Cabin Crawl/Poker Run/Slot Pull

I am hosting the M&G for my sailing, and it's my first cruise ever. I've ready the M&G sticky, and I've searched the forums.

I found the basic information on the poker run, everyone pays a set amount for the pot, gets a card at each cabin that is visited (and a different deck is needed for each cabin), the host of each cabin writes down everyone's card (to prevent cheating/card switching) and at the end of the tour the person with the best hand wins...please correct me if I am wrong.

I can ascertain from this that a cabin crawl is going to the different cabin styles of those who are willing to share so that everyone has a chance to see the different types...again, please correct me if I am wrong.

What is a slot pull, and how is this organized?

Are these activities easy to plan with a larger or smaller group? I'm thinking it would be better with a smaller group.

Are activities expected at a M&G or do people like to just mingle?

Thanks

Melissa

I am hosting the M&G for my sailing, and it's my first cruise ever. I've ready the M&G sticky, and I've searched the forums.

 

I found the basic information on the poker run, everyone pays a set amount for the pot, gets a card at each cabin that is visited (and a different deck is needed for each cabin), the host of each cabin writes down everyone's card (to prevent cheating/card switching) and at the end of the tour the person with the best hand wins...please correct me if I am wrong.

 

I can ascertain from this that a cabin crawl is going to the different cabin styles of those who are willing to share so that everyone has a chance to see the different types...again, please correct me if I am wrong.

 

What is a slot pull, and how is this organized?

 

Are these activities easy to plan with a larger or smaller group? I'm thinking it would be better with a smaller group.

 

Are activities expected at a M&G or do people like to just mingle?

 

Thanks

Melissa

I've been on 12 cruises and out of all the M&G, we only did a gift exchange, none of those. It was mainly a time to meet crew and ask questions and talk and get to know fellow CC people. If you choose to do any of the above, I would only do one... you don't want to spend the whole time you have (which is only an hour) on just games. Just my opinion, plus you don't want to stress yourself out. Now, I am putting together a 'Welcome package' that will include a little button pin, a paper invite to the gathering (just so no one forgets) and one or two other things I haven't decide on and I will deliver to cabins on boarding day, but that's just something I am doing.

Also, one time we did a 'tag' game. You printed several CC signs (you designed however you wanted) and you got cabin #'s of those who wanted to play and sent out an e-mail will all the cabin #'s to those playing to print. You then put the signs on a magnet (I glued onto magnet) and on boarding day I took my list and put several of them on doors. They did took them and put them on someone else on the list's door (not right away, just when they were going out somewhere and on a deck they passed or whatever) our group had fun doing that.

I've been on 12 cruises and out of all the M&G, we only did a gift exchange, none of those. It was mainly a time to meet crew and ask questions and talk and get to know fellow CC people. If you choose to do any of the above, I would only do one... you don't want to spend the whole time you have (which is only an hour) on just games. Just my opinion, plus you don't want to stress yourself out. Now, I am putting together a 'Welcome package' that will include a little button pin, a paper invite to the gathering (just so no one forgets) and one or two other things I haven't decide on and I will deliver to cabins on boarding day, but that's just something I am doing.

 

Also, one time we did a 'tag' game. You printed several CC signs (you designed however you wanted) and you got cabin #'s of those who wanted to play and sent out an e-mail will all the cabin #'s to those playing to print. You then put the signs on a magnet (I glued onto magnet) and on boarding day I took my list and put several of them on doors. They did took them and put them on someone else on the list's door (not right away, just when they were going out somewhere and on a deck they passed or whatever) our group had fun doing that.

I'm going to do invitations, too, for the same reason. In all the hub-bub people are people and might forget, lol.

I like the idea of tag, what a creative idea!!!!

I'm going to do invitations, too, for the same reason. In all the hub-bub people are people and might forget, lol.

 

I like the idea of tag, what a creative idea!!!!

It was fun!

Wacky Buttons- I gave them the pic I wanted and what I wanted it to say and they designed some buttons. for 35 buttons pins w/ shipping it was 18.00. So that's not expensive. Here's what it will look like.

I am hosting the M&G for my sailing, and it's my first cruise ever. I've ready the M&G sticky, and I've searched the forums.

 

I found the basic information on the poker run, everyone pays a set amount for the pot, gets a card at each cabin that is visited (and a different deck is needed for each cabin), the host of each cabin writes down everyone's card (to prevent cheating/card switching) and at the end of the tour the person with the best hand wins...please correct me if I am wrong.

 

I can ascertain from this that a cabin crawl is going to the different cabin styles of those who are willing to share so that everyone has a chance to see the different types...again, please correct me if I am wrong.

 

What is a slot pull, and how is this organized?

 

Are these activities easy to plan with a larger or smaller group? I'm thinking it would be better with a smaller group.

 

Are activities expected at a M&G or do people like to just mingle?

 

Thanks

Melissa

Looks like you have the activities down pat !!!!

If you want to do a gift exchange at the M&G, that can be fun ! It is easy to do, and any who want to participate can do it on a bring one, take one basis for each person. Some of the officers will probably come to the M&G to introduce themselves, and the rest of the time is well spent meeting the CC members who attend.

The slot pull is also easy to set up. Decide on a machine and ask the casino manager if he can make it available at the time you want to do the pull. Decide on the amount of money each person puts in and when all the money is collected, put all of it into the machine and each person takes the appropriate number of pulls. When everybody is done, whatever is left in the machine is cashed out and divided equally. If the money doesn't divide equally, I give the remainder to the casino employee who helps you with announcing the event. It is a lot of fun and excitement.

It was fun!

 

Wacky Buttons- I gave them the pic I wanted and what I wanted it to say and they designed some buttons. for 35 buttons pins w/ shipping it was 18.00. So that's not expensive. Here's what it will look like.

I love love love the buttons!!!! What a fun and inexpensive thing to do! You are so creative!

The slot pull is also easy to set up. Decide on a machine and ask the casino manager if he can make it available at the time you want to do the pull. Decide on the amount of money each person puts in and when all the money is collected, put all of it into the machine and each person takes the appropriate number of pulls. When everybody is done, whatever is left in the machine is cashed out and divided equally. If the money doesn't divide equally, I give the remainder to the casino employee who helps you with announcing the event. It is a lot of fun and excitement.

Thank you for explaining the slot pull! That sounds pretty easy to me. It actually sounds like something that can be set up during the M&G.

I love love love the buttons!!!! What a fun and inexpensive thing to do! You are so creative!

 

 

 

Thank you for explaining the slot pull! That sounds pretty easy to me. It actually sounds like something that can be set up during the M&G.

The M&G is a good place to get all who are interested to sign up and decide on a time to do the pull. We did one slot pull right after the cabin crawl and had so much fun we set up another one later in the cruise.

Hi Melissa,

Let me just say that I am impressed as a first timer that you are taking on so much responsibility. Kudos to you!

I really like when we do cabin crawls especially on the newer, bigger ships that have numerous categories like the Epic or Oasis of the Seas. Make sure you have two door stops to help hold the cabin doors open. No one wants to get stuck holding the door open for XXX amount of people to come in. Give one to the first person in line to put at the bottom of the door and the last person out, picks it up.

Something else I like but haven't seen very often: little treats on a dish/basket from that cabin's home area. For example, salt water taffy from wherever that is prevalent. Being from Kentucky, the next time I do a cabin crawl, I will offer up bourbon balls.

Gift exchange: Kind of fun. Limit the amount that can be spent, i.e. $5 or under; $10 or under. On the Oasis of the Seas, one person started and whichever souvenir they picked, that person would pick next and so on until all items were picked.

Never have done a poker crawl so I cannot comment on that.

Slot machine pull. We all put in $20 and would get 20 spins at a $1 machine. We allowed couples to share the spins so I got 10 pulls and my husband got 10 pulls. Ended up getting back four dollars. It was quick and fun to root on your fellow roll callers. I know when we split the proceeds, we ended up with an uneven dollar amount so we all decided to give that as a tip to the casino employee who was assigned to us. Definitely a great idea and I never would have thought to do so. If you have anyone who is sailing through Casinos at Sea, you might ask if they would be willing to contact the casino manager upon embarkation and set up the slot pull.

Finally, don't expect everyone to participate in all the activities. Also, if they say they are participating, several will still not show up. Don't worry about it. It is still your cruise and just do what makes you happy.

Other ideas: getting together for a pre-cruise dinner if several of you are staying near one another the night before the cruise. Also, an informal meet and greet to say hello; formal meet and greet; shared shore excursions; dinner one night together on the ship etc.

Have a great time!

Hi Melissa,

 

Let me just say that I am impressed as a first timer that you are taking on so much responsibility. Kudos to you!

 

Thanks! Everyone keeps saying it's a "responsibility", and it has me thinking that I bit off more than I can chew, LOL. That's why I'm asking about activities. I like the button idea, and invitations will be going out, but other than that, contacting NCL and letting everyone know when and where seems pretty simple (I say that now :o). I just wasn't sure if activities were expected. Personally, I'd rather just mingle, but I don't want to let anyone down since I volunteered.

I'm only expecting two people to show up, myself and my friend, and that might be a high estimate haha!

Since you are in charge of the M&G, you can always just be 'in charge' of that. If someone wants to do the cabin crawl/poker or whoever suggested to have one, put them in charge of it. For the slot pull the same thing. That way you're not stuck with everything. For our M&G there was someone in charge, and then I asked about doing a luncheon or slot pull and they said FINE YOu do it, and that is how things got done.

For the slot pull we played $15 and did 3 $5 pulls, our group was very large and it took a long time, we all lost $5, with the odd amount we just tipped the casino guy who helped us with the machine.

We had a lot of sea days so everything was scheduled ahead of time. We did the M&G and then following that we all went down to the casino for the slot pull. The cabin crawl was on a different day and the luncheon was nearer the end of the cruise, so we all kept meeting each other for different activities, it was really a lot of fun!

Thanks! Everyone keeps saying it's a "responsibility", and it has me thinking that I bit off more than I can chew, LOL. That's why I'm asking about activities. I like the button idea, and invitations will be going out, but other than that, contacting NCL and letting everyone know when and where seems pretty simple (I say that now :o). I just wasn't sure if activities were expected. Personally, I'd rather just mingle, but I don't want to let anyone down since I volunteered.

 

I'm only expecting two people to show up, myself and my friend, and that might be a high estimate haha!

I really don't think there is a need for invitations if your meet and greet is publized enough on your roll call.

Just what is the level of interest from your fellow roll callers. Have they expressed doing other activities or just sticking with the meet and greet?

I have had many numerous sleepless nights worrying if I picked the right route for the cabin crawl etc. When you think about it, that sounds crazy!!!! But I am a perfectionist and want things to be done well.

I think when you take on a leadership role with your roll call, they are expecting you to take the reins and "lead us."

If someone wants to do the cabin crawl/poker or whoever suggested to have one, put them in charge of it.

I like that idea...delegation! That is fantastic! That is why I come to these boards, for the advice and to get my daily pre-vacation fix :p.

Just what is the level of interest from your fellow roll callers. Have they expressed doing other activities or just sticking with the meet and greet?

So far the interest has been "is it time to go?" :D

No one really knew what to do, and no one has made any requests/suggestions for activities... but if they do then I will let them take the lead since I've never done them before. We can be co-hosts for the gatherings, having individualized specialties.

It was fun!

 

Wacky Buttons- I gave them the pic I wanted and what I wanted it to say and they designed some buttons. for 35 buttons pins w/ shipping it was 18.00. So that's not expensive. Here's what it will look like.

The buttons are a great idea!

I organized a M&G for our last cruise. I didn't do anything other than organize it with the ships coordinator.

One person suggested making our own name tags, having a contest for the most original.....well, that went over like a lead balloon. Only 2 people made fancy name tags. I brought regular name tags and a sharpie pen so people could write their names on a regular tag. I suggest doing that, people writing their cruise critic name and their real name. You will meet many people and it's hard to remember everyones name.

The ships officers showed up. It was great to meet them ..... when you saw them on the ship, you could say hi.

The buttons are a great idea!

I organized a M&G for our last cruise. I didn't do anything other than organize it with the ships coordinator.

One person suggested making our own name tags, having a contest for the most original.....well, that went over like a lead balloon. Only 2 people made fancy name tags. I brought regular name tags and a sharpie pen so people could write their names on a regular tag. I suggest doing that, people writing their cruise critic name and their real name. You will meet many people and it's hard to remember everyones name.

The ships officers showed up. It was great to meet them ..... when you saw them on the ship, you could say hi.

Thanks, I wanted to do something extra... and it was inexpensive... and though invitations aren't needed...I want to do them anyway, as a reminder, something physical to see when and where and time.

It was fun!

 

Wacky Buttons- I gave them the pic I wanted and what I wanted it to say and they designed some buttons. for 35 buttons pins w/ shipping it was 18.00. So that's not expensive. Here's what it will look like.

This is a great idea! What size button did you do? I may have to jump on this and do it for our upcoming cruise if there is still time.

This is a great idea! What size button did you do? I may have to jump on this and do it for our upcoming cruise if there is still time.

I did the inch and half size.

LOVE the buttons!! Did NCL do them for you??

LOVE the buttons!! Did NCL do them for you??

They used wackybuttons.com

Also, hello from 83705

This all sounds like so much fun. I have met some wonderful people at M&G's through TripAdvisor and I'm looking forward to our Meet and Greet on the Pearl next month.

Can someone explain the Poker Run again? I've never been to one!

Usually done within a Cabin Crawl. At each cabin there is a deck of cards, the room host will allow each participant to take one card, so you need several cabins in order to make a complete hand. Each card is written down by the host so that no person can switch cards to make a better hand, just a check & balance, and at the end in the last cabin (Usually a suite or Owner's Suite if you can get someone to volunteer it) the hands are evaluated and the winner wins the pot. Ours was a $10 per participant, and if you didn't want to be part of the poker run it was still acceptable to just join in for the cabin crawl so you can get a peek at all different grade of cabin. It was a lot of fun. It is best to have different decks with pictures so you can see that there has been no switching.

The button idea is so cute. On a Carnival cruise, we had an enthusiastic roll call and someone designed T-shirts for us and we ordered them ourselves from zazzle.com. The leader did not have to buy them. Each person bought their own and had them shipped to their home. Carnival did not assign us a room, however. We set up our own place to meet and Carnival sent over pastries and coffee.

Excellent and helpful thread.

Makes it easier for someone who would like to do a cruise M & G for the very first time!

If you win, do you get to stay in the owner's suite???

BTW, I used Wacky Buttons and I used the cheapest shipping 4 to 9 days..ordered them like Wed and got them today.

So whoever asked if they had time to order before their March cruise..yes! If you do so soon!

they are cute! I'm glad I decided to do that. I am going to go by hobby lobby to see if I can find something else inexpensive and cute to do to!