Why would I go to a Meet&Mingle?

[rubrrick]

Aquahound (AKA Paul) is a frequent poster here on CruiseCritic. He and his much better looking wife, Tina, make a delightful pair. Though we've only cruised with them once, we've stayed in contact through Facebook and CC. He is a very knowledgable and experienced cruiser who lives in Key West and invites all Royal Caribbean Cruisers to stop by his house when their ship calls there.:D

 

I'm going to drop Paul an email to let him read this one!!

 

Tina will be the first one to kill you.......simply because Paul has been sworn "to keep justice!":):D;)

 

Glad to know another couple that knows them.

 

Rick

[Cruzin-K]

Puffinater, your comment about roll calls becoming cliques interested me. For the first time in MANY roll calls, that's exactly what has happened to our current one for Celebrity Eclipse. It's for a 14-night cruise, and someone actually started the roll call almost 2 1/2 years before the sail date! It quickly became very active and now has nearly 100 pages of posts although the cruise is still 9 months away. However, of those 100 pages, I'd guess that 75 are just personal comments between folks who have sailed together multiple times. Any posts from "outsiders" are generally ignored. Needless to say, I rarely read the roll call anymore and have no plans to attend the sailaway party or M&M.

 

I'm guess I'm glad to hear this has happened to others...I was beginning to think it was something I said!

 

It's kind of a pet peeve of mine when people who know each other from previous cruises, and are now friends in real life and on Facebook, and have each others e-mail addresses, insist on carrying on pages-long personal conversations in the roll call threads, and ignore posts by others. :( Please, take it outside. I've posted comments or questions about the cruise, or the ports, and have them get buried so deep in the middle of these personal conversations that most people on the roll call don't even see my posts. :mad:

 

My favorite roll call/M&M was on my very first RCI cruise on the Empress of the Seas, followed a close second by the Serenade of the Seas. On the Empress cruise, I was going on my first cruise by myself and didn't know anybody. A friend told me about CC so I came here and joined my roll call. I met the nicest people, and had "friends" to say hello to for the entire 11 night cruise. It was really nice to see familiar friendly faces around the ship. At my second M&M I won a bottle of champagne, 'nuff said :D

 

My other RCI cruises were too short for official M&Ms, but we had an unofficial one on my Jewel cruise. Some of the people there were very nice and friendly, others not so much, but it was still fun to go and put a face to the names.

[dz9yvr]

M&M's are probably the only way you can meet the people that are falming you the rest of the year :rolleyes:

[Familygoboston]

It's kind of a pet peeve of mine when people who know each other from previous cruises, and are now friends in real life and on Facebook, and have each others e-mail addresses, insist on carrying on pages-long personal conversations in the roll call threads, and ignore posts by others. :( Please, take it outside. I've posted comments or questions about the cruise, or the ports, and have them get buried so deep in the middle of these personal conversations that most people on the roll call don't even see my posts. :mad:

 

My favorite roll call/M&M was on my very first RCI cruise on the Empress of the Seas, followed a close second by the Serenade of the Seas. On the Empress cruise, I was going on my first cruise by myself and didn't know anybody. A friend told me about CC so I came here and joined my roll call. I met the nicest people, and had "friends" to say hello to for the entire 11 night cruise. It was really nice to see familiar friendly faces around the ship. At my second M&M I won a bottle of champagne, 'nuff said :D

 

My other RCI cruises were too short for official M&Ms, but we had an unofficial one on my Jewel cruise. Some of the people there were very nice and friendly, others not so much, but it was still fun to go and put a face to the names.

 

Is there a sticky with roll call etiquette? For instance, I always feel if I start the RC I should acknowledge each person that joins, but I dont have to be the only one, if other people do to, that's great! But I feel some responsibility ya know what I mean?

 

Also, think that longer and TA cruises get more action at the M& Ms, there is more time to meet and mingle. On Oasis, barely anyone showed up; everyone was too busy and many were in big family groups, not all of whom knew about or cared about the M& M. I did win Internet, but didn't make any life long friends.

 

For me , I guess I will attend of there is nothing better to do. Our Allure cruise is planning a cabin crawl, a slot pull and a wine tasting...honestly thats more time than I want to commit and with 2 teens with us, we arent likely to participate in the drinking and gambling. But on another cruise without the kids, I might do some of those things. I honestly find it easier to meet people before shows than at the M&M where the Staff person is raffling and vamping the whole time.

[Sinppu]

Even worse, there might be a lot of Ohians.

 

Oh no, I've got TWO in my Allure Roll Call :eek:

 

I've never been to an M&M before so I really don't have any expectations. I'm a bit apprehensive about my Navigator one because I'm cruising with my Mom and she doesn't really speak English. I wouldn't want to leave her alone nor would I want to be asocial and just talk to her. Skipping the M&M seems to be an option but don't like that one either :mad:

 

Oh decisions, decisions...

[Wilda]

I participate on the roll call but have never attended a M&M. I've gotten some great information on the RC about many things...such as where to go in Cozumel (Paradise Beach). From that viewpoint I believe they are a great resource. And count me in as another vote against those RC's that have pages and pages of personal information:( Happens on the DisBoards all the time too!

 

As for meeting people...I prefer to let my social interactions with others happen organically rather than pre-planned activities:) But that's just me.

[mn_isla_girl]

I really appreciate all the input, for and against. I decided to register for my M&M so I'll go and check it out. One nice thing about cruising alone, if I don't like something I move on, no explanations needed. I'm number 17 (the only oddball, just what I figured) to register so I guess we need a few more to be official. The cruise isn't until December so there's plenty of time...

[BillOh]

Is there a sticky with roll call etiquette? For instance, I always feel if I start the RC I should acknowledge each person that joins, but I dont have to be the only one, if other people do to, that's great! But I feel some responsibility ya know what I mean?

 

 

Having just started my 3rd one, I'm in complete agreement with that sentiment. That kind of sentiment keeps it from becoming kind of cliquish as others have described.

[ryano]

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.

 

It seems those cliques keep on going years after the cruise is over too. Some people use their roll call thread for chatrooms it seems. Ive seen cruises that happened in 2009 that still have very active roll calls :confused:

 

why not just email people or use one of the millions of chatrooms available on the WWW? :D

[BillOh]

It seems those cliques keep on going years after the cruise is over too. Some people use their roll call thread for chatrooms it seems. Ive seen cruises that happened in 2009 that still have very active roll calls :confused:

 

why not just email people or use one of the millions of chatrooms available on the WWW? :D

 

I see no problem keeping an old roll call live. Since they have one thing in common, that cruise, why seek out somewhere else? Since I don't go back and read Ship of the seas Jan 2004 thread and they are in their own area, it doesn't bother me. You do get some cliqueish behavior in the current roll calls of ships out of Florida that have shorter sailings and the people who sail on those ships multiple times together. At least in my case, they were not exclusive and were welcoming.

[ryano]

I see no problem keeping an old roll call live. Since they have one thing in common, that cruise, why seek out somewhere else?

 

Good point. I have nothing against it. I guess I just found it a little strange and was curious :) I have been a part of three very active roll calls so far and once everyone returned home and said how they enjoyed the cruise, the roll call fell off the pages never to be resurrected again.

[stevea36]

Oh no, I've got TWO in my Allure Roll Call :eek:

 

I've never been to an M&M before so I really don't have any expectations. I'm a bit apprehensive about my Navigator one because I'm cruising with my Mom and she doesn't really speak English. I wouldn't want to leave her alone nor would I want to be asocial and just talk to her. Skipping the M&M seems to be an option but don't like that one either :mad:

 

Oh decisions, decisions...

 

At an M&M you will find the following:

 

 

• Fellow CC-ers who signed up for it (they may or may not post on your sailing's board)
  
• Senior Cruise staff (who are there to welcome you and give you goodies)
  
  • On our explorer cruise this month we received the standard RCCL notepad.
    
  • They also got our Ice Show tickets for us which was a bonus as it was to the Diamond members' performance. (Not crowded, free drinks)
    
  • They did talk about the staff onboard and scheduling items.
    

   

  [*]Canapes

  [*]Beverages

Go, take Mom, you never know, Mom may meet someone who speaks her language !!!

 

Steve

[Sassy19305]

DH and I attended our first M&M on the Radiance (14 night New Zealand) in January this year. We had been chatting on the board for over a year with the group, so were really excited to meet everyone.

One thing our group did that was a real ice breaker and a ton of fun was a gift bag exchange. Since we were from across the globe, those who wanted to participate put together an inexpensive bag with local items. We tried for things that were native to our country/state/province. Being from Canada we brought maple syrup, several candy bars that I read were not available in Australia and a CD of Canadian scenary post cards. We did the exchange like you do a white elephant gift exchange. Our Canadian bag was the most stolen - I think because of the candy bars. My DH had kept posting that he was bring home a koala, so one of the women had made a special bag just for him and told everyone that it was off limits to anyone else. It had a stuffed koala, a magazine and post card from her village and a jar of vegemite. He really cherished all of the items in the bag. We had a limit ($10) on the bags, which we went over a bit.

Sherril

[swcruise]

I have cruised exclusively in Europe, and of my 6 trips so far there hasn't beenn an M&M. It looks like there may be one for our Baltic sailing in Aug. Think ,I will sign up out of curiousity and go with an open mind.

[Shooraq]

I'm all for meet and mingles if the roll call on Cruise Critic is lively. I've skipped some and attended others. Those that I have attended, I have made some great friends that we ended up doing dinners with or meeting at the bar for drinks after an excursion. I actually plan to keep in touch, visit, and maybe do another cruise in the future.

 

It's nice to create new friendships with fellow crusiers. Most of our friends have kids and can't travel so DH and I look forward to sharing cruise experiences with others our age (30's). The meet and mingle, though lacking in food and drink awesomeness, is just a way to put faces to CC screenames. :D

[dmdicato]

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!

 

I definitely agree with your assessments. You go to a meet & mingle for the connections and not for the food, prizes, etc.

[repeater]

I say, GO if you are not otherwise busy! You never know what might happen.

 

On our last cruise, three weeks ago, about 9 senior staff attended, and there was already an undercurrent of murmurs about the new captain. He had boarded the previous day, same day as we had, so they did not know him, but they were certain he was crusty and humorless. In walked the captain! Silence fell, then he barked "A bridge tour for all of you! My gift to you." and stalked off. Not a warm fellow, but we were thrilled! The arranger-of-events staff person was flustered, but quickly passed a paper for our names and cabin numbers.

 

 

The next day there was an invitation in our cabin. We would have been pleased with a 10 minute tour, but we were on the bridge over 2 1/2 hours! The first officer explained tiny details, and told stories, then answered questions, acting as though he had all the time in the world and we were the most important people in the world. Loved it---definitely a highlight!

 

Go---you never know what might happen! At the worst, you'll get a nibble...and you know you haven't eaten in, say, 20 minutes.

[BonTXNY]

We attend every M&M for our cruises. There was one disappointing element in each of them. I have never been at a M&M where we introduce ourselves. At the close of the M&M I never really learn who anyone is. I had been chatting with folks for almost a year and couldn't find them in the room. I walked around but ran into total strangers who just registered for the M&M but never posted on the roll call thread. Luckily we scheduled a slot pull and cabin crawl and that's where our die-hard CCers came out. Great time, great folks but we need more input at the actual M&M.

[AFS1970]

I plan on going to ours in September, I have never been on an RCI cruise and see it as just part of being on this cruise and being a member here at CC.

 

For those that did go, how did slot pulls, people bingo and cabin crawls, etc get planned? Was it just someone from the group who took the initiative or was it organized through RCI?

 

For those that think introductions would help, I wonder if name tags with the CC name and a first name might help. I am generally not a big name tag fan at gatherings but it seems like the fastest way to be able to find everyone.

[Daghis]

For those that did go, how did slot pulls, people bingo and cabin crawls, etc get planned? Was it just someone from the group who took the initiative or was it organized through RCI?

Those are entirely organized by roll-call volunteers. Royal Caribbean's involvement is setting up the location for the Meet & Mingle along with a few refreshments and giving away a few RCCL trinkets.

 

For those that think introductions would help, I wonder if name tags with the CC name and a first name might help. I am generally not a big name tag fan at gatherings but it seems like the fastest way to be able to find everyone.

Your invitation to the party includes a raffle ticket and a name tag that you can wear using the handy-dandy notepad that you can hang around your neck. If I'm remembering them correctly, the name tag has blanks for screen name and real name.

[QueensChick]

I highly recommend attending the Meet & Mingle. It's a lovely way to meet fellow cruisers and to put faces to screen names. It's never about the refreshments or the prizes.

 

I've gotten hooked up with some great private shore excursions, had familiar faces to say hello to around the ship and in port, and made some lovely friends.

 

I once had a fellow cruise critic recognize me (from my avatar) while waiting in the check-in line on embarkation day.

 

Go and enjoy. Say hello, introduce yourself and strike up a conversation. You never know what will happen. At worst, you won't meet anyone interesting. So you'll cut your losses and move on. At best, you'll make friends for life - or at least for the duration of the cruise ;). It's worth an hour of your time to give it a try.

 

On my one and only solo cruise, my table mates were astonished at the number of people who came over to the table to say goodbye to me on the last night, all of my cruise critic buddies.

 

Love the line about "travel porn" :D.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[mn_isla_girl]

Go and enjoy. Say hello, introduce yourself and strike up a conversation. You never know what will happen. At worst, you won't meet anyone interesting. So you'll cut your losses and move on. At best, you'll make friends for life - or at least for the duration of the cruise ;). It's worth an hour of your time to give it a try.

 

Those are my exact intensions! Just needed a little encouragement, Gracias Chica! :)

[mn_isla_girl]

repeater,

Well some people have all the luck!! VERY cool for your group!

[suzyed]

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.

 

Our recent one on the Grand Princess was similar...it was lovely meeting folks we had been chatting with for almost a year. I KNOW we will be friends for a long long time with some of those great people!

[rubrrick]

Don't get me wrong, as I love to join in on the M & M, and sometimes I even try to get more happening, if it appears to be a dead one!

 

However, I must say that I have met some of our best cruising friends in certain other places on the ship......the WJ, Vintages, the Schooner Bar, the Captains table, and the list goes on.

 

However, of all of the places to meet someone, and get to know them, is the M&M, as when you get home, and are writing like this, it's people that you have met, that will come on, and say.........great to be sailing with you again, let's meet at such and such a place, etc.

 

Those are the true cruising friends that we have!

 

To those here on CC, keep coming back, for every M&M meeting......you never know who you will run into!!:D:)

 

Rick