I would attend the Meet & Mingle if???

[Ronrocks!]

As most of you know, the time/date/place for Meet & Mingle parties are announced approximately 4 weeks prior to sail date -- you can find an updated listing of these here: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/ccConfirmedPartyList.do?src=CCC That listing is updated almost up to the moment of sailing. If you view the listing, you'll see that there is a pattern to the parties -- they are held in the same place/time/day on each ship (with some exceptions from time to time, of course). This list is linked at the top of the RCI forum, as well as the ROLL CALL forums.

 

The most frequent reason a time/date/place change happens? When a ship changes their itinerary -- and an originally scheduled party time happens when a ship is now scheduled to be in a port of call. When this happens (folks usually find out when they check the confirmed party page, linked above) the best thing to do is to WRITE ME IMMEDIATELY. We are very successful in having these changed.

 

There is nothing anyone can do, though, if communication breaks down between shoreside and the ship. I truly believe everyone (both shoreside and on board) does as much as they possibly can to ensure that the invitations are printed correctly after a change -- but errors do occur.

 

Keep in mind that although the ships are huge, space for group meetings really is at a premium (after all, we know how vocal Cruise Critic members can be if a space isn't available to them because of a private party, now don't we lol). They schedule group events for spaces that are not being used at that time. For example, on my recent Explorer of the Seas cruise, there were 41 different groups on board all vying for the same spaces.

 

For the record, these gatherings really cannot be held in a "publicly accessible area" such as the pool deck. For those of you who have never been, Royal Caribbean has a nice gift for all who attend. These are carefully counted out so that each person who "registered" will receive one. Also, food/snacks are prepared for all those who attend. Having a Meet & Mingle where anyone can participate really doesn't make any sense -- after all, they are recognizing YOU, as a Cruise Critic member (not everyone who happens by). I'm sure I'd get lots of feedback if someone didn't get their gifty!

 

With regard to making one person from each ROLL CALL the contact person -- we've tossed that idea around over the years. Think about this: Royal Caribbean has 22 ships sailing (for the most part) each week -- that is alot of people to have to keep in the loop -- and those people change each week -- making it over 1,000 people. That's the reason for the Party Confirmation Page -- to keep you all informed. Then, you also have me -- and most of you know I can be reached at community@cruisecritic.com!

 

Having one person who becomes a "pied piper" of sorts on each ROLL CALL does make a difference, though! The constantly check the number of folks registered, they constantly check the "party confirmation page", and they keep others informed of changes -- they keep the conversation rolling, and usually their personality "type" makes it easy for them to fix whatever needs fixing, by emailing either myself or Royal Caribbean (xplora@rccl.com) right away.

 

As Abridalmaven said, there are so many things happening on RCI ships (sometimes just reading the Daily Compass is exhausting) -- add to that the large number of other groups on board -- all in all I think Royal Caribbean does a great job with scheduling these parties and recognizing our members once they are on board.

 

Once again, please feel free to write me with any changes that might be necessary in the future. (community@cruisecritic.com)

 

Laura

 

 

Thanks Laura, it's good to have input from a pro!

[NancyB84]

Thank you Laura. I for one appreciate this gathering. My only comment was that some areas are not closed off such as our recent cruise on the Mariner. People were wandering in and out and it would have been easier if access to the room had been cut off for the hours.

 

Nevertheless, I am grateful that cc does this for cruisers and I do believe that some who are asking for additional "perks" are perhaps overstepping the meaning of the Meet and Mingle.

 

I also want to thank you, Laura... for adding your input. And I would like to second the comment about the room not being closed off... ours on Serenade had random people wandering in to smoke since it was one of the designated smoking areas. They also ate the food etc. We actually left early because we didn't want to smell the smoke.

[In the Pink]

Thanks, Laura!

 

 

I think I've only received a gift, a CC pin, once, though.

[cruise_lover]

Well said! It's a meet and greet to put faces with names and perhaps get to klnow one another. How it goes depends upon the group.

 

Yes it would be nice to meet the people you have chatted with all year but we have over 120 that signed up for ours and it will be too hard to remember names and faces without name tags. Especially if you bring a spouse or child with you.

One of the other ladies kept up a list and I worked on the name tags. Its called team-work, even if you haven't met your team member yet.

 

This is what our name tags will look like.

 

 

Emily “froggie620”

 

Birthday - January 16th

 

meet me at www.cruisecritic.com

 

 

KTDY Group

San Antonio, Texas

 

 

[love2vacation]

If we could get enough people to sign up!

Last cruise we did not have enough people signed up for the M&M. :confused: