Meet and greets

[bob brown]

In 2011, I booked a last minute steal on a Princess cruise only about two or three weeks before departure. I immediately joined the CC roll call for that cruise, and found it to be a very quiet one, with no activities planned at all. It was much too late for us to organize an official one with Princess, and there were only about 20 of us that expressed interest in a meet and greet, so we just planned an informal one at the lobby bar on the first at sea morning. We did get them to send one representative to talk to us, and we even managed to organize a small cabin crawl immediately after. And since we were near their International Cafe, free snacks and beverages were nearby. We had a good time overall.

[Planmaam]

On our 1/20/13 Star sailing, my two sisters and I organized the M&G. We picked up name tags and colored pens to use only to find that NCL had pre-printed name tags with the Cruise Critic logo for us to use! So much more organized than on our cruise two years earlier. Don't know if that's now standard fleet wide, but you might ask when emailing the ship's Group Events Coordinator.

 

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[NLH Arizona]

I have usually cruised on Celebrity and Crystal, where you get an invite to the meet and greet in your cabin. Was very disappointed on my first NCL cruise as I didn't get an invite and then found out after the cruise that I had to be on Cruise Critic the day before the cruise to find out when and where it was. Well, unfortunately I left two days early for the cruise (sans computer) and, since I thought I would get an invite to the meet and greet, I missed it all together. Wish NCL would have the same invite system as Celebrity and Crystal. On my last Celebrity cruise, there were all the officers...Captain on down at the Meet and Greet. On Crystal, all the officers attend as well.

 

Hope for my cruise in November on the Jewell, I find out about the Meet and Greet prior to me leaving for the cruise.

Edited February 16, 2013 by NLH Arizona

[Richpontone]

Usually held on the first sea day if your cruise. Consult your cruise's roll call for specific time and place.

There are two important people you need to know. They are

You hotel director. Be very friendly and get his or her business card or their phone extension. If you have a problem with your cabin or your service. First complain to your cabin steward. If you don't get satisfaction, complain "nicely" to your hotel director. Your hotel director is your insurance that you get what you pay in your cruise. Don't go to the front desk for complaints except those on your final bill. Most cruisers who don't go to the CC meet and greet, go to the front desk and get very little or nothing when they complain. This is "your inside information", so use it.

Your CC meet and greet coordinator. He or she are usually experienced cruisers and can get you valueable tips especially what speciality restaurants and entertainment to go to and what excursions to take. Usually they are very friendly, need a compliment in coordinating the meet and greet and they have a ton of experience or research in what to do at the ports. Invite the coordinator to a dinner at a "free" restaurant so you can spend more time in "picking their brain". The meet and greet usually lasts a half an hour so there is not much to get all of the valueable tips.

Hope that helps. As for the bridge tour which is up to the captain. If you have been to one, you have been to them all.

As for the refreshments, the meeting is usually held shortly after the end of breakfast, so cookies and coffee don't mean that much.

Edited February 17, 2013 by Richpontone

[clean1owner]

I have usually cruised on Celebrity and Crystal, where you get an invite to the meet and greet in your cabin. Was very disappointed on my first NCL cruise as I didn't get an invite and then found out after the cruise that I had to be on Cruise Critic the day before the cruise to find out when and where it was. Well, unfortunately I left two days early for the cruise (sans computer) and, since I thought I would get an invite to the meet and greet, I missed it all together. Wish NCL would have the same invite system as Celebrity and Crystal. On my last Celebrity cruise, there were all the officers...Captain on down at the Meet and Greet. On Crystal, all the officers attend as well.

 

Hope for my cruise in November on the Jewell, I find out about the Meet and Greet prior to me leaving for the cruise.

 

 

Just get on the Roll Call for your sailing and you should know about the M & G at least a week before sailing, provided the organizer posts it.

 

You could also step up to be the coordinator and then you would know for sure!

[jdvmd]

I remember on the Celebrity Solstice, we have a very active roll call and I was posting quite a bit. Wanted to meet everyone in person. Imagine my surprise when I didn't get an invitation to the official Meet and Greet. We had something like 167 signed up with Celebrity and they decided to only give invitations to around 50 people. Checked every day with Guest Services and was told they had no information regarding this event.

[Rounder]

I remember on the Celebrity Solstice, we have a very active roll call and I was posting quite a bit. Wanted to meet everyone in person. Imagine my surprise when I didn't get an invitation to the official Meet and Greet. We had something like 167 signed up with Celebrity and they decided to only give invitations to around 50 people. Checked every day with Guest Services and was told they had no information regarding this event.

 

Wow. :( That would suck. :eek:

[NLH Arizona]

Just get on the Roll Call for your sailing and you should know about the M & G at least a week before sailing, provided the organizer posts it.

 

You could also step up to be the coordinator and then you would know for sure!

I did sign up on the Roll Call. I knew there was going to be a meet and greet, expected an invite (since that was how every other cruise line I've been on did it), but didn't receive and invite and it was not posted on the Roll Call until a day before the cruise was to have started. I was already in Vancouver, sans computer, so I had no way of know when the M & G was. Since I didn't have my computer, I had no way of finding the name of the organizer. I did go to Guest Relations and they said they didn't know what I was talking about. I wish the M&G organizer would have posted it a week before the cruise or maybe they should have let all those new cruisers to the line know how their meet and greet works and when people would be notified of the day, time and place.

[www3traveler]

I have usually cruised on Celebrity and Crystal, where you get an invite to the meet and greet in your cabin. Was very disappointed on my first NCL cruise as I didn't get an invite and then found out after the cruise that I had to be on Cruise Critic the day before the cruise to find out when and where it was. Well, unfortunately I left two days early for the cruise (sans computer) and, since I thought I would get an invite to the meet and greet, I missed it all together. Wish NCL would have the same invite system as Celebrity and Crystal. On my last Celebrity cruise, there were all the officers...Captain on down at the Meet and Greet. On Crystal, all the officers attend as well.

 

Hope for my cruise in November on the Jewell, I find out about the Meet and Greet prior to me leaving for the cruise.

Have you looked on The Roll Call section for your Jewel cruise. There is probably a Roll Call for your cruise established. Just join the conversation, the same as on this thread. I hope you will enjoy The Jewel and your cruise.

[NLH Arizona]

Have you looked on The Roll Call section for your Jewel cruise. There is probably a Roll Call for your cruise established. Just join the conversation, the same as on this thread. I hope you will enjoy The Jewel and your cruise.

Have already joined the roll call (joined on September 23rd), hopefully there will be some information about the M&G prior to leaving for the cruise.

Edited February 17, 2013 by NLH Arizona

[www3traveler]

I was just looking at The Jewel Roll Calls and found 7 both for 1013 and 2014. The M&G dates are usually set a couple of months prior to the cruise and posted on The Roll Call- no invitations issued by the cruise ship anyway. This is considered a private event and is NOT listed in the Freestyle Daily ( daily newsletter delivered to your cabin each evening).

[debnjoe1438]

However, the tour's not a given thing. Been to 3 M&Gs on NCL - only 1 bridge tour invite. Depends largely on who the captain is and a few other factors.

 

Been to 5 NCL Meet n Greets, never "offered" a bridge tour, however DH asked at 2 and the request was granted. :D (Jewel n Pearl)

[debnjoe1438]

I did sign up on the Roll Call. I knew there was going to be a meet and greet, expected an invite (since that was how every other cruise line I've been on did it), but didn't receive and invite and it was not posted on the Roll Call until a day before the cruise was to have started. I was already in Vancouver, sans computer, so I had no way of know when the M & G was. Since I didn't have my computer, I had no way of finding the name of the organizer. I did go to Guest Relations and they said they didn't know what I was talking about. I wish the M&G organizer would have posted it a week before the cruise or maybe they should have let all those new cruisers to the line know how their meet and greet works and when people would be notified of the day, time and place.

 

On my last cruise there was a gentleman who for whatever reason didn't get M & G information off the Roll Call. Upon boarding he asked at the front desk, and what they did for him was to, look me up, place a call to my cabin and allow him to leave a message.

 

I did call him back with the needed information.

[fabnfortysomething]

Ive organise a couple of meet and greets-contacted the ship events co ordinator a few weeks prior and have got time and venue about 2 weeks prior to cruise which I then posted on the roll call.As it is a private party will not be listed by ship but I did get a letter in my cabin on boarding confirming the event

 

On the last cruise they had brought the meeting forward by 24 hours!!!

 

fortunately I had cabin numbers for about half those who said they were interested in attending so was able to deliver notrs to those people

 

point is NCL is not responsible for inviting people along

[clean1owner]

I did sign up on the Roll Call. I knew there was going to be a meet and greet, expected an invite (since that was how every other cruise line I've been on did it), but didn't receive and invite and it was not posted on the Roll Call until a day before the cruise was to have started. I was already in Vancouver, sans computer, so I had no way of know when the M & G was. Since I didn't have my computer, I had no way of finding the name of the organizer. I did go to Guest Relations and they said they didn't know what I was talking about. I wish the M&G organizer would have posted it a week before the cruise or maybe they should have let all those new cruisers to the line know how their meet and greet works and when people would be notified of the day, time and place.

 

Sounds to me like the coordinator of your M & G dropped the ball.

 

On our last cruise we had the date and time posted 2 weeks prior to sailing.

 

You could always volunteer to be the coordinator, and be guaranteed notification.

[NLH Arizona]

[quote name='clean1owner']Sounds to me like the coordinator of your M & G dropped the ball.

On our last cruise we had the date and time posted 2 weeks prior to sailing.

You could always volunteer to be the coordinator, and be guaranteed notification.[/quote]
I didn't lose any sleep over it, just sad not to have met some new people, especially on my first NCL cruise.

I'd rather leave the volunteering at NCL to someone who knows the system well, since November will only be my second cruise with NCL. Maybe after my fifth or sixth cruise with them, I would feel comfortable to volunteer for the job.

[irismike]

is there a special place to sign up for the M&M? Hanks.

[puddles99]

[quote name='irismike']is there a special place to sign up for the M&M? Hanks.[/QUOTE]

Yes - Meet & Greets (or Meet & Mingles) are typically organized within a Roll Call. Visit the Roll Call boards for NCL and find the one for your sailing.

[kylenyc]

[quote name='valleyvillage']At all of ours the Captain invited us to tour the Bridge!

And you get a personal invitation to call the HD if anything is not to your satisfaction. They will tell you they would rather hear about it on the ship so they can do something about it than read about it later on Cruise Critic![/quote]
That's because your special, fun, and upbeat. Never been on a bridge tour myself ::sadface::

To OP: IMO I've hosted a few Meet & Greets and never gotten any said imaginary perks and think such a discussion is counter productive. You don't want a Meet & Greet coordinator who would volunteer just to get said imaginary perks or put a well-meaning hardworking volunteer into an uncomfortable position of having to explain why there are no perks or going around asking for them. They are volunteers spending time organizing activities and keeping the roll call so everyone can meet up and have fun. If you want more fun in your Meet & Greet, then get involved, and volunteer help out with other activities (cabin crawl, slot pull, sailaway gathering, gift exchange, etc.) Edited April 4, 2014 by kylenyc

[agabbymama]

I took over the Meet & Greet when the person that had started the Roll Call had to cancel. It was quite a bit of work, but it ended up being the best Meet & Greet we ever attended. I didn't take it over for any perks, as I had no idea what was involved. It was a first for me.

I had a helper that planned & held a small gift exchange (held at the M&G). Another helper that planned & held the Cabin Crawl (with a poker draw game). And yet another helper that planned & held the slot pull. And finally one last helper that scheduled a Birthday Celebration at Cagney's as we had about 5 birthdays in our CC group.

I was very obstinate with the time & place. I wanted sail away uptop in the Biergarten (and prayed it didn't rain). I planned for everyone to wear Mardi Gras Masks (but only a few did) and ribbon streamers. NCL provided non-alcoholic beverages and pound cake. I had brought pretzels as I wasn't sure what would be provided.

The events coordinator met me in the Biergarten and passed around a paper for everyone to sign their name & cabin number. I think everyone on the list was invited to the Bridge Tour. In addition, many of us were invited to dine with the Captain & Staff. We had about 8-10 staff in attendance with 58 folks. I had 61 signed up but only 58 showed. And the Captain was busy at sail away, so he didn't attend.

In contrast, on Celebrity, we had 35 signed up and 20 showed up. We had the CD appear. Cookies & punch were provided. That was it.

On Princess, they provided the corner of the bar. That was it.

On our HAL Alaska cruise, we couldn't even locate a M&G.

So each cruiseline does things differently and the person organizing the M&G makes a huge difference too. I was posting to our Roll Call every day or every other day. Keeping everyone updated. I did not send invitations to anyone.

It is fun to meet the folks from the Roll Call you've talked to for months, but it's great to meet the crew, HD, CD and Captain too (if you're lucky enough to).:D

[NMLady]

[quote name='bluehawk47']Good to hear. We will be on the Star in March and Meet and Greets are NOT for my husband, but he will go if he thinks a bridge tour might be involved during the week.
Thank you[/QUOTE]

He does not have to attend the M&G if you attend and sign in with cabin number. The invitation is sent to names in that cabin.
At least that is how it worked on our b2b on the Star last October. My husband did not attend the M&G for either segment but his name was included on the invitation for the Bridge tour each segment and he took the tour both times.

We've been to M&G's on other NCL ships but this was the first time our M&G included a bridge tour invitation. It always depends on the Captain. Some do not want visitors on the bridge. Edited April 4, 2014 by NMLady