Have you planned a family reunion cruise? If so, how did you get everyone informed before cruise? About This Page:

[IvyandLace]

We are booked for the November 27, 2004 Eastern cruise for family reunion cruise, and, since my mom and my younger sister are the only people who have ever cruised before, I would like to keep everyone else informed of what to expect, excursions, etc. I had actually thought of a series of emails with individual themes...one on the spa, on restaurants, one on excursions, etc. I'm just not sure where to start...there is so much information to impart!!

If you have planned a family reunion cruise, how did you get everyone informed before the cruise?? (Keep in mind, my family is spread out around the USA so a pre-cruise party will not be doable.)

Thanks in advance!
IVY

[SarahJ]

DH and I went on a cruise with his family last year (not DCL). I think we had around 30 people, maybe more, of all ages. DH's aunt was the organizer and she used e-mail to let us know what was going on, etc. We also had a couple of pre-cruise get together's that were fun. We had the advantage of all living in close proximity so the get together's were fun and easy to plan.

We had a pretty good time on the cruise, although it was pretty hectic with so many people. A lot of people just did their own thing, many went off in small groups. I think the only time we were all together was the last night when we had an area in the dining room for our whole party. After the second night, my father-in-law decided that he would reserve a big table each night in the same dining room at the same time for "his" family. So every night DH, DD, myself, DBIL, DSIL, DFIL and his girlfriend and her two kids all had dinner together which was really nice.

[JoanW]

I'd make sure each family had the Passporter Book, Cruise version, so everything they need to know is in the book.

My group is only 12 and it's in June, 2005, but I'm making lists of everything, coordinating the night before arrival, and giving everyone options for excursions.

It would be nice if you all came in the night before and stayed at the Radisson at the port, and had a meeting before the next day to talk about what to expect with check in and all the first day activities.

[IvyandLace]

Thanks for the replies!! After thinking about it for a moment, I think getting each family a Passporter to browse at their leisure would probably be the best bet. It would definitely give them all the information without having to type everything up in emails. We are, in fact, trying to convince everyone to get in a day early and stay at a Priceline hotel. We will also provided transportation to port for those who do this...so we are hoping everyone will take advantage. I know it would make my Mom (who is a bit of a worry wart) feel better to have our "group" all together when we board. My nightmere is that one of my siblings and their family will decided to just "wing" it-come in that day and meet us in port. My siblings are not the...ummm...most prompt people in the world and I definitely don't want my Palo and Spa ressies sabotaged because of their lateness...that would NOT start the vacation out in the best way!!

Any other tips out there for big groups cruising together?
IVY

[tinkeringaround]

I wouldn't recommend checking in at the same time, as you say, it can put some of you behind by a lot when it comes to on board reservations. If anyone in your party can't understand after reading passporter that they should be there ahead of time for ressies, then it would be their loss. We are having a family reunion this July, but not on a boat. There are over 70 of us getting together. You just have to remember that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. I wouldn't plan on doing too many things together as with larger groups, someone is always waiting for someone else and so on and it will get complicated and you will just end up getting frustrated. You may want to call ahead and see what you can do about sitting all together for dining, and at the very least, spending that time of the day all together. In addition, another thing you can do, is mention that on your day(S) at sea, you will be meeting by the pool at such and such time and you can even bring your own games along to make it fun. Or you can claim a day of activities and meet by the volleyball court and shuffle board and make one or two hours planned for that specifically. It can be a lot of fun. Lastly, regardless of what seating you have, plan a time before the last dinner seating to take a few family pictures in a specific place each night through the photographers on board as well as having someone take one with your own cameras. this will allow the early seaters to dine and have pictures taken before the shows, and the late seaters to watch the show and then go for pictures before meal time. Again, however, try to all have the same seating time and mention ahead of time that you would all like to sit together or as close as possible to each other. You can send emails out on where to meet for the photo ops before you sail. I wish you lots of luck. Oh yeah, perhaps you can plan some activities in the mid part of the day at castaway cay together. Again at the volleyball courts or family beach or such. Don't forget you can make your own fun, it doesn't have to only be Disney planned activities. Have a blast!!

[SarahJ]

One more thing I remembered from our family cruise was the organizer put a small dry-erase board on their cabin door and every day they listed the "family activities" dinner locations, etc. It was a great way to check and see what the group was doing and leave notes for each other, etc. Then we could decide on our own if we wanted to join the group or do something else.

[dmpyron]

I'd send out a couple of email blasts reminding people of important dates. Make sure everyone has airline reservations at by now, make sure they have transportation and hotel reservations, as appropriate, at about 90 days out. On Sept 27th, remind everyone to make their excursion reservations in a few days, then another reminder at sixty days out. Send a final email out the Friday before, just pumped full of excitement.

About the only event I'd plan for the whole group might be to meet at a particular location for the Sailaway party. And even that will be a stretch.

[Dave Marx]

You've already received a ton of great advice here. Of course, that doesn't stop me from chiming in.

If everyone's web-connected, you can use YahooGroups or Groups@AOL to keep everyone in touch. Not only does this make group e-mail discussions easy, but you can post plans online, use online datebooks, etc. However, this is still one of those horse-to-water items. It seems to work better in principle than in practice.

Cruise ships are very small "worlds." You don't have to knock yourself out to bring the group together - they'll keep tripping over each other throughout the cruise.

The larger the group, the harder it is to move it around. I'd organize no more than a handful of "everyone must be present" events. If you do nothing more, designate a spot to meet during the various sailaway/deck parties, and for a beach party at Castaway Cay. DCL will do all the hard work for you - all you have to do is show up.

Party favors and/or goody bags are a nice touch for the first day aboard/sailaway party.

Don't even think about getting folks together prior to Port Canaveral sailaway - they'll all be too busy taking care of their individual needs. I remember one frustrating group trip where we tried to get everyone together for lunch and to get a representative of each stateroom together to make Palo reservations as a group. We ended-up missing the lunch buffet and missed-out on Palo. I was ready to set a few folks adrift in life boats.

Palo reservations work much better when booking tables for four or six. Larger groups are very difficult to seat. Encourage folks to make their own Palo plans with their closest relatives, rather than try to get everyone there on the same evening. One trick - one person can book a table for four or six. So, Ron and Ronnette can play host to cousins Sal and Sally one night, then Sal and Sally can return the favor on a different night. This is the kind of tip that you can try to circulate to the group in advance - then let everyone plot their own table-mates for Palo.

If the group is large enough (and if it was booked as a group trip), you may be able to get a complimentary private reception from DCL. This is a great, painless way to gather the whole group. If you have a travel agent involved, ask the TA if this is possible.

Circulate a listing of stateroom numbers for all participants (not to mention, home and cell phone numbers if they don't already have them). When it's easy to freely communicate (stateroom phones are a wonderful tool) folks start taking on-board fun into their own hands.

Along with the dry-erase board on your stateroom door (or Post-Its, or papers refrigerator-magneted to the door), post a copy of each day's Personal Navigator, with suggested group activities highlighted. Anyone who wants to do an activity can add to the list (make sure they tell folks when and where to meet prior to the event). This kind of "anyone who wants to join me" planning seems to go down a lot better with groups than the, "I'm the organizer, and I'll tell you where you're supposed to be" plans.

And yes, do bring a supply of refrigerator magnets (just keep them away from your credit cards and Key to the World cards), because those stateroom doors are marvelously metallic.

One of the hardest things to do is to get everyone to tell you what they'd like to do most during the gathering. It's not a matter of finding one thing that everyone wants to do - that ain't gonna happen. They're all going to say, "Whatever you plan if fine by me!" But if you can pursuade each person to share one thing they particularly want to do, you'll stand a chance of anticipating their needs, or to advise them of how they can fulfill their own wish ("Golf? There's a shore excursion in St. Thomas - you may want to book that now.") If you don't make the effort (and it can be a very frustrating job), inevitably there will be a few people who complain that, "I never got to do what I really wanted to do!" Does it matter that they never said a word? No. Group leaders, like parents, are supposed to be mind readers.

Good luck!