7/14/2014 - 12-Night Mediterranean Cruise (with Greece) Venice to Barcelona

[LovesToRun]

Good morning, everyone!

Quick question on which I need advice. Many of you have joined our FB page and I have been accepting new members whenever anyone has asked to be a member of our group. However, I became aware over the weekend that there are people who joined our group who are not going on our cruise.

I'm not sure how to handle this. Several of my friends who are active on the DIS and FB have told me about problems this kind of situation has created in the past. They say people participate in conversations and voice opinions on stuff, sometimes vocally, and if someone is not keeping track of whether the opinionated poster is on the sailing, decisions may be made based on the opinions of people who aren't even on the cruise. One friend said that some of the problems her FB group experienced with non-sailors were even more significant. All of these friends have suggested we make our group "private" and accept new members only if the person is on our cruise, and leave the more general conversations for this thread and others on the DIS.

What do you all think?

When you say make our group "private", do you mean that the current settings on this Facebook group is public, meaning anyone can see what we are writing (ie, you don't need to be a member to view what we are writing)? If that is the case, this group should for sure be private (only members can view and see the activity).

On my last cruise meet, when I requested to join the FB group, I was required to write a message to the person who set up the FB group before my request was accepted, and in that message, I just wrote who I was and confirmed I was on this cruise so the administrator knew I was a legit person asking to be added to the group. I also know that group was totally private.

I think you could do a couple things here: 1) just delete the FB group and start over (yes a pain, but this would weed out those who don't belong there, and the new FB group would be private from the beginning, and you could set it up so people who want to join have to send you a private message to confirm they are indeed on this cruise -- and don't accept their membership request until they are confirmed they are on this cruise) or 2) keep the FB group as is, but make it private, and if you do know who is part of the FB group who shouldn't be there, do you have the ability to delete their membership to this group... if so, just delete those people from the group. But, I don't know if you can do that or how that works.

Thanks for looking into this, and for being the administrator.

 

[denise]

I agree with you....it should be private...only for those on our cruise....

Good morning, everyone!

Quick question on which I need advice. Many of you have joined our FB page and I have been accepting new members whenever anyone has asked to be a member of our group. However, I became aware over the weekend that there are people who joined our group who are not going on our cruise.

I'm not sure how to handle this. Several of my friends who are active on the DIS and FB have told me about problems this kind of situation has created in the past. They say people participate in conversations and voice opinions on stuff, sometimes vocally, and if someone is not keeping track of whether the opinionated poster is on the sailing, decisions may be made based on the opinions of people who aren't even on the cruise. One friend said that some of the problems her FB group experienced with non-sailors were even more significant. All of these friends have suggested we make our group "private" and accept new members only if the person is on our cruise, and leave the more general conversations for this thread and others on the DIS.

What do you all think?

 

[keenercam]

I have made it private so that someone searching can find the group and see the members but not the posts. However, I am reluctant to delete anyone who is already a member there but not on our cruise. I feel like that would make me a meanie.

 

[esther1403]

I think to make FB private is the best idea. We have it like that in my other cruises and it was ok, no problems at all, lots of fun and really good ideas. I don,t like DIS, I find FB more personal, more fun, more quick, but I would like to know if FB group is going to be active or not? Maybe you guys don't like FB.

 

[keenercam]

I think to make FB private is the best idea. We have it like that in my other cruises and it was ok, no problems at all, lots of fun and really good ideas. I don,t like DIS, I find FB more personal, more fun, more quick, but I would like to know if FB group is going to be active or not? Maybe you guys don't like FB.

I like FB and am on almost every day, even if only briefly. I am part of the WISH racing team based on the DISBoards, and many of us keep in touch on Facebook.

Having said that, I understand that some people posting on this thread do not use FB, so I didn't want anyone excluded by having people migrate there.

 

[mstee777]

I know that we've had a lot of people drop off of this cruise and will likely have more since we are still so far out. I did a private group for my extended family for a cruise we all went on. As family members dropped, we kept them in the group. But once the PIF date passed, we dropped anyone who was not confirmed. That is when the real planning started and anyone not going no longer had a need to know.

I have not joined the FB group yet. Is there a lot going on over there?

 

[keenercam]

I have had a series of PMs here and some contacts on FB from people. The unanimous consensus (not just majority) is that the group should be limited to people on our cruise. Originally, I received advice of not having the dates in the description because it would be apparent that the members of the group would not be in their homes during the cruise dates, so there were security concerns. EEK!

So, my solution, in order to do what people what me to do, is that as new people ask to join, I'll ask them if they are booked on this sailing. If they are, I'll make them members. If not, I'll let them know it is limited to people on this sailing. I won't delete anyone who is already a member.

Sound okay?

 

[LovesToRun]

I have had a series of PMs here and some contacts on FB from people. The unanimous consensus (not just majority) is that the group should be limited to people on our cruise. Originally, I received advice of not having the dates in the description because it would be apparent that the members of the group would not be in their homes during the cruise dates, so there were security concerns. EEK!

So, my solution, in order to do what people what me to do, is that as new people ask to join, I'll ask them if they are booked on this sailing. If they are, I'll make them members. If not, I'll let them know it is limited to people on this sailing. I won't delete anyone who is already a member.

Sound okay?

I think this idea works great. Like I said in an earlier post, at a previous dis meet FB group, the administrator required people to say who they were (on Dis Boards... their dis screen name, to make sure it wasn't just some random person who found this group on facebook pretending to be part of the cruise meet), and confirm they were on the cruise, so this made it so everyone on the FB page was only part of our cruise. I think it worked well...

Is there a way to hide the FB group members rather than make that public? In other words, keep the title of the group public (so people can search to find it), but make that the only thing public, and the only people who can see the members are members themselves? That would take care of the security issue you mentioned... It seems like there should be a way to hide the members of the group. You can do that on a regular facebook page (make it so all of your friends are only visible to your fb friends, so that way anyone searching for you does not have the ability to see who your "friends" are).

Thanks for doing all of this.

 

[keenercam]

I think this idea works great. Like I said in an earlier post, at a previous dis meet FB group, the administrator required people to say who they were (on Dis Boards... their dis screen name, to make sure it wasn't just some random person who found this group on facebook pretending to be part of the cruise meet), and confirm they were on the cruise, so this made it so everyone on the FB page was only part of our cruise. I think it worked well...

Is there a way to hide the FB group members rather than make that public? In other words, keep the title of the group public (so people can search to find it), but make that the only thing public, and the only people who can see the members are members themselves? That would take care of the security issue you mentioned... It seems like there should be a way to hide the members of the group. You can do that on a regular facebook page (make it so all of your friends are only visible to your fb friends, so that way anyone searching for you does not have the ability to see who your "friends" are).

Thanks for doing all of this.

These are the three options:
Open -- Anyone can see the group, who's in it, and what members post..

Closed -- Anyone can see the group and who's in it. Only members see posts.

Secret --Only members see the group, who's in it, and what members post.

------------------------

For right now, I put it at "secret". I think the link in this DIS thread will still take a person to the page, but it will say that it is a secret group and will give the person the option of asking to be a member. I can't test that theory because FB "sees" me as a member already.

Is there anyone here who is not yet a member of the FB group? If so, perhaps you could follow this link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/medmagicjuly/

and see if it works. LOL! This is more complicated than it should be, isn't it?

 

[vacationsitis]

Thanks Keenercam, for managing the FB page. Appreciate all the work you put in to administer the group.

 

[Lynn G]

I have had a series of PMs here and some contacts on FB from people. The unanimous consensus (not just majority) is that the group should be limited to people on our cruise. Originally, I received advice of not having the dates in the description because it would be apparent that the members of the group would not be in their homes during the cruise dates, so there were security concerns. EEK!

So, my solution, in order to do what people what me to do, is that as new people ask to join, I'll ask them if they are booked on this sailing. If they are, I'll make them members. If not, I'll let them know it is limited to people on this sailing. I won't delete anyone who is already a member.

Sound okay?

These are the three options:
Open -- Anyone can see the group, who's in it, and what members post..

Closed -- Anyone can see the group and who's in it. Only members see posts.

Secret --Only members see the group, who's in it, and what members post.

------------------------

For right now, I put it at "secret". I think the link in this DIS thread will still take a person to the page, but it will say that it is a secret group and will give the person the option of asking to be a member. I can't test that theory because FB "sees" me as a member already.

Is there anyone here who is not yet a member of the FB group? If so, perhaps you could follow this link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/medmagicjuly/

and see if it works. LOL! This is more complicated than it should be, isn't it?

If I understand correctly, "secret" means you cannot see the group if you are searching on FB for a group, which would work if we are saying someone needs to be on here (and therefore will see the link) before going to the FB group. I probably spend equal time on both DIS and FB, but I seem to post here more often than on FB.

To those who are not on FB, in the past, folks on both make sure anything posted on FB is posted here and visa versa, so, other than conversation, you will not miss anything important by not being on FB.

Cam - Thanks to you to take the administration of the FB site.

 

[SailingSeas]

Keener, first of all, huge hugs. It's hard captaining a ship, and one with sailors from all over the world, becomes difficult.

Secondly, I am not a member of the page, and this is what I see:

"Sorry, this page isn't available

The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed."

I can see the link, it does not go 401 on me, and I can search for the group.

I chose not to be a member of the Facebook group, mainly because of the incredible lack of control over privacy issues, and the rising problems of 'phishing' and email security concerns. If I see one more SHARE showing Dr. Oz treating Rachel Ray's problems by my dad's account, I'm going to scream. I'm happy to hear you are considering keeping it private. Then again, i'm not a member, so feel I really don't have a right to have much of an opinion in the matter.

As a side note, if the only way it is found, is by this Disboards link, then that helps you keep only our cabin neighbors sign up for it, right?

Again, thank you.

 

[danfromca]

I also don't see it. Didn't even realize until now that there is a Facebook group . Let me know when there's a way to join again...

Dan

Keener, first of all, huge hugs. It's hard captaining a ship, and one with sailors from all over the world, becomes difficult.

Secondly, I am not a member of the page, and this is what I see:

"Sorry, this page isn't available

The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed."

I can see the link, it does not go 401 on me, and I can search for the group.

I chose not to be a member of the Facebook group, mainly because of the incredible lack of control over privacy issues, and the rising problems of 'phishing' and email security concerns. If I see one more SHARE showing Dr. Oz treating Rachel Ray's problems by my dad's account, I'm going to scream. I'm happy to hear you are considering keeping it private. Then again, i'm not a member, so feel I really don't have a right to have much of an opinion in the matter.

As a side note, if the only way it is found, is by this Disboards link, then that helps you keep only our cabin neighbors sign up for it, right?

Again, thank you.

 

[keenercam]

I also don't see it. Didn't even realize until now that there is a Facebook group . Let me know when there's a way to join again...

Dan

Dan - Send me a PM here with your facebook user name, and I will add you to the group.


If anyone else on here wants to join the Facebook Group, I am not sure how to do it other than for you to send me a PM here or a PM there (Cam Piscopo Keener) and give me your user name so that I can add you to the group.

 

[Lynn G]

Dan, the link in the above post worked for me, but then, I am already a member of the group. If the link does not work, get ahold of Cam, she is in charge.

 

[Lynn G]

I see that Cam already responded to Dan while I was trying to figure out how to post from my new iPad.

 

[SailingSeas]

Cam, can I make a suggestion (if you've not already done this) to update your first post where you talk about setting up a Facebook group with how to sign on? This thread will grow, and at least that information would be on the first page or three of it and not buried in the dark caverns where folks don't read.

Another idea may be to add it to your signature, or send a PM to GUSDMH to add it to his first post - he still logs in from time to time, that may help.

 

[SailingSeas]

The hotels for pre-night options have dropped into the system, both are Starwood hotels. They are:

Westin Europa & Regina, Venice

Hotel Danieli

Europa is at the junction of the Grand Canal and the other one that I can never remember the name of. Danieli is further along the water on the Grand Canal, away from the mouth of the island-splitting canal.

hope this helps - totally limited availability, so be sure to call if you want it. It was about $1,100 for a 2-night prestay for me.

 

[mstee777]

Hello all, l have a silly question. Ive been reading med cruise trip reports and have not seen anything about a pirate night or party. Do they not do pirate night on med cruises? Fireworks?

 

[LovesToRun]

Hello all, l have a silly question. Ive been reading med cruise trip reports and have not seen anything about a pirate night or party. Do they not do pirate night on med cruises? Fireworks?

Yes, they do! They did pirate night the evening of Mykonos on this past July Med cruise. It was all the same as the do on all their other cruises. We loved it! And, they did the buffet afterwards, too.

They also had a Greek party (it was nothing compared to the pirate party at all... was much smaller, much less elaborate (no food or buffet), but was still really fun, and people were dressed up in togas they did it on deck 9, and it was really fun). I think it was in the late afternoon (I forget which day they did it).

So I'm guessing they will do the Greek party also on this cruise.