Meet and Mingle Still Paused

[kcpvwill]

Meet and Mingle for CC member gatherings were paused during Covid and this is still the case.  Have they just been discreetly dropped or are they likely to return? I know some people organise their own unofficial ones on some sailings.  

[millybess]

27 minutes ago, kcpvwill said:

Meet and Mingle for CC member gatherings were paused during Covid and this is still the case.  Have they just been discreetly dropped or are they likely to return? I know some people organise their own unofficial ones on some sailings.  

On our Amazon cruise a few weeks ago we arranged a meet and greet for the "Brazil E-Visa Survivors".

 

DH and I talked to Guest Services as soon as we boarded and told them we wanted to meet informally at the Explorers Lounge 8th deck and that we were expecting around 24 people. No problem.

 

That night I received a call from the Guest Services Manager telling me that they would like to take over the hosting duties.  The next afternoon they had closed off the 8th deck EL for a "Private Party".  There were appetizers, drinks, 2 dedicated servers and, of course, many officeers showed up along with the Cruise Director.  Speeches were made.  Around 30 people showed up.

 

It was a lot of fun and it was nice to get to know the people we had been talking to online (and also sharing misery) for some time and it made a big difference for that cruise.

 

Viking went way above and beyond our expectations.

Edited February 14 by millybess

[kcpvwill]

That sounds so nice.  We have only been to one official Meet & Mingle before the pause but it was nice to put faces to some regular CC posters.  I hope they return soon. 

[FetaCheese]

We had an official M&M on Star December/January 2024. Organized On Roll call, organizer gave list to GS, V sent invites to cabins. Was in Wintergarden, with many officers, staff and CD.  

 

If interested, organize it on Roll call, asking fellow pax for 1st names, city, cabin #

[millybess]

18 minutes ago, FetaCheese said:

We had an official M&M on Star December/January 2024. Organized On Roll call, organizer gave list to GS, V sent invites to cabins. Was in Wintergarden, with many officers, staff and CD.  

 

If interested, organize it on Roll call, asking fellow pax for 1st names, city, cabin #

JMO, that's a lot of personal information you might not want to have out there.  We organized it on our roll call with just our first names -- no spreadsheet, no formal invitations.

 

Once we met up, many of us exchanged more personal information:  email addresses, etc.

[GonzoWCS]

Good information here thanks.

 

Cheers

[Azulann]

 I wish Cruise Critic would just take down their "meet and mingle" link on their home page. If they are not  going to be partners in this as before the  pandemic, then say so ,please!

Viking  is more that happy to  respond to  our roll calls if one poster takes the initiative to  let Guest relations  know with names and staterooms # once on board. 

[millybess]

5 minutes ago, Azulann said:

 

Viking  is more that happy to  respond to  our roll calls if one poster takes the initiative to  let Guest relations  know with names and staterooms # once on board. 

Not necessarily.

 

The organizers on the Grand Pacific Explorer roll call thought they could get something organized.  They had an extensive, ongoing spreadsheet with first and last names, embarkation ports, home cities, cabin numbers, etc., but yesterday Viking said no to the meet and mingle.

 

They are planning to have an informal meet and greet in the EL 8th today.  I hope it works out for them because a lot of work has been put into this.

 

It's a multi-leg voyage and we've been following it because we are on the Hong Kong to Vancouver legs.  Hopefully we'll be able to meet up with some of them.  

[Azulann]

2 hours ago, millybess said:

 

The organizers on the Grand Pacific Explorer roll call thought they could get something organized.  They had an extensive, ongoing spreadsheet with first and last names, embarkation ports, home cities, cabin numbers, etc., but yesterday Viking said no to the meet and mingle.

Oh I am so sorry to hear that. All rework the person went to to  gather all theinforamtion.  I hope there is a full turnout for the informal one. It isalwyas so fun to meet the folks you having been positing with on your roll call for months before  the actual cruise.  Which ship is doing this long  voyage? Could it be because it consist of multiple segments?  I have only been on itineraries  that are stand alone 10 or 11 day sailings.

thanks for  pointing out it is not automatic. 

[Pushka]

We had a M@M on Mars last May but it was organised on CC. Many of the officers showed up, and a lot of passengers, I'd say around 50. 

[photopro2]

10 hours ago, Azulann said:

 I wish Cruise Critic would just take down their "meet and mingle" link on their home page. If they are not  going to be partners in this as before the  pandemic, then say so ,please!

Viking  is more that happy to  respond to  our roll calls if one poster takes the initiative to  let Guest relations  know with names and staterooms # once on board. 

I really do agree with you and I am sorry to hear what @millybess has reported.

 

My suspicion is that there must be more to this story than a simple flat refusal from Viking. Even if that were to be the case, it was obviously a one off negative decision by the management on that particular ship.

 

There is certainly no general policy from Viking as a company to prevent M&Ms We have official Viking hosted M&Ms set up for both sectors of our upcoming BtoB.

 

Maybe our moderator would be kind enough to pass on a message to Cruise Critic management and have them enquire with Viking if the previous M&M system can be restored?

I look forward to hearing the response.

 

 

 

Edited February 15 by photopro2

[millybess]

10 hours ago, Azulann said:

Oh I am so sorry to hear that. All rework the person went to to  gather all theinforamtion.  I hope there is a full turnout for the informal one. It isalwyas so fun to meet the folks you having been positing with on your roll call for months before  the actual cruise.  Which ship is doing this long  voyage? Could it be because it consist of multiple segments?  I have only been on itineraries  that are stand alone 10 or 11 day sailings.

thanks for  pointing out it is not automatic. 

The ship is Viking Orion.  And, yes, it might well be because there are multiple segments.  It was suggested on the roll call that there would be a meet and mingle for every segment.  

[Cienfuegos]

This is a good thread, I'm glad I clicked on it.

 

It seems to me that this kind of activity is one which Viking should encourage. Creating a community of interest around the line and its wonderful staff.

[CCWineLover]

I've organized 4 Meet & Mingles since COVID and have another upcoming.  The official Cruise Critic mingles were paused, but if a passenger takes the initiative (like I did) to organize, collect names and cabin numbers, and work with Viking, we can still have these get togethers.  Viking has been so helpful in keeping these great sessions going with passenger help.   They even every time sent personal invites to our cabins.  

I always nicely requested having the meetings in the Wintergarden so as not to interfere or disturb others (for example, if we did it in Explorer's Lounge).  Viking has always made that happen.  They even supplied drinks and apps.  Great show!

[Baron Barracuda]

On 2/14/2024 at 4:32 PM, FetaCheese said:

We had an official M&M on Star December/January 2024. Organized On Roll call, organizer gave list to GS, V sent invites to cabins. Was in Wintergarden, with many officers, staff and CD.  

 

If interested, organize it on Roll call, asking fellow pax for 1st names, city, cabin #

Same with us on Star Nov/Dec sailing.  Viking was very happy to assist.  Very well attended by both cc members and ships officers.

[kcpvwill]

Not many on our roll call yet (on Neptune in August) to have a M&M but will await more. 

[kctwinmommy]

8 hours ago, kcpvwill said:

Not many on our roll call yet (on Neptune in August) to have a M&M but will await more. 

I know, we have very few in our roll call for our cruise in 2 months.

[BluebonnetTexan]

20 hours ago, kctwinmommy said:

I know, we have very few in our roll call for our cruise in 2 months.

You might be surprised to find additional lurkers who would want to participate in the M&M if someone volunteers to organize it and collect the info. For our roll call last year I had a few people contact me to signup via the email I provided with their info who hadn’t been actively participating in the roll call, but were following it. 

[ropomo]

1 hour ago, BluebonnetTexan said:

You might be surprised to find additional lurkers who would want to participate in the M&M if someone volunteers to organize it and collect the info. For our roll call last year I had a few people contact me to signup via the email I provided with their info who hadn’t been actively participating in the roll call, but were following it. 

I have experienced the same, better to start it and have minimal response, than to not and have none.

[Pushka]

On 2/15/2024 at 11:08 PM, millybess said:

The ship is Viking Orion.  And, yes, it might well be because there are multiple segments.  It was suggested on the roll call that there would be a meet and mingle for every segment.  

Our cruise had many segments and one person took the initiative and gathered a really large crowd for all segments . Also used the other site to spread the word. Viking put on a great show. 

Edited February 18 by Pushka

[millybess]

4 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Our cruise had many segments and one person took the initiative and gathered a really large crowd for all segments . Also used the other site to spread the word. Viking put on a great show. 

We really like the idea of doing that because it does make a big difference to the voyage to be able to casually chat with people and to know their names, etc.

 

We were fortunate last month that Viking took it on without being asked for anything more than a venue in which to gather.  I would like to see Viking formally bring it back on Cruise Critic, but I have noticed that there are other lines that have also paused CC Meet and Mingle.  

[millybess]

20 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Our cruise had many segments and one person took the initiative and gathered a really large crowd for all segments . Also used the other site to spread the word. Viking put on a great show. 

I will add that we are on one of the Orion segments so we do have a personal interest in an organized M&M.  It is now my understanding that in the end, on the Orion, Viking did publish the information for the informal gathering in the Viking Daily.  Also, DH and I aren't on the other site.

[CCWineLover]

6 hours ago, millybess said:

I will add that we are on one of the Orion segments so we do have a personal interest in an organized M&M.  It is now my understanding that in the end, on the Orion, Viking did publish the information for the informal gathering in the Viking Daily.  Also, DH and I aren't on the other site.

Many many people aren’t on that other site.

ive found that it’s best just to start collecting names cabins etc and organize it yourself if you want to have one.  Quite easy to do and work with Viking.  I think Viking doing the initiation was a one off for Orion.  Never seen it.

my organized M&M (5th one I’ve done) is next week.  Sometimes theCD is involved, sometimes the Guest Services.  I contact both about a week ahead of time, having already gathered the list of names, cabins, and count and sent as a pdf file.  Viking has always said how they so appreciate it!  They do the invites from the list.  They do not put it in the daily.  There are plenty of other parties open to all onboard.

[millybess]

5 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Many many people aren’t on that other site.

ive found that it’s best just to start collecting names cabins etc and organize it yourself if you want to have one.  Quite easy to do and work with Viking.  I think Viking doing the initiation was a one off for Orion.  Never seen it.

my organized M&M (5th one I’ve done) is next week.  Sometimes theCD is involved, sometimes the Guest Services.  I contact both about a week ahead of time, having already gathered the list of names, cabins, and count and sent as a pdf file.  Viking has always said how they so appreciate it!  They do the invites from the list.  They do not put it in the daily.  There are plenty of other parties open to all onboard.

For our M&M last month, we just organized it on the roll call.  Just first names, no cabin numbers, no invitations and no mention in the daily.  Viking, unexpectedly,  put something together very quickly.  But I think our circumstances were different.  It was a very active roll call mostly due to the difficulty in obtaining the Brazilian visa.  So, besides going on the same cruise, we all shared an additional bond.

 

We will see if they have been able to put together something more formal on Orion for the remaining segments.  The roll calls are not very active.