Cruise Critic.com, anyone look for shipmates?

Question

On here I see a lot of kids (aka 16 and under) asking questions like I'm going on Carnival Imagination Sept 15. Anyone going?

Often the answers are Check out Cruisecritic.com. Now I'm a big fan of that site as well, but does anyone here ever gone on the boards to find someone that would be on the ship with them?

Why?

It's never occured to me to do so. I mean even if we send a few emails it's not like we are going to know each other. And after the first night I know a couple of people who sat at my dinner table. But I rarely end up even on the same shore excursions as my table mates. If I did know someone on the ship, we likely wouldn't see each other (even if we did have the same dining time). And bumping into each other would be highly unlikely.

So, have you ever tried to Find a Friend before the cruise and if so, why?

Answer 1

I have but it really awkward. I just do it for fun.

Answer 2

Well, when people answer a question like that to go to cruisecritic.com, do the roll call talk to people that are going on the same cruise as you, they don't just do that so that you can just talk to them online before the cruise and then never see them again. If you join a roll call for a cruise, there is a "meet & greet" where towards the beginning of your cruise you will meet at a specific location with everyone that you've been talking to onboard. If everyone in the m&g wants to do it, you can all meet back towards the end of your cruise again to talk about what you did etc. The purpose of a roll call is not just to talk to people online, it's to talk to people online and then meet them on the ship as well.

Hope this answers your question.

Answer 3

Depends on how social you want to be.

A lot of the time, these boards are used arrange a "meet and greet" on embark day or the first day out. Some lines even sponsor them.

OK, I'm not 16 but I've been to a number of M&Gs. Sometimes they work out and sometimes not. On one of the more elaborate ones, the group brought small gifts from their home states and we drew names. We still exchange Christmas cards with a few of the people that we met at that M&G and it's been years ago.

The pre-trip exchanges on the boards are a good way to start conversations because you know a little bit about each other ahead of time.

Don't hit it off, OK, we'll see you around (not)...

But if it works, it can be great. We've used it as an opportunity to check out suites we'd never see the insides of otherwise. And, sometimes it's just somebody turning you on to a place to check out and, when/if you do, you end up running into them there.

And, yeah, I acknowledge most folks that.I've met at a M&G. You do see them around on the ship and in ports, probably more often than a table mate.