Laurac22 Posted September 18, 2016 Report Share Posted September 18, 2016 Hi, We book the Sept 2017 group cruise on Harmony Through MEI. A very nice man named John helped me, but we really didn't discuss the group aspect of this cruise. I know that Annette was on the Freedom group cruise and was amazing with planning. My question is will one main person from MEI be handling the details of the group cruise, or will everyone continue to use the TA they booked through? We are beyond excited about this cruise!! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjac Posted September 18, 2016 Report Share Posted September 18, 2016 Not sure what/who MEI is. But, whoever you and your group book through, you want to have all of your reservation numbers linked to one person/couple from the group. If you are that person, then whatever you book for yourself (meal times, show time, excursions, etc) will also book those that are linked to your reservation number. And, no, you don't have to pay for the other folks in your group that are linked to you, they will. I would STRONGLY recommend not booking My Time Dining for a large group. We tried this earlier this year for a total of six of us on the Allure and it just did not work at all. We ended up waiting up to 30 minutes while they searched around for a table big enough to handle our group and that was for the 6:30 seating. Hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise! Jerel, Sweety and Laurac22 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerel Posted September 18, 2016 Report Share Posted September 18, 2016 Hi, We book the Sept 2017 group cruise on Harmony Through MEI. A very nice man named John helped me, but we really didn't discuss the group aspect of this cruise. I know that Annette was on the Freedom group cruise and was amazing with planning. My question is will one main person from MEI be handling the details of the group cruise, or will everyone continue to use the TA they booked through? We are beyond excited about this cruise!! Thanks! When I did the blog group cruise back in febuary there were 4 MEI agents in total on board, althouh I think 2 were there mainly to learn about Royal. It doesn't matter if John is there or not you will have a team of agents at your disposal. I was really impressed with Annette and the other agents, they were always working and never on 'vacation'. Laurac22 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerel Posted September 18, 2016 Report Share Posted September 18, 2016 Not sure what/who MEI is. But, whoever you and your group book through, you want to have all of your reservation numbers linked to one person/couple from the group. If you are that person, then whatever you book for yourself (meal times, show time, excursions, etc) will also book those that are linked to your reservation number. And, no, you don't have to pay for the other folks in your group that are linked to you, they will. I would STRONGLY recommend not booking My Time Dining for a large group. We tried this earlier this year for a total of six of us on the Allure and it just did not work at all. We ended up waiting up to 30 minutes while they searched around for a table big enough to handle our group and that was for the 6:30 seating. Hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise! MEI is the travel agency that runs the group cruises for this blog/message board. Good advice though if your organizing your own group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monorailmedic Posted September 19, 2016 Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 As Jerel mentioned, on the Allure there were several agents from MEI, including Annette who is the Operations Manager for MEI. While it isn't yet clear which agents will be on board the Harmony group cruise, what I can tell you is that your agent (in this case, John) will handle the details for your booking. A bit before the sailing you'll likely get something from MEI, possibly Annette, confirming certain details. Prior to the sailing, while you correspond with John for any needs you have, Annette and others on the team will ensure that dining arrangements are made, group activities are organized, etc. The agent(s) onboard the sailing have everyone's booking info and are there to help with any issues, special arrangements, etc - and of course help organize any group activities. I hope this clarifies things a bit. Let me know if you have any other questions. It really is a team effort, and MEI works hard to make it easy. Laurac22 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilson Posted September 19, 2016 Report Share Posted September 19, 2016 John was my MEI agent for the Sept Freedom group cruise (GC). It was a last minute decision for me and required multiple inquiries, emails and phone calls. John was very patient, professional and once I pulled the trigger he booked my cruise on a Sunday night. As you get closer to the cruise Matt will post a page with all the details of the GC activities. Onboard MEI had a printout of the daily GC activities delivered to our cabin. In addition to that, Annette delivered a "welcome note" that included her cabin number, cell phone number and the location where we could find her every morning. Although we had zero issues, she told us to contact her instead of wasting vacation time in the Guest Services line. We have never experienced this exceptional service from previous agents. I had an amazing time on the Freedom GC and look forward to booking another as soon as the 2018 date(s) are announced. Unfortunately I committed a year ago to two 2017 cruises and changes now would be too expensive. Those that booked through an agency other than MEI, will not be invited to private GC activities. I will not hesitate to use MEI in the future. Laurac22 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted September 20, 2016 Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Billy is correct, the agent you book with will manage your reservation during the entire process. THANK YOU for supporting our sponsor, MEI-Travel! Laurac22, monorailmedic and DocLC 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurac22 Posted September 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2016 Thank you everyone for your responses. That was the exact information I was looking for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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