Theme cruise directory? Or how to know if an itinerary has a group going?

Is there any online directory that compiles ships and dates of upcoming theme cruises, or group gatherings?

If not, is there anyway to determine if a certain sailing has a group onboard? Would a travel agent, or the cruise line be able to warn you in advance?

I'm asking, not because I'm looking to find a theme cruise/group, but more in terms of avoiding one. Listening to the Cruise radio podcast this morning I heard about a vampire themed cruise going to Alaska next summer (Why not the Caribbean? Afraid of getting a tan?) and all I could think of was "oh good lord... if I were on that cruise Holland America would have another 'passenger releases the anchor' incident... but they wouldn't be able to prosecute 'cause I'd have duct-taped myself to a fluke before pulling the lever". :rolleyes:

Great question... I was just about the ask the same thing. My motivation is slightly different though...I wondered if there was one I would be interested in joining :)

Gee, RaceAddict & Wayfairers - You've both come up with the same question we have. A friend goes on quilting & sewing cruises, and I've heard of wine tasting, literary and Elderhostel groups booking a block of cabins. No problem there.

But since reading these boards I've also become aware of religious groups, political groups, rap music groups, nudist groups etc. who schedule "theme" cruises. Some we wouldn't mind, but others I would rather not be on a boat with. Even a boat of 2,000 can get mighty small if you wish to relax and a bass beat is reverberating throughout the ship. Sort of like the smoking controversy - we don't wish to pay money to be on a boat where smoking is allowed in cabins, balconies; and anywhere but a few spots on an open deck. We also wish to avoid cruises which are overloaded with often uncontrolled children, and plan accordingly.

Before putting one's final $$ down on a cruise, this is good information to know. I think one should be able to find this out directly from each line 100 days before sailing. With some percentages, such as 5%, 20%, 50% of capacity. Just read about a group on a cruise in Alaska, and we would have been VERY uncomfortable among that group. (but not uncomfortable enough to strap myself to the anchor!)

It is a worthy topic to be addressed by Carolyn or someone on the Cruise Critic 'staff'.

As for finding a cruise, if you have an interest, you might try putting "cruise, & (title of interest)", into Google and see what comes up?

TIA

After a little more digging, found this topic was covered earlier. This would not be a fool proof way to find out info but a good start. Go to:

http://themecruisefinder.com/index.html where many groups are listed, including your Vampire cruise. :eek:

To find out if your cruise has an affinity group recruiting for the sailing, I suggest you sort of search backwards. Use the advanced search feature and put in the name of the cruise line. You won't find every group, especially company/corporate groups there. But maybe you will find you do not want to be on a deck which is 95% swingers with your children. Or yourself.....or maybe you do!

It is fair to say, that any group should not take over the pool areas or solicit other passengers, either for sales or experiences. Report such issues to the ship's officers.

OMG!! Thanks for that link-I have bookmarked it. We almost booked Oasis 4/28/2012 but switched to 5/12/2012 as it was a better deal for a balcony-good thing as an over 40 singles group is on the earlier sailing. From just googling the date of the cruise and the ship I found a quilter's group on the May sailing. Won't a lot of people be surprised as there were quite a few singles cruises listed under Royal. Would have been nice to have Rock Legends on my sailing,though.;)

in general terms..the bigger the ship, the smaller the impact that an affinity group will have on the balance of the cruisers unless the group is over 500 ...and be careful about assumptions about the group's behavioral patterns..a group of 100 quilters (just as an example) could be more :eek:freaky:eek: then a group of :eek:hedonist:eek:

my older brother and my SIL are both retired emergency room nurses, non drinkers and avid Harley riders and they cruise on the High Seas Adventures cruise every year (about 1/2 of the ship) and find that in general there is a peaceful co-existance between the two entities (many of the other guests try to attend alot of their private events)

I am an exclusive devouted of the full charter smooth jazz cruises for the past 6 years so everyone on the ship is there for that purpose

if the group is under 500, it should not really impact your cruise experience

Great website - thanks for sharing!!

Actually, one can see the previous postings here //http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=367928&page=6. The examples I cited (pool take over, product solicitation, a family unhappy with being surrounded with swingers, etc.) are from comments others made on that thread.

Speaking of threads - you may find the quilters next to the acupuncture clinic! (They never bring enough pins) And I have seen quilts made with Harley fabrics & motifs. Personally I would find either group interesting, along with most music. (A week of Elvis - no thank you! Didn't like him when I was 12-16, and don't like him now!)

I do think one has the right to know if a group will be on, which would seriously impact your enjoyment or needs. We will be going on a smaller ship (800-900) next year, and a group of 500, be it jazz fans or swingers, would definitely change the on-board experience of the ship. YMMV

on a smaller vessel absolutely I agree it would change one's cruising experience...the question becomes would a cruise line allow you to change to another vessel without any penalty or additional charge or would trip insurance cover reimbursement of your cruise (if you had no other option) based upon that criteria for cancelling

but you are on point, it's better to know in advance and make your decision or adjustments then when you are standing in line to check in at the terminal and see a group of 500 Elvis impersonators in full Elvis gear:rolleyes: ahead of you ..btw, how do 500 quilters get those large pins thru TSA screening at the airport (lol)..500 smooth jazz cruisers on a 900 psgr cruising vessel would make your cruise very mellow and laid back (lol)..just recently learned about a HAL cruise to Alaska with a group theme of Vampires (wow)...I would personally like an affinity cruise of 500 Sports Illustrated/Victoria Secret swimsuit models, but then again I'm single (would suspect most married men would want to avoid that cruise)

perhaps we can have this included in the cruising bill of rights legislation

I would personally like an affinity cruise of 500 Sports Illustrated/Victoria Secret swimsuit models

That cruise would sell out in a matter of minutes! :rolleyes:

And the biggest danger of the Elvis (or Liberace) impersonators would be sequins clogging up the on-board septic system. :eek:

No, cruise insurance is not the way to deal with this - being an informed consumer is, and I do think awareness in places such as Cruise Critic would help. Plus a web site such as Themecruisefinder to check, or find a group you would enjoy being with. It is another factor one considers, just as people have a right to know about smoking rules.

Cruise lines have to contend with natural disasters & civil unrest - they reserve the right to change itineraries, etc. Customers should also have a way to switch before a final payment is made.

If a line put me and my young grandchildren on a deck with nothing but swingers or clothing optional folks, and didn't allow me to switch decks (even to one above or below what was paid), I would raise a public stink about it, and never cruise with them again.

If they want to run cruises with contingents of quilter's, swingers, or John Birch Soc; then they should not sell space to others without advance knowledge. It's about knowledgeable choice.

In these days of the internet, cruise lines have to be responsive and responsible to dealing with bad decisions. As in the recent case of Royal Caribbean's poor initial decision with the situation in San Juan.

A correction to an earlier post. The CC earlier topic site should be.........

Ive never run into a theme/group while crusing. I am going on the BSB cruise on Carnival in Dec, this is a full charter though. I know Carnival has a theme cruises tab that lists different themes they have booked. If you are concerned about running into one I would check with the cruise line, they should be able to tell you. Because I dont blame you about not wanting to run into one of these. Last year's BSB cruise was only half charter and if I wasnt a BSB fan I would have hated being on that other half of the ship!

..... Go to:

http://themecruisefinder.com/index.html where many groups are listed, including your Vampire cruise. :eek:.....

great site and a good starting point - thanks

just found what I was looking for - an Art themed river cruise

Good question/s.

I did look under that website that was recommened, but that was not what I wanted.

Does anyone know (yes, I know there is a Soul Train one coming up) of 50's/60's of Rock & Roll coming up? I want the "name" entertainers, not pretenders. I think there is one called the Malt Shoppe, or something like that. My problem with them, you have to book through "them", and I wanted to brook through my TA, as I feel more comfortable, if something should go wrong.

Good question/s.

 

I did look under that website that was recommened, but that was not what I wanted.

 

Does anyone know (yes, I know there is a Soul Train one coming up) of 50's/60's of Rock & Roll coming up? I want the "name" entertainers, not pretenders. I think there is one called the Malt Shoppe, or something like that. My problem with them, you have to book through "them", and I wanted to brook through my TA, as I feel more comfortable, if something should go wrong.

This one looks like something you're talking about:

http://themecruisefinder.com/CruiseAds/item/3516

It's on HAL's Eurodam on 10/27/2012, so perhaps you would be able to book the cruise independently, and then register for the other portion seperately?

I have not read everyones responses, but a few years ago (we did not know they were to be on the ship), Richard Simmons and a large group were on the ship we were on. To say the least, we had NO problem with them being on the ship. Now I am NOT picking on anyone, but there were some large people by the pool, but they never tried to take over the pool or any other area that I could see. There was always room for others.

This is just MY opinion, but it sounds like some of the responders, are just "nit pickers."

Hi, can it just be as simple as calling the cruise line, telling them what cruise you are interested in and ASKING if part of your cruise has a "carve out" for a theme group? (the "themes" are booked thru an independent promotor).

I just looked at Theme Finder and they did not list my "theme" cruise for next year, (already booked) and last year this same "theme" cruise took over the whole ship, over 5,000 cruisers. Regular passengers who had already booked were re-booked on other ships as the "theme" grew and grew. They knew regular cruisers probably would not enjoy themselves unless they were specifically interested in 40 Heavy Metal bands for 4 days! Just sayin' :) Cheers!

I have never been on a theme cruise, though yes we did attend theme events and nights on cruisies, but a whole theme cruise by itself. . .im finding this thread interesting:)

Hi West....I think you find them fascinating! They have "theme" cruises for everyting nowadays. all kinds of music, Holistic, religious, crafts people, AA folks etc. Even one for the end of the world, 12-21-12! Something for everyone! (do take a look at Theme Finders or look at the Roll Calls here on Cuise Critic.)

try http://www.groupsahoy.com also

I had the same thought as a PP that I would come here looking for specific theme cruises. Didn't even think about avoiding one.

My husband and I went on a Super Bowl Party Cruise last year and it was SO much fun. Giant screens everywhere for the game, prizes and games which made it more fun... and the best part...I didn't have to make the food for a bunch of my husbands friends to come over and watch the game! :D Where else can you go and get all you can eat! Not a sports bar that's for sure.

We had such a good time I was hoping to find some other football fans to join us this year. We're booked on the NCL for the 2-2-13 to the Eastern Caribbean. Hubby gets to watch the big game and I get a vacation out of it!

Anyone going? I found out about it here. http://www.superbowlpartycruise.com/index.html

~ Mia