Large charter group on ship

We just discovered that a large charter group is on the ship we have booked. We were never informed of this by RCL. Would most of the venues be taken over by this group and even the dining halls? Would the shows be reserved for this group and others would have to fight for seats? Would service be less to the non-charter guests? We have never encountered a large group charter before so are concerned our cruise experience would be much lessoned. Thank you for any comments or experience on this.

We just discovered that a large charter group is on the ship we have booked. We were never informed of this by RCL. Would most of the venues be taken over by this group and even the dining halls? Would the shows be reserved for this group and others would have to fight for seats? Would service be less to the non-charter guests? We have never encountered a large group charter before so are concerned our cruise experience would be much lessoned. Thank you for any comments or experience on this.

Are you on Independence?

There might be some bars, etc set aside occasionally for their functions certain hours some days. I've never seen a group get preference for shows or dining rooms. Nor have we experienced poorer service due to a group on a ship.

Several years ago, we inadvertently cruised on a ship - Freedom or Liberty, can't remember which - that was about 1/2 chartered by a gathering of bikers (motorcycles) from across the US. We had no advance notice, learned about it when we arrived at the port. They had one dining session reserved for them, as well as certain show times, and they had several private events in the convention center area - one of which I was welcomed to attend. Their formal night attire was either colors or pirate garb - some quite impressive. We are also bikers, so felt very comfortable, but I did see some note worthy reactions from the more staid crowd. The group's collective conduct was no different from any other cruise, and we enjoyed interacting with them. Our activity choices were somewhat limited at times, but it wasn't that bad. Concerning service, we did not notice a decrease of service for non-charter guests.

With 25 Royal cruises under my belt and have been on several with large groups. We have never felt it interrupted our experience except one which was a group of Realtors. The Realtors were constantly visiting other table of Realtors in the dining room. Other then that except for seeing t-shirts & swag for the group you would have never known they were on board. Next week we board with a huge group of Elvis fans & a singer, can't recall his name. Am I worried, nope. It is what ya make it and they do not get special priority. They may have a private event here and there but Cruise Critic has a private event, C&A always has private events. Can't be upset because it's not an event you were not invited to, nothing was happening in the space at the time anyway.

BonVoyage

Dawna

There might be some bars, etc set aside occasionally for their functions certain hours some days. I've never seen a group get preference for shows or dining rooms. Nor have we experienced poorer service due to a group on a ship.

if the group is large enough they will indeed set aside the entire seating in the MDR for this group( early or late). on occasion they may set aside one main show seating as well or offer an additional private one( like the ice shows)

I have noticed that the off limits areas tended to be the ones rarely used anyway, or places like Viking Crown which doesn't get going until late.

never had a decrease in service, although the large groups that tended to gather out and about could get.. annoying...

We were on Anthem with a huge group, about a quarter of the ship.

It was very annoying, especially since they took up the 270 for themselves several times during the cruise.

The group had special lines and areas for dining, reserved seating for entertainment, and even at Jamie's they had priority over us.

We felt, the whole 12 days cruise, like second-rate passengers.

We've been on cruises with some large groups that were actually fun to have on board and others that were horrible. It depends on the group. Maybe if you give us more information, someone will be able to tell you, from their experience, what you can expect.

If the group is less then 50% then I don't think it's an issue. We were on a cruise with a large, mostly over 60 group. It was less crowded for many of the physical activities. We also were able to enjoy some of their non-reserved activities. We will see our next cruise has a large group also, but only about 20% of cruise.

Thank you for all the responses. Yes to one respondent that it is the Independence in February. I have no problem with the specific group but don't wanted to be slightly either with seating or dining. I do want to be able to enjoy what I booked for, Thank you.

Just over a year ago we were on a cruise that had a large group on board. A few evenings the pool area was closed so they could have their 'parties'. Not all of the large cruise group were veteran cruisers but that didn't seem to matter because a number of the D / D+ folks would go into the Diamond lounge and bring their friends in there with them during the cocktail hours. That was really frustrating.

I was on the partial charter cruise mentioned in this thread. This was not my most favorite.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2458436&highlight=oasis+charter

Thank you for all the responses. Yes to one respondent that it is the Independence in February. I have no problem with the specific group but don't wanted to be slightly either with seating or dining. I do want to be able to enjoy what I booked for, Thank you.

What group is it out of curiousity? How did you discover it existed on your sailing.

On our first cruise on the Enchantment, there was a large group seated within our section, sharing our waiter. On the night of their sabbath they had their dinner served in a reserved room and our waiters were requested by them to serve their dinner. We were a table of 6, so to compensate us for this "inconvenience, we were invited to have dinner at the Captain's table. What an experience!!!!!

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Moz is referring to "Apostolics at sea" , I dont know much about the group, just some internet searches. It seems it will be approx 800-1100 on the Independence of the Seas. Once again I dont know much, but I know they are bringing some of their own entertainment, and I would think some of the standard shows would not fit the groups "views". I figure 800 less people in line for the bars and some shows will be a plus, dining may be an issue however. Maybe one of the 2 AaS members can smooth some things over Moz on the Roll Call that is set up. Not sure, I'm Catholic lol

Aaaaah, large groups......How could I ever forget sailing with over 1,000 WWF (World Wrestling Federation) fans on my honeymoon cruise? [emoji23]

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Aaaaah, large groups......How could I ever forget sailing with over 1,000 WWF (World Wrestling Federation) fans on my honeymoon cruise? [emoji23]

 

 

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Oh my. I bet that was interesting. [emoji848][emoji51]🤭[emoji23]

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When you pay for a product as specified in advertising by a service provider, you are entitled to expect delivery of said product.

Not interested in what the cruise line is up to - on every single voyage, they are to deliver said product. Every single time, over and over, unless there is an unforeseen circumstance.

If there is a situation that occurs in advance (like a charter) that has the probability to amend the said product - then all those consumers that could be potentially impacted by not receiving the said product that was advertised at the time the consumer paid for it - should be compensated etc.

Not letting any cruise line, restaurant, resort etc, off the hook - when they know full well their advertised product offering can not/will not be delivered.

Consumers are entirely to lenient on service providers.

your making my brain work to hard after 3 cocktails . i think i agree though

2 years ago we were on the Freedom while 2 charter groups of girls from Brazil celebrated their Quincanera. A couple hundred of them. There were multiple times that venues were closed for just them to use - including the entire pool one night, forcing tons of kids into the Solarium. I was not happy. I left 4 kids home for our one and only non kid vacation. They were always in huge crowds, like dance lines down the Promenade to the point that you could not walk. It was a huge headache.

What KIND of "group"? We were on a cruise where about 1/3 of the passengers were part of some "insurance company" group. The majority of the group didn't even know each other. I think they had a couple private "seminars", and that affected nothing for anyone else. Apparently this was some sort of "reward" for good sales. The cruise was no different than any other for anyone!

What KIND of "group"? We were on a cruise where about 1/3 of the passengers were part of some "insurance company" group. The majority of the group didn't even know each other. I think they had a couple private "seminars", and that affected nothing for anyone else. Apparently this was some sort of "reward" for good sales. The cruise was no different than any other for anyone!

did you read the responses on this thread at all?? :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::confused::confused:

I am on this sailing. I found out about the charter a couple of weeks ago when someone posted about it on our roll call. Out of curiosity I did some research and found their website regarding the cruise. It advertises as having their own round the clock entertainment, with about 8 entertainers & speakers listed. I have no idea if it will impact our cruising experience in any way, we fully intend to enjoy ourselves as much as we always do. I do think it would be nice if we had been told about it beforehand. I'm not saying it would have changed our plans to take that particular cruise, but I can understand that some people might not wish to cruise with a large group with special interests.

 

If there is a situation that occurs in advance (like a charter) that has the probability to amend the said product - then all those consumers that could be potentially impacted by not receiving the said product that was advertised at the time the consumer paid for it - should be compensated etc.

 

Not letting any cruise line, restaurant, resort etc, off the hook - when they know full well their advertised product offering can not/will not be delivered.

Not sure I agree with you. I spend a lot of nights at hotels for work, many times at large resorts over the weekend. Without a doubt, there’s always some large group; weddings, conventions, graduations, etc which seem to take over the property. That’s what these large hotels deliver: a venue where thousands of people can gather. Not once have I been warned in advance that there will be a large group sharing the hotel with me, and I don’t believe that I should. When you go somewhere designed to hold large amounts of people, whether a hotel or a cruise ship, the possibility is always there that you will indeed encounter some sort of group there. It’s part of the risk someone takes when choosing these types of mega accommodations.

I believe that if someone truly wants to avoid large groups, then they need to take responsibility for their decisions. The either need to be proactive and select a small hotel or cruise ship that doesn’t lend itself to these situations or understand that they may be sailing with a large group.

You can’t complain about sharing a ship with thousands of passengers that are part of a group when you’ve chosen to sail on a ship that’s indeed designed to hold thousands of passengers.

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I am on this sailing. I found out about the charter a couple of weeks ago when someone posted about it on our roll call. Out of curiosity I did some research and found their website regarding the cruise. It advertises as having their own round the clock entertainment, with about 8 entertainers & speakers listed. I have no idea if it will impact our cruising experience in any way, we fully intend to enjoy ourselves as much as we always do. I do think it would be nice if we had been told about it beforehand. I'm not saying it would have changed our plans to take that particular cruise, but I can understand that some people might not wish to cruise with a large group with special interests.

I have not googled your charter, but I hope it is a mild group. At least not a bunch of college kids on spring break, but... I did a charter we had about 800 on the Splendour of the Seas in 06 or 07.... and while I would not choose to be on that sailing, normally, it was probably not too bad because we didn't take over any venues, etc, but still. Any group larger than a couple of hundred impacts the sailing significantly. That said, the cruise line do not tell you that you are sailing with a group. Since we are all people, aren't we supposed to accept everyone? I mean bears, bikers, WWF, plumbers, etc. all gods children... right.

JC