Shame on royal princess officers

[koolforkatz]

I think your expectations are unrealistic and your wording "shame on" is over the top. The officers are there to do a job, not entertain passengers. I don't know what you do for a living, but imagine if every week you were expected to drop whatever you were doing to go make small talk with a group of people.

[pablo222]

I agree! I would also add that there were 3600+ passengers to consider on any given day of the cruise. CC members are not a command performance for them. Enjoy meeting your CC roll call members and let the crew do their jobs.

You are of course right. 3600 people is 72 groups of 50. Should every group demand an officer attend? I have never been to a cc meet'n'greet, and reading here reinforces my decision.

[MicCanberra]

You are of course right. 3600 people is 72 groups of 50. Should every group demand an officer attend? I have never been to a cc meet'n'greet, and reading here reinforces my decision.

 

They are actually really good to catch you with people who you have chatted with on-line for possibly two years of a rollcall.:D

[caribill]

Pam, I totally agree with you. We recently went on our 1st Royal Caribbean cruise (which was very nice) after many Princess Cruises. The Meet & Mingle was 100% organized by RCL. While it was quite nice, it felt that we were guests at their party rather than at our own party. It was hosted by RCL and there was very little to no interaction among CC members except we all got a chance to introduce ourselves.

 

We had the chance to attend 3 RCCL M&Ms earlier this year. I do not know how many CC members actually attended each (the room was crowded each time), but before the cruises over 300, over 200, and almost 200 CCers had signed up to attend. (Note: These are the numbers that went to the effort to sign up, not the total number of CCers on the roll calls.)

 

The night before the M&M there were invitations in the cabin from RCCL which included a name card to wear, a card to enter into a drawing, and a card to collect a small gift.

 

The small gift (same each time) was a fancy name card holder. The drawings were for gifts from various ship departments, much like the gifts which are given on Princess in the drawings after the shops' scavenger hunt cards are turned in.

 

Yes, there were refreshments. Liquid was water and coffee. Food was like what is passed around at the Princess Captain's Circle parties. Very few people took the water or coffee. Hardly anybody took any of the canapes.

 

Yes, the first part of the M&M was totally run by the assistant Cruise Director. No ship's officer attended any of the M&Ms. Some of the departments which had provided the prizes (art gallery, spa, etc.) were there for the drawings.

 

To encourage people to actually meet and mingle, RCCL passed out people bingo sheets. Each square asked for the first name of a fellow roll call member who met such criteria as:

o Someone born in January

o Someone with brown eyes

o Someone who has one sister

There were 25 of these and there was 10-15 minutes to get the answers. It was a good ice breaker, and although that did not immediately lead to lasting friendships, it did have the participants meeting a number of fellow roll call members for at least a few moments each.

 

The RCCL part of the meeting lasted about 30 minutes. Then the rest of the M&M was for the roll call people themselves. And what happened then was the same as what happens at a M&G on Princess.

[bjkTX]

I.ve always thought the M&G's were just for those of us on the roll calls.

 

If I want to talk to an officer I'll usually come across them during course of a cruise.

 

What a fuss over nothing

 

Agree. We've had M&Gs where several officers showed up, and some where none showed up. I go to talk to the people I've met on the Roll Call and have next to no interest in listening to the Captain during that time. We were on a cruise a couple of months ago and someone went to a lot of trouble getting invites to the staff and a few showed up. By the time they got done talking the M&G was over and everyone took off. Some would consider that a great M&G - to me it was a waste of time.

[capriccio]

They are actually really good to catch you with people who you have chatted with on-line for possibly two years of a rollcall.:D

 

And especially good if you are taking private tours organized on the roll call -- you get to put name to face before trying to find your 'group' the day of the tour. Officer attendance is a non-issue for me (but then I don't attend the captain's circle parties either).

[shootingstar07]

ok, I will admit that perhaps "shame" was a poor choice of words. It wasn't arrogance, it was the wine talking.

 

However, I hand wrote eight invites and no one showed so yes, I was disappointed. Perhaps I do have high expectations, but it would have been a nice gesture on their part to send someone! Jobs to do? I didn't expect an hour of their time, but I didn't think five or ten minutes was too much to ask. I just won't ever ask again, that way, no disappointment. :)

 

TY to the one person who understood what I was saying.

 

Didn't ruin my cruise, won't ruin my cruise, I will say that I do not like the CD at all, didn't like her on the Ruby and don't like her now. She just doesn't seem very personable and I AM comparing that observation to other cruises and other cd's.

 

Dino Sagani is our Captain.

 

Whatever!

 

Sorry you had a disappointing M&G. But I like them for the opportunity to put a face to a name after so many months of correspondence.

 

I have organized several meet and greets on Princess cruises. I do the hand written invite just as you did. I am curious - what time and day was your M&G? One officer told me afternoons, especially at sail a way they are too busy. Also, afternoons are the time of day that they have a little free time - so they will sleep!! He did say the best time to get a few officers was a sea day mid morning. And that is the time I organize my M&Gs.

 

BTW: Capt Sagani attended a M&G I organized in 2012 on the Diamond. A truly nice man. He was very accessible at the M&G, giving a speech and walking around the room, as well as throughout the cruise. My guess is the same as what others have said - he was truly busy doing what Captains must do - run a safe ship and get us to the port on time!!

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[dmwnc1959]

Pam, I totally agree with you. We recently went on our 1st Royal Caribbean cruise (which was very nice) after many Princess Cruises. The Meet & Mingle was 100% organized by RCL. While it was quite nice, it felt that we were guests at their party rather than at our own party. It was hosted by RCL and there was very little to no interaction among CC members except we all got a chance to introduce ourselves. I much prefer the way it is done on Princess. Sometimes officers have shown up, and sometimes not. What makes a good M&G to us are the CC members, not ship's management.

 

 

Sounds exactly like my Meet & Mingle last year on Allure of the Seas. I much preferred the M&G that I experienced the following week on Ruby Princess, just us Cruise Critic members.

[geocruiser]

I also found that on Celebrity. I was shocked how much the officers interacted with the passengers! They had ping pong tournaments and other games with the passengers, talked with them for long periods of time, and were very visible and approachable.

 

On Azamara they all so had a buffet on the pool deck where the officers did the serving of the food. Even the Captain was serving food to us, at a buffet station! officers were also carving up the meats and dishing it out!

[SHIPMEOUT]

Wendy G,

I can totally emphasize with you as far as the Royal Princess. This was my 1st Princess cruise & I sailed on the Royal this month. I felt that the staff was rude & robotic & not surprised that nobody showed up. I complained via survey to Princess & via the phone. Hopefully they are hearing about the many complaints that the Royal Princess is getting.

 

Usateg

 

Staff "rude & robotic"?

 

???

 

Not sure what staff you came in contact with, but I just spent a week on the Royal Princess and I found the staff warm and friendly everywhere on the ship.

 

Cindy

[Roses2]

The job of a Captain of a ship or the pilot of an airplane is command and control plus ensuring the safety of those in his/her charge.

 

Perhaps some would prefer the affable Capt. Francesco Schettino of the Costa Concordia who put that basic and primary charge behind him. Schettino brought shame and discredit to his profession.

 

As for us, we see no reason the Captain should feel obliged to attend a M&G. The Captain and other ships officers meet their obligation at other regularly scheduled public events aboard ship that are scheduled and fully allow for appropriate coverage of duties.

 

One would have to be especially self important to believe that a ship's Master shames himself by non-appearance at a privately scheduled event such as a M&G.

 

P&J

[KruzPrincess]

To the OP, if you've had officers and staff show up at all 17 M&G's before now, I'd say you are very, very lucky. I've only had staff show up to a M&G once and that one cruise had a Cruise Critic representative attending. And, oh yeah, Shogun was there, too. I always figured that's why staff showed up. I don't ever expect any officers to attend. In my mind, the Meet & Greet is for those of us on the roll call to meet each other. With all due respect, I think you expectations are too high. I know some people like it if they get to meet staff, but it doesn't matter to me at all. I figure they're off doing their jobs.

[Host Jazzbeau]

To the OP, if you've had officers and staff show up at all 17 M&G's before now, I'd say you are very, very lucky. I've only had staff show up to a M&G once and that one cruise had a Cruise Critic representative attending. And, oh yeah, Shogun was there, too. I always figured that's why staff showed up. I don't ever expect any officers to attend. In my mind, the Meet & Greet is for those of us on the roll call to meet each other. With all due respect, I think you expectations are too high. I know some people like it if they get to meet staff, but it doesn't matter to me at all. I figure they're off doing their jobs.

 

Thank you! I was thinking I was a failure as a Meet & Greet organizer because no officers showed up at mine. They had showed up at the M&G on our NCL cruise (organized by someone else) and they really didn't add anything IMHO - I was there to put faces to names and to finalize Roll Call shore excursions.

 

NCL did give us a nice selection of free hors d'oeuvres. I would rather Princess do that than force the Captain to attend. ;)

[Mulege]

Unfortunately there are jerks everywhere.

 

Never had that type behavior at a M&G I have attended

 

She was entitled, perhaps. Too many these days.

[Gunner22aa]

I for one expect the ships officers, Captain included to get me from point A to B and C and wherever and back to point A safely in a comfortable and attended to manner. They are not there for my personal gratification so I can brag to anyone that I shook their hands and we had a lovely chat. They have a floating city to run and I prefer that they tend to that whilst I am on board. If I have the opportunity to chat with one or more great. If not I can trust they were either attending to their assigned duties or sleeping between watches.

[Loonbeam]

To the overall point, when planning the meet and greet with your coordinator you can ask them to suggest times that may work better for the staff. For example, as noted the morning of first day involves a lot of meetings, so we moved closer to the afternoon and got better officer attendance.

 

I will say I know a lot of officers may not be able to attend, but a short message of regrets would be appropriate to invitations (much as the MD had passed along for the last one I did as they were preparing seating for the first dinner).

[Coral]

I for one expect the ships officers, Captain included to get me from point A to B and C and wherever and back to point A safely in a comfortable and attended to manner. They are not there for my personal gratification so I can brag to anyone that I shook their hands and we had a lovely chat. They have a floating city to run and I prefer that they tend to that whilst I am on board. If I have the opportunity to chat with one or more great. If not I can trust they were either attending to their assigned duties or sleeping between watches.

 

I agree. Plus - the M&G is for those participating in roll calls to meet. Most of the time, the Officers, CD and whoever else is not part of this. I know of one CD who does participate but that is not the norm. They all work very long hours, 7 days a week for months at a time. When not working, they need free time for themselves.

[NLH Arizona]

I think you are right. There's a relationship between CC and Royal Caribbean/Celebrity. Just go to the RCL and Celebrity boards to see a direct link to sign up for a Meet & Mingle (RCL term) organized by RCL and Celebrity. There's no individual organization but rather the meets are organized through CC.

 

Because the RCL and Celebrity CC M&M are organized by them, the time is coordinated with the officer's schedules. When you have individuals organizing it, there may be a conflict with a meeting, training, navigational requirements, or they could even be sleeping after a shift. I've found that Princess officers and CDs tend to embrace CC or approach a CC meeting with caution. I've seen the Captain verbally accosted at a CC meet and greet by people who think they know more than the Captain because they've read something on CC. I'm sometimes mortified by the occasional arrogance of CC members who think they're "special."

 

Different CDs do a variety of things to support CC. Some, like Richard Joseph, have beverages and snacks. Once, he had mimosas. :) Others aren't as amenable.

 

To be honest, I prefer the Princess approach where meet-ups are organized by individuals on the roll call. They are more friendly, people seem to look forward to meeting each other more, etc. It's more like a private party of new and old friends than another event on the cruise schedule.

 

Those are my thoughts. :)

It is not just Celebrity and Royal Caribbean where you can sign up on cc for the meet and greet, you can for Crystal as well.

 

It can be the other way around as far as officers attending. On my last Celebrity cruise, the meet and greet was held on the first port day. Well only three of us showed up and there 7 or 8 officers in attendance, including the Captain. I was so embarrassed.

[vmom]

50 very disappointed cruise critic members showed up for a meet and greet that no one besides the Maitre'D bothered to show up for. At least Fabio had the decency to stop by for a few minutes but no one else showed up.

 

Public relations? Terrible. Royal Caribbean has you beat, I'm sorry to say, they actually CARE about their past passengers and are happy to attend such wonderful gatherings. I know you're all busy but you can't take 5-10 minutes out of your schedule to stop by and say hello?

 

Shame on all of you that were invited. Personal hand written invites ignored. Never in my 17 Princess cruises that no one bothered to make an appearance.

 

I'm glad our cc group was wonderful, we had fun regardless and had a great cabin crawl afterwards, but the opinion of you guys on this Royal ship has dropped drastically.

 

Just sayin' :(

 

I have been to 16 meet and greets (or meet and mingles on RCCL) and on only one cruise have any officers ever showed up.

 

Consider yourself lucky that you have had more appearances than that. I think however your expectations are unrealistic.

 

The purpose of the meet and greets is for you to meet other CC members sailing with you.

 

If you want to meet officers, go to the Captain's cocktail party offered to past cruise passengers.

[caber]

It is not unusual not to get officers at the M&G. I organised one in June on Crown. I handed in the invitations as soon as I boarded but nobody came. I received three apologies out of 8 to 10 invites after the event. It wasn`t a problem as we all had a good chat anyway.

[boaterette]

Wow. It appears to me that someone is suffering from a severe case of entitlement.

[FritzG]

Wow. It appears to me that someone is suffering from a severe case of entitlement.

 

Agree! I wish the OP would change the title of her post--shame is not appropriate.

[Roses2]

We have organized several M&Gs with the purpose of getting folks together to put faces with those mysterious screen names that they have seen and discussed cruising with for months.

 

We believe these M&Gs have been very successful in meeting that purpose.

 

Never once have we invited any member of the Princess staff or crew because that would interfere with the basic reason we organized the meeting -- to meet and greet those with whom we have discussed the cruise for months.

 

Apparently some M&G organizers have a different purpose for their meeting.

 

P&J

[Happy2cruise]

Wow. It appears to me that someone is suffering from a severe case of entitlement.

Could not agree with you more.......right on:D:D:D

[Go-Bucks!]

The room for the get together is arranged in advance thru the person at headquarters who handles that ship.

I buy a little package of party invites and fill them with the info for it in advance. I add the officer's names when I get on board and drop the invites at the front desk.

 

 

That's exactly what I did in July on the Crown, but none showed up nor did I hear anything from them.

 

As a matter of fact, I've attended all the M&G's for my Princess cruises and no officers/staff members have ever shown up. So, this may be a disappointment but is not unusual.

Edited November 30, 2013 by Go-Bucks!