Conferences or Events?

[Jennifer777]

Has anyone here ever planned or participated in a conference or corporate event (or anything similar) on board DCL or any other cruise line?

If so, how were they at accommodating your group? I'm in the early stages of setting up a destination conference and we would probably have around 50 - 100 attendees, so not nearly enough for a charter, this would need to be on a regularly scheduled itinerary. We would need to have scheduled trainings for it to be considered a legitimate conference for tax purposes (tax deductible cruise - yay!) so we would need a room of some sort for a portion of the day. Did you find that it was too hard to concentrate on work while on board or was there a fair balance between work and fun? Was the cruise line helpful when it came to making arrangements or was the director of your group responsible for handling every little detail? Any insight you may have would be helpful! I've started calling the cruise lines for info but would love to hear the perspective of someone who has been a participant or a planner of one as well. TIA!

 

[wilkeliza]

I'm not sure if the travel cruise type ones are handled the same way but they will rent spaces for large groups like the D Lounge or Adult Bars if nothing else is going on in the space.

 

[Toddymae]

I've done conference and have found the cruise line very accommodating if you plan 'early'. By planning early - a year out - or more is best.
DCL's ship fill up fast and with 100plus people you need to book cabins and meeting rooms.
Have a plan - number of attendees; number of meeting rooms (size and what kind of set-up you need); catering; special events you want to have and don't forget audio/visual needs. Do you need a business center? The more planing you've done ahead of time the better DCL can help you with the event.

The best advise i got was - have a detailed plan before you call, and have a responsible person who can answer questions and make decision quickly.
I learned making last minute changes drives everyone crazy -- a well thought out / detailed plan is essential.

Is being on a cruise distracting - yes! If you offer CEU's have an attendance card that gets stamped "after" the training session - not before. People will want to do excursion so plan for nothing during that day. Sea days - check what events DCL is planning and work them into your plan. We did all of our training early morning - offering breakfast (with training session) and one training session after breakfast. The rest of the day was free. Be realistic about the number of training session you can have - your attendees (if families are aboard) will want time with families. I sent a survey out to our attendees an asked question about what they would participate in and what they won't. Realistically - how many training sessions/hours do you need to have? and offer no more than that.

I hope this helps a little.
Good luck and have fun. Don't stress out - it'll be fun.

 

[MunFam]

A few years ago, we bought an entire cruise ship...turned it all inclusive and drank them out of a week's supply of liquor in 3 days. Our circumstance was a bit different since we bought the ship...but needless to say, we won't be doing another "incentive meeting at sea". Our group really prefers Mexican and South American all inclusive resort buy outs instead.

 

[Sir William]

I've done conference and have found the cruise line very accommodating if you plan 'early'. By planning early - a year out - or more is best.
DCL's ship fill up fast and with 100plus people you need to book cabins and meeting rooms.
Have a plan - number of attendees; number of meeting rooms (size and what kind of set-up you need); catering; special events you want to have and don't forget audio/visual needs. Do you need a business center? The more planing you've done ahead of time the better DCL can help you with the event.

The best advise i got was - have a detailed plan before you call, and have a responsible person who can answer questions and make decision quickly.
I learned making last minute changes drives everyone crazy -- a well thought out / detailed plan is essential.

Is being on a cruise distracting - yes! If you offer CEU's have an attendance card that gets stamped "after" the training session - not before. People will want to do excursion so plan for nothing during that day. Sea days - check what events DCL is planning and work them into your plan. We did all of our training early morning - offering breakfast (with training session) and one training session after breakfast. The rest of the day was free. Be realistic about the number of training session you can have - your attendees (if families are aboard) will want time with families. I sent a survey out to our attendees an asked question about what they would participate in and what they won't. Realistically - how many training sessions/hours do you need to have? and offer no more than that.

I hope this helps a little.
Good luck and have fun. Don't stress out - it'll be fun.

I've attended two conferences at sea and this was pretty much my experience. Because we were a large group we were provided several amenities by the cruise line such as a meeting room, a private reception, a mixology, etc. We only had sessions in the mornings on sea days. We also had several private excursions, at a reduced fee, to popular attractions and which were open to family members as well.

 

[Jennifer777]

Thank you all so much! This was so helpful! The reason I'm considering DCL (or possibly another cruise line) is because I don't want to have to worry about dining, entertainment or child care. As the organizer, the last thing I want to do is spend every waking minute on board working. I figured attendees could possibly grab breakfast and lunch at Cabanas and bring it to the conference room if nothing else. Then let everyone go entertain themselves for the rest of the day and on port days. Love the idea about the CEU cards so people aren't getting credit for classes they don't attend! I'm curious to see what kind of discounts or incentives the different cruise lines offer for participants. Thanks again!

 

[Sir William]

Thank you all so much! This was so helpful! The reason I'm considering DCL (or possibly another cruise line) is because I don't want to have to worry about dining, entertainment or child care. As the organizer, the last thing I want to do is spend every waking minute on board working. I figured attendees could possibly grab breakfast and lunch at Cabanas and bring it to the conference room if nothing else. Then let everyone go entertain themselves for the rest of the day and on port days. Love the idea about the CEU cards so people aren't getting credit for classes they don't attend! I'm curious to see what kind of discounts or incentives the different cruise lines offer for participants. Thanks again!

Contact all the cruise lines you are considering and ask to speak to the Groups department. They'll provide you guidance and information to help you decide which cruise line can best meet your requirements, what amenities they can provide for the expected sized group, and what other support they can provide. It'll help if you have a date range and possible itineraries, but they aren't necessary.

 

[Keyser]

The first time I was on DCL (or any cruise) it was a conference on the Wonder. We were on the cruise when they made the announcement (the Captain said we were the first to hear...) that they were building two more ships, if that gives you an idea of the time frame. There were probably about 150 people involved. This was an academic conference (most attendees were professors) but was sponsored by a company, who paid for almost everything. Here's a bunch of details (probably more than you want):

Our conference generally ran in the morning, stopping in time for people to get lunch, then we had the afternoon off, then we had dinner and met again at night (we had sessions going until midnight!). I, like several others, ducked out of one session to see the fireworks, then came back afterward. We started pretty early, also. It was actually pretty tiring if you didn't rest during the afternoon breaks.

At the time, the area that is now the Edge on Wonder was a meeting/conference room (actually 2 rooms if I remember, that were connected the whole time we were there). Most of the conference was in that no-longer-existing room (it was way too small when most people were coming, but people did skip some sessions, so we fit most of the time). We did have one part of a morning session in the Buena Vista Theater (the one that shows movies), and at one point we had parallel sessions, where the one I went to was in Animator's Palette. I believe the studio area was also used for a parallel session. I'm sure they had to schedule us around other on-board activities, but it felt that we had the areas very much to ourselves (and the main room was certainly "ours" for the duration).

We rotated dinners just like everyone else, but we always had a very large section of the dining room we were assigned to set aside for our group. I'm pretty sure we were the late dining rotation, since I had a chance to see the shows, and I think we went straight from dinner to the conference. I felt a little bit bad for the others in the dining room that got stuck with our group in that rotation. We had the same "sets" of servers, I think, but there was none of the "servers get to know you" sense that you get when going in a smaller group.

Having the afternoon off let us do at least part of each port stop - I basically wandered around Nassau (lots of walking), and then on Castaway Cay I had lunch and hiked along the trails. But, that was it - there was not the sense of having a whole day in a port stop in which to do whatever. You could (and some people did) plan excursions, but much less than you'd normally expect on a cruise.

Our conference actually started at Coronado Springs - people arrived one day, then we had a morning session there the next morning - bringing our luggage, then boarded Disney buses to the port, and then we got on the 3-day cruise. The plane reservations were made by the conference sponsor, so we didn't have to worry that much about arrangements. And, all the gratuities were already included in the conference, so I didn't have to worry about that.

Several people brought families with them, and they had to pay for a single room and for the additional cost (the conference otherwise put 2 people per room!). I found myself feeling guilty that I had not brought my family! At the same time, it was still a conference, and I definitely didn't have the chance to do as much as I do when I'm on a cruise for vacation. Don't plan a cruise conference thinking it will be the same fun and relaxing time that your regular cruises are. Also, as a conference attendee, you are very much "trapped". There was no Wi-Fi at the time I was there, and everyone at the conference knew you were on the ship, so there's a lot less of an ability to skip out of sessions to do work or whatever. Still, it was a pretty neat way to have a conference, and it was the impetus for us planning a family cruise a little bit later on. We're now planning our 4th family cruise this summer.

Hope that's helpful!

 

[MunFam]

I forgot to add that another reason we will not do a company cruise is because we had to deal with pre-arrivals and hotels and transportation. We flew everyone in 24-36 hours prior to sailing. About 20% missed their flights or had delays or cancellations to deal with.

I am glad we brought everyone in early, HOWEVER, this meant that I had to get a block of rooms for one night (which was a pain!) and arrange transportation from the airport to the hotel and then to the port the next day for everyone...then after our return, about half flew home that night...and the other group went back to the hotel...via our transportation...and then needed airport transportation the next day.

When we go to an all inclusive, its half the contracts and half the transportation. People were not thrilled to be "stuck on a boat" for a week either...so for the cost and amount of work we put in...we vowed to never cruise as a company again.

 

[Jennifer777]

The first time I was on DCL (or any cruise) it was a conference on the Wonder. We were on the cruise when they made the announcement (the Captain said we were the first to hear...) that they were building two more ships, if that gives you an idea of the time frame. There were probably about 150 people involved. This was an academic conference (most attendees were professors) but was sponsored by a company, who paid for almost everything. Here's a bunch of details (probably more than you want):

Our conference generally ran in the morning, stopping in time for people to get lunch, then we had the afternoon off, then we had dinner and met again at night (we had sessions going until midnight!). I, like several others, ducked out of one session to see the fireworks, then came back afterward. We started pretty early, also. It was actually pretty tiring if you didn't rest during the afternoon breaks.

At the time, the area that is now the Edge on Wonder was a meeting/conference room (actually 2 rooms if I remember, that were connected the whole time we were there). Most of the conference was in that no-longer-existing room (it was way too small when most people were coming, but people did skip some sessions, so we fit most of the time). We did have one part of a morning session in the Buena Vista Theater (the one that shows movies), and at one point we had parallel sessions, where the one I went to was in Animator's Palette. I believe the studio area was also used for a parallel session. I'm sure they had to schedule us around other on-board activities, but it felt that we had the areas very much to ourselves (and the main room was certainly "ours" for the duration).

We rotated dinners just like everyone else, but we always had a very large section of the dining room we were assigned to set aside for our group. I'm pretty sure we were the late dining rotation, since I had a chance to see the shows, and I think we went straight from dinner to the conference. I felt a little bit bad for the others in the dining room that got stuck with our group in that rotation. We had the same "sets" of servers, I think, but there was none of the "servers get to know you" sense that you get when going in a smaller group.

Having the afternoon off let us do at least part of each port stop - I basically wandered around Nassau (lots of walking), and then on Castaway Cay I had lunch and hiked along the trails. But, that was it - there was not the sense of having a whole day in a port stop in which to do whatever. You could (and some people did) plan excursions, but much less than you'd normally expect on a cruise.

Our conference actually started at Coronado Springs - people arrived one day, then we had a morning session there the next morning - bringing our luggage, then boarded Disney buses to the port, and then we got on the 3-day cruise. The plane reservations were made by the conference sponsor, so we didn't have to worry that much about arrangements. And, all the gratuities were already included in the conference, so I didn't have to worry about that.

Several people brought families with them, and they had to pay for a single room and for the additional cost (the conference otherwise put 2 people per room!). I found myself feeling guilty that I had not brought my family! At the same time, it was still a conference, and I definitely didn't have the chance to do as much as I do when I'm on a cruise for vacation. Don't plan a cruise conference thinking it will be the same fun and relaxing time that your regular cruises are. Also, as a conference attendee, you are very much "trapped". There was no Wi-Fi at the time I was there, and everyone at the conference knew you were on the ship, so there's a lot less of an ability to skip out of sessions to do work or whatever. Still, it was a pretty neat way to have a conference, and it was the impetus for us planning a family cruise a little bit later on. We're now planning our 4th family cruise this summer.

Hope that's helpful!

This was super helpful! Thank you so much for taking the time to share all these details. I didn't even think about not having wi-fi and your experience definitely makes me think a longer cruise would be needed so people would have more down time. This would be a conference for small businesses in my field that are required to have 16 hours of ongoing education each year to maintain a license. I'm thinking of just offering the 16 and then allowing everyone to do their own thing for the remainder of the cruise. Maybe some group networking activities for fun but those would be optional. The one thing I worry about with DCL is the rooms. Since participants are paying their own costs, many would want to share a room with another attendee to keep costs down. DCL rooms only have one queen bed whereas other cruise lines have the two twins that convert to a queen/king. How did they handle this for those put in a room with someone else? Was someone stuck on the couch or did they have options with two beds?

 

[Jennifer777]

I forgot to add that another reason we will not do a company cruise is because we had to deal with pre-arrivals and hotels and transportation. We flew everyone in 24-36 hours prior to sailing. About 20% missed their flights or had delays or cancellations to deal with.

I am glad we brought everyone in early, HOWEVER, this meant that I had to get a block of rooms for one night (which was a pain!) and arrange transportation from the airport to the hotel and then to the port the next day for everyone...then after our return, about half flew home that night...and the other group went back to the hotel...via our transportation...and then needed airport transportation the next day.

When we go to an all inclusive, its half the contracts and half the transportation. People were not thrilled to be "stuck on a boat" for a week either...so for the cost and amount of work we put in...we vowed to never cruise as a company again.

We would all be coming from the same state, same airport (anyone out of state would be responsible for handling their own transportation) so I was actually checking in to possibly chartering a flight or finding a way to get everyone on one or two flights the same day, same airline. I was thinking of staying at the Hyatt MCO and then using DCL transportation the next morning just to keep it simple. Ideally we would arrange flights home the day we get back so other than taking DCL transportation back to the airport, there would be no additional arrangements to make at the end of the cruise. I should check in to some all-inclusive resorts as well for comparison purposes though. I'm not 100% set on a cruise, even though I would love it, there are probably plenty of people who would rather stay on dry land. Thanks so much for sharing your perspective. Gives me more to consider and look into before I commit to anything.

 

[Sir William]

I signed up for a conference at sea but cancelled when they released the schedule and I realized we would be in sessions all day each sea day and in the evenings after dinner on port days. The only down time was for meals. There were other reasons as well but the lack of any free time as a significant factor.

If you want to do Disney, you might consider WDW. I attended a conference at the Dolphin and Swan. I arrived a few days early so I could enjoy the parks, but others went to the parks in the evenings during the conference. Family members had plenty of entertainment choices. One evening we had a private function at Sea World.

 

[FigmentSpark]

DH did a conference at WDW and they were even able to get them prime seats for the fireworks at EPCOT one night. This was a few years ago, but I think there are plenty of things that can be done for a conference that individuals don't usually get. Also, I'm pretty sure that Coronado Springs is set up for conferences, as well as Swan/Dolphin.

 

[Keyser]

The one thing I worry about with DCL is the rooms. Since participants are paying their own costs, many would want to share a room with another attendee to keep costs down. DCL rooms only have one queen bed whereas other cruise lines have the two twins that convert to a queen/king. How did they handle this for those put in a room with someone else? Was someone stuck on the couch or did they have options with two beds?

I thought I had replied to this, but I don't see it now. The way it worked on the Wonder was that the bed DID split into two twins (or near-twins). The nightstands that are normally on the outside were moved in between the two beds (can't remember if it was one nightstand or two that was in betwen). The room they had us in was a Cat. 9 on deck 2, in case that matters. I've only sailed on the Wonder/Magic - I wonder if the beds are (or were) different there than on the Dream/Fantasy?

In any case, Disney was certainly helping with coordination of the conference, so I imagine you could call DCL up and speak to someone who could answer all that sort of question.