Celebrity Discouraging CC gatherings?

[Kevnzworld]

I think that Celebrity should make special arrangements for the CC party/ get together, and they do. It is free advertising. Cruise Critic is growing, we are a community that is part of social media.

Beyond that, I don't think CC member activities should get official help.

What I object to is the times they schedule this event. It always seems to be around 10 am. I've gone to two, and they are probably my last.

The Sunset bar sail away parties arranged on the roll calls are much more festive and fun, and not sponsored by Celebrity.

[Ma Bell]

I agree that there is not much more that can be said. I have totally the wrong impression and have been dealing with a group of people who have not been honest as the senior staff is able to be. The crew, in spite of the increase in gratuities, need to say that they are happy with everything and that all is well. The event coordinators have been true to the party line and I foolishly believed that they liked and encouraged our activities. You have pointed out to me how incorrect my impressions were. I guess I am just incredibly naive.

 

I do not know what the next step is, and will try to get in touch with Celebrity to see if there is anything that would be allowed without causing a problem for them and for the reputation of cruise critic. I thought that what I was doing was fun and that I was helping the crew by paying them for their extra time. That was just not so. Obviously the Sailaway party and the pink luncheon should be cancelled. I do not want to be put into the position of going against celebrity's concerns and wishes. I don't know if celebrity suggested that you post about the problem of to us having too much scheduled and the hardship it put on the crew, or if you saw that I didn't know, and that it would be best for all concerned to call attention to what was a bad idea from the get- go. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished for both you and for me.

 

I'm sure it was difficult for you to have to make me aware of my overstepping my bounds, and in retrospect it was probably best, as I was about to send the info to Celebrity. Hopefully we can move on with my having learned much from you about what celebrity really thinks.

 

Please, as I have said, do not cancel, anything that you have planned at this point. It would be a disappointment to the roll call members. The sail away is something they are always prepared for, especially on Transatlantics as it it the normal place that people meet for sail away. There is no need to even inform them of this. The Pink Luncheon is a good special event as they have to serve lunch anyway and it is not changing a time schedule for the staff. It is a reasonable request for a special event and one large request is of course not unusual. The one thing you might reconsider is the pub crawl as they would have to bring servers and bartenders to venues that are not usually open during that time and that can be a problem.

 

There are usually wine tastings and martini tastings scheduled by Celebrity that everyone can participate in without have to schedule private events. All that needs to be done is to get your group together and sign up when it's offered on board. If they are going to have bridge tours they will usually choose people from Cruise Critic or Captain's Club lists and they have all the information from people who are registered for the connections party or are Captain's Club members.

 

I don't think your impressions have been incorrect at all and my only purpose was to give some consideration for the future.

[wallie5446]

Our meet an greet on the Ruby Princess last yr was a big disappointment, not anything like what we are used to on RCCL. We had close to 100 on the Freedom, Sept 2011. We are really looking forward to our get together on Reflection in Nov. Hope someone sets up some of the 'other' things.

[C-Dragons]

I agree that there is not much more that can be said. I have totally the wrong impression and have been dealing with a group of people who have not been honest as the senior staff is able to be. The crew, in spite of the increase in gratuities, need to say that they are happy with everything and that all is well. The event coordinators have been true to the party line and I foolishly believed that they liked and encouraged our activities. You have pointed out to me how incorrect my impressions were. I guess I am just incredibly naive.

 

I do not know what the next step is, and will try to get in touch with Celebrity to see if there is anything that would be allowed without causing a problem for them and for the reputation of cruise critic. I thought that what I was doing was fun and that I was helping the crew by paying them for their extra time. That was just not so. Obviously the Sailaway party and the pink luncheon should be cancelled. I do not want to be put into the position of going against celebrity's concerns and wishes. I don't know if celebrity suggested that you post about the problem of to us having too much scheduled and the hardship it put on the crew, or if you saw that I didn't know, and that it would be best for all concerned to call attention to what was a bad idea from the get- go. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished for both you and for me.

 

I'm sure it was difficult for you to have to make me aware of my overstepping my bounds, and in retrospect it was probably best, as I was about to send the info to Celebrity. Hopefully we can move on with my having learned much from you about what celebrity really thinks.

I detect a note of sarcasm... or perhaps you are just overreacting? ;)

No one is asking you to cancel anything, just to reconsider how the activities you are planning can be accomplished with minimal (or no) assistance from the ship's staff.

The largest CC Roll Call I have been on had over 480 people. We planned a sail away party, cabin crawl, and many other events and never asked Celebrity to provide extra staffing for us. We did advise them of our large group for the Slot Pull and they were happy to assist us with that activity. For the rest, CC members did it all, and everything was great.

Please keep in mind that the crew's "extra time", just might be their time off. And I am a little surprised at your disclosure that 5 of you intend to compensate the crew for the entire group? Personally, I expect to pay my fair share for any group activity that I am a part of.

[Karynanne]

Flsunshinegal, don't be hasty in cancelling all the planned events. Most of the time things work themselves out effortlessly. As others have mentioned, Celebrity usually will accomodate groups with their planned activities.

 

As MaBell posted, Sailaway will be no issue whatsoever. All the other planned events can be coordinated through the Event Coordinator onboard. Her comments were posted with the intent of supplying good information.

[NLH Arizona]

I'm a little confused. Has Celebrity asked those setting up the different events to cut back or is it other CC members that are saying it?

[FLsunshinegal]

I'm a little confused. Has Celebrity asked those setting up the different events to cut back or is it other CC members that are saying it?

 

A CC member who had been part of a conversation with Senior Officers about it shared the information on our roll call. From what I understand they were concerned about CCers planning special events that were making an already over-extended crew work even harder. They were discouraging CC events that involved crew members and that were not open to everyone. I haven't heard it directly from Celebrity, who in the past has been open to them and if it is something that is not in keeping with their policies, they have said so and we haven't had the event.

 

It is understandable, but I wish Celebrity would be upfront about it, instead of doing it the way they are. I will miss our CC activities. They've always been a lot of fun on transatlantics but as with everything, changes happen. Something else will take the place of them. It's also hard to re-plan things once they've already been set up, but not a huge deal. At one time you could take wine our of the Elite parties. No more - again, no huge deal. Times and policies change.

[Lois R]

I have been reading this thread with a bit of interest and am just

wondering something?.....if there are things you want to do? Why not

just do them? Are they events that you cannot do without Celebrity

staff??......CC activities? You mean Cruise Critic roll call activities?

Guess I am missing something:eek: what will you miss?

 

I am on a roll call and there are activities being planned too....those

who want to particiate are and those who don't, aren't.....but I think

the people on the roll call are doing the planning...not the Celebrity

staff.

[NLH Arizona]

A CC member who had been part of a conversation with Senior Officers about it shared the information on our roll call. From what I understand they were concerned about CCers planning special events that were making an already over-extended crew work even harder. They were discouraging CC events that involved crew members and that were not open to everyone. I haven't heard it directly from Celebrity, who in the past has been open to them and if it is something that is not in keeping with their policies, they have said so and we haven't had the event.

 

It is understandable, but I wish Celebrity would be upfront about it, instead of doing it the way they are. I will miss our CC activities. They've always been a lot of fun on transatlantics but as with everything, changes happen. Something else will take the place of them. It's also hard to re-plan things once they've already been set up, but not a huge deal. At one time you could take wine our of the Elite parties. No more - again, no huge deal. Times and policies change.

Just because Senior Officers on one ship said this, why would anyone assume that it applies to all ships. Until Celebrity makes an announcement, I guess I would question why anyone would think this is fact.

 

Just because one ship's senior officers said this, it does not mean that Celebrity is not being upfront about this, because after all you don't know if it applies to all ships or just one. If anyone feels that there would be a problem setting up events on their cruise, I would suggest that they call Celebrity and ask about their particular cruise.

[iSailor]

I have been reading this thread with a bit of interest and am just

wondering something?.....if there are things you want to do? Why not

just do them? Are they events that you cannot do without Celebrity

staff??......CC activities? You mean Cruise Critic roll call activities?

Guess I am missing something:eek: what will you miss?

 

I am on a roll call and there are activities being planned too....those

who want to particiate are and those who don't, aren't.....but I think

the people on the roll call are doing the planning...not the Celebrity

staff.

 

:confused:I was on a roll call on my last Reflection T/A ,all the activities planned were beautifully organized and performed with the help from Celebrity.

That included the BRIDGE TOUR

I even found out there were two different languages speaking groups of passengers doing the Pub Crawl activity.

I really don't see any problem at all.:confused:

Celebrity always try to do the best for us and thats the reason why I keep coming back to Celebrity.

[FLsunshinegal]

I have been reading this thread with a bit of interest and am just

wondering something?.....if there are things you want to do? Why not

just do them? Are they events that you cannot do without Celebrity

staff??......CC activities? You mean Cruise Critic roll call activities?

Guess I am missing something:eek: what will you miss?

 

I am on a roll call and there are activities being planned too....those

who want to particiate are and those who don't, aren't.....but I think

the people on the roll call are doing the planning...not the Celebrity

staff.

 

 

We have one person who is keeping track of the activities. Some are done without adding to the staff , but others, such as the Sailaway are held at a designated bar and celebrity likes to have a heads up so that they have adequate bartenders and servers for our 100+ participants. Last year it was on the sunset bar on the Connie. We had a huge CC. Sign with our logo on it draped over the side of the ship; we gave out special name tags to everyone and one of our group had made arrangements with the port videocam to zone in on us when we left port. We had a link posted on the roll call so family and friends could watch us sail off across,the sea. We've done this w/o the video on many cruises and it always fun to have a designated spot for our group, even though, obviously, they aren't asked to close the bar to,others. It's a grat way to meet the folks we've been talking to for months and sets a fun tone for the remainder of the cruise.

 

Another event that we've done many times is a luncheon, sometimes in a private room, or in a special section of the MDR so that we don't disturb the other guests. We have prized and contests, getting to know you activities and play RollCall Trivia. Everyone who attends gets a souvenir and it's always been a lot of fun. This also involves additional staff, whom we tip well for,the added time they spend with us,

 

We also have had a table and flip chart for messages and to post the locations of the various activities. This has always worked very well for us. Other things we do involve small groups of people and don't require additional staff people. As a courtesy to Celebrity, we always send the lists into the Event Coordinator so that she know what is planned wether it involves exrta staffing, or not. They appreciate having a heads up and have always been very helpful and encouraging to us. In many cases, they have made suggestions for other activities, or little things they could,do,to make the event vetter, such as souvenirs and prizes at the slot pull. It's a shame that they are now discouraging things like this, but as I've said before, things change.

 

Hope this helps

[MicCanberra]

We have one person who is keeping track of the activities. Some are done without adding to the staff , but others, such as the Sailaway are held at a designated bar and celebrity likes to have a heads up so that they have adequate bartenders and servers for our 100+ participants. Last year it was on the sunset bar on the Connie. We had a huge CC. Sign with our logo on it draped over the side of the ship; we gave out special name tags to everyone and one of our group had made arrangements with the port videocam to zone in on us when we left port. We had a link posted on the roll call so family and friends could watch us sail off across,the sea. We've done this w/o the video on many cruises and it always fun to have a designated spot for our group, even though, obviously, they aren't asked to close the bar to,others. It's a grat way to meet the folks we've been talking to for months and sets a fun tone for the remainder of the cruise.

 

Another event that we've done many times is a luncheon, sometimes in a private room, or in a special section of the MDR so that we don't disturb the other guests. We have prized and contests, getting to know you activities and play RollCall Trivia. Everyone who attends gets a souvenir and it's always been a lot of fun. This also involves additional staff, whom we tip well for,the added time they spend with us,

 

We also have had a table and flip chart for messages and to post the locations of the various activities. This has always worked very well for us. Other things we do involve small groups of people and don't require additional staff people. As a courtesy to Celebrity, we always send the lists into the Event Coordinator so that she know what is planned wether it involves exrta staffing, or not. They appreciate having a heads up and have always been very helpful and encouraging to us. In many cases, they have made suggestions for other activities, or little things they could,do,to make the event vetter, such as souvenirs and prizes at the slot pull. It's a shame that they are now discouraging things like this, but as I've said before, things change.

 

Hope this helps

I think the most important thing here, is to let the CD know in advance of any activities that may or may not impact on the staff. Also, if staff are required, be aware that the event may not happen at your specified time or place or even at all.:D

[Ma Bell]

PLEASE STOP, no one ever said they were discouraging anything. As I have said many times, it was a private conversation and I said that they were concerned that it was becoming more difficult to provide so many special events for one group on a single cruise. That's it. I also said that it was MY opinion that we should not overburden the staff with too many special requests on one cruise.

 

I really don't understand why you continue to distort this. Enough of the DRAMA

[NLH Arizona]

PLEASE STOP, no one ever said they were discouraging anything. As I have said many times, it was a private conversation and I said that they were concerned that it was becoming more difficult to provide so many special events for one group on a single cruise. That's it. I also said that it was MY opinion that we should not overburden the staff with too many special requests on one cruise.

 

I really don't understand why you continue to distort this. Enough of the DRAMA

If it was a private conversation, why share it on here or with anyone? The only reason there was DRAMA, was because the conversation was shared!

[Ma Bell]

If it was a private conversation, why share it on here or with anyone? The only reason there was DRAMA, was because the conversation was shared!

 

I didn't post it here. The OP did. My comment was on our roll call and was pertinent to what was happening there.

[Orator]

Since many of the posters to this thread are on the Roll Call for the same cruise. Since this situation,real or imagined seems to be limited to this particular group. I would suggest that this thread be closed and any further comments be confined to the specific Roll Call.

[Lois R]

Since many of the posters to this thread are on the Roll Call for the same cruise. Since this situation,real or imagined seems to be limited to this particular group. I would suggest that this thread be closed and any further comments be confined to the specific Roll Call.

 

Good idea.......I certainly did not mean to add to the drama:eek:

[NLH Arizona]

Since many of the posters to this thread are on the Roll Call for the same cruise. Since this situation,real or imagined seems to be limited to this particular group. I would suggest that this thread be closed and any further comments be confined to the specific Roll Call.

I've got to agree.

 

BTW, just shows to all what happens when they share "private conversations" with others, it will always causes DRAMA and you can count on someone to pass it along to others!

[Ma Bell]

It wasn't a secret, and I also agree that this should have never been brought to this forum. It was meant for our roll call.

[MicCanberra]

I've got to agree.

 

BTW, just shows to all what happens when they share "private conversations" with others, it will always causes DRAMA and you can count on someone to pass it along to others!

I think the officer involved would agree.:D

[FLsunshinegal]

I think the most important thing here, is to let the CD know in advance of any activities that may or may not impact on the staff. Also, if staff are required, be aware that the event may not happen at your specified time or place or even at all.:D

 

Absolutely. We let them know weeks ahead of the activities that we are requesting and send them the current list. They tell us what works best for them and that's what we do. We work with the events coordinator who connects with the CD when needed.

[FLsunshinegal]

I was the one who started this thread since I wanted more information based on what had been posted on our roll call. that post caused a flurry of emails and concerns about our activities.

 

There are many threads that are used to answer questions; this,one was begun to see if others had also experienced similar conversations with crew members, staff or senior staff. This did indeed give me further information for which I am grateful.

 

A great deal of thought, care and planning had gone into our activities and it seemed prudent to determine if we were on the right course with them. I appreciate the helpful comments that this thread has provided.

[harz99]

It wasn't a secret, and I also agree that this should have never been brought to this forum. It was meant for our roll call.

 

"our roll call" is not private though; it is open to anyone to read, hence the comments/interpretations on this thread. ;)

[Ma Bell]

This is the post that supposedly got everyone stirred up and necessitated coming to the main boards with the title "Celebrity Discouraging CC Gatherings"

 

 

I admire the organization of activities and hope they will come to fruition. On our last cruise in December, there was a conversation with some of the Celebrity staff about the expectations of Cruise Critic members wanting to organize so many events and how it was becoming more difficult to accommodate them.

 

"There are many things that can be done without involving staff, but they seemed to be concerned about things like special luncheons, bar crawls and even submitting names for bridge tours. They do have lists of Captain's Club members and instructions from corporate as to how to choose people for tours.

Also, this is at the discretion of the Captain.

 

I have hesitated to even mention this but as a long time Cruise Critic member I do think we have to be careful that we don't expect too much as there is a ship full of passengers who don't have any idea that there is such a group and they are entitled to be treated just as well as we are."

 

As you can see, I was just expressing "my" opinion that we should be considerate of staff and crew when requesting multiple "special events" involving larger numbers of staff and using facilities that may otherwise be closed.

 

I never said, they were "discouraging" anything, just that it was a simple conversation where they showed "concern" that it was becoming more difficult to meet expectations.

[Karynanne]

This is the post that supposedly got everyone stirred up and necessitated coming to the main boards with the title "Celebrity Discouraging CC Gatherings"

 

 

I admire the organization of activities and hope they will come to fruition. On our last cruise in December, there was a conversation with some of the Celebrity staff about the expectations of Cruise Critic members wanting to organize so many events and how it was becoming more difficult to accommodate them.

 

"There are many things that can be done without involving staff, but they seemed to be concerned about things like special luncheons, bar crawls and even submitting names for bridge tours. They do have lists of Captain's Club members and instructions from corporate as to how to choose people for tours.

Also, this is at the discretion of the Captain.

 

I have hesitated to even mention this but as a long time Cruise Critic member I do think we have to be careful that we don't expect too much as there is a ship full of passengers who don't have any idea that there is such a group and they are entitled to be treated just as well as we are."

 

As you can see, I was just expressing "my" opinion that we should be considerate of staff and crew when requesting multiple "special events" involving larger numbers of staff and using facilities that may otherwise be closed.

 

I never said, they were "discouraging" anything, just that it was a simple conversation where they showed "concern" that it was becoming more difficult to meet expectations.

 

Your comments sound very beniegn and informative. This is no way I would feel that it is "discouraging"...just passing along information.