Large groups onboard

[paul929207]

We sail often on the smaller Princess ships. (Ocean & Pacific each hold about 680 passengers). The largest group we have seen is those crazy Cruise Critic folks. :)

[swedish weave]

We sail often on the smaller Princess ships. (Ocean & Pacific each hold about 680 passengers). The largest group we have seen is those crazy Cruise Critic folks. :)

 

It's pretty hard to avoid those !!!! lol

[caribill]

 

You can try this link for some information on groups.

 

http://themecruisefinder.com/CruiseAds/

 

Unfortunately, the information does not include the size of the group (except for the entire ship charter).

 

You have no way of knowing if the group is 100 people or 1000 or another number.

[RocketMan275]

Because on CC rules, the exact name of the group with contact information can't be mentioned.

I think it's all right to say this same group will be on Emerald Princess January 23 - 30, 2016. ;)

LuLu

 

Every month on the HAL forum, they publish a list of known groups by ship by date and include the names of the groups.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2142710&highlight=groups

[debkaysmith]

We were sitting in a little bar in Skagway one afternoon and watched approximately 100 Santas walk by. They were all sailing aboard a ship together - headed to the North Pole. I would have LOVED being on that ship!!

[ggprincess2004]

I've heard the cruise lines claim that disclosing the presence of a group would violate their privacy.

 

You can try this link for some information on groups.

 

http://themecruisefinder.com/CruiseAds/

 

Thanks for the link, the site works very well and is nicely organized. Lots to browse through.

[ggprincess2004]

We sail often on the smaller Princess ships. (Ocean & Pacific each hold about 680 passengers). The largest group we have seen is those crazy Cruise Critic folks. :)

 

OMG, they are almost impossible to avoid....and sometimes they take over an entire venue. I do wish there was a way to be warned about their numbers ahead of time. ;):eek::p

[lovevacadays]

We were sitting in a little bar in Skagway one afternoon and watched approximately 100 Santas walk by. They were all sailing aboard a ship together - headed to the North Pole. I would have LOVED being on that ship!!

 

 

I did a solo Mexican Riviera cruise in December of 2010 and cruised with a group of people who were with a Santa group. They were so nice. I heard many stories of some of their experiences being Santa. It was a fun group.

 

 

 

 

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[MaderaMan]

Jay Leno writes in his book (don't remember the name, read it years ago) that when he was first starting out in comedy, his agent booked him on a cruise ship and didn't tell him it was a Nudest Cruise. It was hilarious reading about his week on board.

[shepp]

So true....would you book a cruise knowing there were going to be 800 Bears on board or even 800 of any type of group? Doubtful.

It's still not right to an unsuspecting passenger that they keep it a secret.

 

Well, I love the "even," and yes, since you asked, I would rather be on a cruise with a bunch of large gay men than folks whose musical tastes hadn't evolved in the past 50 years. After all, I travel with shiploads of large straight men all the time. :)

[Colo Cruiser]

We were sitting in a little bar in Skagway one afternoon and watched approximately 100 Santas walk by. They were all sailing aboard a ship together - headed to the North Pole. I would have LOVED being on that ship!!

 

 

Was that in June?

[Pam in CA]

...than folks whose musical tastes hadn't evolved in the past 50 years.

You probably shouldn't see what I have on my iPhone. :)

[Lovetocruiseprincess]

Well, I love the "even," and yes, since you asked, I would rather be on a cruise with a bunch of large gay men than folks whose musical tastes hadn't evolved in the past 50 years. After all, I travel with shiploads of large straight men all the time. :)

 

Given the choice most people would rather not simply because they when they're in a large group they have a tendency to have an in-your-face-attitude which I can live without.

btw - there's a great cruise on the Regal Princess Feb 8 leaving from Ft Lauderdale.

[joe d]

We were also on the Ruby from January 17-24. It was not only Club Fusion that was taken over. They used many other facilities including the Princess Theatre. I understand that they filled it. This was our 7th cruise with Princess and we noticed a significant decrease in evening entertainment. We were not the only ones to notice this as it was a frequent point of discussion at dinner.

[sunsetbeachgal]

I wonder at what point really large groups are told that they must charter the entire ship? I would not be happy with the larger common area venues such as the Princess Theater and the Vista (or Club Fusion) being regularly closed off to all but those in a large group.

 

On our Regal cruise in January, a Holland America ship that was berthed next to us in St. Thomas Crown Bay was a full ship charter for a theme cruise, and I think the Regal has a full ship charter coming up.

 

Just curious...

Edited February 1, 2015 by sunsetbeachgal

[geoherb]

I'd be ticked off if a group on my cruise were large enough that the cruise line started closing venues and canceling activities for the rest of their guests. Fortunately, we have not encountered any that large. The two groups I remember were Cookie Lee saleswomen and Italian pharmacists. The Cookie Lee ladies were very noticeable--always dressed to the nines. I noticed the Italian pharmacists because they wore speedos around the pool--even the ones who shouldn't have. They had meetings during the day in venues that would not have been open otherwise, so their being on the cruise did not affect our enjoyment.

[knbcruisers]

It would seem that the theme of the group would determine it's impact. If it's dance or music themed the group would be using venues at night. If it were sports or hobby themed most likely activities would be during the day? I'd be interested in hearing from somebody whose done a themed cruise.

 

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[CruisinChris]

I've experienced large groups in the past too. The most memorable were the "seed people," top salesmen for hybrid seed on an incentive cruise on the grand during her inaugural season. Certain venues - including pools - were cordoned off for them. These folks weren't the most worldly group - I'll leave it that.

 

I checked into the 2/8 from Houston group....they're saling on the emerald.

[swedish weave]

We joined a themed cruise (Bluegrass music) on the Norwegian Pearl and it was very enjoyable. The group originally chartered the entire ship, but it didn't sell out, so they released a portion of the cabins to general public.

 

None of the venues were restricted during normal operating hours, and all the restricted group events were held at times the venues were not normally open.

 

Some sessions were held in the pool area and we were allowed to enjoy them. At other times, small groups would join at one of the bars and play their instruments. Some were as good or better than the professionals.

 

All in all it was a good experience that I would do again.

[kruisey]

Princess should let all passengers on that sailing have a group rate.The large group would certainly have been given discounted pricing.:D

[OCruisers]

I wonder at what point really large groups are told that they must charter the entire ship? I would not be happy with the larger common area venues such as the Princess Theater and the Vista (or Club Fusion) being regularly closed off to all but those in a large group.

Just curious...

 

I suppose it would depend on the size of the ship.

On Ruby we were told the limit was 800 and it was sold out.

 

For the Private Functions ... Princess Theatre was used for several hours in the afternoons for their Headliner Shows 5 of the 7 days.

Club Fusion was every night. (8PM - 'til)

Skywalker's was every night from 8PM - 10PM.

Outrigger Terrace was used for about an hour and a half two mornings.

Adagio Lounge was also about an hour and a half two mornings.

The Conference Room was used one evening.

 

We did attend the Headliner Shows but otherwise did what we normally do in the evenings. :)

LuLu

[msmoger]

Princess should let all passengers on that sailing have a group rate.The large group would certainly have been given discounted pricing.:D

 

I'm sure somebody with experience will chime in, but it is my impression that often the rates paid by participants in these groups is higher than the cruise lines published rate. Often this is to cover the cost of the additional entertainment and activities for the group.

[OCruisers]

I'm sure somebody with experience will chime in, but it is my impression that often the rates paid by participants in these groups is higher than the cruise lines published rate. Often this is to cover the cost of the additional entertainment and activities for the group.

 

You are right! This was

totally true in our case!

LuLu

[dchip]

We were on a B2b2B on the Royal Princess November 2013 with 800 Bears. Because they cruised on our middle leg, I can say without a doubt, they impacted the cruise. We were moved from our table for two in the Tradional DR to Anytime dining because the Bears had the entire DR for the evening. No women servers were allowed, so wait staff was changed on the ship.

 

The Retreat pool was completely taken over. I found out the week before that they would be on the ship, so I booked the Sanctuary for the week. The PDA's were really hard to deal with. I am not at all prudish but just walking through the area you saw things you never want to see again.

 

Individually and in couples the guys were great. Very fun to talk to and share a drink. But they did impact the cruise. So many passengers complained all week long. Princess only refused one request I know of. They wanted to pose, as a group, shirtless on the Atruim stairs. They were sent to the sun deck instead.

 

Cheers, Denise

[azdmelani]

On the Regal two weeks ago there was a large group called the "Greek Group" that took over half of the Symphony dining room. As a result, there were very long lines each night for anytime dining. We just rolled with the punches.