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Location: Scott County, Tennessee/by way of Detroit
3,352 posts, read 2,814,112 times
Reputation: 10348
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I got on Cruise Critic for my first cruise.in 2013... The people were so fun sounding.. We had a meet and greet..slot pull and Super Bowl squares...people were fun...as they purported...still talk to one girl...
This last cruise Feb 2015.... the Cruise Critic was pretty active..people were asking for a roll call of everyone... I did that...got everyone's names and hometowns on the
Iist....kept updating it when stragglers joined... Someone that I was traveling with was going to have name tags and beads to wear to tell it was CC PEOPLE.... BECAUSE SOMEONE ELSE.SUGGESTED IT.......Going to meet at a specified area..Talking amongst everyone ON CC about sharing excursions....On the date that was planned like 4 out of this huge list of people over 120 showed up at the meeting place
..I have no idea if they met with these people they were supposed to share cabs with or go on excursions with...this one guy was a cook and was on this cooking show on TV...told everybody onCC and I watched the show. I recognized him and called out his CC name. On the Lido Deck.....talked for 5 mins and said he'd meet us at the meet and greet...Never showed...
Like all these big talkers...and no one has gotten back on to share their experience or validate they had fun....What is your experience if you have been on Cruise Critic? Met people.?.... Cruised with people you met.?..met weirdos?....got back on after to ask about people.that they had been talking to for a year.....just wondering....What is your take on Cruise Critic?
I have been a member for many years, and yes, I enjoy CC.... I read threads almost every day. We have many cruises under our belts and as many people do, we usually join the roll calls. We have attended quite a few meet and greet functions and have met many wonderful people over the years. We even stay in touch with a few of them from all over the country.
We did one of those Royal Caribbean Meet and Mingle things, ho hum. We met one couple on a cruise that we stayed in touch with for a few months, but that was it. We went on another cruise on a small ship where we met about a dozen people who have become friends for life--and cruised with two of the couples again on another small ship a couple of years later. We found that on the small ships we had more in common with other passengers as far as our demographics and interests, and due to the intimacy it was easier to meet and get to know others.
CruiseCritic forums is to cruises as FlyerTalk forums is to frequent flyer programs - the one stop shop for information from fellow users. You don't have to do the roll-call bit, lurking and using the search engine to gain info is fine.
The best use of the "roll-call" feature is to organize excursions off-ship to save on the cruise line excursions. You can get 3 or 4 couples to organize a tour with a local tour agency at a fraction of the cost of the cruise line excursion. I did this once, saved a bunch of money. So yeah we met people, none of them weirdo's, the cruise critic board tends to attract an older and more prosperous poster. You can of course "vett" them out by seeing how many posts they have. Otherwise I just don't get into socializing with strangers - name tags and beads, not for me; but I would do it again as a business arrangement of sorts to save on excursion fees.
RCCL I think will set up a social event for CruiseCritic members if they have enough members on a cruise that sign up.
I have been part of CC since 2001 or 02. We always take part in some of the activities, but yes, there are active groups and those who are not. We had a bomb group a few cruises ago. Only about 12 showed up for the M&G out of about 50 that said they would be there. Of the 12, I think 6 were from our family. I know 4 were. It is always a crap shot,but I think, basically they go off well. CC itself is a wonderful way to learn about cruising, the ship you are taking and other aspects of the cruise world. The important thing for many to realize, don't take everything you read, pro or con, on CC too seriously. Also, how successful the group is sometimes does depend on the cruise and the line. I am still in contact with a couple we met at our first M&G in 2002.
CruiseCritic forums is to cruises as FlyerTalk forums is to frequent flyer programs - the one stop shop for information from fellow users. You don't have to do the roll-call bit, lurking and using the search engine to gain info is fine.
The best use of the "roll-call" feature is to organize excursions off-ship to save on the cruise line excursions. You can get 3 or 4 couples to organize a tour with a local tour agency at a fraction of the cost of the cruise line excursion. I did this once, saved a bunch of money. So yeah we met people, none of them weirdo's, the cruise critic board tends to attract an older and more prosperous poster. You can of course "vett" them out by seeing how many posts they have. Otherwise I just don't get into socializing with strangers - name tags and beads, not for me; but I would do it again as a business arrangement of sorts to save on excursion fees.
RCCL I think will set up a social event for CruiseCritic members if they have enough members on a cruise that sign up.
I think all the lines now do this: I know Celebrity, RCI, HAL, Carnival,Princess and NCL cruisers can arrange for M&GS. NCL will have several management heads of Dept at the M&G. Always the hotel manager, the guest service manager, house keeping and the restaurant manager attend and answer questions.
CruiseCritic forums is to cruises as FlyerTalk forums is to frequent flyer programs - the one stop shop for information from fellow users. You don't have to do the roll-call bit, lurking and using the search engine to gain info is fine.
The best use of the "roll-call" feature is to organize excursions off-ship to save on the cruise line excursions. You can get 3 or 4 couples to organize a tour with a local tour agency at a fraction of the cost of the cruise line excursion. I did this once, saved a bunch of money. So yeah we met people, none of them weirdo's, the cruise critic board tends to attract an older and more prosperous poster. You can of course "vett" them out by seeing how many posts they have. Otherwise I just don't get into socializing with strangers - name tags and beads, not for me; but I would do it again as a business arrangement of sorts to save on excursion fees.
RCCL I think will set up a social event for CruiseCritic members if they have enough members on a cruise that sign up.
I remember one person who was trying to insist that everyone on their Roll Call needed to buy and wear this horrible t-shirt to their M&G. That in itself would make me simply cancel the cruise rather than have to be around someone like that. Ugh.
I tried that CC meet-and-greet after declaring myself king of our group, and making one of those king hats before making a grand entrance and those phonies made like it didn't count and refused to pay their respects or buy me any drinks.
I tried that CC meet-and-greet after declaring myself king of our group, and making one of those king hats before making a grand entrance and those phonies made like it didn't count and refused to pay their respects or buy me any drinks.
My smile for the day.. Thanks for making this thread a fun one. M&Gs can be fun or a pain. The 2 that were the worst for us, were 2 that were actually to well attended. One was our last cruise; it was a repo and several in the group had done the same cruise (from tampa to Boston) several times. There must have been 150 people there, many knew each other, it was almost impossible to get to know anyone. The other, was a Princess cruise. It was also well attended and again, a lot of them knew each other. It wasn't as bad as the one last year, but people who cruise Princess often think they are something very special. We just didn't feel all that welcome.
Location: Scott County, Tennessee/by way of Detroit
3,352 posts, read 2,814,112 times
Reputation: 10348
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghengis
I tried that CC meet-and-greet after declaring myself king of our group, and making one of those king hats before making a grand entrance and those phonies made like it didn't count and refused to pay their respects or buy me any drinks.
You would have been a hit with us.....
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