How do I find out if a huge group will be on board?

[Beowulfpk]

I got a surprise Swedish expatriate cruise. I wasn't too bad since they tend to stick together which clears up other public areas. The only "problems" we had was having to explain over 20 times to various people that I was not Swedish and the nightly Swedish "Polka" music by the main pool was also a little irritating.

[Ferrygirl]

I've got a good one for you all. We just found out about a month ago that our MOS on 10/11 is hosting a Star Trek convention. What do you think that is going to be like? Beam me up Scotty!:D

[California Native]

Hi Everyone

I put together a list of resources to find out if there is a group on your cruise..

on your personal travel website..

there's no advertising nor is it commercial...

just a labor of love...

Hope this helps you have a "one stop shop" location for reference.

There's also a page on their for checking to see how many ships will be in port with you ...

Here are the links...

http://ourpassportstamps.com/Isthereagrouponboard_.html

http://ourpassportstamps.com/Port_Schedules.html

[Wilda]

Great site but...Oh boy! I just popped in my dates and came up with motor cycle cruise-2010. Not sure what that means since the cruise begins and ends in December.

 

I'm not worried; pretty sure that there have been groups on most of my sailings. Other than a few venue's being reserved it wasn't a blip on the radar:)

[LasVegascruisers]

Thing is... you can sometimes find out there is a group, but you can't really tell how big the group is... They could be a group of 50 or a group of 2000... The "Hogs" cruises are really popular though from what I understand, so I'll bet there are a lot of them.

 

We've got a Star Trek group on board with us in October and it'll be interesting to see how much we really feel them once we are on the ship.

 

 

the needs of the many.... :D

[browneyes7]

Please don't hurt yourself. I am sure they are a very nice group of ladies.

 

I've been on board with many knitters. Don't worry.......they seem harmless.:D

[amybeth4]

the needs of the many.... :D

 

...outweigh the needs of the cruise.

 

lol!

[amybeth4]

I was actually talking about groups in general... I don't doubt your number, we've sure seen reports of large groups of "Hogs" on these cruises in the past. I am curious where you got it from though... was it just based on past cruises that they've done or do you have some secret source you can share with us...

 

Have you convinced your friend to go????

 

Elle, my friend told me today she's willing to do it but she's really hemming and hawing. I'm wondering if it's worth it. She's VERY depressed at the moment and has no interest in doing anything so she could actually make this pretty miserable for me. But my irresponsible side will probably go ahead and book it. I have until midnight tonight to get my air tickets before the price goes up $60. She's SUPPOSED to call me tonight with her credit card number.

 

As for the 2,000, I THINK I got that number from the person on these boards who first told me about the group. But now i'm not so sure because I got this from the Hogs' website:

 

"Since our cruises leave on Sunday, we recommend arriving on Friday or Saturday to begin your adventure early by socializing with as many as 1,000 of our early rally arrivals from all over the world. It also gives you some time to get acclimated to the climate, time change and to get rid of any jet lag before you board the ship. "

 

So does that mean 1,000 Hogs will be onboard, or 1,000 will be arriving early on Friday? Hmmmm. Either way, a group of 1,000 is WAY too much for me, much less 2,000! :)

[SheilaSailAway]

Somehow I do think a corporate event will be different than 2,000 out of 3,500 being hardcore bikers... :) Or knitters!

Been on a cruise with the bikers...never stood-out...never even noticed them.... I guess they were just trying to enjoy themselves on their vacation with their kids, just like everyone else.:);)

...only took notice when they exited the ship on bikes, which was nothing.

[yaicruise]

We shared the same concerns in March when we found out that the Hogs of The Seas were going to be on our ship. We have nothing against bikers at all but we thought with such a large group that things would be slanted strongly to their group.

After sailing with the Hogs of the Seas I would go again with them compared to groups of smaller size. They had a lot of private parties and functions both on and off of the ship.

They are a great group of people. They donate thousands of dollars to the dialysis patients. On the cruise we were on they sponsored about nine patients. They also made their cruise possible by having a room set up for them to receive their treatments along with a nurse. Without someone raising this kind of money these people wouldn't be able to take a cruise.

HATS OFF to HOGS OF THE SEA!

[Zippeedee]

I've actually heard of this guy.... Are you a scrapbooker, Patti? I'm a stamper, so we've got some cross over there... :)

 

Have you been chatting with folks over on the roll call, or are you going to be too busy on board with your group to play with us CC'rs?

 

I'm a scrapbooker and stamper. I make cards and do some altered art, tags, books, etc. Tim works for Ranger and has his own line of stamps, inks, tools, etc. I've posted on the roll call, we'll only be in classes on the sea days. You'll know us by our inky fingers!

Patti

[elleluv]

I'm a scrapbooker and stamper. I make cards and do some altered art, tags, books, etc. Tim works for Ranger and has his own line of stamps, inks, tools, etc. I've posted on the roll call, we'll only be in classes on the sea days. You'll know us by our inky fingers!

Patti

 

 

This is a group that I'd really enjoy talking with.... My two favorite things to do are stamp and cruise! :D I'll look for you over on the rollcall... :)

[bluegirlum]

Okay this is ridiculous!

 

On the 2/1/09 sailing of the Indy, there were two large groups onboard:

 

-Jewish Singles

-Christian Couples

 

Both organized by two completely different groups. I wonder how THAT went, lol.

 

I wish we had known about this so someone could've live blogged it! Can you imagine?

 

Amybeth, I hope you go on your cruise. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time!

[elleluv]

Elle, my friend told me today she's willing to do it but she's really hemming and hawing. I'm wondering if it's worth it. She's VERY depressed at the moment and has no interest in doing anything so she could actually make this pretty miserable for me. But my irresponsible side will probably go ahead and book it. I have until midnight tonight to get my air tickets before the price goes up $60. She's SUPPOSED to call me tonight with her credit card number.

 

 

 

Keep us posted, Amy... I think there are a lot of us emotionally invested in you going at this point... :D

[SherriZ366]

I've googled my ship and sail date and found groups.

[dirtgirl]

We have a bunch of Elvi on our Aug. 30th cruise! I picture a bunch of chubby guys in too-tight white jumpsuits.:rolleyes:

[Moondawgie]

Amy, is there a way you can go without your friend? I know it's expensive. Carnival has 1A cabins that are not too bad for one person.

 

I took a Mardi Gras cruise with a Tattoo Convention. I'm not sure how many there were, but they were the nicest people and I was amazed at some of the artwork. It was a great time. Other than seeing them around, I don't remember any taking over the ship.

[2+2]

That is a good question, as I would not want to be on a cruise with over half the people belonged to the same group. Can I ask another question pretaining to a large group. When I went to You Tube to see some videos of Freedom of the Seas, I noticed one video that showed the deck by the pool, and it was packed with all men. Not a single women. It was a gay cruise. I have nothing against the gays, but I do not want to be on that ship.( I think they made a comedy movie like that). We just would not fit in. So the question is, are the gay cruises even offered to the public, or are they like private charters.

[dirtgirl]

That is a good question, as I would not want to be on a cruise with over half the people belonged to the same group. Can I ask another question pretaining to a large group. When I went to You Tube to see some videos of Freedom of the Seas, I noticed one video that showed the deck by the pool, and it was packed with all men. Not a single women. It was a gay cruise. I have nothing against the gays, but I do not want to be on that ship.( I think they made a comedy movie like that). We just would not fit in. So the question is, are the gay cruises even offered to the public, or are they like private charters.

 

 

A lot of them are private charters.

 

I found on my last cruise, that all the good looking, buff guys were gay. It was rather disappointing for me. LOL:D

[amybeth4]

A lot of them are private charters.

 

I found on my last cruise, that all the good looking, buff guys were gay. It was rather disappointing for me. LOL:D

 

Of course they are. That's why all Chippendales dancers are gay too! :)

[amybeth4]

Amy, is there a way you can go without your friend? I know it's expensive. Carnival has 1A cabins that are not too bad for one person.

 

I took a Mardi Gras cruise with a Tattoo Convention. I'm not sure how many there were, but they were the nicest people and I was amazed at some of the artwork. It was a great time. Other than seeing them around, I don't remember any taking over the ship.

 

I'd like to solo travel one of these days but being jobless, it's bad enough that I'm spending $575 for this one. :)

[amybeth4]

Okay Bluegirl and Elle...you'll be happy to know, it looks like we're actually doing it!

 

I'll probably be paying in full tomorrow, cabin 8377, which is interior aft.

 

I'd be more excited if I didn't lose my $189 airfare which has shot up to $245. I'm gonna take the risk and not book my flight at all and hope it goes back down over the next ten weeks.

 

I know it's not THAT big a difference, but $56 is $56...it's almost the cost of the tips. And I'm a little nervous about going with this particular friend so we'll see.

 

But I AM pretty excited nonetheless. When I went on the Majesty in Feb I thought there was no WAY I'd be getting on another cruise in 2009. Only a week ago I had no intention of this.

 

I've never cruised in Nov so that's a new one for me too. I assume it'll still be pretty hot in the W. Carib and there'll be very few kids onboard, correct?

 

Bluegirlum, you'll be happy to know I'll be writing a review, as usual. :)

[dirtgirl]

Of course they are. That's why all Chippendales dancers are gay too! :)

 

 

:(;):p

OK, now I am devastated. LOL

[spirite]

I've got a good one for you all. We just found out about a month ago that our MOS on 10/11 is hosting a Star Trek convention. What do you think that is going to be like? Beam me up Scotty!:D

The advantage of this group is that there won't be queues to get on/off the ship - they can simply beam themselves in/out.

[webecruzin2]

There was a large group of American high schoolers on our cruise in the Greek Islands last June. We had booked a no frills 7 night easyCruise back in '7 for '08 but they cancelled our sailing due to the ship wasn't ready. Long story short, we got a complimentary future cruise so we booked for June '09. Okay so now easyCruise has upgraded the ship and is all inclusive (except for alcohol) so we're very happy. Then a couple of months before sailing they inform us that our 7 day is now a 4 day with 3 paid nights in Athens! All of our air and hotel plans have to change. (easyCruise was very generous with compensation!) They changed the itinerary to what used to be overnighting in the islands and sailing only during the morning to now short stops during the day and sailing over night. Totally opposite of why we booked with them in the first place, but hey, it was all free at this point.

We found out after boarding that easyCruise changed their itinerary to accomodate these school groups for the whole season! Had we known there would be a large group of teenagers on board I don't know if we would have continued with this booking but ya know what? These kids were the best behaved bunch of teenagers I've ever seen! They made me proud that they represented our country so well. There was no drunkenness or rowdy behavior. They were very well chaperoned too. They were polite and friendly and it was a joy to watch them experience the Greek Islands.

Thanks for the website to search for groups, we're relieved to see no large groups on our Enchantment sailing in October (especially those rowdy knitting ladies.) ;):D