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Large group on board ever affected your cruise?


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I just returned from a cruise on Brilliance of the Seas and have to say it was hands down the worst cruise I have ever experienced.

 

Now let me say that I still had a good time, but out of 9 cruises this was the worst overall experience.

 

There was  large church group on board, just under 800 out of about 2100 cruisers. As a result the overall vibe of the ship was defn affected.

 

The short and sweet was that the restaurants/buffets were very very busy and the bars and clubs were very  very dead.

 

It felt like the whole ship was affected by this group. Just little things here and there but overall something that many people I spoke with commented on.

 

I have nothing against a church group or any group that wants to cruise...they paid their money so they can do what they want.

 

But I have to say that if it had been my first experience cruising or with Royal, I probably would have had no interest in ever doing a cruise again.

 

 

Anyone else run into this type of thing on a cruise before?

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Sorry to hear about your experience.

 

I think it's largely impossible to cruise these days without there being some groups onboard.  Granted, how large the group is does vary, but I never had the kind of negative experience you described.  

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Well I am guessing due to their beliefs they did not dance or drink or visit any bars.

 

So they mostly hung out in the dinning areas. Often for hours I am sure as the tables had no food on them. Often I had to give up looking for a table and come back later or just leave my plate of food.

 

When they did visit an event it made it hard to get a good seat or a seat at all as there were so many of them in the group.

 

It also cut down on the amount of ppl at the bars and nightclubs when you subtract 33% of the boat right off the bat that doesn't visit those places.

 

I made the best of it...but I have ZERO interest on ever being on a cruise like that again.

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I really believe people need to make the cruise into their own cruise. While a very large group like this could have a impact on the cruise I would not change anything I do to accommodate them. Let them have their cruise and I have my cruise. If you like to go into the bars I would think having less people in them would be a benefit. I could see some problems with things like dinning in Windjammer if they stayed at the tables all the time but can be worked around and always have other options.

 

But if you were not happy I would still make it know to Guest Services and your credit card provider. 

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Sorry that you had a less than stellar experience.

 

I'm not sure whether or not there were groups onboard when we were on the Brilliance in Norway and Iceland, but they had statements in the Cruise Compass asking people not to essentially camp at tables in the WJ for this exact reason.

 

I've heard places like Walt Disney World hotels can also be greatly affected when large groups are booked there as well.  Have you been to Disney on a marathon weekend?  Crazy!

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Sorry that you had a less than stellar experience.

 

I'm not sure whether or not there were groups onboard when we were on the Brilliance in Norway and Iceland, but they had statements in the Cruise Compass asking people not to essentially camp at tables in the WJ for this exact reason.

 

I've heard places like Walt Disney World hotels can also be greatly affected when large groups are booked there as well. Have you been to Disney on a marathon weekend? Crazy!

I ran the disney marathon! That isn't as bad as when all the pop warner sports teams invade the all star resorts! Jane

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I always make the best of a situation and rarely complain.

 

But I could not do anything about the situation on this cruise. Tables were taken for hours on end by people not eating. I know windjammer is busy and expect that...but once you walk around 4-5 times and no tables, not much you can do. Really no choice but to come back and hope they are gone eventually.

 

As for the bars being dead...when they have live music and there is no one in the whole bar or 1 couple cuddling in the corner, its not fun at all to sit there by yourself. Or a dance floor with no one on it etc.

 

I was not complaining about pool chairs being taken or long waits for snacks or trying to find a seat at shows etc.....those happen every cruise.

 

My point was that in 9 cruises and many that had groups on them I have never really been affected.

 

It was simply due to the size of the this group and the type of group they were that negatively impacted the food service and bar experience imho.

 

Rant done....lol.

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My point was that in 9 cruises and many that had groups on them I have never really been affected.

 

It was simply due to the size of the this group and the type of group they were that negatively impacted the food service and bar experience imho.

 

Rant done....lol.

I can understand where you're coming from and it's like you said, you had 9 other cruises and no problem but this one impacted you.

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