On board equinox

[dkjretired]

My observation for as long as I've been cruising Celebrity (about 15 years) and attending the meetings is that the ship will facilitate putting it together for those that have registered. Apart from a brief introduction by an officer or two it's up to the group to organise themselves and get whatever out of it they want. I'm sure with a meeting like this held every cruise that the crew have seen their fair of cruisers with differing attitudes, from the very quiet to those that want to run the show.

 

Occasionally you'll have a Master who will have more input (ex-Captain Papadopolous is one who immediately springs to mind), but that hasn't been the norm. I'm also afraid to say that some CCers see themselves as much more important than they really are. I've seen it on roll calls and the ship and it's embarrassing.

 

Phil

 

Also, I'm sure not all the officers and crew appreciate Cruise Critic because not everything is positive. We don't know their true feelings.

[excitedofharpenden]

Also, I'm sure not all the officers and crew appreciate Cruise Critic because not everything is positive. We don't know their true feelings.

I'm absolutely sure you are correct!

 

Phil

[iSailor]

Also, I'm sure not all the officers and crew appreciate Cruise Critic because not everything is positive. We don't know their true feelings.

Will you be happy if you were one of those officer's heard the tour organizer mention their private tour at the stage of meet & Mingle.

I have heard this almost every Meet & Mingle,the organizers may be don't know the cruise lines have tour excursions or they just don't show respect.:confused:

[excitedofharpenden]

Will you be happy if you were one of those officer's heard the tour organizer mention their private tour at the stage of meet & Mingle.

I have heard this almost every Meet & Mingle,the organizers may be don't know the cruise lines have tour excursions or they just don't show respect.:confused:

One of the cruiselines (can't remember which) specifically prohibits the active organisation and discussion of private tours on their ships with the proviso that if you are caught doing it you can be put off the ship.

 

Phil

 

Edit, it's Princess

[hcat]

Hope not a new trend towards phase out,..

 

We have seen much active officer participation at the get togethers..sometimes it depends on the layout of the venue...some are cozy and conducive to mingling while upstairs in the cavernous lounge almost all stay seated,..short intros are given etc very stilted.

 

Also depends on timing, other places the officers must scoot off too..ir ongoing ship issues.,

 

We have had roll call leaders step up to ask folks to intro themselves by screen name as well as those organizing a gift exchange for active roll call participants, Of course many who register never post so no one knows them..

 

Most boring/ annoying roll calls are the ones where the only discussion is pvt tours....often the main organizer may get a discount. Most everyone knows they cannot officially take over the Meet and Mingle for pvt business or to collect money etc,

[dkjretired]

:rolleyes:

Will you be happy if you were one of those officer's heard the tour organizer mention their private tour at the stage of meet & Mingle.

I have heard this almost every Meet & Mingle,the organizers may be don't know the cruise lines have tour excursions or they just don't show respect.:confused:

 

That didn't happen at ours and I understand the dilemma. Ours just did a cabin crawl and slot pull, everything else was done privately.

 

My post that you quoted wasn't meant to refer to yours. Just saying there may be employees who just dislike the concept of cruis critic.

[Barwick Cruiser]

Hi Don, hope you are enjoying your cruise and thank you for the onboard reports! Question for you...have you seen mention of any wine/cheese gatherings up on the lawn during your cruise? We sail end of October and this is something I've read about on other itineraries that DH and I would be interested in attending.

Thank you,

Cathy

[grimace95120]

Hi Don, hope you are enjoying your cruise and thank you for the onboard reports! Question for you...have you seen mention of any wine/cheese gatherings up on the lawn during your cruise? We sail end of October and this is something I've read about on other itineraries that DH and I would be interested in attending.

Thank you,

Cathy

Hi there. On board equinox now and to date I haven't seen anything in the dailies re a wine and cheese event. I may have missed it but I've been reading the dailies pretty closely. Lots of other events though and the evenings have been terrific just sitting at the sunset bar

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Loving the comments about the Connections Party. On the Summit last spring, we tried to get people to introduce themselves. I started. We passed the mic and people kept refusing to introduce themselves. ??? Why come to the event if you don't want to meet others? It's not like they're serving fabulous food and drink.

I do think it's rude to organize private excursions or collect money for same at Celebrity's party. That should all take place elsewhere.

Glad you're enjoying the suite life!

[2theship]

I do think it's rude to organize private excursions or collect money for same at Celebrity's party. That should all take place elsewhere.

I agree. Having said that, at one Connections party the CD invited us to discuss our private excursions which surprised me. When I organize an excursion, I communicate with everyone by email and, with one rare exception, money is given directly to the tour provider at the time of the trip. Other than trying to make a personal connection with the participants, I don't need to discuss my excursions at the Connections party. I think it's gracious of Celebrity to provide the venue. At one, the CD said, "I think that Cruise Critic is an ambassador for the cruise industry." I've heard of others, not necessarily on Celebrity, where the CD said that Cruise Critic was stealing money from cruise lines.

 

In any case, hosting the party in a venue that other passengers can walk through is just plain silly.

[richsea]

Over the years, we have attended all kinds of connection get togethers, some have had lots of people, but have never really clicked, & some have fewer people where tgey just seem to be comfortsble with each other. Also, some officers mingle with the guests, while some may smile, say a few words, then leave.

 

I have no problem with private tour attendees paying for their tours at the party, but keep it low key. I was at a party some years ago wgere some said there would be trouble if Celebrity caught anyone organizing tours. At tge party, the CD said that was rediculous, and Celebrity would never impose that restriction on their guests. They are well aware that people go on private tours.

[Straughn]

Just off Equinox, the Sept. 4 sailing. Sara was the cruise director, and, if you have encountered her, you know she is a bouncing bundle of energy. She was at the Connections party in the Passport Bar, along with several mid-level staff. She introduced all of them and there were a few comments about what they did, but none spoke for more than a few seconds. I didn't think too much about it as the senior officers were all involved in figuring out where the ship was going next. Sara and one or two others stuck around after the microphone was turned over to the participants. She actively worked the crowd as did the others, maybe not as well as she did. My point is they stayed.

 

At a previous party, on Equinox, we had the Captain, the Hotel Director, the F&B manager, a bunch of others, along with the Cruise Director. I think some of the lack of availability right now, is the ever changing itinerary.

[EtherlyCC]

Don, I have 1 quick question, we were on Equinox 2 years ago and will be back on October 6th, there was a young English lad on the entertainments team called Jack (he did lots of the quizzes) just wondered if he was still about?

 

Pleased you having great cruise, how is the southern Caribbean weather?

 

G

[abbydancer2003]

Enjoying this.

 

A couple of notes on previous topics.

 

My mom is from Newark.

 

The official title of the song is (per wikepedia and everything else google came up with) December 63 (Oh what a night).

 

I was on the Equinox in early August, and Reflection in early September. The official Celebrity party was reasonably attended in August, and Sara did a great job with introductions. We stuck around and ended up chatting with the Passenger Relations Manager (something like that).

On the Reflection in September, very few showed up, but there were, I think 2 reasons. The first was that it was the 3rd full day of the cruise since it started with 2 port stops and many forgot, and second, the ship had to move from Italian time to Greek time, so the clocks went ahead an hour. I was talking with a couple of people after it ended, and I noticed a few people who I recognized stopping by an hour late.

[excitedofharpenden]

I do think it's rude to organize private excursions or collect money for same at Celebrity's party. That should all take place elsewhere.

Linda, I agree with you. It's very exclusive of people. I will also say that I've never found the meetings that friendly unless you connect well with some people on the roll call you particularly want to meet. Sometimes though it's just nice to go and rubber neck!;)

 

Phil

[MEcruzr]

Linda, I agree with you. It's very exclusive of people. I will also say that I've never found the meetings that friendly unless you connect well with some people on the roll call you particularly want to meet. Sometimes though it's just nice to go and rubber neck!;)

 

Phil

 

Perfectly said! Some roll calls I "click" with, some I don't. But there are usually 3 or 4 people I'm excited about putting a face to a name. And it's always fun to reconnect with people you've been on cruises with before.

 

Linda... the CC party in April fizzled. It wasn't the Captain or crew, it was our roll call. From where I was sitting (back and to your left, off the dance floor) it was hard to feel "connected" with so many people spread out over the Sky Lounge. I think people got up and left for two reasons... the first being that it was going to take a very long time for everyone to introduce themselves and the slot pull started right afterward. I had signed up but not paid so I had to leave as they were doing that 15 minutes before the pull in the casino (and not at the party).

 

Personally, it doesn't bother me if anyone organizing any sort of activity took money or talked details at the CC party. If you're on the roll call you were offered a chance to participate. It's not exclusionary if you said no thank you and chose to not join in. At least, IMHO it isn't. LOL

[Arzeena]

Will you be happy if you were one of those officer's heard the tour organizer mention their private tour at the stage of meet & Mingle.

I have heard this almost every Meet & Mingle,the organizers may be don't know the cruise lines have tour excursions or they just don't show respect.:confused:

 

I do not think that there is anything wrong or disrespectful in a tour organizer or anyone mentioning about their private group tour at the Meet and Mingle. That is a part of meeting and mingling with your fellow cruise critic members. Many times, officers announce for anyone who has an event or excursion planned for the cruise critics, to take the mike.

[Arzeena]

Loving the comments about the Connections Party. On the Summit last spring, we tried to get people to introduce themselves. I started. We passed the mic and people kept refusing to introduce themselves. ??? Why come to the event if you don't want to meet others? It's not like they're serving fabulous food and drink.

I do think it's rude to organize private excursions or collect money for same at Celebrity's party. That should all take place elsewhere.

 

 

Some thoughts:

 

 

Since you were there at that Meet and Greet, what stopped you from introducing yourself when the mike was being passed? Perhaps you could have broken the ice? No one was stopping you! It is a little unfair to condemn others when you the did the same too.

 

 

I disagree ...I do not think it's rude to organize private excursions or collect money for same at the Meet and Mingle. Yes at the Welcome back party or something, but not at all rude at the meet and mingle.

[MizDemeanor]

Some thoughts:

 

 

Since you were there at that Meet and Greet, what stopped you from introducing yourself when the mike was being passed? Perhaps you could have broken the ice? No one was stopping you! It is a little unfair to condemn others when you the did the same too.

 

 

I disagree ...I do not think it's rude to organize private excursions or collect money for same at the Meet and Mingle. Yes at the Welcome back party or something, but not at all rude at the meet and mingle.

 

I think Happy Cruiser said that she was in fact a starter to get the group going....you might have misread that message....;)

[richsea]

Some thoughts:

 

 

Since you were there at that Meet and Greet, what stopped you from introducing yourself when the mike was being passed? Perhaps you could have broken the ice? No one was stopping you! It is a little unfair to condemn others when you the did the same too.

 

 

I disagree ...I do not think it's rude to organize private excursions or collect money for same at the Meet and Mingle. Yes at the Welcome back party or something, but not at all rude at the meet and mingle.

 

I thought that Happy Cruiser 6143 did introduce herself, but many others after her declined.

 

I do agree that there is nothing wrong with discussing private tours at the Connections party, & I don't think Celebrity minds either

[WNcruiser]

I do not think that there is anything wrong or disrespectful in a tour organizer or anyone mentioning about their private group tour at the Meet and Mingle. That is a part of meeting and mingling with your fellow cruise critic members. Many times, officers announce for anyone who has an event or excursion planned for the cruise critics, to take the mike.

 

 

 

Agree 100%, I have done it many many times. Isn't Cruise Critic where you found everyone to join the tour? Then what is the issue?

 

It's also nice so you can put a face to a screen name you will be meeting later.

 

 

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[hcat]

Some, not all, are "professional" tour organizers. They join the roll call for that purpose, sign folks up.. and .keep the pvt tour chatter going.. They sometimes get their tour for free as a reward for bringing business in..I guess most others are volunteers, do alot of research and comunicating and may lay out money and sometimes get stuck for no shows and non pays.

 

 

Guess it all depends but prefer a roll call that is more gen in nature

[watchdiva]

We tour by ourselves, or with friends we are traveling with. We were really, really annoyed at an NCL M&G when almost the entire time was taken up by those promoting private tours (how private can a tour be when here are spots for ONLY 30 people?). That pretty much turned us off in attending M&G's.

 

 

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[richsea]

Maybe I am naive, but I have never known anyone on any of my sailings to be a professinal tour organizer.

[Arzeena]

I think Happy Cruiser said that she was in fact a starter to get the group going....you might have misread that message....;)

 

I was at that Meet and Mingle.

But let's not hijack OP Don's thread any further with this.