NCL Meet and Greet

[EllieinNJ]

Last year I volunteered to do two meet and greets.  One was on the Med Epic.  100 signed up but only 35 actually showed up.  Didn't get anything extra for it.

 

Next one was on the Baltic Breakaway.  60 signed up and only 20 showed up.  Even the officers didn't bother to stay and introduce themselves.  But I was really surprised that they gave me a VIP perk.  First we were escorted to the Haven area for boarding but when the escort found out we were just a lowly balcony he told us to just get on ourselves.  We were also invited to one cocktail party in the Haven that was really nice.  The last was we got chocolate strawberries and some other snacks in our cabin.  No eating in the Haven dining room.

[mking8288]

Pennies for thoughts, FWIW: it isn't necessary to "personally" do reminder calls/leave voice mail messages in 25, 30, 50, 75 or 100 plus (etc.) cabins or staterooms to remind folks to attend the M&G scheduled ... let alone hand delivering an invite or card by walking the decks & corridors of the ship.  

 

Besides, for privacy reasons, IMHO of course - not everyone / some /quite a few - do not find it necessary to share/disclose & post their stateroom info and/or "real" names on a Roll Call.  I must rather, prefer and remind everyone in "our" participating Roll Call to safeguard their personal information - this is especially true & important for some solo cruisers (majority of the time, no issues but one never know ...) 

 

Been fortunate, that among the half a dozen+ roll calls that we've been in - attendance for the actual M&G has been up in the 70 to 80% range ... maybe, it's been lucky for us.  A good, successful roll call and the resulting M&G/Mingle takes time, effort & work to keep it together ... over months and shouldn't be taken lightly ... even without the sailaway gathering, pub crawl, cabin crawl and slot pull.  

 

As for the organizer being extended special privileges & perks, at the discretion of the ship's HD/group events - one can always politely thank them & decline the offers/option to eat in the suite's dining room, etc.  Those aren't given and varied, nobody should hog it up and expect to get extras as being "entitled".   

[kitty-sail]

On 8/24/2018 at 4:08 PM, fabnfortysomething said:

 

as I have learned

however on an anonymous forume such as cruise critic can be difficult to get people to provide such info

Have been to several M&G's and have never been asked for cabin number.  Plus I would not provide even if asked.

 

[kitty-sail]

On 7/30/2019 at 8:13 PM, Birdie And Sue said:

  The last two I ran were not close to small.  One had almost 200 attend and the other had over 350.  at least 10 officers have attended as well at every M/G I have run.  We are already at about 100 for my upcoming December cruise.

I attended a M&G recently on the Escape. There were about 150 people attending and it was held in the Brew House. Wood floors made it very noisy and hard to hear speakers. Room is L-shaped so people couldn't see nor hear around barrier. The room is not appropriate for M&G. NCL did pass out tons brew samples, all different flavors, but I don't drink beer. There were also trays of shrimp, egg rolls, and all type of apps.

 

I prefer smaller groups where you can actually get to talk to people.

Edited January 25, 2020 by kitty-sail

[kitty-sail]

On 1/21/2020 at 6:01 PM, marktwothousand said:

I thought the organizers don’t get perks. What do they get. 

I did not get any perks on the one I did.  It should not be only about what you can get .

[EllieinNJ]

1 hour ago, kitty-sail said:

I did not get any perks on the one I did.  It should not be only about what you can get .

I agree.  On my upcoming cruise on the Bliss in April I waited a few months after the roll call was started and when no one mentioned a meet and greet I volunteered.  Everyone seemed to thank me for starting it.  This time I did a spreadsheet and got others to lead slot pull cabin crawl etc.  Now up to over 150 signed up.  Scares me a little with such a big crowd but I think we'll have a fun time.  I do not expect any perks.

[Lprose]

We have never received any perks and we’ve hosted a few. We’ve  not received special suites, food, booze or even a thank you card from the ship. We don’t get paid but do it because we want to meet people and have a good time with others. Didn’t even know that “perks” was a possibility with the thousands of people on board. How can the ship personnel keep track of who’s doing what around the ship?
Maybe I’m naive about hosting but I’ve personally bought all the name tags and door prizes because I wanted to and yes.... I know the ship provides the tags. From what I understand, the ship only provides food and drink, the rest is up to the group/host. We’ve asked about that too but was told we are to provide our own prizes. 
That all said, I’m sure there are individuals who do this for the “bennies” or are travel agents looking to add to their numbers. I just had that experience on this cruise so I’m aware it happens. This agent made it quite clear that she did not approve of me doing the meet and greet...even blocked my M&G update posts. 
I don’t know who is coming of the 200+ that signed up on the Getaway but I’ve done my best to make it a good time and that’s all I can do.

 

Edited January 25, 2020 by Lprose

[Lprose]

37 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

I agree.  On my upcoming cruise on the Bliss in April I waited a few months after the roll call was started and when no one mentioned a meet and greet I volunteered.  Everyone seemed to thank me for starting it.  This time I did a spreadsheet and got others to lead slot pull cabin crawl etc.  Now up to over 150 signed up.  Scares me a little with such a big crowd but I think we'll have a fun time.  I do not expect any perks.

EllieinNJ,

We did exactly the things....we volunteered after several weeks. Did a signup and let others do the slot pull and pub crawl. We are doing the M&G, gift exchange and LCR games. No perks involved. Just doing it because we want to meet others. Hope you have a successful event. Cross your fingers for us too...presently are at 215.

[marktwothousand]

Guys:

 

this is way “overboard”. Phone messages or notes at everyone’s cabin is ridiculous. You’re on vacation for heaven sake. The meet and greets are organized way ahead of time, people know they’re on the list and if they’re interested in attending, they’ll make A note of the time and location before they board. The truth is: a lot of people sign up with best intentions to go, but they lose interest or get busy or whatever. If it’s important enough to people, they’ll show up. Why you would waste your first day (usually) On board flyering and phoning cabins is ridiculous. Get a life 

[kitty-sail]

5 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

I agree.  On my upcoming cruise on the Bliss in April I waited a few months after the roll call was started and when no one mentioned a meet and greet I volunteered.  Everyone seemed to thank me for starting it.  This time I did a spreadsheet and got others to lead slot pull cabin crawl etc.  Now up to over 150 signed up.  Scares me a little with such a big crowd but I think we'll have a fun time.  I do not expect any perks.

We had a small group but I was glad because everyone attending got to speak. It made it so much more personal. NCL put out a very nice breakfast spread and we had a very nice conversation with a few of the officers.  I did not do this for any rewards nor attention.  Wishing you a wonderful M&G session. Happy cruising.

[kitty-sail]

4 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

 On board flyering and phoning cabins is ridiculous. Get a life 

 

I agree.  A meet & greet should be free-flowing.  I am not releasing my cabin number nor my personal email to sign up for a M&G.  NCL know that the actual number of attendees will be about half of those who registered.

[Lprose]

My husband and I joined the Cruise Critic roll call and volunteered to start the Meet and Greet group. It was a great experience with 226 signed on. We sent out a monthly update keeping everyone informed of who signed up, events and activities planned. We had two volunteers to host two pub crawl and three slot pulls. We hosted the LCR dice games and gift exchange.  
The gift exchange ( 60 couples) was by done by asking each couple to tell us where they were from then they were matched with a couple from different parts of the country using a spread sheet. Each couple was called on and they met and exchange their gifts face to face. This made a great icebreaker!
We also made name tags which included their state/country, which also served as an ice breaker. We added birthday and anniversary stickers to the name tags so that each person/couple could be recognized as celebrating a special occasion. We had 8 people who helped us give out name tags and give out door prizes. They were happy to help. We gave door prizes to the first, last and every 25th couple for signing up and helping at the meet and greet. Everyone loved the luggage tags and magnets...thus showing it pays to attend a meet and greet! 
NCL provided water, juice, coffee and breakfast pastries.
We had 20-25 people who came to the LCR games on sea days. It was a great crowd and we had lots of fun. The event staff was fantastic...easy to work with and very accommodating..true cruise Heroes. Stay in touch with them and they do their best to make it a great event. We did receive afternoon snacks everyday from the event managers, I would guess as a thank you. They set up the room just as we asked and had water available for the players.

Our communication to the group was to send out updates monthly and the day before embarkation as a reminder of the activities. No one was called and no flyers were sent.  If you didn’t attend the meet and greet,  you missed out on some valuable information. We ended up with 193 attending out of 226 who signed up. I’d call that a success!

[msdurk]

6 hours ago, Lprose said:

My husband and I joined the Cruise Critic roll call and volunteered to start the Meet and Greet group. It was a great experience with 226 signed on. We sent out a monthly update keeping everyone informed of who signed up, events and activities planned. We had two volunteers to host two pub crawl and three slot pulls. We hosted the LCR dice games and gift exchange.  
The gift exchange ( 60 couples) was by done by asking each couple to tell us where they were from then they were matched with a couple from different parts of the country using a spread sheet. Each couple was called on and they met and exchange their gifts face to face. This made a great icebreaker!
We also made name tags which included their state/country, which also served as an ice breaker. We added birthday and anniversary stickers to the name tags so that each person/couple could be recognized as celebrating a special occasion. We had 8 people who helped us give out name tags and give out door prizes. They were happy to help. We gave door prizes to the first, last and every 25th couple for signing up and helping at the meet and greet. Everyone loved the luggage tags and magnets...thus showing it pays to attend a meet and greet! 
NCL provided water, juice, coffee and breakfast pastries.
We had 20-25 people who came to the LCR games on sea days. It was a great crowd and we had lots of fun. The event staff was fantastic...easy to work with and very accommodating..true cruise Heroes. Stay in touch with them and they do their best to make it a great event. We did receive afternoon snacks everyday from the event managers, I would guess as a thank you. They set up the room just as we asked and had water available for the players.

Our communication to the group was to send out updates monthly and the day before embarkation as a reminder of the activities. No one was called and no flyers were sent.  If you didn’t attend the meet and greet,  you missed out on some valuable information. We ended up with 193 attending out of 226 who signed up. I’d call that a success!

Great explanation.....I will be hosting a M&G and wondered if I could talk to you about a couple of things?

Please Email me at Dadurkees@aol.com  Subject M&G    Thanks, Louise