Be there for your Meet and Greet!

We have missed many Platinum BTS tours cuz they have conflicted with the CC M&G. Given the choice I will go to the CC M&G every time but it is disappointing.

Hi Patrick,

Just got of the Dawn. We bought Bill a NCL hat. I always think of your pin hat and what a great way to keep track of all your pins. Bill will now have a pin hat. Hello to all your family!

The GA last Nov was our first cruise and we went to the M&G. We had a good turn out 25-30 people, and I liked meeting the crew. I think a lot of the folks already knew each other and thAt group kept to themselves, so we talked to a few people but overall I felt a tad unwelcome.

As much as I hate ice breakers, I think in this situation it may have helped the conversations along. It doesn't deter me from going to them in the future because as its been saild already every M&G is different.

Our last M&G on the Gem was standing room only. I had coordinated it and most everyone attended! During the M&G we were told that the cruise right before ours had maybe 6 people attend. It was great to meet everyone and it does make for a funner cruise!!

I have made some life long friends thru CC and thru the M&Gs we have attended! I am planning the M&G for our next cruise on the Pearl in Alaska and can't wait to meet everyone!

:D

Our first and only M&G was last year on the jewel, no fancy slot pulls or grab bags. However we made contacts within the crew that helped us tremendously with a lost piece of luggage, our teen daughter connected with another CC kids and had a blast(they actually figured out where they "knew" each other from( CC meet), we recognized those parents( or they recognized us) and had several fun times together and had a lively and fun dinner with the captain and the host of the M&G. So please show up, you just never know.

There is misinformation about the perks given for hosting a M&G. Sometimes there are some perks and most times there are not. However, because of the misinformation everyone seems to want to host the M&G. One should only host because they enjoy doing so and not for getting 'anything back' but for the 'thank you's' from the CC guests who attend.

 

I agree there's part responsibility of the Host to get things moving but how do you KNOW for a fact that the host of the M&G received perks? And...one can't put it all on the Host. The CC members also have to get up and move around and introduce themselves to others, mingle, etc. Why I wish there were never any tables and chairs at M&G's.

 

I'm sorry you have been disappointing. The main reason for a M&G is for CC members to get to know other CC members who are sailing on their cruise with them. What effort did *you* make to mingle with others, introduce yourself with others, bring up a conversation with others, etc.?

 

Harriet

Very well said. I've organized M&Gs in the past and have never received any special perks just because I was the organizer. I don't do it because I want any perks and don't expect any. We've enjoyed attending them and have met some of the most incredible fellow passengers. My son particularly looks forward to meeting the senior officers. In addition, NCL, more than any other line we've sailed on, does the best hosting of M&Gs. For the poster that thinks we organize these for some ulterior motive is highly offensive to me. I volunteer if noone else has started to organize one because I think it's a shame if there's not one organized because no one wants to do the work.

I agree with Harriet, especially the part about it's what you make it yourself. I guess the poster thinks that it's not a two way street in terms of participating. The most successful M&Gs I've attended were because of the willingness of the participants to be friendly and mingle, not because of any elaborate schedule and activities planned by the organizer.

re: people who won't share their real names because of the 'crazies'...

you can just share your first name. i volunteered to make name tags for the m&g i'm attending in october. everyone who's signed up has shared their screen name and their first name.

i'm really excited for it; my husband is less so lol. i think it will be nice to meet some other cruisers who are as excited about cruising as i am. plus it's always nice to see a familiar face around the ship.

re: people who won't share their real names because of the 'crazies'...

 

you can just share your first name. i volunteered to make name tags for the m&g i'm attending in october. everyone who's signed up has shared their screen name and their first name.

 

i'm really excited for it; my husband is less so lol. i think it will be nice to meet some other cruisers who are as excited about cruising as i am. plus it's always nice to see a familiar face around the ship.

I've been to 4 or 5 M&Gs and always met nice people and always gave my first name and screen name with no problems.

My husband hates these things. He's not a fan of meeting new people (social anxiety?). I will try to convince him again:D

Wow ~ This missed conceptions about the ""Perks"" of hosting a Cruise Critic Meet-n-Greet. Let me tell you that the benefits do not weigh out the work and in our case the expense of hosting such events. Haha So if you are hosting a Meet-n-Greet for the benefit of scoring extra "Perks" ~ think again. I think it varies from ships, however, again not worth the effort. When we hosted our two Meet-n-Greets we had lanyards made for everyone to hold their name tags. Later they could be used for the key cards during the cruise. Anyway, much expense, time and effort when people do not show up, as promised, we were stuck with extra lanyards. So please attend the Meet-N-Greets when you sign up unless an emergent matter pops up. The host usually puts a lot of effort to make the event very nice and it is disappointing when people do the no show act!!

That was part of the drill... mic gets passed around and everyone introduces himself by real name and CC handle...

Sorry, but that just sounds super cringey :\ just not for me I guess!

That was part of the drill... mic gets passed around and everyone introduces himself by real name and CC handle...

I did this once or twice but depending on how many people are there it can take forever. What I've found is it's interesting for them to say where they are from and WHY they choose their CC handle! That's always interesting. More so, if you have a very active roll call because at the point of sailing you already feel as you know most of the members! The 'shy' ones just passed the mike to the next person. I've actually stopped doing it for my last few M&G's as it really takes up too much time and it's better for everyone to get up and mingle, IMO.

Harriet

I have a family member who is extremely shy, attends anyway, doesn't mingle, but that's okay. No one should feel pressured to do something he doesn't feel comfortable with. Despite my last post, I recognize that there are various reasons why people don't show up although signing up to attend or why they choose not to mingle if they do. Everyone is different, things come up and it's no one's place to judge. I wanted to add that it's fine if you don't want to mingle and only showing up to see what's up. No big deal. What I have issue with is people who complain that it is somehow the organizer's fault if they just sat around without making any effort to socialize if that was why they attended.

I've not attended an M&G where a mike was passed around to introduce yourself. Most have been short and sweet. Given so much to do onboard with not enough time to do it all, everyone was welcome to stay as long or leave whenever they want.

I did this once or twice but depending on how many people are there it can take forever. What I've found is it's interesting for them to say where they are from and WHY they choose their CC handle! That's always interesting. More so, if you have a very active roll call because at the point of sailing you already feel as you know most of the members! The 'shy' ones just passed the mike to the next person. I've actually stopped doing it for my last few M&G's as it really takes up too much time and it's better for everyone to get up and mingle, IMO.

 

Harriet

This might be a much better idea. Thanks for posting it.

I'm with STW...as it was I found it pretty cringey.

I went to try to dot i's and cross t's on the private tour stuff I'd set up, and that was mission accomplished. We'd been e-mailing but everyone was arriving in Europe at different times to start their holidays. For that it was useful.

The meet and greet on our Pride of America trip was scheduled at 3pm on embarkation day, due to there being no sea days. There were about 40 people signed up. We were late getting on the ship because of a taxi mixup so we rushed through lunch in order to get there on time. At exactly 3pm we got there and there were only 6 people there besides the 7 officers. How embarrassing. The coordinator of the M&G wasn't even there until 3:15pm. Eventually maybe 20 people showed up.

 

On another note, the coordinator of the M&G mentioned on the roll call that he was upgraded to a balcony from an oceanview. We had a guaranteed inside and because prices went down, I called my TA and she was able to get the exact cabin he left. Every night, there was some goodies left in our cabin from chocolate strawberries to a bottle of wine. We also got an invite to the latitudes party, even though this was our first NCL cruise. So I really think these were meant for him because he set up the M&G but someone didn't know his cabin was changed.

I read on other posts about the coordinator of the M & G getting those exact same goodies for organizing the M & G. As well they got invites to specialty restaurants at no extra charge. Some really nice perks were given to them.

It seems I have offended some people by stating my experiences and opinions about the subject. I certainly did not mean to offend anyone. I am usually friendly, but when you are in a room and don't know anyone, and people are all talking at their tables it's hard to break in and interrupt their conversations. It would have been nice if the coordinator had tried to get people to mix a little but they simply attended and did nothing else. This is what happened to me on a few cruises.

I read on other posts about the coordinator of the M & G getting those exact same goodies for organizing the M & G. As well they got invites to specialty restaurants at no extra charge. Some really nice perks were given to them.

 

It seems I have offended some people by stating my experiences and opinions about the subject. I certainly did not mean to offend anyone. I am usually friendly, but when you are in a room and don't know anyone, and people are all talking at their tables it's hard to break in and interrupt their conversations. It would have been nice if the coordinator had tried to get people to mix a little but they simply attended and did nothing else. This is what happened to me on a few cruises.

I've been to some meet and greets that were great and others not so much, I think a lot depends on the coordinator. I think they need to get the ball rolling with either introductions, ice breaking games, etc. and when they do, people seem to get into it. What was great about one of the meet and greets, we had a lot of activities (slot pull, cabin crawl, etc.) and the coordinator asked for volunteers to coordinate each of the activities, that worked great, because one person was not overwhelmed having to do it all.

I enjoy the M/G but it all depends on the organizer, our last sailing the person who did it didn't even arrange for the meeting place until 3 weeks before sailing didn't keep tally of attendies and was so poorly put together, i thought about not attending. I did go and boring............ maybe a dozen people showed up and my dh is very outgoing and nobody would strike up a conversation with us. I enjoy meeting the staff and do like the m/g but if you are going to sign up to organize then organize. i don't think you need to spend a lot of money, my favorite was a book swap. i personally never met anyone i would want to mingle with on the ship but I will keep trying. The only thing I don't like is when too much stuff is planned ie m/g and slot pull and cabin crawl all done at differant times. don't need any trolls trashing me I'm just being honest for those who might organize what some people like and don't like. And I have been jipped I never got any perks for arranging m/g :cool: but when I did it I had fun and I enjoy meeting the staff. I love CC and all the knowledge I have gotten and love love cruising. hope you all have a great day and until your next trip happy countdown.

We have gone to 20 or so M & Gs . Some with well over 100 C.C. folks.

I have meet a lot of C.C. members and crew at them .

Lot's of fond memories . :D

I've hosted several meet and greets and agree varies by ship-seems to depend on the cruise director

the majority there have been no "perks"

one we had priority boarding-ie given no 1 boarding pass,"treats such as chocolate covered strawberries each day

another invite to captains VIP party in Haven

I've hosted cause I want to but don't expect anything extra but agree it is frustrating when people who have confirmed their attendance on the roll call fail to turn up

my husband tends to take over at meet and greet being a really good presenter and tries to "get the party started" by encouraging people to introduce themselves and making jokes-usually at my expense!

my take on it is you may meet people you get on with and arrange to meet up with again or acknowledge throughout the cruise,On the flip side you can recognise that meet and greet passenger from hell heading towards you and take evasive action[am I being paranoid that several people I recognise seem to dive into a convenient door along the way:D

I have organized 2 M&G's and attended others. I received perks for one and not the other. I so enjoyed meeting everyone and there socializing and his throughout the cruises. We met a wonderful couple at one M&G that we are meeting up with to enjoy my birthday cruise together. The last one on the Star I did purchase a few gifts for a raffle and enjoyed watching others enjoy winning them. We had a cabin crawl which was organized by another member. I do understand that sometimes folk do miss the appointed time or lose track of the time. To me they are a fun way to meet those on CC in person.

I enjoy the M/G but it all depends on the organizer, our last sailing the person who did it didn't even arrange for the meeting place until 3 weeks before sailing didn't keep tally of attendies and was so poorly put together, i thought about not attending. I did go and boring............ maybe a dozen people showed up and my dh is very outgoing and nobody would strike up a conversation with us. I enjoy meeting the staff and do like the m/g but if you are going to sign up to organize then organize. i don't think you need to spend a lot of money, my favorite was a book swap. i personally never met anyone i would want to mingle with on the ship but I will keep trying. The only thing I don't like is when too much stuff is planned ie m/g and slot pull and cabin crawl all done at differant times. don't need any trolls trashing me I'm just being honest for those who might organize what some people like and don't like. And I have been jipped I never got any perks for arranging m/g :cool: but when I did it I had fun and I enjoy meeting the staff. I love CC and all the knowledge I have gotten and love love cruising. hope you all have a great day and until your next trip happy countdown.

you say you have organised a meet and greet so you must know the ship co ordinator doesn't make contact more than 3 weeks before and time and venue is organised by them .Ship provides venue refreshments and officers turnup but anything over and above that is up to participants on roll call

you say you have organised a meet and greet so you must know the ship co ordinator doesn't make contact more than 3 weeks before and time and venue is organised by them .Ship provides venue refreshments and officers turnup but anything over and above that is up to participants on roll call

I agree with you that anything above what NCL provides is up to the participants. Some M&G's are more "chatty" than others, some are quick and over in plenty of time to catch an early lunch:p

Just a correction for those interested....We sail in December and I have already made contact with the Group Event Coordinator on the Spirit. I made the Meet and Greet request in February...10 months in advance:) It is nice to have the time and venue early so we can get the signups started. I had no problem setting it up with NCL so early.

This will be the third M&G I have hosted and I have never received the afore mentioned perks.

Yesterday I had a question for the Group Event Coordinator about a possible conflict for the Platinum Behind the Scenes Tour and I received an answer right away. Very sweet and easy to work with.

I'm guilty of missing my last two M&Gs. For one particular M&G my travel companions did not want to go. For the other one we missed the ship during embarkation and had to catch it later. :mad:

I've had conversations with a couple of those who coordinated the meet and greets I've attended and they raved about the perks they got (free specialty restaurants, goodies, even upgrades, etc.), so perks do happen to some.

 

I've been to some meet and greets that were great and others not so much, I think a lot depends on the coordinator. I think they need to get the ball rolling with either introductions, ice breaking games, etc. and when they do, people seem to get into it. What was great about one of the meet and greets, we had a lot of activities (slot pull, cabin crawl, etc.) and the coordinator asked for volunteers to coordinate each of the activities, that worked great, because one person was not overwhelmed having to do it all.

Possibly NCL are more generous to the coordinators of the M & G. I don't know which cruise lines are doling out the perks.

I agree that coordinators should ask for volunteers - they should not be expected to do it all. Most cruises I have taken there were various people involved in planning activities like slot pulls and cabin crawls. One really enjoyable activity on a past cruise was a poker draw that was held on a few evenings and there were many people involved and much socializing at the draw that was held in one of the ships bars.

Possibly NCL are more generous to the coordinators of the M & G. I don't know which cruise lines are doling out the perks.

 

I agree that coordinators should ask for volunteers - they should not be expected to do it all. Most cruises I have taken there were various people involved in planning activities like slot pulls and cabin crawls. One really enjoyable activity on a past cruise was a poker draw that was held on a few evenings and there were many people involved and much socializing at the draw that was held in one of the ships bars.

I know of another cruise line who also gives nice perks for those setting up the meet and greet.

I went to one meet and greet, and won't go again. It kind of creeped me out for some inexplicable reason. I have no trouble meeting people on my own, so that's not an issue. It's just not my thing.

I went to one meet and greet, and won't go again. It kind of creeped me out for some inexplicable reason. I have no trouble meeting people on my own, so that's not an issue. It's just not my thing.

Nice avatar:)