Why would I go to a Meet&Mingle?

[mn_isla_girl]

Trying to figure out if it's for me or not. Free hors d'oeuvres just isn't enough to convince me. :confused:

The roll-call thread for my sailing shows ALL couples, I'm cruising solo, will I be out of place?

I know how to smile and introduce myself and I'm quite sure I'd be more comfortable with a meet & mingle than some 'singles' function. But what can I expect? Will everyone just be bragging about how many cruises they've been on? Is it just a big rah-rah Royal Caribbean is the best? I just like to meet people, find out where they are from, talk about upcoming excursions, have a drink. (all of which I can do without a formal meeting) Is it truly about meeting and making friends or is it something else?

[ryano]

Trying to figure out if it's for me or not. Free hors d'oeuvres just isn't enough to convince me. :confused:

The roll-call thread for my sailing shows ALL couples, I'm cruising solo, will I be out of place?

I know how to smile and introduce myself and I'm quite sure I'd be more comfortable with a meet & mingle than some 'singles' function. But what can I expect? Will everyone just be bragging about how many cruises they've been on? Is it just a big rah-rah Royal Caribbean is the best? I just like to meet people, find out where they are from, talk about upcoming excursions, have a drink. (all of which I can do without a formal meeting) Is it truly about meeting and making friends or is it something else?

 

I went to my first one on Freedom last month. It was just "ok" but we met some really nice people of whom I consider friends now. Dont get too excited about the free refreshments lol, we had coffee, donuts and danishes. There was a few words from the activities director and some really lame (his words) door prizes handed out then everyone just stayed in little groups and talked for a bit and left.

 

It wasnt too bad but i wont go out of my way to go to another one and I most likely would NOT go as a single. If your roll call has an informal gathering planned for embarkation day at a bar, those are much better IMO.

 

I didnt find it a bragging session or a rah rah session at all. A Meet and Mingle is only as good as the members attending make it. Some have slot pulls in the casino and cabin crawls etc. We had none of that

[Sequim88]

Biggest factor for me is when it is scheduled. On our So. Caribbean cruise it was mid-morning on a port day. No way would I give up port time for that. But most recent transatlantic it was on a sea day and we had over 300 people attending and RCI pulled out all the stops and had some nice raffle prizes, door prizes and better than average snacks.

 

Another factor is how active your Roll Call thread is and how long prior to the cruise it has been going. On the TA our thread had been going for over a year and we had super active people organizing many events (cabin crawl, pub crawl, slot pull, private excursions, private web site for the cruise, etc...) and we all sort of knew each other already so were eager to meet in person.

 

I would not worry about the couples aspect if the Roll Call is active and you've made virtual acquaintances already.

[E&B]

This is coming from someone who has never sailed RCCL and never been to a M&M and is part of a couple. But, I'd like to go just to meet a few people we'll be sailing with. Our first and only cruise was on NCL and we booked a honeymoon type amenities package that included a champagne and cake party. We were traveling for our 15th anniversary and met another older couple there celebrating I think their 30th anniversary and chatted with them. It was really nice bumping in to them occasionally on the ship and having dinner together one night. We knew no one else aboard and it was nice seeing a couple of familiar faces. That's why we plan on going to the M&M this time.

 

If you don't want to meet anyone and would rather be alone the whole cruise it's probably not for you. But, I'm guessing you wouldn't be participating on the roll-call thread if that was the case.

[Trainman-2]

Don't go for the food...

 

Don't go to win a prize...

 

 

Go to meet new people and make new friends.

 

 

It makes no difference if you are single and everyone else is married. Who cares? You can never have too many friends!

[susie8862]

Trying to figure out if it's for me or not. Free hors d'oeuvres just isn't enough to convince me. :confused:

The roll-call thread for my sailing shows ALL couples, I'm cruising solo, will I be out of place?

I know how to smile and introduce myself and I'm quite sure I'd be more comfortable with a meet & mingle than some 'singles' function. But what can I expect? Will everyone just be bragging about how many cruises they've been on? Is it just a big rah-rah Royal Caribbean is the best? I just like to meet people, find out where they are from, talk about upcoming excursions, have a drink. (all of which I can do without a formal meeting) Is it truly about meeting and making friends or is it something else?

Are you the same mn isla girl on the Carnival Website? If so...you are very helpful to the noobies that join there and seem like a very knowledgeable and friendly person.

I think you would be a great asset at the M&M's....you have traveled (if I remember correctly to quite a few places).

I know you are traveling solo, but I really do not think this is pertinent. Couples are not joined at the hip (at least I'm not) with their spouse and I am sure there will be other solo cruisers.

What better way to meet people?????:o

 

 

 

 

 

[BrianAlt]

Go to meet new people and make new friends.

 

Exactly. Go to meet and to mingle. The food can be found in the Windjammer if you really want it.

[dln929]

Trying to figure out if it's for me or not. Free hors d'oeuvres just isn't enough to convince me. :confused: Don't worry, it's not about the food!

 

The roll-call thread for my sailing shows ALL couples, I'm cruising solo, will I be out of place? There are lots of people who sign up for the meet and mingle but don't participate in the roll call. I'm sure your cruise isn't made up of only couples. The atmosphere of a M&M is very friendly so sit down with whomever you like irregardless of whether they're a couple or not.

 

I know how to smile and introduce myself and I'm quite sure I'd be more comfortable with a meet & mingle than some 'singles' function. But what can I expect? You never know. A lot depends on your host. Some M&Ms have little games like "people bingo" (which is lots of fun), others have cruise directors show up and tell you all about the ship, the cruise line, etc., and still others are kind of quiet affairs. There's no set formula for hosting a M&M and it varies from ship to ship.

 

Will everyone just be bragging about how many cruises they've been on? That's never been our experience. I suppose there may be braggarts out there but we've never been within earshot of them!

 

Is it just a big rah-rah Royal Caribbean is the best? That's never been our experience, either.

 

I just like to meet people, find out where they are from, talk about upcoming excursions, have a drink. (all of which I can do without a formal meeting) Is it truly about meeting and making friends or is it something else? I think it's about meeting and making friends. For us it's fun to connect the face with the name you've been talking to for months on the roll call, but we've met nice people whom we've never had any previous contact with before. It's all good. Everyone is on the cruise to enjoy themselves, and the M&M reflects that.

[GGBNJ130]

Trying to figure out if it's for me or not. Free hors d'oeuvres just isn't enough to convince me. :confused:

The roll-call thread for my sailing shows ALL couples, I'm cruising solo, will I be out of place?

I know how to smile and introduce myself and I'm quite sure I'd be more comfortable with a meet & mingle than some 'singles' function. But what can I expect? Will everyone just be bragging about how many cruises they've been on? Is it just a big rah-rah Royal Caribbean is the best? I just like to meet people, find out where they are from, talk about upcoming excursions, have a drink. (all of which I can do without a formal meeting) Is it truly about meeting and making friends or is it something else?

 

Your not alone, i'm deffinetly NOT going to the M&M, we're traveling with family we see pretty much ONLY at funerals, and on cruises (12 years ago was my last cruise, WOW!!!) It would be uber rude to say, "HEY COUSINS, HAVEN'T SEEN YA SINCE 1998, GOTTA GO TO A M&M NOW, ENJOY YOUR DAY" you'll meet ppl on the ship, my one cousin and I always met girls on the first day, and we'd pretty much hang out w/ them the entire cruise, some days we'd stay up 24+ hours w/ them on the back upper decks of the ship, where it was basically empty...

[sherilyn70]

Are you the same mn isla girl on the Carnival Website? If so...you are very helpful to the noobies that join there and seem like a very knowledgeable and friendly person.

I think you would be a great asset at the M&M's....you have traveled (if I remember correctly to quite a few places).

I know you are traveling solo, but I really do not think this is pertinent. Couples are not joined at the hip (at least I'm not) with their spouse and I am sure there will be other solo cruisers.

What better way to meet people?????:o

 

Oh yeah... I remember that name from over there. :) Haven't been back to the Carnival forums ever since I discovered CC.

 

I agree completely, you'll have a good time meeting others on the cruise and should go even if they are all couples.

[Gilpet]

What have you got to lose by going.........maybe an hour of your time on a sea day? It depends which member of the entertainments staff attends as to how entertaining/informative it is. On our med cruise on Indy last year the guy who led it was fantastic, he gave us so many tips about the places we would be visiting and how to get around on our own from the ship. The opposite end of the scale to this was on our Canaries cruise in April this year - she introduced herself, welcomed us to the ship, did the raffle and left.........didn't even tell us that refreshments were available - what a load of rubbish. Fortunately we had got to know each other so well on the roll call (and met up pre-muster in the Schooner bar) that we had a great time - it's so nice to be able to put faces to names and to see people you know around the ship and stop to chat. Our roll call was amazing (and still is because it's still going!), and we all got on as well in person as we did in the virtual world of cruise critic. We had a singleton on our roll call (yes, Sam, I'm talking about you lol) and she said that meeting all of us really made her cruise as she never felt alone.

 

Keep chatting in your roll call and get to know people then it will be like meeting up with old and new friends at the same time.

 

Have a great cruise

 

Gill

[ryano]

Isla_girl, I didnt mean to sound like a downer. I guess I was just expecting more out of our M&M than what actually transpired. I am not talking about food and prizes either. I could not care less about either as there is plenty of food everywhere and I have enough RCI trinkets already :p I guess what was so disappointing about my M&M is only about 20% of the people showed up and none of the ones that actually talked it up for months and months were even there.

 

Im sure if you go you will have a good time and meet some wonderful people :) I know I sure did meet a few great people that we done things with the whole week.

[hiccups]

I'd participated in our roll call, and it was nice to finally put faces to the names on the board. Then the rest of the cruise I had people that I recognized, which I enjoyed. IMO there's nothing to lose by going!

[sailawayjack]

Trying to figure out if it's for me or not. Free hors d'oeuvres just isn't enough to convince me. :confused:

The roll-call thread for my sailing shows ALL couples, I'm cruising solo, will I be out of place?

I know how to smile and introduce myself and I'm quite sure I'd be more comfortable with a meet & mingle than some 'singles' function. But what can I expect? Will everyone just be bragging about how many cruises they've been on? Is it just a big rah-rah Royal Caribbean is the best? I just like to meet people, find out where they are from, talk about upcoming excursions, have a drink. (all of which I can do without a formal meeting) Is it truly about meeting and making friends or is it something else?

 

:cool:It all depends how much your fellow sailors and you communicate prior to the cruise itself. If you have many great precruise conversations ahead of time, you will be curious to meet the individuals that you have been talking to for a year ahead of time. I have been to only one M%M. A southern carib out of San Juan. We had recommended a hotel to a cruiser out of Denmark. Conversation back and forth led him to book at same hotel. When asked how to recognize him upon check in he told me that he was 6'7". Easy to spot. Just what I needed, a 6'7" viking. He went to the port with us, and we still e-mail to this day, and he is going to take me around Copenhagen when I cruise there next summer:cool:JACK IS SAILING AGAIN

[johneeo]

The roll-call thread for my sailing shows ALL couples, I'm cruising solo, will I be out of place?

 

Our last cruise, we had a very active roll call, and some of the people on that roll call were very interesting, could not wait to meet some of them.

 

We actually agreed to start with an informal meeting on sailaway at the Sky Bar, which turned out to be a great way to start our cruise.

 

As it turned out, it was great to meet them, and we saw many through out the cruise, as well as on excursions. We also did a cabin crawl and got to see every type of cabin from an Owners Suite to two connecting insides.

 

OTOH, if you have a bunch of not so interesting folks on the roll call and you do not care to meet them, that is another story.

 

Prizes - bottles of wine, an excursion, and free internet minutes. I received $50 internet credit, not bad.

 

Since you are solo, I suggest you take the hour and go. Who knows what you will meet?

[rubrrick]

I have been to some pretty great M&M's and some pretty lousy ones too!

 

We had one, on a TA, where it was so successful. we had a second one on the same trip.

 

Meet & Mingles are just what the title says, and there are a number of posters on here that I now know personally, and some have become cruising friends, and we find that we will get a cruise going just to be able to cruise together again!

 

It's not about the refreshments..........it's about the people. And speaking of that, half of the time, when Royal Caribbean does not want to have everyone introduced, I'll ask for the microphone, and get people to start with their CC name, real name and town that they are from. By the end of introductions, it's interesting to see people moving about to meet someone that they have been talking to, and are finally able to put a name and a face together.

 

I cannot tell you how many old timers on here that keep threads on captains, concierges, or are just posters on the day to day items on a cruising message board that I know personally, and love to cruise with!!;)

 

Rick

[mn_isla_girl]

Are you the same mn isla girl on the Carnival Website? If so...you are very helpful to the noobies that join there and seem like a very knowledgeable and friendly person.

I think you would be a great asset at the M&M's....you have traveled (if I remember correctly to quite a few places).

I know you are traveling solo, but I really do not think this is pertinent. Couples are not joined at the hip (at least I'm not) with their spouse and I am sure there will be other solo cruisers.

What better way to meet people?????:o

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yup, that's me! I do like to share the travel experiences. I guess I should go and check it out. Hey I can always leave right?

[susie8862]

Yup, that's me! I do like to share the travel experiences. I guess I should go and check it out. Hey I can always leave right?

Yup and I think you would love it;)

[mn_isla_girl]

Isla_girl, I didnt mean to sound like a downer. I guess I was just expecting more out of our M&M than what actually transpired.

 

No don't feel bad, I wanted honest opinions and I appreciate yours. If you didn't have fun you didn't have fun, that's that. I realize sometimes you'll get a good group and sometimes you'll get stinkers :eek:

[maxs mom]

Lots of good advice here!

Like Rick....I've been to some great ones and some lousy ones. The M&M is what YOU make it! I never meet a stranger and try my best to liven things up. It's really nice to put a face to the name of those you've been chatting with and you can say "hello" to them around the ship. We've met some folks through the M&M that we really hit it off with and they have become lifelong friends. I can't imagine our lives without them in it! If we didn't go to the M&M we would have missed out on meeting those folks. And it's really great fun to cruise together again. Life is short.....you need all the friends you can get!

[BecciBoo]

Probably not your cup of tea if you asked this question.

If you're not really a people person or do not dig meeting people you probably shouldn't go. The food/drink is no longer anything to envy. And Captains don't go anymore like they once did. The CD even opts to send a lackey most times. I go more than my DH because I like to talk to other cruisers on our cruise and meeting them is fun. And then we almost always run into people we have cruised with in the past...also fun. But I've skipped a couple when I had other irons in the fire. It's whatever floats your boat.

[mn_isla_girl]

Thanks everyone for sharing experiences, now I get a feel for how it goes. I think I'll give it a whirl, as long as it doesn't interfere with any port time! I always look forward to fun conversations with people who share interests, and I know we'll all start out with cruising in common.

[mn_isla_girl]

If you're not really a people person or do not dig meeting people you probably shouldn't go.

 

Oh no, that's not the issue at all. You are right, I wouldn't even consider joining if I didn't like meeting people.

I can yap with anyone, any where! I just wanted to get a feel for if it's 'fun', or a snob-fest to put it bluntly. :D

[Puffinater]

Stopped going to M&M's a long time ago. While some are ok we found that many roll calls develop into cliques and the M&M's are the same way. Not the way I want to spend my time.

[powellzk]

I went last year on Allure and met some fun people. This year I have been the cheerleader for our med roll call and am hoping it's the first day so people show up. Like you said you can always leave if it's not your thing.

 

Not to hijack your thread but I have been thinking of cruising solo as I will soon be an empty nester. How do you do it? Hunt for deals or just pay the full supplement? Any thoughts on getting started would be appreciated.

 

And it sounds like you will have a great time. Happy Cruising!