Large Groups

[WAMarathoner]

On 1/17/2020 at 11:32 AM, steelers36 said:

I wonder if the Princess sales system has these cataloged.  You call Princess on the pretense of looking for thematic cruises and if you get a list, then you know the ones to avoid.  Not sure this will work at all however.

They won't tell you.  Claim it's "privacy."  BS.  We haven't cruised Celebrity since two "group" cruises in a row where all the amenities and attention were focused on the groups, to the detriment of everyone else.  If anyone finds a good way to check other than using a search engine, I'd be grateful.

 

PS I don't think Bears is being used as a euphemism for all those in that lifestyle, but refers to Chumley's Bears, a large and active group.

Edited January 19, 2020 by WAMarathoner

[dreaminofcruisin]

Chumley Bears:  https://www.bearcruises.com/

 

May 17 - 24, 2020

aboard Princess Cruise Line's

EMERALD PRINCESS

 

 

February 13 - 20, 2021

aboard Princess Cruise Line's brand new

ENCHANTED PRINCESS

[MissP22]

6 hours ago, WAMarathoner said:

They won't tell you.  Claim it's "privacy."  BS.  We haven't cruised Celebrity since two "group" cruises in a row where all the amenities and attention were focused on the groups, to the detriment of everyone else.  If anyone finds a good way to check other than using a search engine, I'd be grateful.

 

PS I don't think Bears is being used as a euphemism for all those in that lifestyle, but refers to Chumley's Bears, a large and active group.

Sure it is. 

I imagine at one time they did let their customers know ahead of time & couldn't fill the ship with many people cancelling after they found out. 

[geoherb]

On 1/17/2020 at 9:05 PM, Mike45LC said:

Maybe it is not "woke" of me, but seeing people -- of whatever orientation and genders -- getting "friendly" in the hot tubs is distasteful to me.  And it seems that many of the Bears are into public displays of affection, if only to shock and dismay the rest of us.  

 

 

I don't think they care that much to do it to shock and dismay you. It's the freedom of moving from a world where they can't show affection in public to one in which they can. Some of them probably go a little far, but it's probably not much different from some of the displays of affection I've witnessed straight couples doing on cruises. 

[tailspintom]

On 1/17/2020 at 5:23 PM, cruzsnooze said:

The Bears have been reported to be an obnoxious group of cruisers no matter what venue they are in.  

We cruised when the Jets fan group were doing their cruise.  Both couples were lovely.

[MixerDave]

This site may be of some help

 

http://themecruisefinder.com/CruiseAds/

 

[coo359a2]

We just got off the Sky Princess and it was a Polka cruise group headlined or put together by Jimmy Sturr. They will have a :2021 polka cruise next January on the Caribbean Princess. One of the group told me there was going to be an Irishman group cruise coming up with 1000 in the group. She didn’t say which cruise line it would  be on

[Mike45LC]

On 1/17/2020 at 7:04 PM, MissP22 said:

I doubt if you would have enjoyed using the aft pool in Oct. It was their pool & not one other person dared to use it. 

Exactly my point!  They "take over" the areas they are enjoying.

[Thrak]

On 1/19/2020 at 6:37 AM, geoherb said:

 

I don't think they care that much to do it to shock and dismay you. It's the freedom of moving from a world where they can't show affection in public to one in which they can. Some of them probably go a little far, but it's probably not much different from some of the displays of affection I've witnessed straight couples doing on cruises. 

 

I live in California. I've worked with many gay people. I've socialized with gay people. I have relatives who are gay. I've cruised with gay couples. They are just people. I don't give a dang who you are or what your sexual orientation - common bounds of propriety should be observed. I don't understand why (as far as I can tell) the only group that goes beyond those bounds onboard is Chumley's Bears.

[voljeep]

4 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

I live in California. I've worked with many gay people. I've socialized with gay people. I have relatives who are gay. I've cruised with gay couples. They are just people. I don't give a dang who you are or what your sexual orientation - common bounds of propriety should be observed. I don't understand why (as far as I can tell) the only group that goes beyond those bounds onboard is Chumley's Bears.

so what 'grounds of propriety' do 'they' go beyond on a cruise exactly … and yes , we have been on a cruise , unknowingly onboard of the 2nd B of a B2B … about 400 as I was told

[Thrak]

28 minutes ago, voljeep said:

so what 'grounds of propriety' do 'they' go beyond on a cruise exactly … and yes , we have been on a cruise , unknowingly onboard of the 2nd B of a B2B … about 400 as I was told

 

Public Displays of Affection - ie. Making Out - in the pool area and hot tubs. Reported by numerous posters on CC.

[Tedferg]

On 1/19/2020 at 6:53 AM, tailspintom said:

We cruised when the Jets fan group were doing their cruise.  Both couples were lovely.

Cute !

[voljeep]

so you're stating NO PDA's are acceptable by anyone … and to the extent of MAKING OUT - beyond a quick kiss ? - is that what you saw ??

[WAMarathoner]

Voljeep, when a grown man is "making out" to the point that it excites him enough to have an erection that is viewable by others, or when tongues can be seen by others, that's far beyond the bounds of propriety.  That behavior belongs in private.  There are cruises that cater specifically to singles, to nudists, to just about every conceivable type of legal activity.  Mainstream cruises are NOT them.

 

I've been looking at group charters and Celebrity Solstice seems to be a favorite, and NCL Pearl for younger groups.

 

 

[npcl]

On 1/17/2020 at 12:40 PM, skynight said:

When a venue as large as the Vista Lounge is closed all evening to all but the group then the remainder of the passengers are locked out of various normal entertainment activities for that evening in that venue. Things like shows, dancing, certain live bands, etc. The remainder of the passengers have to try to fit into the other small entertainment locations on the ship. The Sky is lacks any other large entertainment location. It only has the small Princess Live and Jazz Club. 

Actually if you have a group of 600-800 that is about the capacity of Vista so you might lose Vista, but you also have 600-800 passengers not in the rest of the ship because they are in Vista for their groups event.

 

I would not blame the group for crowding around the rest of the ship.  On Grand and Royal class vessels the Piazza gets very crowded on all three levels when something is going on there. Extremely crowded when it is a main event like the champagne fountain.

 

[dog]

It has been a couple of years but my TA was able to tell me there was a large group on a couple of cruise dates I was considering. 
 

[Semi Retired]

A couple years ago, we were booked on Infinity and 2 months before cruise date, we were given notice that our intinery changed from Pacific coastal to Alaska...total different, not where we wanted to go. Told we would be given 50 OBC. I did my research and found out they accepted an agreement to have the ship docked in San Fransisco as a floating hotel for a Tech Convention. Hotels were filled and a company chartered the ship as a hotel for their employees to attend the convention.

[sunsetbeachgal]

On 1/19/2020 at 10:50 AM, coo359a2 said:

We just got off the Sky Princess and it was a Polka cruise group headlined or put together by Jimmy Sturr. They will have a :2021 polka cruise next January on the Caribbean Princess. One of the group told me there was going to be an Irishman group cruise coming up with 1000 in the group. She didn’t say which cruise line it would  be on

The large Irish group was on our cruise on the Sky in late January.  They brought their own entertainment, but had to use the Princess Theater at very off times, most often late at night or mid afternoon. I understand some of their entertainment took place later at night in the piazza (which was open to all passengers) but we were in bed by then.  I also heard from other passengers that they one of the early traditional seatings at one of the dining rooms was for their group, but that was here say.  
 

Nice folks and in no way did the group interfere with our enjoyment of the cruise. You could spot them by their green lanyards, which also served as their entry into the private entertainment events.

Edited February 21, 2020 by sunsetbeachgal

[weedpindle]

On 1/17/2020 at 2:59 PM, cruzsnooze said:

The crowds you speak of isn't related to any group except for the closure of the venues you mentioned. If the ship is at capacity what's the difference who makes up the demographic. The fact there is a large group on board doesn't effect how many people are at the buffet or MDR or theater, it's all capacity controlled. 

Sorry, but it does make the cruise for the rest of the passengers less enjoyable . Just off the Regal where 900 in a group took over the vista lounge every night, club 6 most afternoons and some evenings, Some of those little activities that go on throughout the day were cancelled due to the fact that there were no venues available.  See, the big group split up and used several spaces at the same times.

[MissP22]

If you sail with any large group they do take over certain venue's which you'll be excluded from. ie. - showrooms in the afternoon, Vista lounge at night, Princess Live for certain trivia functions and the worst is not being to use the aft pool because their group really takes over. No one is excluded but no one wants to use it.  

The lounges on the ship might be not obvious until you consider that they could have been used for public functions and it was just one less event that you may have been able to attend if it were open.

It does becomes obvious when doing a B2B trip when there are more events scheduled when they're not on the ship. Unfortunately Princess won't divulge this info to the public & unless you do some investigating on you own, you won't find out until your on the ship. 

[MissP22]

2 minutes ago, weedpindle said:

Sorry, but it does make the cruise for the rest of the passengers less enjoyable . Just off the Regal where 900 in a group took over the vista lounge every night, club 6 most afternoons and some evenings, Some of those little activities that go on throughout the day were cancelled due to the fact that there were no venues available.  See, the big group split up and used several spaces at the same times.

I see that you & I ware on the same cruise. 

Aggravating at time, isn't it, especially when you didn't know that fact before you booked the cruise. I think we had the majority of them on our deck. Almost every cabin had their sign posted on their doors. 

[tere247]

On 1/27/2020 at 12:23 AM, npcl said:

Actually if you have a group of 600-800 that is about the capacity of Vista so you might lose Vista, but you also have 600-800 passengers not in the rest of the ship because they are in Vista for their groups event.

 

I would not blame the group for crowding around the rest of the ship.  On Grand and Royal class vessels the Piazza gets very crowded on all three levels when something is going on there. Extremely crowded when it is a main event like the champagne fountain.

 

The Polka group on the Shy took over the jazz club, Take Five, ever night as well. 

[MCC retired]

My worse fear , a large affinity group on my sailing .

It can really interfere with daily activities onboard .

[Wehwalt]

On the Holland board, there is a thread for people who keep track of charters and of large groups etc. Other boards could use that. A year ago I was on Freedom of the Seas with a large group of Black Hebrews who annoyed the people of Saint Maarten by preaching to them.

[CynCyn]

I think large groups also mess up hotels (and restaurant staff).  I just came home from a conference where we had 3 conference rooms.  Two other groups (much fancier conferences) were also there and they used the public areas for events.  It was irritating trying to get through their events and having the restaurant and beach/pool area closed for their events.  It showed in the service throughout the week.