Official Meet & Greets ?

Just FYI.

This morning, formally asked Regent's new leadership (President Kunal Kumlani) to look at Regent (also Oceania, therefore included FDR on the cc line) to seriously consider sponsoring Regent/Cruise Critic (CC) formal meet & greets. End state would be formal/contracted procedures between Regent and Cruise critic (in the form of a sticky on this board) that clearly outlined how to qualify (minimum number of CCr's required), and how to register for a CC/Regent meet & greet. Currently, each of us who take on the duty of organizing a meet & greet, has to discover (along with the Ship leadership) what steps are required to organize a meet & greet. Our efforts generally result in a well attended meet & greet (e.g., Hambagahle's March TA last year had over 100 CCrs, our April/December meetings had 45 and 55 CCrs (along with the Voyager crew leadership) attend respectfully)

Firmly, believe (like Azamra, Celebrity, RCCL, Crystal (and just this month Silversea) cruise lines that have formal CC meet & greets, absolutely leverage their brand and earn hundreds of repeat bookings directly as a result of formal meet & greets. Thus, these CC/Regent meet & greets would be win-win's for both CC and Regent.

Within ten minutes the new President replied they Regent would look into the details required to formalize meet & greets with CC and see if they make sense for Regent (and or Oceania).

Hoping for the best.

Thank you! It would make so much sense. We are boarding a very long cruise around South America and Peggy has organized meet and greets for each segment. She has worked very hard to do this and we all appreciate it.

An easy plan for the organizer would be just great!

I agree. Eager2Travel kindly is taking on the job for our TA and it would be great to have had a proper plan for her to follow.

Well done once again, Wes.

Wes, you scared me for a minute....... thought "formal" meant that my DH would have to wear a tux:D

Well done Wes.

I have attended many formal meet and greets in RCCL and Azamara and they are well done.

Azamara even has a debriefing for post cruise comments at the end. Its also a great chance to meet senior management.

Wes, you scared me for a minute....... thought "formal" meant that my DH would have to wear a tux:D

TC, I thought the same thing! :o

Good idea, Wes.

Great idea. We've attended many of these on Oceania, Azamara and X and it gave us an opportunity to meet other cc posters as well as see old friends. We're now trying to start one on our upcoming cruise on Regent.

I think it would be great to have a blend of veteran and virgin RSSC cruisers. That way, you can have diverse viewpoints from many different angles. We would be Regent virgins, but have cruised on Celebrity, Royal, HAL and Princess before. We also have stayed at Fairmonts, Hyatts and other high end hotels so know about great and not-so-great service at land and sea.

Why not set up reminders and posts on the ROLL CALL section so that each sail date and ship can have one available and ask someone to be the host and coordinate the participants and subject matter to discuss?

Thanks, Wes, for taking the lead to accomplish this for Regent cruisers. As someone who had organizied one of these on my own, it's kind of hit-or-miss. I went through our roll call and made a little table tent that said "Cruise Critic Get-Together". I am sure that a Regent-Cruise Critic event will be a hit!

Thanks, Wes for your effort.

We have a CC gathering planned for our first sea day at mid-day on our TA in March on the Mariner. In all fairness we are not giving Regent much time to plan something for us. We did provide them advance notice thanks to Wes for providing the Regent contact. We have high hopes but realistic expectations. We do not have an agenda planned other then to get to meet others, have a good time and hopefully meet some of the ship's staff. Some liquid refreshment and nibbles would be a definite bonus.

We have set up an email address (with major assistance from another CC roll caller) and have asked people to respond to it so that they don't have to post private info.

We will let everyone know what results we achieve with our event.

Ann

Thanks for doing this Wes. I have set up a couple of these, one very well attended, and one where only 2 other couples showed up, though we had a great time.

Wes, I also appreciate the effort you put forth for the Meet and Greet on our cruise. According to my DH, it was a lovely, well-attended event. I do have to question how much energy and manpower Regent needs to put forth for events that are only attended by approximately 5% of the passengers on board. I do enjoy the Meet and Greets that are put on by individuals that put together a list of people and arrange a time to meet -- perhaps with nametags. But, I would prefer Regent spend their money and manpower on things like improving how excursions are run, service, etc. The bars are there to provide drinks......... do we really need more?

Wes, what a great idea to make it "standard". We've met many wonderful people this way and some dear friends.

Thanks

Wes, maybe the title of the thread should be "Official" Meet and Greets! (Mingle) :D

Host Dan

Sounds good Dan, please change when you can.

I like this idea too, especially as I sometimes cruise solo which can be intimidating so an opportunity for that initial social contact is even more important and helpful.

Sounds good Dan, please change when you can.

Done- :)

Host Dan

We arranged a meet and greet for late morning of the 2nd day of the cruise, and the unwavering support of Cruise Director Lorraine and General Manager Michael, in fact the whole ship, were excellent! We also had a good turnout of CCers. But a standard way to go about it, like the form and procedure to have invited guests visit on board, would be a very welcome improvement.

Hi everyone.

I was looking for the Meet and Greet for our Navigator Alaska sailing. Looks like they don't do them - did they ever?

How can we organize one?

Thanks for any help - we don't even have a roll call! I know these Alaska sailings sell out so I know there are others out there. :)

Hi everyone.

I was looking for the Meet and Greet for our Navigator Alaska sailing. Looks like they don't do them - did they ever?

 

How can we organize one?

Thanks for any help - we don't even have a roll call! I know these Alaska sailings sell out so I know there are others out there. :)

Regent has never done official meet an greets -- they have been done by individuals until recently(when Regent has assisted). They are typically arranged in Roll Call. You pick a time and place to get together onboard. You need to take into consideration things like muster (the same day you board) and when passengers are most likely to be available. Alaska cruises are port intensive so it is a bit of a challenge to find a time and day.

The best venue on the Navigator is Gaileo Lounge -- on the other two ships it is the Observation Lounge.

Getting to know your fellow passengers is always fun:)

Regent Declines to support Cruise Critic/Regent meet & greets, got the answer March 25th, directly from the President of Regent yesterday (pls see below)

Replied to Mr. Kamlani expressing my disappointment and vehemently disagreeing with the logic he outlines below. Briefly told Mr. Kamlani, if Crystal, Azamara, RCCL and Celebrity (Silversea decided this month to contract with CC for formal meet & greets) value Cruise Critics enough to have formal meet & greets and contract with CC, don't understand why Regent/PCH does not. Oh well, gave it a shot.

From: "Kunal Kamlani"

To: Colonel (Ret.) Wes

Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 6:26:10 PM

Subject: RE: hi from Wes-- Cruise Critic/Regent Meet & Greets--Please consider making them formal Regent (and Oceania) events

Colonel (Ret.) Wes,

I have discussed the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet idea with our operations team and at this time we have decided not to move forward with formally sponsoring these meetings.

We made this decision for a couple of reasons. As you might imagine, our ships sail with many different specialty or special-interest groups aboard. While we would certainly like to create Meet & Greets for each of them we have decided not to because it would adversely impact the personalized guest experience that we strive to deliver each and every day.

Additionally, because our itineraries are destination-driven and include fewer sea days compared to other lines, a series of Meet & Greet programs on any one sailing would be operationally challenging as we would need to utilize several public areas on a sea day.

With that said, the ships are your home away from home, so we would encourage you and all of our guests to feel at home and arrange to meet with whom you want and when you want.

As you know, we routinely monitor and are active participants in the community discussion on Cruise Critic. We certainly enjoy learning about the members’ interests, views and suggestions and truly value their loyalty. Thank you for your patience while we reviewed the merits of the program.

Best,

KSK

Regent Declines to support Cruise Critic/Regent meet & greets, got the answer March 25th, directly from the President of Regent yesterday (pls see below)

 

Replied to Mr. Kamlani expressing my disappointment and vehemently disagreeing with the logic he outlines below. Briefly told Mr. Kamlani, if Crystal, Azamara, RCCL and Celebrity (Silversea decided this month to contract with CC for formal meet & greets) value Cruise Critics enough to have formal meet & greets and contract with CC, don't understand why Regent/PCH does not. Oh well, gave it a shot.

 

From: "Kunal Kamlani"

To: Colonel (Ret.) Wes

Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 6:26:10 PM

Subject: RE: hi from Wes-- Cruise Critic/Regent Meet & Greets--Please consider making them formal Regent (and Oceania) events

 

Colonel (Ret.) Wes,

 

I have discussed the Cruise Critic Meet & Greet idea with our operations team and at this time we have decided not to move forward with formally sponsoring these meetings.

 

We made this decision for a couple of reasons. As you might imagine, our ships sail with many different specialty or special-interest groups aboard. While we would certainly like to create Meet & Greets for each of them we have decided not to because it would adversely impact the personalized guest experience that we strive to deliver each and every day.

 

Additionally, because our itineraries are destination-driven and include fewer sea days compared to other lines, a series of Meet & Greet programs on any one sailing would be operationally challenging as we would need to utilize several public areas on a sea day.

 

With that said, the ships are your home away from home, so we would encourage you and all of our guests to feel at home and arrange to meet with whom you want and when you want.

 

As you know, we routinely monitor and are active participants in the community discussion on Cruise Critic. We certainly enjoy learning about the members’ interests, views and suggestions and truly value their loyalty. Thank you for your patience while we reviewed the merits of the program.

 

Best,

 

KSK

Wes, that's the response I've been getting from PCH/Oceania for years, from several levels of executives. It doesn't make any sense to me, either. I've been involved in setting up several M & G get-togethers on Oceania and have met with varying reponses on board from "We don't do that" to "What do you need?"

I had one person high up in PCH (a person several of us know) try to tell me that "all those other cruise lines wish they had never gotten involved in Cruise Critic functions and wish they could get out of it". I just laughed. I suspect the real reason has to do with a fundamental lack of understanding how the get-togethers on the other cruise lines are handled, how they are appreciated by the passengers, and how many Regent and Oceania guests actually resent the way PCH treats them.

I'm just returned from a 15 day Celebrity Century cruise to Hawaii out of San Diego. 113 of the guests accessed the auotmatic link on Cruise Critic to join the Connections party. The party was held in a section of a lounge. Other than some coffee and pastries, standard fare available anywhere on the ship, no special food or beverages were provided, so there was little or no expense on the part of Celebrity. But, the ship's Captain, Staff Captain, Cruise Director, Events Coordinator and others all made an appearance. In addition, the Events Coordinator worked with the Casino Manager to make a specific machine available for a Cruise Critic slot pull, all of the officers helped coordinate a photo scavenger hunt, the Food & Beverage Manager set asside a portion of the main dining room for a group luncheon, and there were some other special considerations.

On our only NCL cruise to date, we were treated eaually well. I simply think PCH execs have no clue how guests feel as a result.

I understand that other groups organize special meetings. I also understand that, in the case of Oceania, if such groups want an open bar or canapes or such, there is a fee for such. But, Cruise Critic folks are not asking for any special food or drink -- they just want some official recognition of a group which can be incredibly loyal to the cruise line. I really do NOT understand PCH's position in the case of Regent, where they provide open bar and snacks in any case.

In the meantime, I have put together some free server space, free database and free form software to create a Roll Call registration form that highly simplifies planning and information gathering for guest-created M & G's. It's somewhat geeky and fairly technical, so if anyone wants the information, click on "send a message to Don" and I'll reply.

Hi Don,

Yes, PCH/Regent's position for now is puzzling. Don sincerely appreciate your feedback and continued Meet & Greet Oceania efforts too--thanks for sharing your meet&greet software.

Some final thoughts on PCH's non support of meet & greets. Believe PCH gets significant monetary benefit from the CC community (via hundreds of referrals that lead to bookings), you would think/hope they would want to give back. Also, don't think any of these other special groups offer PCH the exceptional repeat business that Cruise Critic groups do. And, bet none of the other groups on board have even asked (or know to ask) for an official meet & greet. Lastly, do know $$ matters when Regent supports groups (e.g Virtuoso, et. al). For example, know one very successful Regent travel agent gets a recurring (on about five to six Regent cruises a year) special meeting in a private space on board with Regent (Voyager, Mariner, Navigator) Ship leadership attends (sometimes even the Captain draws a name for the free cruise contest this agent sponsors yearly) and horse dervies are provided for the group whenever she sails with a group on a Regent cruise

Hi Wes,

Thought you might have got a YES on this,but perhaps they will change their mind in the future.

I know all the hard work you put into our Mumbai Meet amd Greet and it was much appreciated:).

looking for my next Regent cruise,hope you and Ida are both well

Thanks Dale, we did have a good meet & greet and a blast on our Mumbai to Bali voyage. Also, hope PCH changes their minds.

Warm regards to David and you, pls still love our Holden/Kalgoorlie Red ball cap (tho Ida now owns it), thanks for this special remembrance.