Cruising with a large Group

[resordanis]

Hi, We are cruising with 45 people in April on Pacific Jewel. Just wondering if anyone can give me some advice on cruising with a group.

I am wondering if I can somehow organise a dinner for our group one night, plus an area to have drinks etc or how do I go about taking 15 ladies to coffee at one time? Is there someone on board I should contact prior to our departure who can assist us? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks:D

[_kevin]

Hi,

I did a 2 night cruise with a group I had sort of organised to come with us.

There were 20 all up I think, as I booked 2 tables of 10 for dinner both nights.

I felt somewhat responsible for organising to get everyone together; and it's a bit tricky sometimes - you tend to run all over the ship making sure everyone knows what is going on and checking if for eg 7pm is OK for dinner; etc!

 

i had everyones cabin number but sometimes they are not home, so you leave notes, and then one night I found half our party at the wrong restaurant wondering where our reservation was ... etc etc.

 

We stayed on after the 2 day cruise and everyone else in our party of 20 got off; and it was so much more relaxed for me! I started enjoying myself more then ...

 

For dinner for 45, maybe you can get 5 tables of 10 near each other; I'm not sure what other options there would be. It would be lovely to have a "private dinner" somewhere - someone might know if they do that. Perhaps book the steak house out for the night!

Maybe give P&O a call and see what they can do - I just booked a couple of tables together when we got onboard but haven't tried it for 45!

It sounds like it will be a great trip.

[The_Big_M]

I foresee a great chance of the words "Never again!" arising...

 

You can normally get a discount if such a large group are going, although it sounds like tickets are already booked. The line will have someone to assist in a small way e.g. being able to have a signboard/meeting point/facilities if available.

[cjm66]

For a meeting place during the day you could try The Attic - Deck 14 - the "night club" in the evening but often empty during the day - apart from classes in japanese paper folding and artificial flower making. No daytime bar but only one flight of stairs down to the pool deck. More light and sense of open space than the public areas lower down.

 

Colleen

[CPlum]

Hi there,

I am cruising with a big group in August. I contacted P & O a few weeks ago to see if we could get some sort of group discount. We all booked seperately, however we did all book directly through P & O. I was told that if you have 16 adults (or 2 x 16= 32, 3 x 16=48, etc) booked you can register as a group. For this you get the 16th person's fare free and each person gets $25 on board credit. For our group it works out as a saving of approximately $220 per twin cabin. You can find out more information here: http://www.pocruises.com.au/findacruise/pages/party-planner.aspx

[resordanis]

Hi All,

Thanks for all the replies.

We have booked as a Group, so there apparently are some savings! We have had most of ours savings put "into price" so everyone has a lower price and larger OBC.

I also agree that I probably will feel "never again" after this cruise or need another to get over it!

My DH and I are always the ones to organise things, but are coming to the end of our time!

I will go to the Restaurant as soon as we board and see what we can do for dinner. We probably only want to eat as a Group once or twice so I will see what they can organise.

Since starting this thread, we have had an email from Carnival stating that their Events Co-ordinator will contact us, so will see what happens!

Thanks again

[dougo in oz]

With 45 of you, I suspect that you will be allocated an area in the dining room but may have to spread out over 5 or 6 tables.

 

See the Maitre D when you get on board and keep in touch with him. He will speak to the head waiter/s and find a spot for you.

 

With a party I organised on the Pac Pearl for 26, they could only accommodate us at three tables at the bow of the ship and they said that they only had 2 tables of 10 and the others were 8's, 6, 4 and 2. The Wine Room could accommodate a large number but 26 was too much and considered an OH&S issue had they put us in there.

 

To meet up with everyone, you could pick a spot on the ship, such as one of the lounges and arrange to meet people from the group there at a certain time each day / every other day ... whatever suits...have a look at the deck plans and work out which lounge area would suit best, email everyone PRIOR to the cruise telling them the venue name, deck, location in the ship and the time and then see everyone there together on Day 1. If the group want to catch up with each other, make that your spot to meet up at a certain time of the day.

 

TBH, it was a nightmare trying to get everyone together ... some would roll up on time and others would inevitably keep the group waiting, and waiting and waiting.

 

My advice is to start without the stragglers and they will either catch on quickly and roll up on time or do their own thing .. afterall it is their holiday - and it is your holiday too so don't spend all day chasing people up... they know who you and which cabin you're in so they can always get a message to you if necessary.

[resordanis]

With 45 of you, I suspect that you will be allocated an area in the dining room but may have to spread out over 5 or 6 tables.

 

See the Maitre D when you get on board and keep in touch with him. He will speak to the head waiter/s and find a spot for you.

 

With a party I organised on the Pac Pearl for 26, they could only accommodate us at three tables at the bow of the ship and they said that they only had 2 tables of 10 and the others were 8's, 6, 4 and 2. The Wine Room could accommodate a large number but 26 was too much and considered an OH&S issue had they put us in there.

 

To meet up with everyone, you could pick a spot on the ship, such as one of the lounges and arrange to meet people from the group there at a certain time each day / every other day ... whatever suits...have a look at the deck plans and work out which lounge area would suit best, email everyone PRIOR to the cruise telling them the venue name, deck, location in the ship and the time and then see everyone there together on Day 1. If the group want to catch up with each other, make that your spot to meet up at a certain time of the day.

 

TBH, it was a nightmare trying to get everyone together ... some would roll up on time and others would inevitably keep the group waiting, and waiting and waiting.

 

My advice is to start without the stragglers and they will either catch on quickly and roll up on time or do their own thing .. afterall it is their holiday - and it is your holiday too so don't spend all day chasing people up... they know who you and which cabin you're in so they can always get a message to you if necessary.

 

Thank you so much for the advice. I don't think we want to all have dinner with each other every night (well, I hope not!). I just want to organise one or 2 dinners, plus sail away drinks and perhaps drinks one other night. I thought all the ladies might get together for afternoon tea one day, but I did read that P&O don't do that anymore!

I will go and see the matre D when we board and see what we can organise.

I can see it is going to be a nightmare. Many have never cruised before and it will take some a few days to get used to the ship!

I do have to understand that some people just might be be by themselves, but MOST like to have everything organised for them, just going by past experience.

Anyway, I will just have to go with the flow. That is why we chose a cruise and a lot of things are organised and I don't have to do a lot.

Thanks again:D

[dougo in oz]

The last cruise I did on P&O was in June 2011 and I'm pretty sure that they had afternoon tea in one of the dining rooms then. They only serve it on sea days ... but then again they may have changed this and not serve it anymore ... if so, I guess it's just another example of cost cutting.

 

Don't forget to get your Future Cruise Letter when you are on board if you are interested in another P&O cruise in the future ... my advice is to find the FF Consultant early and organise it asap before she gets too swamped.

[resordanis]

The last cruise I did on P&O was in June 2011 and I'm pretty sure that they had afternoon tea in one of the dining rooms then. They only serve it on sea days ... but then again they may have changed this and not serve it anymore ... if so, I guess it's just another example of cost cutting.

 

Don't forget to get your Future Cruise Letter when you are on board if you are interested in another P&O cruise in the future ... my advice is to find the FF Consultant early and organise it asap before she gets too swamped.

Thanks again for the advice.

I have read in the last couple of days that they have done away with the afternoon tea. Hopefully someone who has travelled recently might be able to confirm this. We did a 2 nighter on Pacific Sun early February and I don't think they had it on board, but it did not worry us.

The FCL is also good advice. I did not buy one last time, but I wish I did, not just for the $100 deposit but for the OBC.

[resordanis]

Hi all,

Looking for some advice again for our large group. Since I started this thread I had an email from P&O stating that a Groups Co-Ordinator would be in contact with us within 48 hours to attend to our needs...WRONG..no phone, no email, so today we have rung P&O and they have said that they are too busy at present to contact us and we are actually too close to sailing now to do anything!!!!!!!!:mad::mad:

Also, they can not assist with booking a tables for dinner expect on the first night, which is not suitable.

So my question would be to those of you that helped in the past. Do you think the Matre D will be more understanding to us having dinner all together one night and trying to accommodate us or do I just forget it! I did think first formal night. All we are wanting is that we are all in the same area of the dining room.

Finally I did want all the ladies to have morning tea or afternoon tea together (I will pay). Should I see a supervisor when we board at the coffee shop or once again forget the idea.

This is getting very frustrating for us and we haven't even got on board as yet, and at this stage the frustration is coming from P&O and not our travelling companions, so who knows what will happen on the cruise!!:eek:

Thanks again

[Royalty X]

With the arvo tea, I'd see if they're running high tea in the MDR. It's not publicised, and I believe it's only on sea days, but it's free (and not a lot of people attend). They definitely do it on the Pearl. That might be an option for you.

I don't see why the maitre'd wouldn't be able to sit you all in the same area. If you all meet somewhere before-hand (atrium for example, or at the lifts in front of the restaurant) and all approach together, you should be fine.

[resordanis]

Thanks for the advice. I thought I read somewhere on CC that P&O no longer do the afternoon tea on sea days. I might be wrong.

I do hope that when I go and speak to the Matre De in the Dining Room he can accommodate us and is much more helpful than trying to speak to P&O in Sydney!!!

[Royalty X]

The people in the office in Sydney have very little to do with the onboard day-to-day operations of each ship though. I honestly don't know if there's a lot they'd be able to do anyway. I think your best bet is speaking to the appropriate department heads once onboard. :)

[resordanis]

The people in the office in Sydney have very little to do with the onboard day-to-day operations of each ship though. I honestly don't know if there's a lot they'd be able to do anyway. I think your best bet is speaking to the appropriate department heads once onboard. :)

Yes, the people in Sydney appear to be able to do very little, although that is not what we were told originally. I will just have to make sure I am at the ship early, then get on board and see what I can do!

[Sandielle]

Go to the Purser's desk when you board and ask to contact the CD. That's what we did on Princess and the CD was most helpful. I think it would be the same on P&O - they can have the venue advertised on the morning show and in the Pacific Daily. The Sydney Office is really not au fait with what goes on on the ships - it's really up to the Cruise Director . Good luck with it. :)

[dougo in oz]

I'd go to the Dining Room soon after boarding as they will be taking bookings for the night and you should be able to book tables together, if not, ask for the restaurant manager or the Maitre D who has the final say about the restaurant.

 

If you do this first of all, you have a better chance of getting seating together on the first or subsequent nights.

 

If you leave it any later than the first day to book your tables, what you'll probably find is that people who have eaten in the MDR who like their tables / wait staff will book again prior to leaving and therefore this will reduce your chances of getting sufficient seating together for your group.

 

All of my dealings about getting a large group booking in the Waterfront and Salt were through the Maitre D and he had his immediate staff look into it and keep me in the loop at all times.

[resordanis]

Thanks to all for the advice. We were a bit frustrated yesterday after talking to P&O and their so called Events CoOrdinator, but as usual everyone on CC has given me some good advice.

I will go and see both the CD and Maitre D when we board.

By the way, anyone know who is currently the Cruise Director?

When we were on board Pacific Sun in February Willie Lee was not sure whether he was going to the Pearl or Jewel in late March. He was great and I am sure he would be able to assist us.:)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

With the arvo tea, I'd see if they're running high tea in the MDR. It's not publicised, and I believe it's only on sea days, but it's free (and not a lot of people attend). They definitely do it on the Pearl. That might be an option for you.

I don't see why the maitre'd wouldn't be able to sit you all in the same area. If you all meet somewhere before-hand (atrium for example, or at the lifts in front of the restaurant) and all approach together, you should be fine.

 

The first time Sun Princess came down here from LA we had friends on board and they had a large roll call. On sea days those who wanted to lunch together met outside the MDR at an arranged time, and all went into the Dining Room together . They simply asked for a table for 6, 16 or 26 , as the case may be. No problem, and if there was a big number they just got tables beside each other.

Lunch is open seating , so you are seated in the order you arrive.

It was very popular . Some days it was for everyone, other days for the ladies , while the guys had burgers , chips and a beer around the pool.

 

Oh ....and another secret with a large group..

Dont try and all get in the same lift...:eek::D:D

 

 

[bazzaw]

I did manage to organise a "special" lunch for 20 on pacific Pearl. It was for members of our Roll call - and was all Indian food, presented in Indian style for us. It was genuine Indian food as the Indians eat it - no allowance for sissies at all, or even for the children. !! :p

 

Barry

[resordanis]

The first time Sun Princess came down here from LA we had friends on board and they had a large roll call. On sea days those who wanted to lunch together met outside the MDR at an arranged time, and all went into the Dining Room together . They simply asked for a table for 6, 16 or 26 , as the case may be. No problem, and if there was a big number they just got tables beside each other.

Lunch is open seating , so you are seated in the order you arrive.

It was very popular . Some days it was for everyone, other days for the ladies , while the guys had burgers , chips and a beer around the pool.

 

Oh ....and another secret with a large group..

Dont try and all get in the same lift...:eek::D:D

 

 

Thank you David for this idea. I never considered lunch, but it might work better. As you mentioned, all the ladies can do lunch and the guys whatever!!!!!!!

It also might be easier for us to organise lunch with the Dining Room too rather than dinner.

Thanks again

[resordanis]

I did manage to organise a "special" lunch for 20 on pacific Pearl. It was for members of our Roll call - and was all Indian food, presented in Indian style for us. It was genuine Indian food as the Indians eat it - no allowance for sissies at all, or even for the children. !! :p

 

Barry

Hi Barry,

Another wonderful idea. I love indian food. Can you tell me a little more?

Did it cost extra? Was it in the Waterfront and who did you see to organise.

Thanks all this advice is great. Much better help than we are currently getting from P&O

Cheryle

[Topaz_M]

Having travelled with large and small groups the advice you've been given is spot on.

 

Have you considered meeting at a set place for sailaway? Find an outside bar and give everyone the date, time and place.

You'll probably find everyone will break off into their own little groups depending on whether they are smokers, casino-lovers, sports-lovers, trivia-lovers etc etc.

 

The most difficult thing is always getting everyone to arrive at the right place and right time. If anyone has issues with anything advise them to follow up with the Pursers Desk themselves (not you!).

 

Stick to a few events and if others happen, so be it. If anyone wants a particular event organised, exclaim what a wonderful idea that is and let them do it themselves! ;)

 

If anyone doesn't know what to do to spend their time, advise them to check the Pacific Daily!!

 

Above all, make sure YOU get some quiet time ... and enjoy your cruise :D

[resordanis]

Having travelled with large and small groups the advice you've been given is spot on.

 

Have you considered meeting at a set place for sailaway? Find an outside bar and give everyone the date, time and place.

You'll probably find everyone will break off into their own little groups depending on whether they are smokers, casino-lovers, sports-lovers, trivia-lovers etc etc.

 

The most difficult thing is always getting everyone to arrive at the right place and right time. If anyone has issues with anything advise them to follow up with the Pursers Desk themselves (not you!).

 

Stick to a few events and if others happen, so be it. If anyone wants a particular event organised, exclaim what a wonderful idea that is and let them do it themselves! ;)

 

If anyone doesn't know what to do to spend their time, advise them to check the Pacific Daily!!

 

Above all, make sure YOU get some quiet time ... and enjoy your cruise :D

Thank you so much for your advice. The help I have received from CC has been great! Hopefully after the first few days everything will sort itself out and everyone will enjoy themselves.....if not......not my problem!!!

We are going to try and arrange just 1 dinner and 1 lunch and a few drinks type get togethers, and then just seem what happens.

I really appreciate the advice everyone is giving. Thanks again!

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Hi Barry,

Another wonderful idea. I love indian food. Can you tell me a little more?

Did it cost extra? Was it in the Waterfront and who did you see to organise.

 

I was in the same roll call as Barry, as we helped him organise his Indian lunch (as we organise a lunch for our roll call).

 

No it did not cost extra, and it was in the Waterfront.

 

I think we talked to the Maitre D about this.

 

Also the day we had our Indian lunch was the day they had a Indian Buffet on-board.