 or more will be there.

Where is the event held and when?

I asked that it be held on the first sea day after we left port. In our case that was Sunday. Several people on our rollcall had suggested 11 AM as a good time so I also asked for that. I asked that we be allowed to meet in the Crow's Nest.

We got all of those requests so we will be meeting at 11 AM in the Crows Nest on the Eurodam on Nov 16th. Anyone from cruise critic who reads this and is on the cruise is invited.

Is there a charge for this from HAL?

There is no charge for this as far as I know. You can ask for a open bar and I'm sure there is a charge, a big one for that. We are getting coffee, tea, water and cookies for sure. I have seen that some rollcalls are getting wine, champange and appetizers so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Hopefully this information will be helpful.

Have a great next cruise.

We have attended several Meet & Greets -- arranged through the Roll Call thread.

Free -- cookies, coffee, tea and iced water.

Really felt sorry for the person who arranged our Alaskan one -- we were tucked into a corner of the Crow's Nest -- Private sign's were put up -- but several people saw the cookies -- just walked in and helped themselves -- another couple wanted a place to sit!!!!

here is a write up from a Cruise Critic member you might find helpful.

http://www.wa70.com/meetandgreet.html

Good Luck

Rich

I would just add one thing. I would contact ship's services earlier than three weeks prior to the cruise and let them know you want to reserve a spot for the meet and greet. The actual number of people planning to attend can come later.

We just had a meet & greet on the 11/1 Eurodam cruise. Wine and/or champaign was provided free of charge as well as waiters to pass around free appetizers. It was in a semi-private room off the The Crow's Nest on Sunday (the first sea day) at 2-3pm. We had about 35 people there.

doing a B2B on the 17th and have 40+ for 1st one and 70+ for the second leg. I have no idea what they will provide or who they will send but i think with these large groups we should get some staff and maybe a few extras. We can always buy a few drinks at the bar at our expense.