Has anyone been on a sailing where there was a HUGE group for a private event???

I just found out that my second leg of the cruise will have a radio station on with around 700 guests. So if my ship holds 2000 passengers thats almost 1/3 the ship. I have heard that they are having special guests, bands and that some of the bars will be closed as well as special comedians.

That to me seems like I will be limited with what I will be able to do on the ship! Has anyone been on a sailing like this. What have your expiriences been?

I think had I known I would have not booked these sailings as I am doing b2b.

On our cruise last time there was a huge contingent onboard for a poker tournament. We didn't notice anything different -- maybe because most of those folks were in the casino?

In 2007, one leg of my 'welcome back from Iraq' B2B cruise was, unbeknownst to me, a Richard Simmons Cruise to Lose. It turned out to not be a big deal - most of the activities (work out classes, lectures, etc) were in the main theater during the morning/day. Other than occasionally seeing (and hearing) Richard around the ship a few times, there was zero impact to my cruise. I think you'll be fine. :)

Last cruise was a large Elvis group. Never noticed them honestly, other than the random lookalike by the pool

YES we were on a cruise with the Parrotheads, dont get me wrong i love Jimmy Buffets music, but when there are over 750 of them on a cruise and they take over alot of the ship whether the area's were sanctioned by Carnival or not. Many times we could not enjoy the aft lido area, it was over run by them most every day. Also the lounge where karaoke and the comedy show was booked every evening by this group. They moved the karaoke and comedy to an even smaller lounge.:mad:

I will avoid booking when a large group is on again!!

We've sailed with a couple big group and haven't had an issue. For the Jimmy and the Parrots group they reserved a few of the lounges for concerts and the attendees were nice, but it was in the off-hours so not when there is a regularly scheduled concert or show. The other group was a large travel agent seminar of sorts and they were quite a mix--some were unhappy to be on a Carnival ship. They also closed some of the lounges for their trainings. It's not as if they're squeezing an extra 700 people on the ship, they're in berths that would be otherwise available to "regular guests".

They're renting the space from Carnival so they can host private functions, just like a cocktail hour or wedding reception. I haven't heard of them closing bars because those would be a tight fit for 700. The public rooms won't be closed off indefinitely (for the whole cruise), just for short periods of time.

On the Breeze out of Miami last month there was a large Quincentero party (sp? I am not fluent in Spanish). Lots of pretty 15 year old girls and their families celebrating. They had a private event in the liquid lounge just prior to where we were supposed to have our dance party on embarkation for the kids' camp. They usually let the kids (with parents required in attendance) have one hour in the adult lounges on embarkation, around 7 or 8 pm. The private event went over, we all got downgraded to camp for our party, which fortunately was not a big deal as we had a fairly small turn-out. The last one before that on the Miracle to Hawaii we had in Frankenstein's lounge and it was a blast...the kids loved the huge frankenstein. I have heard horror stories about big private groups.... This particular group took over the atrium dance floor at least once. It's their vacation, too, right?

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Our cruise last year there was a dance competition on board. Lots and lots of kids. Nothing was closed that I remember but they seemed to want to push you out of the way if you happen to run into a group of them. My husband complained about the number of kids (we had ours (2) with us and I told him to hush) and we also heard a lot of people on board complain it. It didn't really bother me except it seemed at all hours of the day and night there were a lot more kids than normal that thought it was cute to run up and down the hall as fast as they could. This year I booked a deck 11 spa balcony on the dream, the hallways here are short and I didn't notice much running until the last few days and heard the parents tell them to stop. I'm pretty easy going and don't let much get to me but for some reason that is one thing that irks me.

We once cruised with a large bunch of some group (dont remember which one) and they pretty much took over the back lounge and we thought we lost out on entertainment choices as a result.

Would not bother me. In fact when they are gathered other public spaces you might want to enjoy, such ad the pool, gym, etc., might be less crowded for you. Glass half full?

I've sailed with several large family reunions, corporate meetings, and a Republican/Conservative Group (Liberty something group) that had former GA Congressman Bob Barr as it main speaker/leader. I went into several of their meetings being invited by members while passing by, and spoke with the Congressman during one of the regular shows in the theater. The group had some really interested insight into politics and the government, and nothing that I would call extreme or radical, but made you really think!!!! Most groups will have their meetings in a venue that is reserved solely for their use, which will be off limits to other guests for a specified period of time. Some passengers get really upset when this happens, but its really no big deal to me, and I find something else to do or somewhere else to go while their event is going on. You can identify the groups by t-shirts, buttons, hats, tote bags or briefcases, or you may not even be able to tell that a group is sailing onboard at all. On my last cruise on the Breeze, there was a large group that had been going on organized cruises for 20+ years by a couple, and their group had on bright green t-shirts during most of the cruise with the couples name on it.

I once cruised to Canada from NYC with a large group of people of Indian descent. Don't remember the name of the group. It was a couple of hundred. They added to my cruise to be honest bc they would have private parties in one of the back lounges and invite half the people on the ship to their parties. A really fun group of people. I learned how to do all of the good Indian steps to their great Indian hip/hop music.

I have been on cruises with the Red Hat ladies, large family gatherings, etc. and have never been bothered by the groups. They tend to be fun loving friendly people just looking to have a good time. Just like everyone else on the ship.

I believe (I hope :cool:) the day of blending groups like swingers, swappers, etc. with the mainstream cruisers has past. Most times now, those groups are encouraged to book out entirely one of the smaller ships. But even still any activities that would negatively impact other cruisers are generally timed and placed in lounges and meeting areas not used by the rest of the passengers.

It depends on the group and size 700 people is alot and when they all show up at once it can be over whelming parts of the ship is off limits as they have there private parts everday i try to avoid large groups because they just seem to take over the ship

I seem to recall there was a website that kept a list of upcoming group cruises so folks could check and see if theirs was one of them... anyone recall what website that was?

http://themecruisefinder.com/CruiseAds/search/create_form/

You can look up your sailing by category. Not perfect but has categories of themed cruises, like fitness, food/wine etc

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A couple of years back, we were on a cruise with a large group of 15 year old girls and all of their extended families celebrating their quint-cie celebration. I recall there were nearly 200 individuals in this group. Each day, the girls had different activities, clothes, presentations, etc. We saw them all over the ship but rarely at the pool. Every evening at dinner (late seating) they had some sort of presentation/demonstration before the "showtime" of the waiters. One evening, they were presented to the captain and head staff outside of the casino area.

Although I was aware of their presence, they were not a bother. Actually, we found them quite entertaining with all the clothes and drama of 15 year olds.

That said, having taken a chartered cruise with bands, activities, etc. and knowing what all can be scheduled and arranged, I can imagine that having to share a cruise with 700 folks in one group might be a bit intimidating. I have seen small groups of folks take over areas as well and make it less than pleasant to be in their company.

I strongly suspect that since this is a radio station, they will be providing their own entertainment. I also suspect that they will use the available venues but at times that do not compete with Carnival and their productions. Remember, Carnival wants to make money and please the other 1300 guests.

Go with an open mind. You will probably know they are there but your enjoyment of your trip will not be impacted.

It really depends on the group.

The largest group we encountered was on the Paradise in 2007. About 1/3 of the pax were for a singer. Our group's unbooked held cabins were taken from us a full month before their release date. The card room was taken over as their headquarters and we only had one show at 7:30 each night. Too early for early dining and too late for late dining. The ship sailed 100%+. Lots of kids but only 4 showed up for the Circle C group.

It was an interesting cruise. Saddest thing was an elderly gentleman who was completely lost. He started to speak to us in ????. Finally found someone who knew what language he was speaking.

That was the worst we've encountered. Most other groups will not have this type of impact.

We were in a Halloween cruise one year with a large group of cross-dressers. They got lots of looks in the dining room and pretty much took over the night clubs. It didn't ruin my cruise but my in laws haven't been on a cruise since.

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A few years ago we had a gospel singing group on our cruise that held their meetings/singing in the main theater during off hours. They didn't over crowd the ship and were pleasant to have on board especially during karaoke.

I was aboard the Glory along with a huge crowd of Drag Queens and their fans. I don't remember the name of the show- Rue or Rae or something like that.

Anyway, we loved it! They had their own activities planned which left the ship feeling almost empty at times.

They also seemed to stay up very late and wake up around lunch, which worked for us because we get up early and go I bed early.

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I just checked. I was wrong. The Bears are having a cruise in late October and even tho this is a mega group with a history of over the top antics and behavior, a person can still book this same cruise.

Oh well. :cool:

Heading for their Alaska cruise are these groups per John Heald.

We have a group of 500 Chinese American’s sailing today. They are part of one organisation and have lots of meetings and conferences during the port days when we are able to give them the main theatre. They have one at 10:00am during our passage through Tracy Arm Fjord

We also have a Church group of 70 from a United Methodist Church in Utah and a Corvette Car Club group of 48. These two groups will have a shared cocktail party tonight…………………

We shared our honeymoon cruise from San Juan with a large Wrestling Group from Puerto Rico. Besides the large number of people wearing spandex wrestling wear as their resort casual wear, everything else was pretty much status quo.

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Yup. In fact it was my first cruise in 1996 on the Sensation. I was actually a part of the large group. It was a Richard Simmons Cruise to Lose.

We were on a cruise a few years ago with a huge contingent of car salesmen, who had won the cruise as a sales incentive.

The had unlimited bar credits. I can't remember paying for a drink the whole cruise.