Meet and Mingle at inconvenient time.

[cruzeluver]

Compare to MSC ... Entire senior staff including the Captain attends. They greet and shake hands at entrance, captain gives a welcoming speech, and then they all mingle and stay as long as anyone wants to talk to them. A group photo is taken and delivered to your cabin. There are hours d’oeuvres and full bar plus passed mixed drinks. And a custom designed CC cake. Attended by well over 100 CC members. Also held conveniently around 5 as I recall.

 

That mirrors our experienced on MSC Seaside in January. Blows the Meet & Mingles done by Celebrity, Royal and especially Carnival out of the water. We had a great turn out (well over 100) and Captain Scala stayed for a full hour, answering questions, taking photos and just "hanging out". The CD and several other officers attended as well. Very impressive.

[pacruise804]

What do people feel would be a good time/location? Both that I have attended have been in bars that were closed for the event. We made the times work for us since we signed up and I've never liked the trend of people making a commitment and then breaking it when "something better" comes along.

 

It seems like the venue should be something fairly private for the group, but at the same time not inconveniencing other passengers not part of the group.

 

With all of the activities on board it is hard to find a time that works for everyone. It's either too early, during a class/workout, during a meal, too close to a meal, during trivia, and so on. It seems like a no-win for the cruise line.

[serene56]

I have to agree. Based on the disdain shown towards CC by JH FB, spearheaded and encouraged by JH (Carnival Ambassador), it is evident Carnival does not even like CC. I mean JH is the social media rep for Carnival yet shows an unchecked disdain for CC. I think CC members should be gracious and appreciative that Carnival even makes this event possible on their ships, because they really do not have to.

 

 

Any idea why?

 

He has come across some really rude people from here. THey see FunTimes printed from a few months ago and the guest service people are reamed out because such and such activity was not done. Or the complaints from cruisers-- that I heard on cruise critic that we will have this or we should get that. or how to smuggle in alcohol or how to mistreat crew. Its not just CC but all message boards relating to cruising. Facebook is the worse--LOL

[ryano]

The BEST "meet and mingles" happen by joining your cruises "social media platform that shall remain unnamed here" group for your particular sailing. On our last cruise, we had well over 200 people show. The Red Frog Pub on Magic was slam packed. Waitresses were busy but banked on tips. They loved it!

 

My last CC meet and mingle was held on formal night 30 minutes before first seating. These are clearly set up for failure. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Cyber Kat]

Our M&M on the Sunshine in September was a hot mess from the invitation.

 

 

September 10 was a Sunday not a Tuesday. Sunday was a sea day. Tuesday was a port day.

 

Quite a large group showed up on Sunday. The cookies and coffee/tea/juice were set up at the back end of the Red Frog Pub and could not be seen from the entrance. There was a sign, but instead of being put at the entrance where people could see it, it was back by the area set aside (the RFP on the Sunshine is L shaped) for the event.

 

When my husband and I walked in we didn’t see anything. I said, “let’s sit at the bar and see what happens.” As we sat down, I noticed the sign and a few people seated there. We walked back and found out that they were with our group.

 

We moved the sign so it could be better seen, but you still had to walk in to see it. The refreshments were covered with Saran wrap and since no one from Carnival was there, we weren’t sure whether we should wait or help ourselves. After about 10 minutes a guy showed up and said that he was the photographer. He knew nothing except that he had been told to take a photo.

 

After another 10-15 minutes, someone from the entertainment staff showed up. She had no idea what was going on, nor what she was supposed to do either.

 

We explained about the mistake on the invitation. Clearly, since there were refreshments set up, Carnival intended to hold the event on Sunday. The entertainment person said nothing about the refreshments, nor the photographer. She did say she would go down to guest services and get them to make an announcement. She left, never to be seen again. No announcement was made.

 

We sat around chatting for a bit, and finally helped our selves to the food and beverages. The poor photographer sat there not knowing what to do, since no one had given him any instructions. He finally took matters into his own hands and took a group photo of the people who were there, then he left.

 

We heard from others in the group that they got “do over” invitations for Tuesday at 1:00pm - a port day - when most had plans ashore. We didn’t get the do over invitation. We also spoke with others who got the second invitation, but not the first. And others like us who got the first, but not the second.

 

To those who think that people who commit to the gathering should go, you should know that you are committing to an event without knowing the date, time and place ahead of time. You don’t find that out until you board the ship - IF you get the invitation. There was no mention in the Fun Times.

 

To those who think people should organize their own - I have joined many a roll call group both here, and at the other place that rhymes with lace look. [emoji6]. We have held many very successful M&Ms with no participation from Carnival. In fact, we planned a quite a lovely meet up at the sea day tea for this one.

 

It’s not that we can’t or won’t plan our own get togethers. That is NOT the point. The issue is that Carnival has agreed to go along with the Cruise Critic program. They are a big company. No one has forced them to do so, but if they are going to imply that a nice event will be held, then they damn well better be prepared to hold the event in at least a well-organized manner. We weren’t expecting anything elaborate, but it would have been nice to have someone on the ship know what was going on.

 

Carnival needs to do it right, or withdraw from the program. Don’t promise to do something, then fail to do it properly.

 

We just attended a Cruise Critic M&M on another cruise line, where we had lovely invitations, and an event held at a time and place convenient for most. It was well attended. We had wine, beer and passed hors d’oeuvres including shrimp! Many upper level ship personnel attended and were interested in hearing our impressions of their ship and cruise line.

 

My mother always told me, “if you are going to do something, do it right or don’t do it at all.” Carnival should take her advice.

 

 

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[beerman2]

Our M&M on the Sunshine in September was a hot mess from the invitation.

 

 

September 10 was a Sunday not a Tuesday. Sunday was a sea day. Tuesday was a port day.

 

Quite a large group showed up on Sunday. The cookies and coffee/tea/juice were set up at the back end of the Red Frog Pub and could not be seen from the entrance. There was a sign, but instead of being put at the entrance where people could see it, it was back by the area set aside (the RFP on the Sunshine is L shaped) for the event.

 

When my husband and I walked in we didn’t see anything. I said, “let’s sit at the bar and see what happens.” As we sat down, I noticed the sign and a few people seated there. We walked back and found out that they were with our group.

 

We moved the sign so it could be better seen, but you still had to walk in to see it. The refreshments were covered with Saran wrap and since no one from Carnival was there, we weren’t sure whether we should wait or help ourselves. After about 10 minutes a guy showed up and said that he was the photographer. He knew nothing except that he had been told to take a photo.

 

After another 10-15 minutes, someone from the entertainment staff showed up. She had no idea what was going on, nor what she was supposed to do either.

 

We explained about the mistake on the invitation. Clearly, since there were refreshments set up, Carnival intended to hold the event on Sunday. The entertainment person said nothing about the refreshments, nor the photographer. She did say she would go down to guest services and get them to make an announcement. She left, never to be seen again. No announcement was made.

 

We sat around chatting for a bit, and finally helped our selves to the food and beverages. The poor photographer sat there not knowing what to do, since no one had given him any instructions. He finally took matters into his own hands and took a group photo of the people who were there, then he left.

 

We heard from others in the group that they got “do over” invitations for Tuesday at 1:00pm - a port day - when most had plans ashore. We didn’t get the do over invitation. We also spoke with others who got the second invitation, but not the first. And others like us who got the first, but not the second.

 

To those who think that people who commit to the gathering should go, you should know that you are committing to an event without knowing the date, time and place ahead of time. You don’t find that out until you board the ship - IF you get the invitation. There was no mention in the Fun Times.

 

To those who think people should organize their own - I have joined many a roll call group both here, and at the other place that rhymes with lace look. [emoji6]. We have held many very successful M&Ms with no participation from Carnival. In fact, we planned a quite a lovely meet up at the sea day tea for this one.

 

It’s not that we can’t or won’t plan our own get togethers. That is NOT the point. The issue is that Carnival has agreed to go along with the Cruise Critic program. They are a big company. No one has forced them to do so, but if they are going to imply that a nice event will be held, then they damn well better be prepared to hold the event in at least a well-organized manner. We weren’t expecting anything elaborate, but it would have been nice to have someone on the ship know what was going on.

 

Carnival needs to do it right, or withdraw from the program. Don’t promise to do something, then fail to do it properly.

 

We just attended a Cruise Critic M&M on another cruise line, where we had lovely invitations, and an event held at a time and place convenient for most. It was well attended. We had wine, beer and passed hors d’oeuvres including shrimp! Many upper level ship personnel attended and were interested in hearing our impressions of their ship and cruise line.

 

My mother always told me, “if you are going to do something, do it right or don’t do it at all.” Carnival should take her advice.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

It's been a few years since I've sailed Carnival so we will see how it goes in 5 weeks.

 

"Lace Look" that's a good one! Our group is very active .

 

I will say NCL does a fantastic job , with many senior officers in attendance ( Hotel Director, Food and Beverage Directors, Head Chef, Etc.)

[teknoge3k]

The BEST "meet and mingles" happen by joining your cruises "social media platform that shall remain unnamed here" group for your particular sailing. On our last cruise, we had well over 200 people show. The Red Frog Pub on Magic was slam packed. Waitresses were busy but banked on tips. They loved it!

 

My last CC meet and mingle was held on formal night 30 minutes before first seating. These are clearly set up for failure. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

This 100%

 

The only issue I've found is the people who don't know what they're doing when they set up the social media roll calls. They just have everyone meet at X place and that's it. Well the rest of the ship goes there also so you can't tell who is who or who is part of the roll call. A good host will have people distinguish themselves. The last 2 sailings I had everyone wear a certain color beaded necklace. Even after muster we'd see people walking around with the necklace and it was easy to introduce yourselves because you knew you were part of the social media roll call. It made things much easier than just "show up here". The host for one of the ones I am on now is trying to do it at 2pm on embarkation day which 2pm people are eating/walking around/getting to their rooms. It's easier to do it right after muster I've found. More people participate.

[ChosenOne]

On the Miracle in February, the CC meet & mingle was posted in the Fun Times and was at 3PM on our first sea day. A perfectly acceptable time...not tooearly,not at a meal time. Only my BF & I showed up. The CD, Entertainment director and one other staff member(Hotel manager,I don't remember) were patiently sitting in the lounge. They scheduled the M&M even though only 18 people signed up (for the 25 person minimum) And while it was enjoyable for the 2 of us to have time to chat with them it seems like a waste of their time. I think they were obligated to sit there an hour. Remember the days when you could schedule a meet & greet and someone in your roll call would gather info and $$ for an "open bar"type party? Those were attended because you paid up front! So what do you expect when they have to schedule a time for a M&M and then have staff members show up and hardly any guests show up? If that happened continuously when I scheduled a meeting, I would feel like it was a waste of time & resources too.