Anoynmous Phoenix

We had three days in a cabin on 10 on the Prima and then had to move because of the lack of noise!!! They couldn't get the phone to work!! The rest of the cruise was in forward bow cabin on 9, no noise problem there.

@ChiefMateJRK I think you missed two words; MORE and MORE. I agree it is useful and used but not as used or useful as it used to be. In general if you look at the posters then many, if not most, have posted a great deal and there are few who are starting to use Cruise Critic. We need starter cruisers to be the next generation of the knowledgeable users of Cruise Critic.

I had hoped that my initial posting to start this thread might have brought forward suggestions as how to make Cruise Critic more used and more useful. It needs a large number of new active “subscribers” if it to be any use at all. The statement by @schmoopie17; “Probably the majority of people on any given cruise ship have never even heard of CC.”; started me thinking. How do you “sell” anything most effectively? By Advertising. What is the best advertising? Personal Contact. Where is the best place to contact people who cruise? On Cruise Ships. How much advertising does Cruise Critic do to people actually on Cruise Ships? NONE!! Reading the few comments so far one thing that would help would to make available again the ability to MESSAGE. That function has been gone for a while (Why was it discontinued?) and is really missed. That sort of function seems to be a heavy selling point elsewhere. Then an effective way of communicating is to have an unpaid, knowledgeable Cruise Critic “Representative” on every cruise who could advertise his/her presence by putting a flier in every cabin door “box”. We need as much positive “material” as possible to increase the “population” of Cruise Critic. Please help . Anoynmous Phoenix

@hallux The issue with that, if people want the M&G's to continue, is that the M&G as we know it was a courtesy given by nature of being affiliated with CC. No CC, no M&G. And so it should be Anyone organizing a M&G strictly through the other site (but trying to get the benefits of the CC M&G) is doing so disingenuously. I hope that NCL stamps on this heavily. The CC M&G is a Private Arrangement between NCL & CC. If others want the benefits let them make an arrangement with NCL. I thought at one point that CC didn't want people cross-organizing the M&G on CC and that other site, but it seems to be a common practice now just so they can get the participation numbers up to qualify for setting one up. I hope this is not so; I far prefer a where attendees are at least on Cruise Critic and would prefer them to be active on here. .... who seems to need a quoting lesson, it's difficult to understand what they wrote and what someone else wrote I hope you can understand what I have written in answer to your post. If you wrote it, it is italicized; if I wrote it, it isn't. As always.

Don't complain NCL need the money!!

@MagnoliaBlossom But it seemed after a while the host of the MnG did not have any idea in how to conduct a meeting and the whole time was spent passing around a microphone so people who didn’t know how to use one could go on and on and . Preparation and a Plan!! Have something arranged so people do MEET & GREET while on their FEET not BOTTOMS. ... the officers name and numbers (the real jewel of the meeting, IMHO). I agree but people NEED to be told how to use it and the "Dear GM" box for either to be effective.

@The Traveling Man Hello James So you're saying that you intended it to be interpreted as "Annoying Mouse" ??? I think, if you think back you will know one reason; a request (demand) for Anonymity!! The other is personal. A number of years ago Day 1 of a cruise had; in the Freestyle Daily, that DJ ANOYNMOUS was to "play". I checked and it was too late to change before Day 2 but on Day 3 it had been corrected to DJ ANONYMOUS. I was on B2B and, YES!, on Day 1 of the second cruise what would appear in the Freestyle Daily but DJ ANOYNMOUS!! It makes me smile to think of it; it proved that no one on the ship ever Proof Read the Freestyle Daily. A couple of years later on another cruise we had a great laugh about it when I called across the deck "Hey Anoynmous"!! A P

@schmoopie17 The Roll Calls are useful for sharing excursion ideas, places to stay before the cruise, etc., but I doubt there is little value beyond such things. I think that useful is not strong enough; it is fabulous when there are enough people actually taking part; too few these days. Gift exchanges...meh. Cabin crawls...meh. Ducks...meh. Maybe it's just me(h), I agree totally and let me add Slot Pulls and Pub Crawl but each to his own. However can I push the Meet & Greet; properly arranged; they are fabulous. If there are 40 people (20 couples) there then you should have spoken with at least 20 during the meeting and then have an arranged lunch afterwards to meet the others!! Finish off with a dinner ⅔ of the way through the cruise. A P

@schmoopie17 Many people who sign up for Meet and Greets don't even show up. A quote from https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/1240211-how-to-set-up-a-cruise-critic-meet-mingle-or-meet-greet-on-your-ncl-cruise/#comment-25428559 Tip from LauraS: If you RSVP that you are going to the Meet & Mingle, PLEASE GO! If the cruise line takes the time to set up a special gathering for Cruise Critic members, we should definitely do our best to attend. My NUMBER ONE personal rule for attending anything; If I say I will attend, I COMMIT to doing so, and do so. If you look at the Roll Call Spreadsheets I quoted earlier you will see I have put "MAYBE". A P

@schmoopie17 Probably the majority of people on any given cruise ship have never even heard of CC. Very true but how many who do know advertise the fact by having a sheet on their cabin door. Cruise Critic has a great one to advertise that you belong. I have. A P

HELP. Not only me but also yourself AND Cruise Critic. I first heard of Cruise Critic on the Star going through the Suez Canal in October 2016. Since then, I have attended many Meet & Greets; some excellent, most great but a few terrible ones. I have also arranged a number and have; in two guises; posted over 14,000 times on Cruise Critic. I have also arranged a number of dinners and/or lunches for Cruise Critic friends. Early this year I stood back from Cruise Critic but returned recently and am horrified at what seems to have happened to Cruise Critic. I am 80 and don’t think my health and my wife’s health will allow us to do many cruises after we do the 8 we have “in the pipeline”. It is raining today so I had time to look critically at the Roll Calls of those 8. What I want people to think about is “How does Cruise Critic reinvent itself?” It is no longer number ONE! Below is a table of the 8 cruises showing the ship; date of the cruise; posts on the Roll Call and the numbers of followers of the Roll Call. Four of the cruises have “self-addition” spreadsheets so I have included the number of Cruise Critic names on each (Spread) and then numbers indicating attendance at a M&G. There seems no likelihood of a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet on the other four. Ship Date Posts Followers Spread M&G Spirit 4-Jan 60 7 16-Jan 62 5 Jewel 21-Mar 71 12 7 5 31-Mar 222 15 14 20 10-Apr 252 29 21 37 22-Apr 65 11 11 13 Pride 18-May 12 4 25-May 4 2 My concern from these numbers, when I think back to the wonderful period before Covid, is that Cruise Critic is entering a period of a long and painful death. That would be a pity as Cruise Critic has been good to us and I have enjoyed the camaraderie of it. I am sure that a Mod will see this and pass it on to those in charge of Cruise Critic BUT I hope that as many of you who care as much for Cruise Critic as I do will put your thinking caps on and contact the Cruise Critic Community at community@cruisecritic.com with ideas to return Cruise Critic to the number one position for the promulgation of assistance when cruising. I believe that, at best, it is losing that position and, at worst, has already lost it. Aroha Nui Nāku noa, nā Anoynmous Phoenix.

No Casino Two overnights in 7 days.

@Glen&Kathy Thank you for asking, I can't give you an answer BUT I have used what you wrote about your price drop problem to try to sort out a problem with my PCC who has failed to answer the previous 3 emails about a similar matter. A P

@DCGuy64 Been there, done that, received it too. BUT a warning; be prepared to be run off your feet if you do one for over 100 people and arrange things to do at it rather than just put your name to it.

..... my wife starts getting out the cases and starts bothering me with questions about clothes to pack!!! VBG

@Katie111 5) What does the NCL cruise consultant do? Booked two days ago and they've called me about 5 times already. You are lucky!!! VBG I think mine is only interested if he thinks he can make some money from my booking another cruise. I cannot seem to get him to answer awkward questions nor look into problems nor requests to save me money!!

@DCGuy64 I don't know if it was because I offered to host the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle, Yes

@cruiseny4life In case you want to use it again you get € by pressing on the Alt Key at the same time as 0128.

There is invariably a Shabbat service offered, if it isn't then those of the Jewish faith certainly request it. They will make a room available for people to meet for a service but there will have to be a passenger to lead it and you have to advertise it yourselves.

@laudergayle Thanks; not interested in the Bliss but I saw that Djamel was GM. I cruised with him a few years ago and have been hoping to come across him again; no chance if he is on the Bliss!!

Nearly down to 50 days till we board the Spirit in Auckland. Anyone with the Officer List from a recent M&G please post on here. Who is the Concierge please? Thanks A P

@Smitheroo Congratulations that you now understand but lots still don't; they should look at it this way Day 5 your account is $543. Day 6 you buy 8 FCC at $250 each ($2000) so your account now reads $2543 ($543 + $2000). Day 7 The FCC people put a credit of $1000 in your account which now reads $1543 ($2543- $1000) That means you have in your My NCL 8 FCCs worth $250 each for which you have paid $125 each. FORGET all the rubbish they talk about Free Money and OBC. They took $2000 with one hand and gave you back $1000 with the other. Spend the $1000 on the COST OF THE FCCs not on overpriced "rubbish" on the ship they are trying to con you to do.

What happened was that CC changed the login method to email addresses and many Roll Calls were "lost or "misplaced" in the process. Logout, login again with your email address and it will reappear.

Remember that the suite meals at this level do not change so on a long cruise become quite boring.

They certainly have Tabasco available all the time everywhere it seems.