How to Organize a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet on your Holland America Cruise

[LauraS]

How to Set up a Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle on your Holland America Cruise

The information below has been compiled from the Holland America Forum, and is based upon individual experiences by members. We appreciate the generosity of Holland America in setting up these gatherings as they recognize the loyalty of Cruise Critic members. It should be made VERY clear that there is no official sponsorship of Meet & Mingle Parties on board Holland America ships and it should not be expected that each ship will offer the same amenities, or anything at all. Remember, too, that “paid” groups on board take precedence over non-paid groups, and there are often many groups on board vying for the same space.

All of the above said, let’s get started with the party planning!

1) Before contacting anyone at Holland America, your first step should be to POLL everyone on your ROLL CALL to see if they are interested in attending a Meet & Mingle on your cruise. It would be helpful to consider your daily itinerary, and obtain a general consensus as to when our fellow cruisers would be most likely to attend. More than likely someone has been keeping a general “who’s sailing” list on the ROLL CALL throughout its duration. Keeping this listing “fresh” encourages others to continue to participate and to join in on the fun! Please make sure your efforts are coordinated so that only ONE person from each sailing is contacting the cruise line.

2) Once you have determined that there is enough interest, you will need to contact the Holland America On Board Events Coordinator for your ship no later than 5 weeks before your sailing. See the list here

3) The On Board Events Coordinator will ask you to complete a Meet & Greet Space Request Forum. See the form here and return either via email or fax. Note you will have to return the form to HAL 30 days prior to departure. The On Board Events Coordinator will then contact the ship for space approval and get back to you with your confirmation.

4) Tips for Completing the Form: Be sure to ask for a NO HOST get-together, which means no one person will be responsible for payment. Indicate what you would like them to serve, such as Coffee, tea, pastries or a NO HOST Bar. Best bet is to choose items marked as "no charge", so that no one person is responsible for payment. Also it's nice to invite Officers, such as the Beverage Mgr., Hotel Mgr. CD, etc. to attend your get together. You should have a general idea of when/where you’d like the party to be held. Offering up a few suggestions would be very helpful.

5) You may want to ask ROLL CALL participants to contact you with their full names & cabin numbers..You should consider creating an email address for this purpose (yahoo or gmail are good choices) since you will be posting it on the boards. Consider contacting the Beverage Manager once you are on board. He/she should be able to fill you in on any specifics for your Meet & Mingle, and you can update the headcount for them as well. If you are so inclined, it would be a nice touch to create a personalized invitation to the event. You can deliver the invites yourself, or you can ask if the Beverage Manager would be willing to assist with distribution.

Tip from LauraS: If you RSVP that you are going to the Meet & Mingle, GO! If any cruise line takes the time to set up a special gathering for Cruise Critic members, we should definitely do our best to attend.

Tip from LauraS: When you attend the gathering, DO NOT SIT DOWN. Sounds funny, I know, but this is often the kiss of death at these events. There is no entertainment from the cruise line – you are there to meet your fellow Cruise Critic members. Get up, and MINGLE!

Tip from Member Spinner: “I think it's really important that we remember formally to thank these folks. I wrote little notes to the Bar Manager, Hotel M 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.”

Many thanks to members Garsons, Spinner, JACKWC, & Serendipity14 for their contributions to the above information. If you have any information to add to the above, please drop me a note at community@cruisecritic.com. Corrects/comments are welcome as well.