Meet and Mingle Attendance Observation

On some past cruises on different cruise lines, I have noticed that the representation from the cruise lines has varied as follows:

On Royal Caribbean Brilliance one minor officer, one entertainment director, who arrived a bit late, thanked us, conducted a brief raffle, and left fairly quickly no information on new ships, or upcoming cruises.

On Royal Caribbean Allure --2 stage entertainers who thanked us, no officers, brief information on future cruises, a raffle.

On the Celebrity Reflection, 10 ships officers including the Captain, raffle, open forum for questions, opportunity to discuss ports and tours.

Norwegian Cruise lines Breakaway, Jewel, Epic.--Full complement of ship's officers, Captain to Ship's medical officer, who thanked guests, open forum for questions.

Only on the Celebrity Reflection and Norwegian cruises did I note the presence of someone described as a "Loyalty Ambassador" to give a presentation of benefits of continued loyalty to a specific cruise line and its ships and programs.

Are some cruise lines resting on their laurels? Might be a good Lido Deck questionnaire topic.

I've noticed that too. Maybe it's just coincidence as far as what else is going on that officer(s) have other priorities, how many people are attending, how many of what level loyalty program they are, timing, who's available, who's not and sometimes just depends on the personality of the person(s) responsible for orchestrating it. I've noticed considerable variation on how they handle it on different ships of the same line.

It could also be that some officers had to work when the M&G was held. Also, were all invited? Did the invites get to them in time?

It could also be that some officers had to work when the M&G was held. Also, were all invited? Did the invites get to them in time?

On Royal and Celebrity, passengers sign up for the "meet and greet" on a page of the cruise line's website provided as a service to CruiseCritic members. The event is arranged by the cruise line with invitations being delivered to the staterooms of people who signed up for the event. Roll call members do not get involved since the ship's staff handles all the logistics, including when and where, which officers and staff will attend, and even arranges for refreshments, which can be coffee and danish type edibles for a morning event, to complimentary sparkling wine and hors d'oeuvrs for afternoon or evening events. On rare occasions, they may even have a complimentary bar set up.

Takes the hassle of organizing an event away from roll call passengers and into the hands of the people who have all the right connections. :)

On HAL it can vary considerably which Officers/Staff attend.

Of course, other assignments have priority and Captain is not always available though a number have certainly made appearances. It isn't unusual for a Hotel Director, Bar Manager, CD, Guest Relations Manager and others to attend. I think there are many variables as to who/when.

HAL always puts out coffee/tea and cookies at the least. Sometimes mimosas and bloody marys or sparkling wine.

But very good point that unless they are specifically invited, they may not even know when it is being held or if their presence would be appreciated. ;)

Another thing to think about is that most of the ships you're talking about has quite a large number of passengers, especially the Allure. Cruise Critic members will be just one of many groups on board, and maybe not even closest to the largest.

I just don't get this feeling that unless you have the various officers and other staff at your meet and greet, it's a failure. I always thought this was the chance for people who have been discussing their upcoming cruise for some months to finally meet in person.

Hi,

I have attended many ( at least 20 or more) Meet and Mingle on Celebrity and RCI, and some of them had some senior officers present..... but is that the 'place' for them ?

As it is called - " Meet and Mingle" ..... isn't that meeting for us to meet and mingle.

Isn't this meeting for us to find out who we are, who is hiding behind the screen names, to talk about whatever plans we might have made ? to possibly thank in person some of the posters for some of the good posts and help.

That is 'our' meeting and it got nothing to do with the senior officers..... that is not the loyalty meeting ...... some of us might be first time cruisers on that particular line.

There will be other 'parties' ..... repeaters , different levels of loyalty clubs ..... and that is where the senior officers should be.

I am thankful to them for organizing this meeting for us.

That is my view and yours might be different, but M&M is for us and most if not all are the cruise critic members.

It is not just line to line but ship to ship that determines what extent it is

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It is not just line to line but ship to ship that determines what extent it is

 

 

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It isn't just line to line, ship to ship but also cruise to cruise. it can vary tremendously what other obligations they may have to manage rather than attending the M & G.

We haven't joined a Roll Call or attended a Meet & Greet in a long time on HAL.

But there were a couple where not one officer, etc., attended and I know for a fact that the captain, cd, hotel manager, etc., were invited.

I don't think that a lack of an officer's attendance at a meet and mingle suggests that a cruise line is "resting on their laurels" at all. Sorry, I don't see the connection there.

Each cruise line may have a different format for how these gatherings are presented, and in my experience the purpose is to get those who wish to be there interacting with each other. This is also usually the reason the CC roll call members attend, not to see an officer. Typically the cruise director or one of their staff hosts this and interacts with the members to try to get them involved with each other.

IMO this is far more their area of expertise (and role) then that of an officer, who in our experience typically speaks to or answers questions from a group. This does not promote interaction among the passengers in the same manner that a meet and mingle is intended.

The vast majority of passengers on any give cruise are not even aware of Cruise Critic or Roll Calls, let alone a meet and mingle, so not sure if anyone on board would know or care that an officer would or would not attend it.

We haven't joined a Roll Call or attended a Meet & Greet in a long time on HAL.

But there were a couple where not one officer, etc., attended and I know for a fact that the captain, cd, hotel manager, etc., were invited.

It's impossible, IMO, to speculate why no Officers attended any specific M&G. Who can begin to guess what other pressing matters may have existed at that time, other things that had to attend to.....

I almost never go to M&G and haven't for years but in the past I was at a few where many officers attended. Noordam, January 2007, there was a very large group of CC'ers aboard and they ran a great M&G in Crows Nest. There were so many of us we were not confined to Captain's corner as we wouldn't fit. :) Captain Scott, Hotel Manager (at the time) Mark Zellar, Cruise Director Jason (I think it was him), Guest Relations Manager, Bar Manager etc etc all attended. We even had bar beverages offered. It wasn't open bar but I think they passed mimosa, bloody mary, red and white wine or sparking wine. It was an amazing 'party'. :)

I guess I don't care whether officers are there or not I just want to meet the people I have met online! It is always fun to put a face with a name! When an officer has been there I notice it is a lot more "Official" and don't get to meet and mingle as much!

I don't think that a lack of an officer's attendance at a meet and mingle suggests that a cruise line is "resting on their laurels" at all. Sorry, I don't see the connection there.

 

Each cruise line may have a different format for how these gatherings are presented, and in my experience the purpose is to get those who wish to be there interacting with each other. This is also usually the reason the CC roll call members attend, not to see an officer. Typically the cruise director or one of their staff hosts this and interacts with the members to try to get them involved with each other.

 

IMO this is far more their area of expertise (and role) then that of an officer, who in our experience typically speaks to or answers questions from a group. This does not promote interaction among the passengers in the same manner that a meet and mingle is intended.

 

The vast majority of passengers on any give cruise are not even aware of Cruise Critic or Roll Calls, let alone a meet and mingle, so not sure if anyone on board would know or care that an officer would or would not attend it.

If a person isn't aware of CruiseCrtitic they would not know anything about a meet and greet event. These are planned for people participating in a roll call, so it is logical that most passengers on board would not know or care about who is attending. A meet and greet is a private affair, and not open to the the rest of the passengers.

At all the meet and greet events that I have attended on Celebrity the captain and other officers attending weren't there to make a presentation and hold a Q&A session. They were there to meet their CruiseCritic passengers and welcome them to their ship, not to dominate the event. Everyone was able to mingle with others as much as they wanted.

One thing that I always appreciate about Celebrity is that the ship's officers are very approachable and friendly. They can often be seen wandering around the ship talking to people and showing a real interest in their passengers. They also participate in activities and present talks on topics they are familiar with. On many cruises the captain will present several talks on how his ship works. One such talk was about navigation. Captain Nicolas Pergolas (sp?) was the presenter. At the end, he asked the audience if they would like to know what the captain uses to always remind him which side was port or starboard. Earlier he had described how the colors red and green of a ship's marker lights assist in knowing what direction a nearby ship is going. He lifted his pant legs to display a pair of socks, one red and one green. :D

I often go to these events, especially on Celebrity. Often the participants will be invited to a special event such as a bridge tour, a backstage tour of the theater, or galley tour. Several times I have been invited to a sail away party on the helipad, always including hors d'oeuvres and glasses of sparkling and regular wines. These special events were not available to non-participants.

Most of the ones I've attended have been huge flops. Only a handful of members who signed up attend, and there is very little representation from the ship. There is usually not a lot of mingling going on - just small clusters of people sitting around making no effort to talk to others.

Those that stand out in my mind:

On the Caribbean Princess, both time we had a huge turnout, very active members, and several officers mingled

On our Celebrity Summit cruise last year we had a great turnout, the Captain gave a wonderful warm welcome, and there was wonderful mingling. This year on the same ship, although the Captain and CD welcomed us, the CC members were rather cliquey and did not mingle.

Royal Caribbean usually has a nice raffle with good prizes, such as a bottles of wine/champagne. Officers don't usually attend, but members of the CD staff do, and sometimes they really add to the fun (and other times, they are just there taking up space)

I like to see a nice balance between staff and members, and someone to initiate an ice breaker, whether it is a CC member or someone from the ship. I also like when the officers mingle rather than just make a short welcoming speech.

I guess I don't care whether officers are there or not I just want to meet the people I have met online! It is always fun to put a face with a name! When an officer has been there I notice it is a lot more "Official" and don't get to meet and mingle as much!

Interesting observation.

I do agree with you, my motivation for attending is more about meeting the others I have chatted with online than meeting officers of the ship. However, I get the point that guests may want the chance to talk with the Captain or Cruise Director.

Happy sailing to all.

If a person isn't aware of CruiseCrtitic they would not know anything about a meet and greet event. These are planned for people participating in a roll call, so it is logical that most passengers on board would not know or care about who is attending. A meet and greet is a private affair, and not open to the the rest of the passengers.

 

At all the meet and greet events that I have attended on Celebrity the captain and other officers attending weren't there to make a presentation and hold a Q&A session. They were there to meet their CruiseCritic passengers and welcome them to their ship, not to dominate the event. Everyone was able to mingle with others as much as they wanted.

 

One thing that I always appreciate about Celebrity is that the ship's officers are very approachable and friendly. They can often be seen wandering around the ship talking to people and showing a real interest in their passengers. They also participate in activities and present talks on topics they are familiar with. On many cruises the captain will present several talks on how his ship works. One such talk was about navigation. Captain Nicolas Pergolas (sp?) was the presenter. At the end, he asked the audience if they would like to know what the captain uses to always remind him which side was port or starboard. Earlier he had described how the colors red and green of a ship's marker lights assist in knowing what direction a nearby ship is going. He lifted his pant legs to display a pair of socks, one red and one green. :D

 

I often go to these events, especially on Celebrity. Often the participants will be invited to a special event such as a bridge tour, a backstage tour of the theater, or galley tour. Several times I have been invited to a sail away party on the helipad, always including hors d'oeuvres and glasses of sparkling and regular wines. These special events were not available to non-participants.

My point exactly! :confused: Which was directed to the OP's question about cruise lines "resting on their laurels" if they don't have an officer attend a M & M. That has just not been an important element IMO to have a officer attend. If they do, fine. Otherwise, fine as well.

In our experience RCI also has had very accessible and friendly senior staff. Most recently the case with Grandeur and Explorer in which the Captain and his staff were very visible and interactive. On Grandeur, in fact, we not only met the Captain (and other staff) more than once, but also had some personal one on one time with our family and both the Captain and Hotel Director together one evening - initiated by them.

RCI also sponsors the same type of gatherings you refer to, in which we have participated as well. My point being that I am certain this takes place on most cruise lines. And the lack of participation at a CC M & M just doesn't seem an important error IMO as questioned by the OP.

Funny - I just asked about this in my roll call. On NCL the M&G had no meeting nor greeting - the entire time was taken up by the ships officers and top hotel staff.

Personally I prefer the M&G to be just that -meeting the folks from your roll call.

This is one area where Carnival excels - the private parties we've had for M&G's were amazing - so much fun - we are great friends &have cruised again with many we met there. I couldn't even begin to tell you who was in my NCL roll call - and we were on an 11 night TA with 10 sea days!

I'm glad there's others posting that they don't find the attendance of officers a must for the meet and greets. If meeting the captain is so important for a passenger, there's always the captain's welcome or past passenger functions, if these are available on most cruise lines. Or consider going on a small ship where there is under 1,000 passengers.

Will see how it goes. Have put out ideas gathered from all suggestions. Whatever the majority of folks would like to do will be included.

The Officers, Hotel Manager, Head Chef, and all those working to help us have a great cruise will be invited to stop by, give a short chat and answer questions, however, they are just guests at our gathering.

No sales pitches. No upselling. No nonsense. It is our party gathering.

In the process of putting this together, we have about 12 of us staying at the same hotel the night before the cruise. We will have a small informal M&G in the evening for those who wish to participate.

Early on, I was looking for a name for our bunch. Took a vote and the choice was made. Ok. Maybe a bunch of gamblers or older folks. The vote came in.

Sailing on the Royal Princess and we are now the 'Royal Flushers'.

A cruse has to be fun huh? :cool:

On some past cruises on different cruise lines, I have noticed that the representation from the cruise lines has varied as follows:

 

On Royal Caribbean Brilliance one minor officer, one entertainment director, who arrived a bit late, thanked us, conducted a brief raffle, and left fairly quickly no information on new ships, or upcoming cruises.

 

On Royal Caribbean Allure --2 stage entertainers who thanked us, no officers, brief information on future cruises, a raffle.

 

On the Celebrity Reflection, 10 ships officers including the Captain, raffle, open forum for questions, opportunity to discuss ports and tours.

 

Norwegian Cruise lines Breakaway, Jewel, Epic.--Full complement of ship's officers, Captain to Ship's medical officer, who thanked guests, open forum for questions.

 

Only on the Celebrity Reflection and Norwegian cruises did I note the presence of someone described as a "Loyalty Ambassador" to give a presentation of benefits of continued loyalty to a specific cruise line and its ships and programs.

 

Are some cruise lines resting on their laurels? Might be a good Lido Deck questionnaire topic.

Different things do happen on each M & M. Some of them are good.

In February we were on a B2B from Buenos Aires to LA. Fletch1 (Russell) did a great job of organizing both of them. He went to the trouble of printing name tags with our screen names and real names.

They were held in Skywalkers on the first sea day and were very well attended. There were a number of private tours organized and the time was used to get together for any last minute details and arrange for a meeting place.

No officers attended, but we did not care.

I have heard some stories of other passengers hearing about a cruise critic M & G and coming in to complain about something!