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Gaither Group on Board?


Woofbite
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Has anyone been a regular passenger on a ship where there was a huge group booked?

There is a possiblity we will be on an Alaska cruise 2021 which has the Gaither music

group.  Are regular passengers allowed to attend their shows or are they private?

Do they take the place of usual entertainment and music?

We like their music but the rates they quoted are about double the regular price!

 

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51 minutes ago, Woofbite said:

Has anyone been a regular passenger on a ship where there was a huge group booked?

There is a possiblity we will be on an Alaska cruise 2021 which has the Gaither music

group.  Are regular passengers allowed to attend their shows or are they private?

Do they take the place of usual entertainment and music?

We like their music but the rates they quoted are about double the regular price!

 

 

If you are not part of the group you may find that some of your regular cruise activities and areas are curtailed.  For example the group may take up a certain dining time so that it is not available to regular passengers.

 

They may also be using certain venues that will be solely for their use.

 

They will NOT take the place of regular entertainment and music.  Their shows will be private - for the group alone.

 

If you enjoy their music and want to participate in their activities then you need to to book with them.  If you prefer not to book with them due to the pricing, I would be tempted to look at a different cruise date.  JMO.

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52 minutes ago, Woofbite said:

Are regular passengers allowed to attend their shows or are they private?

 

the rates they quoted are about double the regular price!

There in lies your answer!  If you had paid double the regular price then you would be pretty pi$$d if regular passengers were allowed attend.

I would be more concerned with MDR availability and seating for the time I wanted.

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I would pick another date.  One of our Caribbean cruises had a large group and the ship closed the pool area on a sea day  from 11am for the rest of the day to regular passengers.  A lot of people were very unhappy!    

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We had a large gospel group on a Mexican Riviera cruise recently.  They had their activities and the only time we saw them as a group was when they were heading to an event.   We were seated with a couple from their group at the Mariner’s Luncheon, nice people.   The ship never felt crowded because their group was in private events much of the time.  We did not go to the Lido so can’t judge that impact.  We usually arrive at the showroom early to choose our seats and one evening we had to wait for them to clear out of the venue.   I thought the group would be an issue, it was not.   

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I've been on when a group took over the crows nest, that did not make people happy,

 

 I have also been on when  they had impromptu music in piano bar everyday at a set time, but all were welcome and it was great entertainment

 

If I knew a group would be on, I do think I would change date if I could.

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I avoided booking the 10/9/21 10 night sailing of the Nieuw Statendam for a very similar reason as it is the Mark Steyn Cruise (Conservative Political Commentator).  Politics aside, we did not want to be on a vessel where many public areas might be used for exclusive use of the group (fixed seating dining, lectures, musical performances, cocktail parties, etc).  This is a disruption to my vacation that I am not willing to accept.  Instead we booked the 10/29/21 9 night sailing and took the loss of one port as an acceptable trade-off.  We already had the 10/29/21 sailing booked so in either case we are on a b2b, which is what we wanted.

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11 hours ago, Hflors said:

I would pick another date.  One of our Caribbean cruises had a large group and the ship closed the pool area on a sea day  from 11am for the rest of the day to regular passengers.  A lot of people were very unhappy!    

This would have resulted in a letter to corporate if something didn't get changed onboard.

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24 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

This would have resulted in a letter to corporate if something didn't get changed onboard.

 

In corporate world money talks - large groups get preference and deference due to the $$$$ they bring to the line.  The closure of any venue for special group events is part of the contract with the line and not anything the shipboard personnel have jurisdiction over.  The group has paid for a private event at a specific location and time for a specific length of time.  Sadly your complaint to corporate will fall on deaf ears.  This can, and does, happen on EVERY cruise line and they are NOT required to make the information public (and they will make every effort to not disclose the information).   The same thing happens at resorts and hotels the world over.

 

Thankfully for many on here who post information, we as informed cruisers can usually find out when a large group is onboard. 

Edited by AtlantaCruiser72
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Here is the link to the information!  Thanks to VMax1700 for keeping this up to date for everyone.  I have always checked it before booking cruises since I first became aware of the whole partial charter and groups "issues"!  Enjoy your cruises everyone.

 

~Nancy

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8 minutes ago, trivia addict said:

Oh dear, we are also booked on an August 2021 cruise. Can you tell me which week you are talking about, or where you found your information? This is not a cruise I would like to be on!

There is a company called "Inspiration Cruises" that puts together a number of Christian interest cruises per year.  There are 5 Alaska sailings of various themes next summer.  7.17 on Eurodam, 7.25 Oostedam, 7.31 Eurodam, 8.7 Eurodam and 8.28 Eurodam.  The Gaither Homecoming theme cruise is on the Oosterdam 7.25 sailing

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5 minutes ago, trivia addict said:

Thank you oakridger and AtlantaCruiser72!

Thankfully,  none of those are my cruise! We are on the Neiuw Amsterdam on August15. I will keep the information that you sent for future reference. (Providing we can cruise again!)

 

FYI you can also check VMax1700s @VMax1700’ thread.

 

He posts a list of chartered and group cruises on a regular basis

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Thank you again. I enjoy this thread because of people like you.

I haven't cruised HAL in many years. Been mostly on other Lines, but because of this upcoming cruise I began checking this site. So glad I did. I think perhaps I am more a HAL person than I thought!

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I too noticed this "conflict" when VMax1700 made his monthly post. However, our cruise cannot be changed. Booked it last October after coordinating schedules with DD and DS - it was the only one that met everyone's wants/needs. If the cruise does go, I'll report back how much the group size interfered with our enjoyment of the cruise. Our focus will be on the Alaskan scenery rather than onboard activities. DD and DS rented a cabana, we and DS have balconies.

 

Having lived many years near the Gaithers' hometown, we don't anticipate a problem with their focus. In fact, DD was in a church choir that used his cantata arrangements.

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22 hours ago, trivia addict said:

Oh dear, we are also booked on an August 2021 cruise. Can you tell me which week you are talking about, or where you found your information? This is not a cruise I would like to be on!

It's actually July 25 - August 1 2021 Oosterdam so you should be okay.

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