When should Celebrity or any cruise company disclose ...

[lilricky67]

I think that the other passengers deserve to know ahead of time if a booked group is going to be having parts of the ship reserved (I'm not talking about conference rooms and such) on some nights or if their events are going to be taking away staff from the rest of the cruisers.

 

The last cruise I was on was almost half occupied by a large group. Throughout the cruise, I heard quite a few complaints and experienced it myself where there were extremely long wait times at the bars and lounges. Two different evenings, 4 of us had to wait 20 minutes or so each time we ordered for our drinks to be delivered. And that does not count the time we had to wait to put in each order. This was due to the fact that the large group had purchased a lot of drink packages and had their own parties where bar staff had to be placed. They also had one night club reserved for most if not the entire cruise as well as the pool deck one evening.

 

I understand that with every cruise you are going to be with people of different backgrounds, beliefs, cultures, lifestyles, etc. I'm okay with that. But when all cruisers are paying full price but not getting full access and full service, I think we have a right to know ahead of time. Bottom line, if the cruise line is going to be catering to this group, then they should let others know beforehand.

[tonykj1]

We've had mixed experiences on the cruises we've been on. We have had different types of groups on a number of cruises. One cruise had a group of people that sold weight loss products. There was one guy after me the whole cruise to buy stuff from him. I thought this was very inappropriate, because he approached me multiple times.

 

Then we had the group of poker players. This group was not a problem at all, because all they wanted to do was play poker day and night. They used all the conference rooms, but that did not bother us at all.

 

Then we were on a cruise where they were filming the third Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. This was very invasive. We did not find out about this until we got to the terminal when everyone was forced to sign a release saying that we agreed for the filming to take place, and we had to keep the whole thing a secret. They filmed all day every day, and had entire sections of the ship closed off every day for the filming. One day it was the main pool that was closed, and I thought this was crazy. The people involved in the production were rude to the guests on the ship, including myself. We had paid plenty of money to be on this ship and should have been able to enjoy our vacation without being yelled at.

 

The last cruise we went on had a group of cloggers. They kept mostly to the lido, and mostly at night. They would play guitar music, sing and do some dancing, and did not bother anyone. They looked like they were having fun as a group, and seemed to make sure they were not bothering anyone.

 

We're getting ready to go on another cruise, and this time I've discovered there is a group of Renaissance Fair fanatics going on this cruise. I ran across their website by accident looking for reviews of our ship. This group looks like they dress up in period costumes, have their hair sticking out every which way, and give themselves blacked out teeth. All I can say is hopefully it's a small group.....

[4cats4me]

My first cruise was with a group that took over maybe 75% of the ship. We got into all the private events and so it worked out really awesome for us because we got a lot of their amenities for nothing. Granted this is not the case always, but some groups welcome outsiders.

 

I have a group planned for January-February 2015 for cat lovers called meow meow cruise. Who am I kidding, it is for crazy cat lover people. I do not see us as an issue for other cruisers, and do not think it would be bad if people knew about us. The more the merrier!

 

I would be interested in a cat cruise :D

[aquanaut1]

When should Celebrity or any cruise company disclose large groups who have made arrangements with a Travel Agency for a specific cruise?

 

Should it be when the group is 20% of the cruise, 30% of the passengers, etc.

 

Should they only disclose certain groups or all large groups?

 

Personally I would want to know if a third of the ship is filled with accountants, doll collectors, swingers, Packers fans, or ministers.

 

Any thoughts ?

 

We travelled on a celebrity Alaska cruise in 2002 and the ship was 60 per cent Shriners !!! To be honest they were all wonderful people , but we definitely were in the minority and it did feel like we were overrun at times ,

Yes, I think they should communicate if a huge party / conference has booked the cruise .

[MicCanberra]

I would be interested in a cat cruise :D

 

That figures.:D

[bambam]

Hi, I don't think any group on any ship, unless they have chartered the whole ship, should be able to impact the other passengers, by having whole areas closed off for their private use and I would be unhappy if this happened on any cruise that I was on.

 

I also think that all passengers should have to act in an appropriate manner regardless of how many are in their group.

 

Jean

 

Spot on Jean, spot on!!

[experienced]

I would also want to know if 20 to 30% of the ship were booked with a group. I have heard some horror stories but, fortunately, it has never happened to us. Many years ago we booked a Carnival cruise which was 40% Trekkies. It was actually funny but I would have preferred to know when I was booking. We no longer do Carnival but do Royal and Celebrity a lot. I would want to know (particularly musical groups where I am not fond of the music, e.g., heavy metal!!!!).

[mapleleafvoyage]

This thread reminded me to check this link for my upcoming cruises....

 

(Click on the Browse all Categories link)

 

http://themecruisefinder.com/index.html

Edited January 6, 2014 by mapleleafvoyage

[looneytunes31419]

When should Celebrity or any cruise company disclose large groups who have made arrangements with a Travel Agency for a specific cruise?

 

Should it be when the group is 20% of the cruise, 30% of the passengers, etc.

 

Should they only disclose certain groups or all large groups?

 

Personally I would want to know if a third of the ship is filled with accountants, doll collectors, swingers, Packers fans, or ministers.

 

Any thoughts ?

 

 

I think they should let you know when any large group has charted the Ship. Weather it be 20% or 30% it is only fair that we know what types of groups we are getting our selves into. :confused:

[babyher]

Absolutly! I was on a cruise once where a large group was also booked and they completely closed one of the main dining rooms for the entire cruise. Very inconvenient for the other passengers resulting in extra long waits to dine at the only other MDR.

 

 

 

 

And its for reasons like this that I feel the cruise lines should let pax be aware . I have also heard of cruises that a whole dining time have been taken over by a group.

 

Why are people so worried about this? No one is asking for people's names and addresses and social security numbers .

 

If you are going on a group cruise along with hundreds of other people , it is a pretty good guess that it is no secret you are part of that group.

 

The cruise lines don't even have to give out specifics about the group . Just the number and how much space and time that group will be taking.

 

And let the passengers decide how it will impact them and book accordingly.

 

 

There are many many passenfgers that say they will never bok in summer or school vacations to avoid the mass number of kids . This is no different.

[babyher]

Our very first cruise was attended by a group of funeral directors. Interesting dinner conversations since we were all seated mixed.

We left thinking all cruises were quiet and calm.

 

 

 

 

Both my uncles were funeral directors . Both great guys . One was your stereotypical funeral director. Very quiet , spoke very softly and comforting. Never saw him raise his voice or get upset.

 

The other one was hot stuff :) Funny as hell (at least when he wasn't working) He was the fun uncle when we were growing up.

 

He was also a well known womanizer . My Dad used to joke "Women in a vertical position just don't appeal to him" *LOL*

[K.T.B.]

We are cruising on RCI's Independence of the Seas on January 18th. Using the website themecruisefinder.com I found out that there will be a singles group on board. The website does not give sizes of the groups, but you can search by ship and sailing or by various themes.

Has anyone sailed with a singles group ? I'm hoping they are not too rowdy !

 

I agree with the majority here, if a group will impact public areas being available to everyone and/or seating options, then the cruise line should let potential passengers know this.

 

THANK YOU for posting that link!

 

Thankfully, my cruise has no theme groups on it. I'm doubly thankful that the Reason.Org cruise is 2 weeks after mine! The last thing I want to do is sail on a cruise like that.....

[Cruise Raider]

Well, I just checked groups ahoy and found out that our Equinox cruise is a "motorcycle cruise." :D

 

Sounds like fun!

 

We were on the Equinox for a motorcycle cruise as well. They were so nice and you didn't even know there was a group onboard except for our cabin happened to overlook the hatch in which they all rode out every day.

My DH actually wears his hat backwards at times and people seemed to think we were in that group because of the way he dressed. He took it as a compliment as they really caused no issues at all and were very interesting. They gave us tips on where to go on each island in case were are ever to return.

 

We were on Norwegian on an all gay cruise one time and things were out of hand from day one. It seems like the big groups feel empowered on how to act in which ever manner they choose. I don't want to see anyone making out by the pool -- straight or gay. That is what your stateroom is for. These men were grabbing at the waiters crotches and rubbing up against them -- taking them by surprise. As I mentioned, gay or straight -- unacceptable behavior by these passengers. If I'd have known it was going to be a group cruise, and should have done my research, I would have booked something else.

[attilamom1217]

I'm on the Sox cruise...pray for me! ;) I'm an Orioles fan! I don't expect them to be that large a group, and I'll enjoy a challenge! Wish me luck!

 

Hi flyingv4me - we are on the same cruise as you (Jan 19). Is that the sox cruise? I like the Sox, live in Orioles territory, and am a diehard, frustrated, disappointed Mets fan! :eek:

[Christine Frances]

This thread reminded me to check this link for my upcoming cruises....

 

(Click on the Browse all Categories link)

 

http://themecruisefinder.com/index.html

 

I had a look through the categories and I was surprised at how many "luxury" lines had theme/groups on them and also surprised at so few Celebrity compared to the other mainstream lines:confused: That's good:D

[ILuv2CruiseWithU2]

When should Celebrity or any cruise company disclose large groups who have made arrangements with a Travel Agency for a specific cruise?

 

Should it be when the group is 20% of the cruise, 30% of the passengers, etc.

 

Should they only disclose certain groups or all large groups?

 

Personally I would want to know if a third of the ship is filled with accountants, doll collectors, swingers, Packers fans, or ministers.

 

Any thoughts ?

 

My wife and I both agree that we should be informed if a group has booked 30% or more. It would affect our decision to book that cruise depending on what kind of group was booked.

[vacation luvver]

I don't think most people would object to a group because they are "different." The problem comes when the group has private access to public areas of the ship, impacting other passengers.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. I was on a Celebrity cruise where there was a large group of passengers from a country other than the USA. They didn't take over any of the public areas at any time, as far as I could see. My problem with them was that it appeared that none of them spoke English, and either there wasn't a ship's newsletter printed for them in their native language, or there was such a newsletter but they chose to ignore it.

 

My problem with them is that I saw them putting their water bottles up to their mouths and drinking from them and then refilling their bottles from the water dispensers at the buffet. I tried telling them that it wasn't allowed, but they didn't appear to know any English and didn't seem to understand a word that I said. Plus, they seemed angry that I, a fellow passenger, appeared to be lecturing to them. Why did I have the right to try to tell them what to do? They wanted to do whatever they felt like doing.

 

I told two buffet employees what I saw. The first one said, "What do you want me to do about it?" and walked away. The second one agreed there was a problem. He said that the group was traveling with one group leader who knew English. He thought she was the only one of them who could speak English. I said that not enough had been done to communicate to this group the importance of not putting a bottle in your mouth and then immediately refilling it from the water dispenser.

 

I told a bunch of other passengers what I saw, and I said that if they came down with the norovirus, they would know why.

[Fouremco]

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. I was on a Celebrity cruise where there was a large group of passengers from a country other than the USA. They didn't take over any of the public areas at any time, as far as I could see. My problem with them was that it appeared that none of them spoke English, and either there wasn't a ship's newsletter printed for them in their native language, or there was such a newsletter but they chose to ignore it.

 

My problem with them is that I saw them putting their water bottles up to their mouths and drinking from them and then refilling their bottles from the water dispensers at the buffet. I tried telling them that it wasn't allowed, but they didn't appear to know any English and didn't seem to understand a word that I said. Plus, they seemed angry that I, a fellow passenger, appeared to be lecturing to them. Why did I have the right to try to tell them what to do? They wanted to do whatever they felt like doing.

 

I told two buffet employees what I saw. The first one said, "What do you want me to do about it?" and walked away. The second one agreed there was a problem. He said that the group was traveling with one group leader who knew English. He thought she was the only one of them who could speak English. I said that not enough had been done to communicate to this group the importance of not putting a bottle in your mouth and then immediately refilling it from the water dispenser.

 

I told a bunch of other passengers what I saw, and I said that if they came down with the norovirus, they would know why.

Let's not confuse the issue here. There are lots of English-speaking passengers who do the same thing, as well as handle food in the buffet, fail to wash their hands before eating, etc., etc. Just read some of the many noro threads and you'll see hundreds of examples that have nothing to do with language capability.

 

In any event, what would you suggest, given the topic of this thread? That Celebrity put out an advance notification that a group of non-English speaking passengers would be aboard?

[vacation luvver]

In any event, what would you suggest, given the topic of this thread? That Celebrity put out an advance notification that a group of non-English speaking passengers would be aboard?

No, because people here keep saying that they don't need to know anything personal about the group, they just want to know if the group will be monopolizing common areas of the ship. And I already said that I didn't think that this particular group monopolized any common areas.

As for the fact that English-speaking passengers also practice unsafe hygiene, at least they speak English, so that if someone tried to tell them that they were doing something wrong, they would be forced to acknowledge that they understood what they were being told. And I don't believe the Celebrity employee would have said "What do you want me to do about it? and then walk away if he had the opportunity to talk to people who speak English.

I was just trying to say that groups can interfere with people's enjoyment of a cruise even if they don't take over common areas.

[chamima]

No, because people here keep saying that they don't need to know anything personal about the group, they just want to know if the group will be monopolizing common areas of the ship. And I already said that I didn't think that this particular group monopolized any common areas.

As for the fact that English-speaking passengers also practice unsafe hygiene, at least they speak English, so that if someone tried to tell them that they were doing something wrong, they would be forced to acknowledge that they understood what they were being told. And I don't believe the Celebrity employee would have said "What do you want me to do about it? and then walk away if he had the opportunity to talk to people who speak English.

I was just trying to say that groups can interfere with people's enjoyment of a cruise even if they don't take over common areas.

 

I'll bet those people spoke English just fine .

It's an easy out when someone tells you something you don't like.

[Christine Frances]

I'll bet those people spoke English just fine .

It's an easy out when someone tells you something you don't like.

 

I have seen North Americans do the same thing and blow off anyone that tries to tell them different. It's not just a language/cultural thing.

[MicCanberra]

Cultural differences aside, a large group can go unnoticed and a small group can impact hugely on someone's cruise.

However, IMO, it is only if the group has public areas for exclusive use continually where it really becomes an issue for me. If I cannot use the pool area or a bar due to being sealed off constantly, I would feel irritated.:D

[sky61]

This thread reminded me to check this link for my upcoming cruises....

 

(Click on the Browse all Categories link)

 

http://themecruisefinder.com/index.html

 

Oh that's pretty nifty! Thanks for the link.

 

 

Celebrity Millennium~Alaska~July 2014

Celebrity Reflection~Eastern Caribbean~February 2013

Crown Princess~Western Caribbean~February 2011

[aquaclass]

lots of thoughtful replies

[Chipsaredown]

If a travel agency was to "reserve" a large block of rooms, how would the cruise company know if it was for a "group" or just for their sale purposes??