How can I check for special interest groups?

[Cobwebber]

Is there a way to see before sailing what special organized groups will be on a cruise? I don't mean family reunion groups, but "fans of XYZ radio" or "complicated board game enthusiasts"...any large group who will likely dominate public gathering spots?

[BLAMBKY]

Google your cruise ship, GROUP CRUISE and the specific date. I had a nightmare that our next cruise was inadvertently taken over by people in my husband's industry....I realized on day one and was so upset knowing he was not getting a true vacation that he deserved. Yes, a nightmare for sure! Lol!!!

 

 

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Edited July 7, 2016 by BLAMBKY

[TBone2K]

Also check with the roll call for your cruise. You may find people already in the group.

 

Keep in mind there are two types of group bookings. One is just a whole lot of people with the same interest going on the same trip. I had this happen twice and both times I didn't notice much other than they had all the conference rooms booked.

 

The other thing that can happen is if a group books the whole ship. In that case the cruise line will notify you.

[Cobwebber]

Thanks for the feedback, BLAMBKY and TBone2K. Our Roll Call has been very quiet, but I will ask. The few active roll call members have all remarked about how few people seem to be involved. It's on Allure, so there have to be a lot passengers (interior rooms and suites are sold out). I thought perhaps everyone is on another site talking about plans related to a special interest. Good to know the cruise line would let you know.

[troykahack]

Is there a way to see before sailing what special organized groups will be on a cruise? I don't mean family reunion groups, but "fans of XYZ radio" or "complicated board game enthusiasts"...any large group who will likely dominate public gathering spots?

 

I would like to know this too. I have heard many horror stories of good people going on Special Interests cruises. It would be nice for this info to be public. I can see why RCCL wouldn't want this info public. There is a special interest section on CC but it is not very helpful.

[Kartgv]

Cruise Critic has a article on "Themed Cruises" here:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=349

 

It doesn't list specifics but does show different categories of special interests. You can then click on each of them and see if your cruise happens to be listed. It's probably not all-inclusive.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Kartgv

[SeaHunt]

Google your cruise ship, GROUP CRUISE and the specific date.

 

I agree, and I also use the words CHARTER and INCENTIVE in the search terms when I look (tip I found here on CC). :)

 

I also use the Theme Cruise Finder website (another tip I found here).

If you use "All Categories" and "Royal Caribbean" (or another cruise line name you're interested in) in the search it brings up this big list of groups on different RCI ships:

 

http://themecruisefinder.com/CruiseAds/item_search/list/

 

You can click on each line to see details/dates/ship.

 

Tip: you can also input the name of a particular ship, like "Allure" in search and get results, but you can't put "Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas" or it will come up with a "This list is empty" error. :confused:

 

I don't know if it has every single theme group listed, but just play around in there using different combinations. :D

 

OP Cobwebber, JMO I'm thinking you are safe for the 7/17/16 Allure (as shown in your countdown) - this is the only thing I found on there listed and it's a show:

 

Resurrection - A Journey Tribute

Description The gold standard by which all Journey tributes are measured, Resurrection - A Journey Tribute faithfully recreates the experience of a 1980’s Journey concert. This dynamic and compelling band features some of Nashville's hottest musicians, many whom have performed, written, or recorded with the biggest names in the music industry - including Journey and Steve Perry. Every show is a brilliant reproduction of sights and sounds that captivate and transport audiences to the glorious age of arena rock. Lead singer Ryan Christopher delivers the vocal precision, appearance, and stage presence of the legendary Steve Perry. Resurrection - A Journey Tribute continues to garner nationwide acclaim with high profile performances including, Royal Caribbean International cruises, Fraze Pavilion, AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, and US Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox. Fans across the country rave that Resurrection - A Journey Tribute is THE Journey experience!

[little britain]

Jewel June 2 has a line dancing group on board, so I assume they will be taking over the dance floor....and it has not been able to make new bookings on her for several weeks so something is up [emoji848][emoji53]

 

 

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Edited July 8, 2016 by little britain

[Dawniepoo]

I'm concerned over special interest groups because I'm worried venues will be closed for "private functions" during the cruise. I hate feeling left out :D

[nerak11]

Years ago on our Alaskan cruise we showed up to port and knew instantly that something was up. Over 50% of the ship was booked by Avon ladies who had earned a free cruise. Late seating and many of the shows and venues were unavailable to the rest of the passengers. It really affected the enjoyment of our cruise. I always check now before booking.

 

Our upcoming Oasis cruise his December has a group of Disney Podcast people on it but it is only about 400 people which isn't a huge percentage of the passengers so I am okay with that.

 

 

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[troykahack]

I agree, and I also use the words CHARTER and INCENTIVE in the search terms when I look (tip I found here on CC). :)

 

I also use the Theme Cruise Finder website (another tip I found here).

If you use "All Categories" and "Royal Caribbean" (or another cruise line name you're interested in) in the search it brings up this big list of groups on different RCI ships:

 

http://themecruisefinder.com/CruiseAds/item_search/list/

 

You can click on each line to see details/dates/ship.

 

Tip: you can also input the name of a particular ship, like "Allure" in search and get results, but you can't put "Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas" or it will come up with a "This list is empty" error. :confused:

 

I don't know if it has every single theme group listed, but just play around in there using different combinations. :D

 

OP Cobwebber, JMO I'm thinking you are safe for the 7/17/16 Allure (as shown in your countdown) - this is the only thing I found on there listed and it's a show:

 

Resurrection - A Journey Tribute

Description The gold standard by which all Journey tributes are measured, Resurrection - A Journey Tribute faithfully recreates the experience of a 1980’s Journey concert. This dynamic and compelling band features some of Nashville's hottest musicians, many whom have performed, written, or recorded with the biggest names in the music industry - including Journey and Steve Perry. Every show is a brilliant reproduction of sights and sounds that captivate and transport audiences to the glorious age of arena rock. Lead singer Ryan Christopher delivers the vocal precision, appearance, and stage presence of the legendary Steve Perry. Resurrection - A Journey Tribute continues to garner nationwide acclaim with high profile performances including, Royal Caribbean International cruises, Fraze Pavilion, AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, and US Cellular Field, home of the Chicago White Sox. Fans across the country rave that Resurrection - A Journey Tribute is THE Journey experience!

 

This was great info, thanks a bunch. Just found out we just missed a group I would not have wanted to have cruised with. We will see them as they exit the ship. Hope they don't B2B.

[ianb69]

Thank you Seahunt, extremely helpful information:)

[island lady]

Found out there is a "Quilters group" on one of our upcoming cruises. I am

guessing they will be pretty quiet. ;)

[BillOh]

Google your cruise ship, GROUP CRUISE and the specific date.

 

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User variations of the date 6/7, June 7 and you may see the results vary. Sometimes the info comes from the groups site.

[BLAMBKY]

Found out there is a "Quilters group" on one of our upcoming cruises. I am

 

guessing they will be pretty quiet. ;)

 

 

 

[emoji15] How do they keep their material from shrinking, due to salty water in the air[emoji57], like my clothes do every cruise? [emoji23] Kidding, of course!

[island lady]

[emoji15] How do they keep their material from shrinking, due to salty water in the air[emoji57], like my clothes do every cruise? [emoji23] Kidding, of course!

 

LOL!! :D

 

Yeah, I thought I was the only one that suffered clothes shrinking on a cruise! :eek: :p

[BillOh]

I've only had one slightly bad experience with groups. The group, don't remember what the group was about, had about 500 people. They all had early dining in the MDR. The first night there was a group meeting somewhere that ran 30 minutes late so they all showed up to dinner late and the late seating was delayed because of it.

 

On my last cruise, my search revealed my cruise was an "Autism at Sea" cruise. I went to the appropriate forum here and asked if there was anything I needed to know about such a cruise and got some helpful, interesting information. But I also got the usual people with 70k posts who patrol for opportunities to say something like, "Why do you care?"

[alibaba1]

Google your cruise ship, GROUP CRUISE and the specific date. I had a nightmare that our next cruise was inadvertently taken over by people in my husband's industry....I realized on day one and was so upset knowing he was not getting a true vacation that he deserved. Yes, a nightmare for sure! Lol!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Go to: themecruisefinder dot com

 

We're sailing on Holland America Zuiderdam in 81 days. I started a thread over a year ago; no one posted to it. When I called HAL they couldn't reply to my inquiry regarding a group overtaking the ship.

They said that even if they knew, they couldn't divulge. It's going to be a big surprise; but we have a Neptune Suite for that particular cruise, so we can hang out in our suite or take land tours at port.

 

On a NCL cruise there was a large gay men's group with scant bathing suits by the pool, I felt uncomfortable.

Luckily it wasn't the Chumley Bears - which happened to have a large group on our neighbors daughter Princess honeymoon cruise.

Google to see what I mean.

 

Barbara

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