Those who cruise frequently

[Princesscruisers2]

Thanks for the heads-up on this topic. I just googled my upcoming cruise and several entries down there it was. A group has 200 cabins reserved and it's some type of fundraiser cruise. It's Canada/New England on Oct 6.

[Pam in CA]

I've been on many cruises with large groups (100 or more.) They have rarely impacted my cruise in any way. Usually, there is a big sign board in the Atrium with a list of their activities for the day. On our Star cruise, there were a lot of South Americans so every public announcement was in both English and Spanish, and sometimes, there were announcements just in Spanish. There was also a large group of Chinese. They had a group dance every sea day afternoon in Skywalkers. The point is to not be put off or change your plans just because there's a large group or several groups onboard. If a group is loud, obnoxious, ill-mannered or takes over an area not set aside for them, that's a problem. I'd check the size of the group and their "theme" before changing plans.

[1 HappyCruiser]

I've been on many cruises with large groups (100 or more.) They have rarely impacted my cruise in any way. Usually, there is a big sign board in the Atrium with a list of their activities for the day. On our Star cruise, there were a lot of South Americans so every public announcement was in both English and Spanish, and sometimes, there were announcements just in Spanish. There was also a large group of Chinese. They had a group dance every sea day afternoon in Skywalkers. The point is to not be put off or change your plans just because there's a large group or several groups onboard. If a group is loud, obnoxious, ill-mannered or takes over an area not set aside for them, that's a problem. I'd check the size of the group and their "theme" before changing plans.

 

We've also encountered groups from time to time sailing on Princess but when a group begins to take over the ships pools & bars to the point of being overrun with their partying and activities, it just drives most everyone else away. Most people really don't wish to be part of their celebrating and it becomes a little hard to do in those situations.

http://www.cruisedesignstravel.com/poz-cruise/

[Coral]

Not sure if a group of 100 would greatly affect the cruise but the larger sizes definitely impact the cruises in most situations.

[chamima]

We've also encountered groups from time to time sailing on Princess but when a group begins to take over the ships pools & bars to the point of being overrun with their partying and activities, it just drives most everyone else away. Most people really don't wish to be part of their celebrating and it becomes a little hard to do in those situations.

http://www.cruisedesignstravel.com/poz-cruise/

 

Not just bars and pools. The dining room

Quote:7. Dining: We have confirmed a block of tables together at 8:15PM each evening. Since the tables are ours, you may feel free to move from table to table each evening. We encourage this so that you get the chance to get to know as many people as possible. Dining the rest of the evenings is casual meaning slacks and shirt or polo type shirt. Breakfasts, lunches and all meals in the Mediterranean buffet are always casual. You may request other dining times if you wish but you will not be with the rest of the group. We find it a great bonding experience if the entire group dines together.

Makes for a nice quiet meal for other diners when people "move from table to table each evening".

[hubofhockey]

One of our first cruises with the kids (not on Princess) had a very large group of Hunter Douglas Venetian Blinds and shades salespeople on it and they bumped us from our assigned dining time to one 30 minutes earlier in order to accommodate the large group. I wasn't crazy about that as we had to rush back from our days in port a couple of times to make our dinner (this was in days before anytime dining). I don't care what the makeup of these large groups are. When the cruise lines accommodate them, it usually comes at the convenience of others. I'm not sure that I would want to be on any cruise where one group makes up 20% or more of passengers. With respect to Adventure Bears and young teens or even kids younger than that, parents should decide what's best for their kids. That's personal.

[Seago2]

I kept trying to tell my DH that HAL was not just just for the "newly wed and nearly dead" before our Westerdam cruise earlier this month. When I found out it was a knitter's cruise there was nothing I could do but laugh ;). They would set up their yarn every day and we would chuckle. Great cruise, though!

[KruzPrincess]

I've been on Oldies music cruises. There is one in January on the Ruby which I've booked. I think it's usually 300+ people. There will be private concerts and parties. The concerts are booked in the theater or showroom when no other ship sponsored event is happening. There's 4 old rock bands that do shows, meet and greet, and parties. All the people that do this are pretty laid back and just like to have some fun. That said, I guess I've been lucky to not have been on any cruises with other large group that could be intimidating. I like a nice quiet cruise experience. If a group has a history of taking over a part of the ship and not being welcoming to others....then maybe I'd rethink the booking and look at other cruises. I'm pretty easy going, but it would annoy me if a private group expected to take over the aft pool and not welcome others into that space.

[swedish weave]

The cruise lines all cater to large groups. Look at how many cruises are chartered, and that not only inconveniences some people, it completely displaces some who have had the cruise booked for a year or more.

 

I have been on cruises with large groups and have not let it bother me. There are inconveniences, but nothing I couldn't work around.

 

Money is the driving factor, and that is what the cruise lines will cater to.

[cruzinchris]

This is an excerpt from my review of the Emerald Princess (2/08) when two large groups caused dining problems:

Food/Dining: Neither DH nor I gained an ounce during our 10-night voyage, but dining started out on a sour note when we experienced difficulty being seated in either "anytime" dining room on the first two nights of the cruise. Upon approaching Michelangelo Dining Room at 6:30 on sail-away evening, we were told that we could not have dinner there until after 8:00 unless we were with one of the two large groups onboard. We proceeded to DaVinci Dining Room and were told that there would be an hour to 75-minute wait. We were discouraged and didn't want to wait, so we went to Crown Grill and were seated immediately at a romantic booth. This was truly a fine dining experience - excellent food and outstanding service in luxurious surroundings. Not to be missed! We didn't fare much better the following evening when we went to DaVinci where we were given a pager and told that the wait would be 30-40 minutes. We went to Crooner's for a pre-dinner cocktail and returned to the restaurant 30 minutes later; the hostess said that we had been paged 15 minutes ago. Not! The pager didn't work but another table for two was suddenly available. Following this rather lackluster dining experience, DH sent a note to Maitre D' Hotel, Generoso who called us the next day and told us that we would have a reserved table for two at 7:30 in DaVinci with the same waitstaff for the remainder of the cruise. Generoso stopped by our table that evening to meet us and make certain that we were being taken care of by Cecilio and Samphong.

[Pam in CA]

Not sure if a group of 100 would greatly affect the cruise but the larger sizes definitely impact the cruises in most situations.

I totally agree.

[miched]

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I have never been on a cruise with a large group of gay men but have been seated with or near them in lounges, dining room, tenders, and etc. They were always very well dressed, educated, and polite. They would always be the first to help someone and never caused any problems or trouble. I don't know how it would be with a group of 600 but as with any group I am sure there will be times that areas may be reserved for their functions.

 

 

Have been on ships where there were groups of ball room dancers. That was fun. Ball room dancers seem to be very competitive and they like to have their space on the dance floor. When you get a whole group out there it is fun to watch. Everyone is competing for their space and they all want to show the dance that they have been practicing for the cruise.

 

 

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[pris993]

With 40+ cruises we have had only a couple of cruises with large groups. Unfortunately, doesn't matter what type of group, we have found they all have a less than favorable experience if you are not part of the group.

 

First time was a Country Western Themed trip on NCL (we are not country western fans -- all the entertainment was gear to CW, if we had known we would not have gone). Another time we were on HAL, they had a medical conference on board. Once again, since most were part of the conference folks tended to congregate and chat in the dining room around neighboring tables. We found it annoying to have to listen to their conversations, as they stood behind our table talking to others in thier group. They also did not respect the dinner times and seemed to come and go as they pleased, we were in a traditional set time dining room. Once again if we had known we would have picked another sailing. Thank goodness this has not happened often.

[generichandle]

Hmmm,

 

I think now there was a large group on our Oosterdam coastal cruise. I saw a couple examples of two men kissing and such, but they were not kissing me so I paid little mind. They were never in my way in any case. Plenty to do and if I found someplace crowded I would just go elsewhere. *shrug*

 

Doug