Group Martini Tasting

[graciepuppy]

Has anyone tried to organize a Martini Tasting for your Cruise Critic group? If anyone has done this, were you able to schedule it before boarding the ship? I am trying to do this for our group, but have received some discouraging comments that perhaps Celebrity does not do this. Does anyone have any firsthand experience?

 

 

Barb

[LOP]

Do I have any experience tasting a "group" of martinis or do I have any experience tasting "a" martini with a group?

 

If it is the latter, then no.:D

[Lois R]

Has anyone tried to organize a Martini Tasting for your Cruise Critic group? If anyone has done this, were you able to schedule it before boarding the ship? I am trying to do this for our group, but have received some discouraging comments that perhaps Celebrity does not do this. Does anyone have any firsthand experience?

 

 

Barb

 

Hi Barb,:) nope I have never done it but you have to remember,

the Martini Bar is a Public Bar.....when were you trying to have

a tasting? And how many people are saying they want to do it?

Not sure that is something you could arrange before hand really.

I would say try to find one of the Head Bartenders or maybe

a Bar Manager after you are on board the ship and talk to them

about it.

[graciepuppy]

Hi Barb,:) nope I have never done it but you have to remember,

the Martini Bar is a Public Bar.....when were you trying to have

a tasting? And how many people are saying they want to do it?

Not sure that is something you could arrange before hand really.

I would say try to find one of the Head Bartenders or maybe

a Bar Manager after you are on board the ship and talk to them

about it.

 

Thanks Lois, we have 50 people signed up for the tasting. I will wait until we board. We were thinking 2:00 at a bar that doesn't open until 4 or 5. I will have to wait until we board and keep my figures crossed it will all work out.

 

Barb

[Lois R]

Thanks Lois, we have 50 people signed up for the tasting. I will wait until we board. We were thinking 2:00 at a bar that doesn't open until 4 or 5. I will have to wait until we board and keep my figures crossed it will all work out.

 

Barb

 

Hi,:) you are correct...the bar opens late in the afternoon.

 

I am trying to organize a lunch for some folks on our roll

call and I reached someone at Celebrity...now I am waiting for

her to call me back......right now we have 29 wanting to

join in (the roll call is much bigger) but 29 have said yes.

Because it is a lunch I wanted to try and get information before

we sail...hoping I get some positive feedback.

[graciepuppy]

Hi,:) you are correct...the bar opens late in the afternoon.

 

I am trying to organize a lunch for some folks on our roll

call and I reached someone at Celebrity...now I am waiting for

her to call me back......right now we have 29 wanting to

join in (the roll call is much bigger) but 29 have said yes.

Because it is a lunch I wanted to try and get information before

we sail...hoping I get some positive feedback.

 

Lois, I have a couple questions--my email is callplum @ aol dot com. Could you send me an email?

 

Barb

[zelker]

Hi,:) you are correct...the bar opens late in the afternoon.

 

I am trying to organize a lunch for some folks on our roll

call and I reached someone at Celebrity...now I am waiting for

her to call me back......right now we have 29 wanting to

join in (the roll call is much bigger) but 29 have said yes.

Because it is a lunch I wanted to try and get information before

we sail...hoping I get some positive feedback.

 

Hi, Lois. We have 45 people signed up for our luncheon and our coordinator has had no luck trying to arrange it before we board. She was given a name and left 3-4 voice mails but never heard a word. I asked Ship Services if they could help in any way and was told it had to be done once we're on the ship. We sail on April 30th and would really appreciate your sharing anything you find out, contact(s), etc.

 

Thanks!

 

Barb

 

(obviously a different Barb than Martini Tasting Barb but LOVE the idea and know we would have a huge turnout for that, too! :p )

[Lois R]

Hi, Lois. We have 45 people signed up for our luncheon and our coordinator has had no luck trying to arrange it before we board. She was given a name and left 3-4 voice mails but never heard a word. I asked Ship Services if they could help in any way and was told it had to be done once we're on the ship. We sail on April 30th and would really appreciate your sharing anything you find out, contact(s), etc.

 

Thanks!

 

Barb

 

(obviously a different Barb than Martini Tasting Barb but LOVE the idea and know we would have a huge turnout for that, too! :p )

 

Hi,:) are you sailing on Equinox? The cruise before mine?

[Denny01]

OP, when you are talking about a Martini Tasting, are you aware of the Martini Samplers where the Bartender sets up a number of differing types in the smaller sampling glasses. You could order up a number of those and people can then taste away....especially if you are looking at tasting Martinis in the early afternoon!

 

When Ive done that, I've had to take a little nap! And Lois is right, get hold of a bartender and get it set up. You might even consider doing it on a back bar instead of the Martini Bar where it might get a bit tight. They can set up the Martini mix in any bar for you, it might be fun outside. Just an idea.

 

Enjoy and what a great idea.

 

Den

[graciepuppy]

OP, when you are talking about a Martini Tasting, are you aware of the Martini Samplers where the Bartender sets up a number of differing types in the smaller sampling glasses. You could order up a number of those and people can then taste away....especially if you are looking at tasting Martinis in the early afternoon!

 

When Ive done that, I've had to take a little nap! And Lois is right, get hold of a bartender and get it set up. You might even consider doing it on a back bar instead of the Martini Bar where it might get a bit tight. They can set up the Martini mix in any bar for you, it might be fun outside. Just an idea.

 

Enjoy and what a great idea.

 

Den

 

Thanks Den--great idea. The reason I didn't think it was a problem was because they do have those "sampler" martinis. I'm feeling more confident tonight after everyone's responses. Thank you all! When you are having a problem with a cruise---post it on cruise critic for answers:D:D .

[dtagirl]

We were on the Eclipse in November and there was Martini tasting scheduled for our group of 20 in the afternoon and the problem with the tasting was that they are smaller glasses and they did not have enough for all of us! But after we all had "shared" a few we really didn't care!:D

[zelker]

Hi,:) are you sailing on Equinox? The cruise before mine?

 

Yes, ma'am. :)

[Lois R]

Yes, ma'am. :)

 

Hi again Barb:) was wondering if ya'll ever received any help from land

customer service about your upcoming luncheon?

The original person I spoke with never returned my call:rolleyes:

I called Capt's Club today about something else and the gal I spoke

with was super:D...very courteous and hopefully she will get in touch

with the first person.....

I figure if they don't get back to me I will go see the Event Coordinator

after I get on board and hopefully everything will go smoothly.

We are up to 31 for it.

[graciepuppy]

Hi again Barb:) was wondering if ya'll ever received any help from land

customer service about your upcoming luncheon?

The original person I spoke with never returned my call:rolleyes:

I called Capt's Club today about something else and the gal I spoke

with was super:D...very courteous and hopefully she will get in touch

with the first person.....

I figure if they don't get back to me I will go see the Event Coordinator

after I get on board and hopefully everything will go smoothly.

We are up to 31 for it.

 

NO--absolutely no luck--have to wait until we board the ship. I'll tell you how that goes when I have a chance. We board on April 21.

 

Good Luck!

 

Barb

[Lois R]

NO--absolutely no luck--have to wait until we board the ship. I'll tell you how that goes when I have a chance. We board on April 21.

 

Good Luck!

 

Barb

 

Hi Barb, you too:)...no problem....have fun on your sailing. By

the time you finish I will be on my way to Rome.....:D

[zelker]

Hi again Barb:) was wondering if ya'll ever received any help from land

customer service about your upcoming luncheon?

The original person I spoke with never returned my call:rolleyes:

I called Capt's Club today about something else and the gal I spoke

with was super:D...very courteous and hopefully she will get in touch

with the first person.....

I figure if they don't get back to me I will go see the Event Coordinator

after I get on board and hopefully everything will go smoothly.

We are up to 31 for it.

 

Wonder if the person who never returned your call is the same person who never returned our call. :rolleyes: We've resigned ourselves to having to do it on board, too. We're up to 52! Guess cuz it's a free lunch, y'know! LOL

[Lois R]

Wonder if the person who never returned your call is the same person who never returned our call. :rolleyes: We've resigned ourselves to having to do it on board, too. We're up to 52! Guess cuz it's a free lunch, y'know! LOL

 

Hi,:) actually the gal from Capt's Club called me back (at least she

had the common courtesy to do so) but the gal who specifically

said she would? Nope:rolleyes:

I am in the same position as you are and just hope the Event

Coordinator will help me out as well. We are up to 37:D

[zelker]

Hi,:) actually the gal from Capt's Club called me back (at least she

had the common courtesy to do so) but the gal who specifically

said she would? Nope:rolleyes:

I am in the same position as you are and just hope the Event

Coordinator will help me out as well. We are up to 37:D

 

We were wondering if we should talk to the Maitre d' about it?

[graciepuppy]

Wonder if the person who never returned your call is the same person who never returned our call. :rolleyes: We've resigned ourselves to having to do it on board, too. We're up to 52! Guess cuz it's a free lunch, y'know! LOL

 

Well, I have 49 people who are willing to pay to have a Martini Tasting, and I still can't get a commitment until we board, so don't think $$$ has anything to do with it.

 

Just my 2 cents and I'm not running Celebrity but, I would think it would be to their advantage to schedule as many things ahead of time so they have time to space out the events rather than be inundated with requests on boarding day. Isn't that day a mad house anyway? Our CC group is at 324 people right now. We certainly represent their repeat cruisers.

 

Barb

[zelker]

Well, I have 49 people who are willing to pay to have a Martini Tasting, and I still can't get a commitment until we board, so don't think $$$ has anything to do with it.

 

Just my 2 cents and I'm not running Celebrity but, I would think it would be to their advantage to schedule as many things ahead of time so they have time to space out the events rather than be inundated with requests on boarding day. Isn't that day a mad house anyway? Our CC group is at 324 people right now. We certainly represent their repeat cruisers.

 

Barb

 

Hi, Barb.

 

I think you misunderstood. I don't think paying money vs doing something free has anything to do with it either. My comment about it being a "free lunch" was a joke we had going on our Roll Call to get people to sign up (like pretty much all food on a cruise is free, right! ;)).

 

I'm totally with you about being able to schedule things in advance, especially when they are tied to CruiseCritic. Wow, I thought ours was huge at 170+ people! I've often wondered why, if they can send me an email to let me know that we reached 25 people and are going to have a M&M, why can't they send me an email before we sail to let me know date, time, and place. Seems pretty easy since they already have the list going of people who have registered. But like you said, we don't run Celebrity.

 

Hope you pull your martini tasting off. Sounds like a blast!

 

Barb

[graciepuppy]

Hi, Barb.

 

I think you misunderstood. I don't think paying money vs doing something free has anything to do with it either. My comment about it being a "free lunch" was a joke we had going on our Roll Call to get people to sign up (like pretty much all food on a cruise is free, right! ;)).

 

I'm totally with you about being able to schedule things in advance, especially when they are tied to CruiseCritic. Wow, I thought ours was huge at 170+ people! I've often wondered why, if they can send me an email to let me know that we reached 25 people and are going to have a M&M, why can't they send me an email before we sail to let me know date, time, and place. Seems pretty easy since they already have the list going of people who have registered. But like you said, we don't run Celebrity.

 

Hope you pull your martini tasting off. Sounds like a blast!

 

Barb

 

Thanks Barb, I'm sure once on board it should be okay:rolleyes:. I'll post how it goes.

 

Barb

[Ma Bell]

I think the problem is they feel the special activities for CC members are getting out of hand. They do a connections party for our group but now everyone wants them to make a lot of other special arrangements for the same group. They leave it up to the individual ship's personnel upon boarding so they can see if it fit's into that particular ship's schedule. Hopefully they will be able to help.

 

Unfortunately I've seen them plan special luncheons and tastings for groups that are to include a certain number of people and many don't show up. Once on board people have a tendency to get distracted by other things they want to do and don't think of the inconvenience they cause to the staff. My suggestion would be to emphasize to your group members that if they make a committment to attend it's important that they show up. From conversations with staff I know they are more reluctant to have these kinds of activities because of this. People think that if they don't prepay something they can just skip out and it won't be a problem.

[rothjer]

I think the problem is they feel the special activities for CC members are getting out of hand. They do a connections party for our group but now everyone wants them to make a lot of other special arrangements for the same group. They leave it up to the individual ship's personnel upon boarding so they can see if it fit's into that particular ship's schedule. Hopefully they will be able to help.

 

Unfortunately I've seen them plan special luncheons and tastings for groups that are to include a certain number of people and many don't show up. Once on board people have a tendency to get distracted by other things they want to do and don't think of the inconvenience they cause to the staff. My suggestion would be to emphasize to your group members that if they make a committment to attend it's important that they show up. From conversations with staff I know they are more reluctant to have these kinds of activities because of this. People think that if they don't prepay something they can just skip out and it won't be a problem.

 

 

I do agree 100%, a lot of people flop, even for the connections parties (which are free), we even had a lot of people flop on our room tour party, which made it so difficult to re-arrange once we were all on the ship.

 

For the Martini tasting, I would suggest to do it around after lunch, grab your seats in the lounge, and order up the martini flights (samples) , its a great time to do it (especially on a port day) because the bar is dead anyhow, and you have full attention of the bartender, who I am sure would be more than happy to interact with a group that size , do some special effects and maybe even discuss what beverages he made for you.

 

We did an impromptu martini tasting for a group of 25 one day like this on a stop on st.thomas on a rainy day. We just got together and all ordered the same thing and it worked out famously !!

 

Wait until you get onboard, I know its super exciting and it is as well for everyone in your role call, but plans change quick once you are onboard, people have their preferences in both people they wish to hold company with, as well as activities they choose to do .

[bbappel]

On our last cruise (Equinox), one of the active CC people organized a "good-bye" get-together on the last or next-to-last day - a sea day. The up side was they held it in the night club across from the theatre. I don't recall the name. It was a good location, because the space was vacant all of my waking hours. Maybe late at night it was being used, but never while I was out and about.

 

The down side was that everyone was charged for the drinks, even if you had a drink package - and it was a kind bartender who realized I didn't think I'd have to pay who clued me in to that. If you are doing martini tastings, they aren't included in the drink package anyway, so it won't matter, and you will know that going in.

 

Maybe our organizer was told, but she didn't tell us, so I was unhappy, and the asst cruise director could have handled it better. Her attitude seemed to be, what do you expect? We are doing something special for you out of the ordinary. My feeling was they were making money on the space when it would have been vacant. Not everyone there had the drinks package, but everyone had a drink in hand. Eventually she allowed me to include my drink in my package.

 

So be sure everyone knows the rules before your get together - and have a lot of fun. It sounds like a really cool gathering.

[graciepuppy]

On our last cruise (Equinox), one of the active CC people organized a "good-bye" get-together on the last or next-to-last day - a sea day. The up side was they held it in the night club across from the theatre. I don't recall the name. It was a good location, because the space was vacant all of my waking hours. Maybe late at night it was being used, but never while I was out and about.

 

The down side was that everyone was charged for the drinks, even if you had a drink package - and it was a kind bartender who realized I didn't think I'd have to pay who clued me in to that. If you are doing martini tastings, they aren't included in the drink package anyway, so it won't matter, and you will know that going in.

 

Maybe our organizer was told, but she didn't tell us, so I was unhappy, and the asst cruise director could have handled it better. Her attitude seemed to be, what do you expect? We are doing something special for you out of the ordinary. My feeling was they were making money on the space when it would have been vacant. Not everyone there had the drinks package, but everyone had a drink in hand. Eventually she allowed me to include my drink in my package.

 

So be sure everyone knows the rules before your get together - and have a lot of fun. It sounds like a really cool gathering.

 

THANK YOU bbappel!!! I will make sure everyone knows that the martini tasting would not be included in the drink package. Great advice, truly appreciate your post.

 

Barb