Groups on Radisson

I have a RSSC cruise booked on the Navigator for next March. My TA tells me that there are a couple of groups on board. Now I am getting a bit nervous about that. Does anyone have experience with groups on board, particularly on the Navigator? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Hi,

I'm sure others with more experience will chime in. It really depends how big the groups are.

A couple of years ago there was a group ( Carpet One company) that took over half of the Voyager in our Baltic cruise. They were very obvious although not in an obnoxious way. I don't remember if they took over a lounge for private functions at some time. They had a hospitality table set up in the lobby and went in their own excursions. IMO it does change the "flavor" of the cruise.

We were on the Navigator to Bermuda this summer with a group from a matress company from TN. Not a big group,maybe thirty max. We were on their deck and saw them often in the dining room. They were a bit noisy at dinner, but we managed to avoid them most nights, by request! They did not impact any of the public areas at all to my knowledge.

Hope this helps.

B.

Groups can be good. On our Alaska cruise on the Mariner this summer there were at least two groups...a larger bunch from a big stock brokerage and some auto dealers. The advantage was that they had some of their own functions which left the rest of the ship seeming a bit empty at times. I suspect a company that gives away trips on RSSC is pretty upscale to pay that kind of freight (I used to go on these kinds of junkets in a former career) and the people they bring are heavy hitters who have a lot of money to spend (as in the casino). Expect to see a lot of designer clothes,jewelry and expensive cameras. You may also see more kids than normal as,with mom and dad getting the trip gratis,it's a small price to pay to bring the rest of the family.

I agree with everything said so far. My experiences have been on the Paul Gauguin, which is even smaller than Navigator. It depends on the size of the groups, and their characteristics. Our first PG trip, we had a group of from a large insurance company. They are very nice, and did not cause any ruffle at all, they had a couple of cocktail parties, and presumably ate together, but we didn't notice any impact.

On our last PG trip this summer, there were groups both weeks (b2b). The first week it was just a group travel booking, and that was fine, nice folks. There was also a group of doctors, they had seminars and lectures every day, a working holiday--they had little impact on those around them. The second week we had two groups, one about 40 people, a birthday party, can you believe it! They were great, kept to themselves mostly, had a good time. The other was very large (about half the ship). It had a real impact. Mostly negative, I must say. True, there were times when it meant we had parts of the ship to ourselves, but I felt bad for the performers, because this group was largely absent from standard ship's functions. They also took over decks and restaurants for functions of their which was annoying, as was their taking over the pool deck and treating it like TGIFridays. But they were a very A-type group, restaurant chain. I admit towards the end of the week we shared a table with several couples from the group, and they seemed very nice, but very focussed on the business aspects of the meeting.

I think overall, I would not worry about it too much, unless there is one group that dominates the ship. If you can find out how large, and what industry, that might help.

I agree that the only potential for a real issue is if there is a large corporate group...and even then it may be a non-issue. There are many "groups" on cruises and most of the time other passengers wouldn't even know they were in the company of groups.

I received the answer from the TA - over 2/3 of the ship is booked by two incentive groups - one is a construction company and the other is a lumber company. To me that is a really high number on such a small ship. Adding that these are sales people.......I would think that this would change the dynamics of this particular cruise.

Iamboatman - glad to see you are around and kicking :) How was the NY cruise? Sorry I missed it this year and now I see that they dont have one for next year :(

Hi There. Yep I'm still around. The Seabourn cruise was, as always, a great time. Each year is a different mix of people. Next year is out because the Seabourn Pride has been chartered out for the Ryder Cup.

As for this cruise...and being I am also involved the construction business...I would be very cautious about being on that cruise. I am confident that I, personally, would choose an alternative cruise.

It's great that your TA is so proactive and gave you that "heads up". I would hesitate to go on that cruise.

Out of curiosity, what sailing in March is this? My family and I briefly considered taking a March 15 ( I think) Navigator cruise out of SJ but decided to go on a Silversea cruise instead.

Cruiseluv, the cruise I am talking about is the Navigator 3/10 sailing from San Juan. It is a 5 day cruise which is probably why there are such large groups on board. While I wouldnt mind a smaller group, this now has me concerned. We too (a group of 6 women) also looked at the SS cruise but unfortunately the single supplement was really expensive.

There was actually a warning posted through Radisson available for all TAs to see. I had actually warned a client about the large groups.

Ooooh, I'm not sure how I'd feel about 2/3 of the ship being taken over by two "groups". I've been on 4 Radisson cruises, loved them all, but much preferred the two I took that were mainly "regular passengers" (though even they had some small groups, but nothing noticable at all, maybe 40 people). Two of my cruises had large groups on them.....on The Diamond and on The PG. One group was particularly dreadful, I couldn't begin to go into the horrific details without scaring you silly. Suffice it to say that when they disembarked (and we stayed on another week), we partied on down with the crew in a never ending salute to their departure. It was just AWFUL when they were on board.

If there is an alternative date you can work with, I think you should consider switching weeks. You obviously have a good TA who keeps on top of such matters. Before my last dreadful experience I never even asked whether "a group was on board". Now, it's one of my priorities!

Charlene

Was on the Diamond with auto company golf group. We hit all the name courses in the UK.

Independent pax had to wait hours to tee up. The "group" got all kinds of preference.

Sailed with an insurance group on Wind Star, who made the trip lots of fun.

A group on 100 pax Renaissance was not fun.

I guess you never know.

LovesCruisin

We'll be on the Navigator cruise that docks the day you leave. We'll try to leave the place neat and clean for you.

I stayed on the Diamond after last fall's transatlantic (as a single, no less) when the ship was booked full with a couple of groups for a four night caribbean. Except for the frustration of having the lounges closed for private events (especially after sail-away) it wasn't a problem. I was afraid that the dining room would be split into private groups and the few of us not with a group would feel like outsiders, but of course the staff didn't let that happen. I didn't notice any impact on the dining experience. It was port-intensive and the groups were involved with their own activities during the day. Evening shows were far less interesting than on the crossing, but that may be true of all port intensive cruises. Even disembarkation was amazingly smooth.

For what it is worth, I can see a BIG difference between having 2/3 of the ship taken by two large groups, and having 2/3 of the ship taken by numerous smaller groups. We were on the Mariner when it seemed that everyone I'd meet was in "this or that" group --- but the groups were smaller, and there were more of them. The groups consisted of both "corporate" groups and "affinity" groups like Select and Virtuoso. On our cruise, sometimes we'd wander into a cocktail party for a group that was not ours (we were with an "affinity" group) and were invited to stay!

But I too would be concerned if 2/3 of the ship were taken by just two "corporate" groups.

Thanks,

Richard

We were on the September 17th cruise on the Voyager with 3 groups. 2 of them blended in with the rest of us. The 3rd, more than 100 of Mary Kay Cosmetics' top salespeople and their spouses, seemed to take over the ship and were often quite loud. This very much altered the RSSC experience.

We will no longer make a final payment without checking into the composition of any large groups booked onboard. Our TA has just made this kind of check for a cruise we are taking on Silversea in March. We were told that there are no large groups but that there are several small groups that have taken no more than 5 suites each. Cruise lines (or Silversea, at least) seem to have no problem giving out this information.

As LovesCruisin can verify, our group decided to cancel our booking and look for something else. All of the wonderful input from those on this board certainly helped in that decision. Charsie, it seems like donkey's years since I've seen you around on any of the boards.......nice to see you are still with us and hope all is well with you and yours!

Pat

Pat, I haven't posted very much lately! I'm doing well, though, after a fantastic Toronto summer - don't you agree! I'm not booked on another Radisson cruise until the end of 2006, but that has to change!! Keep me posted as to which cruise you re-booked on.....I think you made the right decision!

Charlene

Got off the PG Saturday- there were a few groups (20 people +/-)- most were great-but one group of people it appeared had won the trip as an incentive for their company. They were a little drunk, loud, and inappropriate at times. I would fear a larger group of this variety could make a negative impact on your trip. Jake

We booked the PG b2b beginning 5/21/05. On 5/28, the beginning of our second leg, a group of 166 boarded. That's 166 out of 296 passengers. Boy did Radisson have a surprise for us! The non-group passengers were informed our sailaway dinner would be served in La Veranda. When we got there, we discovered that our "dinner" that night would be a crummy warmed-up buffet lunch, the same lunch we had been served seven hours earlier in the day. The group was dining one deck below enjoying the multi-course sailaway dinner we had all long-anticipated and paid for. They paid for first class and got it. We paid for first class and served ourselves leftovers. Outrageous!!!!!

Our policy now: we won't knowingly sail with a very large group unless we are a part of it.

Patrick

I have booked a cruise for my family on the 14th of february on the navigator. How can I know if there are groups on it (I am writing from France)??

Have your travel agent get this information from RSSC. I am checking the same thing for a cruise booked in march on the Mariner.

Cheers, Pam

Personally as a passenger, I would not knowingly go on a ship where there are two large groups taking over 2/3 of the ship..I do not believe that is a good policy for Radisson to follow and I would change to another date..

Jan

*****

As Canadagal said, we decided to cancel this cruise as I doubt it would have been a true RSSC experience with the large groups on board. We'll find another cruise to go on but will stay clear of those with large incentive groups on board.