fun ideas for Meet & Mingle

[Jsim2011]

anyone have any ideas to make M & M fun?

 

What fun things have you done in the past or what fun things happened at a meet & mingle you attended?

[crookedhalo]

On two of the trips we've taken the M&M group decided to exchange post cards with a favorite regional recipe printed on the back. On the last one, we all discovered zazzle.com and were able to get professionally printed postcards (you can even upload your own photo if you want) very cost effectively. That was a lot easier to pack (instead of a gift) and we wound up with 20 or 30 great recipes:D

[KeyOfSea]

The ones who wanted to participate each brought a gift in theme with their home town or state. There was a suggested $10 value per gift. Then we played the game where you open a gift or steal a gift. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, even the ones who watched but didn't participate.

[Pomperaugrr]

I think the most important thing to do is to actually get up out of your seat and "mix and mingle." I have been to some, where people come in a small group and do not interact with each other. It is almost painful to be there. I have gotten up and introduced myself and then got the ball rolling with the others. Sometimes registered M&M guests don't even show up. I find it amusing how social and animated CC members can be on the forum, but they become timid when meeting face to face.

 

Others have been more active. We usually try to arrange an unofficial meet & mingle at the sky bar, or other location a couple of hours before sail away. That way you see familiar faces right off the bat when you walk into the official M&M. You get out of it what you put into it. Card and gift exchanges can work, but our groups have not done those. We have made arrangements to do cabin crawls, slot pulls, etc.

 

Eric

[mrchips14]

I have done cabin crawls, works well as long as you have a variety of cabin types. Also slot pull, everyone puts in an amount of money and play one slot machine. Then split the winnings. (Hopefully).

 

Have fun.

[jefngeo01]

CABIN CRAWL!!

We just did on one on our Allure 5/27/2012 sailing and it was great. We had a large group and had lots of rooms, and everyone really enjoyed it.

[Becoming]

On our last cruise roll call, we got into a "duck tape" discussion.

 

So - folks created items out of duck tape and displayed/modeled them at the M&M. Then the Activities Director chose the winner.

 

It was a bit different and interesting.

[lov2sun]

I have friends that prearranged to have a goofy hat cabin crawl and they all wore silly hats. The pics were fun.

[JMG]

On one cruise, someone started a listing of everyone on the cruise. The listing was updated on the thread as new people signed on. The list contained CC name, real first names, homestate or other info that individuals offered. Many of us took this list with us onboard so that we could refer to the info. It made it easier to get to know people especially when there is a large M&M group. Someone made nametags and we had an unofficial M&M after the muster drill using the Sky Bar as the meeting spot. Many of us got to meet and greet at that point. Everyone used the nametags at the official M&M and the party continued.

 

When the M&M started, the Cruise Staff was very involved basically getting the party started. On our last cruise, the cruise staff took names as people arrived and then left. They did nothing! We did plan a gift exchange so that helped to get people involved and talking.

 

On some cruises there have been problems with the M&M invites. Some people that signed up did not receive their invites and they had no idea that they missed the M&M. Since then I have posted that if people do not receive their invite by the morning of Day 2 they should go to guest relations and ask when/where the party is being held.

[Sharon I]

We had the ten dollar gift swap on our last cruise and we also had a cabin crawl right after the m&m and at each cabin we each received a playing card and whom ever had the best poker hand won throw total of the entry fee for the cabin crawl. It was fun. We also had one hundred and forty people signed up for the M&M. At the end of the opening of the gift swap the cruise employee running the M&M asked if anybody wanted to meet someone from the thread they hadn't met yet and a few people spoke up. It was the best and largest meeting we ever attended.

Sharon I

[NeuroQueen]

We were just on the Oasis April 28th sailing. We had the most phenomenal roll call ever. We began calling ourselves the Royal Party and met up at the Sky Bar at 2:00PM on embarkation day. All were instructed to wear something "Royal". We saw everything from crowns, funky sunglasses with crowns, you name it. We had a blast. We then headed to one of the secret decks where we had arranged a sailaway photo with Portfever. It turned out great! We then all met up for Quest and formed team 2. It was the best Quest I've ever been to, and we came in second. We are going again on Allure same time next year with some people from the Royal Party. We really lucked out and had a blast talking beforehand for 11 months!

[grand isle joe]

anyone have any ideas to make M & M fun?

 

?

 

 

 

 

....Show up in your "BIRTHDAY SUIT"........that will turn some heads......;):D

[CaribeDiver]

Like a couple of things we've done on past cruises. We did a cabin crawl/poker run where everyone put in $10 in the pot and at the 1st cabin each person was given 7 cards and could draw one with one new single card draw at each additional cabin with a total of 7 cabins. The person with the best hand at the last cabin won the pot. Most people had some kind of snack or drink in their cabin. Be sure to bring multiple decks of cards in case you get a lot of participants. Also, we did the slot pot. Where each participant put in $20 and we took the total and put it into the $1 slots and then split the winnings. Of course we only won about $10 each but it was fun standing around pulling the slots as we had about $160 to put in.

[cGypsy]

to Pomper/Eric -

 

i just have to say those are two great signature quotes! Thanks.

[Jsim2011]

Thanks, I appreciate all the ideas.

[teralin]

On the Brilliance recently, Cuddy, the activities manager, organised an M&M bingo. He split people into groups of three or four and gave each group a "bingo" card and on this card there were various boxes each with a task to do. These tasks involved finding eg. someone in the room with blue eyes, who owned their own business, had four children etc and we had to cross off a box on the card each time we found an M&M member who filled the criteria. It was a simple idea but my goodness it worked. It got everybody out of their seats and going round the room talking to people and finding out more about them. It was the best M&M ever. All credit to Cuddy.

[Dick and Jane]

Cuddy on the Brilliance provided the best Meet and Mingle that I have attended. Most of the time, the M&M is a meet, but there is very little mingling. I think it's great when the passengers take control of this activity, but I would like Royal Caribbean to assist by: using a venue that is designed for mingling (e.g., the comedy club is a great area, but you can't easily mingle when the chairs are set up in rows facing the stage), selecting an ice-breaker type activity to get people out of their group (like Cuddy's M&M Bingo), and considering altering their lanyard/name badge gift (few people wear them, and their not much use after the cruise).

[cmitch9999]

On my last Spirit cruise I was in charge of the meet and greet. I gave each person at the party an index card with my new cruise buddy on it and numbers 1,2,3. Everyone was encouraged to pair up with someone they didn't know and get their name and 3 facts about them. hometown, cruise history etc. Then we went around the room and everyone introduced their new cruise buddy to the group. It really helped bond the group and got everyone mingling and talking. I was concerned the shy people might resist but it worked out fine for our group of about 25.

[rubrrick]

On our last cruise roll call, we got into a "duck tape" discussion.

 

So - folks created items out of duck tape and displayed/modeled them at the M&M. Then the Activities Director chose the winner.

 

It was a bit different and interesting.

 

My DW and I were on that cruise, and it was great fun to see the talent used in making different parts of clothing out of duck tape! I thought it was well presented.

 

We have attended one meet and mingle party that was so good, the activities co ordinator put out an invite for a second one. The captain and quite a group of his staff came to help. The staff had taken the time to write cards with different "famous names" and they were placed on our backs, and we had to guess who we were, by asking questions. We had a group of about 70 that attented that party.

 

We just signed up for our upcoming cruise, and we are numbers 267 and 268. My guess is that we will have over 300 signed up before the cruise, and if most attend, that will be the largest gathering we will have attended.;)

 

Rick

[Put Me On A Boat]

On two of the trips we've taken the M&M group decided to exchange post cards with a favorite regional recipe printed on the back. On the last one, we all discovered zazzle.com and were able to get professionally printed postcards (you can even upload your own photo if you want) very cost effectively. That was a lot easier to pack (instead of a gift) and we wound up with 20 or 30 great recipes:D

 

I'm in a large (130) M&M group and I want to get everyone out of their seats. I like the idea of the recipe swap. I know I wouldn't want to bring 130 cards or pay to get that many done. How did you exchange them?

[crookedhalo]

I'm in a large (130) M&M group and I want to get everyone out of their seats. I like the idea of the recipe swap. I know I wouldn't want to bring 130 cards or pay to get that many done. How did you exchange them?

 

Before the official M&G we all just circulated and exchanged cards and greetings:D We had an idea from the roll call how many were interested in exchanging and I think we all just had 25 cards printed (I know mine only cost $26 delivered to my house). Some people had two or three different cards because they couldn't decide which recipe to bring:p. It was a great way to get everyone moving around and very easy to pack to bring home;)

[Alrana Eris]

I don't think I want people I only met once ,crawling or even entering my cabin. :eek: Its a privacy thing for me. Any other activity I would be fine with.