Thing of the Past? Celebrity cruise Critics Meet ups

[Fogfog]

I noticed on the last several sailings that the informal Sail Away (even if posted for CCers)  seem poorly attended

....and then the CC Meet Ups with the Captn/Crew are hit or miss.

 

On one 2 years ago it was very heavily attended and then one in the last year--despite having the required #s...we never got a notice of one...so not clue IF it ever happened.

 

Noted on the Norwegian/Celebrity/MSC B2B2B review that the CC meetup on another cruiseline was not only well attended, they offered nice refreshments and 

pics for the group. I think it was MSC but am not certain. For sure wasn;t Celebrity

 

Has the CC meetup gone by the wayside with the cruise lines in general or just with Celebrity?

I am not sure if they even exist on all lines (I know the brand manager for CCL mocks CC on his FB page)

 

 

[Ereggae]

The last few cruises we were unable to register at this website but we called Captains Club and we were added to the list and received an email confirmation.  The invitation was in our cabin upon arrival.

[vtcruising]

We just had a very successful one on the Edge Jan 20 cruise and it sounds like the Jan 27 one also went well. We had 129 people registered and maybe 75 showed up? The CD was there, as well as officers. They gave a couple of speeches, had refreshments and then some stuck around and chatted with us. The Guest Relations Director chatted with me for 20 minutes or so and was very engaged and answered questions and asked my opinion on things. I told him that by my calculations about 7% of the guests were on our roll call (we had a spreadsheet representing about 200 people) and he seemed impressed. I have always been a bit cynical about how much they really value our input, but in the end I did feel that he was sincere when he said that they valued the input we have on CC. He said they do read it and take notes.

[PROCRUISE]

I usually don't go the "sail aways" just because I rather enjoy sailing away from my own balcony.

The meet and mingle really needs a "ring leader." On my September cruise on the Summit, several crew members said hello and that was it. Some individuals who were specifically looking for others that they had corresponded with on CC were together but everyone else just basically left.

On my cruise on the Silhouette and even previous to that on Viking Sea, there were name tags and after the crew left, everyone introduced themselves but this was led by a CC individual.

I'm not sure any of the cruise lines see much merit, for themselves, in these short get togethers.

The exception, for me, was on the Millennium out of Singapore when I headed up four private tours and needed to meet up with those going on said tours and on Viking where the crew greeted each person attending the meet and mingle and were very much interested in what we had to say about Viking.

 

[Baron Barracuda]

Have found X m&m's very poorly handled compared to other lines.

 

On Viking Star entire complement of ships officers attended and hot apps & drinks were served.  Royal m&m's are usually lively with cruise director raffling off a bunch of  merchandise ranging from bottles of wine to key chains.  Last few X cruises cd said hi and bye and was gone in a flash.

[Canuker]

On the cruise we'll be on soon, we have over 100 people who intend to go to Celebrity's Meet & Greet.
The problem is we'd have a whole lot more if only people weren't stumped by Celebrity's registration page and online form. We have had many expressing dismay that they are unable to sign up or are not sure if their form was accepted or not. Frankly, I think we could have done a better job if we had organized the event, then just informed Celebrity about it, pre-cruise. 
Speaking more generally, it has been my impression that issues with Celebrity's website are widespread and common.
Ours is a "President's Cruise" and I hope to be able to quiz the CEO about it when on board.
Rant over.

[lovemylab]

We skipped the last few Meet & Mingles as they were scheduled at poor times (either when the ship was in port or there was another event taking place onboard that we would rather attend). 

 

As for attendance, I think it really depends on the roll call.  I was on a roll call that was cliquish (large group of posters had met on a previous cruise and used the roll call to organize all their "reunion" activities).   Most people who were not part of the reunion group simply stopped posting and as a result the get togethers were not well attended.  In comparison, I was on a very lively roll call where a lot of people had organized private tours together and that one was well attended.

[mahdnc]

Sailaways are tough and to me are not a good indicator to judge by.  Our Jan 4 2019 Reflection sailaway was well attended by CC-ers, but it was diluted by a lot of non-CCers.  I made a point to going to that one because we usually are busy with something else during the sail away.  For example we were in the MDR during our Jan 2 2018 Solstice (Sydney) sail away at 6:30 pm.

 

I find that the official Cruise Critic Connections gathering to be well attended by CC-ers although usually expect about 33% of the registration count to actually show up.  The Jan 4 Reflection sailing was the only 14 night Caribbean cruise scheduled for 2019 and is a fan favorite. Consequently we had a very strong showing of CC-ers--something like 173 people that attended by my count (213 people registered).  

 

Celebrity does pay attention to the CC Connections party but the amount of attention varies from ship to ship.  Captain Manetas attended them when we were aboard Eclipse and in our Jan 2014 cruise, he offered a bridge tour to everyone.  

 

I do think that Celebrity could up their game with the CC Connections party though.  But I do think that they see a wide variability in their attendance by passengers from sailing to sailing (the 33% turnout rate that I am used to seeing for example).  I am sure that it feels more like an obligation and not part of some larger marketing strategy.

 

Jan 6 2019.  Reflection, Tuscan Grille.  CC Connections Gathering.  Photo by Arno.

Edited January 29, 2019 by mahdnc

[miched]

As others have posted sail aways are what they are.   We never plan on being anywhere as there is too much going on.

 

The CC parties for us have always been a dud.  No one ever wants to mingle or meet anyone.   They grab a seat and sit there like at a high school dance.  They are afraid of walking around and losing their chair.  We tried walking around and talking to others but got the feeling that we were annoying them.   Others that were engaged in talking was usually because it was the group they were traveling with and didn’t want any outsiders joining in.

 

We usually meet more people at the bars, waiting in line or sitting next to them in theater and other places.  

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

 

[dateacher]

I was on two Celebrity sailings in the last five months. The first was a Mediterranean cruise in September and the second was a Caribbean cruise at the beginning of January.  I found the roll call on the European trip much livelier and informative with many people planning their excursions through the roll call.  The sail away party was well attended.  For the Caribbean, there were only a few people at the sail away and the M&M was just ok.  I think the difference is that people on European cruises are more inclined to form groups for excursions where as in the Caribbean, plans and schedules are not as important. At least that's the case for us so there isn't the urgency to meet the people on CC. 

[dkjretired]

Also find that the parties are very much ship dependent.  We did a party on the Summit with Captain Kate and it was great, she took questions, introduced the crew and stuck around awhile.  On the Equinox last year we had a really weird party.  Cruise director opened up, thanked us for coming and introduced the crew.  He then turned the mike over to a woman who had coordinated the slot pull, cabin crawl, etc and she talked a few minutes.  When finished she went to give the mike back to the cruise director and he and the crew were gone.   

 

I have been saying for years that one thing that might make the parties a little more interesting is to put our Cruise Critic screen names on the nameteags rather than our actual names.  We don't generally know people by their read names but do know them by their screen names.  Have never seen that done, sometimes I think the entertainment staff just doesn't get it.  

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, dkjretired said:

I have been saying for years that one thing that might make the parties a little more interesting is to put our Cruise Critic screen names on the nameteags rather than our actual names.  We don't generally know people by their read names but do know them by their screen names.  Have never seen that done, sometimes I think the entertainment staff just doesn't get it.  

 

Agreed. This is why I eschewed the tags that came with the invitations and created custom name tags for everyone.

Edited January 30, 2019 by mahdnc

[crazyman3]

Our CC meet & mingle experiences on X ships have varied.

 

Some have been well-organised by staff and hence well-attended. I can certainly recall one which was postponed twice because the ship was in port and most people were on a tour.

 

On one occasion, 2016 Connie Indian Ocean, everyone brought a gift for someone else and these were exchanged ----well done to the Australian lady that organised the event!

 

Food and drink has varied. I tend to suspect that the smaller the gathering, the less effort is applied by X.

This also seems to be the case when recalling how many officers attended and how long they stayed.

 

We've sat and watched others on occasions ---- not because we are shy but because many CC guests are eager to meet up with people with whom they have corresponded or arranged tours together. That's only natural.

At times, we have chatted to other out-on-a-limbers and had some interesting conversations. I guess we have to make an effort...

 

We're looking forward to meeting others at the CC m & m in August this year.     

[Pacificdaze]

4 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

Agreed. This is why I eschewed the tags that came with the invitations and created custom name tags for everyone.

Well done David, I hereby nominate you to make similar name tags for our Jan 3, 2021 cruise.  😊

[Mike981]

We took our return trip on Celebrity (away for almost 20 years) a couple of weeks ago. There was talk of a M&M and I signed up, looking forward to a better situation that we had on other lines. But then the activity on the roll call thread really petered out the closer we got to our sailing. Then I saw comment after comment that cruisers were disappointed in the event. So we didn't go. I didn't even mention it after showing my wife the invitation in our room.
Besides the bad reviews of the different M&M's, it can be hard to go if at the scheduled time you are doing your own thing and having a good time, knowing it could hit or miss.

[Fogfog]

All good points. 

Our Roll Call and meet/greet on a longer sailing (Baltics) was active, private tours got put together and we'd pass people and greet them...having met early on... 

For an upcoming sailing we have a nice group o the roll call and many private tours have been assembled. 

Meet and greet tbd.

 

I would agree that shorter sailings and in places like the Carrib. dont lend themselves to finding a CC roll call/meet greet helpful--whereas the longer sailings/more historic or exotic ports of call do

 

Not sure that the cruise lines care much one way or the other.

A brand manager has an active FB page that pans CC and CCers.

Frankly I think he and his sheeple miss the point. So much helpful information here on CC.

Not sure there are other websites that have as many active posters

 

 

[HelenREMfan]

I think it is rather nice to have a sail away as it gives the chance to meet others from the roll call to meet up and see who they have been chatting with. I have tried to arrange the last 6 cruises I have been on as I don't mind doing the admin. The first sail away I signed up for was on the Connie and arranged by what turned out to be a "princess" type female from southern USA. As we newbies to cruising arrived (not newly to the CC message board where I had been pretty active) there wasn't a name badge for us and when this 'organiser' came to the table I got a summary wave of the arms, got told she didn't recognise my nick and told to just  mingle (Everyone else had name badges) Felt really quite put down at that and so we just felt quite excluded so we left. As an organised person I gave her 0/10 and decided in future if others wished it.... I would organise a sail away as I would ensure that I always had spare blank labels ready in case I  had omitted anyone (not exactly rocket science ) I like to think that no one on any cruise I have done this mini event for felt as we were made to feel! As for the meet and mingle - they have always again been an opportunity for people who couldn't make a sail away - maybe folk needed to get their unpacking finished etc - to get together. It has always been nice to come across people  you met on the ship/on here and be able to exchange greetings/tips/experiences as you bump into them around the ship -  is part of being sociable. Last cruise I added in a cabin crawl added to a poker run which was quite good fun - especially being invited in to 2 suites ! 

I have to say though that since this site revamp the access to the roll call is more convoluted and my forthcoming cruise's roll call is extremely quiet..... the quietest I can ever remember. 

[mahdnc]

8 hours ago, Pacificdaze said:

Well done David, I hereby nominate you to make similar name tags for our Jan 3, 2021 cruise.  😊

 

To make sure no one got left out, I made 268 name tags for our Jan 4 Reflection sailing!  Our 2021 Solstice South Pacific Sailing should have considerably less CC-ers than that--so it should be a much smaller task to make name tags.

 

I have made a tag for you (and also Ian).  But the price is that I have appointed you as the Sail Away Party Organizer.  Sailing out of Sydney Harbour should be very nice.

Edited January 30, 2019 by mahdnc

[TeaBag]

We did not receive an invitation on our last cruise either.  I found out about it at breakfast when I chatted with another passenger.  It was half over by the time I arrived but looked like it was well attended. 

I agree with dkjretired that screen names should be on the name tags.  Nothing else makes sense.  We made our own name tags years ago with both names.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I always bring my own nametag for just that reason.  Without screen names, nametags are pretty much useless.  Celebrity's connection parties are very dependent for effectiveness on the officers in charge.  Captain Kate will always show up and interact, along with her other officers.  What I find strange, is that the Cruise Critic attendees seem reluctant to introduce themselves lately.  The last time I tried, I took the mike and introduced myself, and then we passed it around.  No one else would introduce themselves, so it just petered out.  Really?  Why come if not to meet fellow cruisers???  Certainly not for the "refreshments."

 

Took my first cruise in MSC's Yacht Club last fall.  Their meet and mingle party for the whole ship is quite something.  Real food.  Champagne.  A group picture.  A special cake.  This was followed by a party just for Yacht Club guests in the Yacht Club Lounge.  Again, food and drinks, and the captain made it a point to go around and talk to everyone in the lounge.  Very impressive.