Do you post on the cruise meets thread for your upcoming cruise?

[pdarrah]

I found the DISBoard last year right after I booked our first cruise! I think I lurked for about 2 days and then jumped right in. However, I have been involved in online communities for a long time (including a Compuserve forum where we had an annual meet at WDW) so maybe I'm a little crazier than most!

We actually met a few lurkers on our cruise last year. They had lurked on our meet thread but never posted. We happened to be in line next to some and then my DH met another at the wine tasting. I guess some people are very nervous about posting online and arranging to meet "strangers". Given all the negative news the media bombards us with, I can sort of understand this attitude - BUT, we have had only GOOD experiences in meeting on-line friends. Yes, we don't necessarily become best friends with everyone we meet on line! But, we usually get along well enough to all enjoy ourselves and some of our on-line friends are fantastic.

pdarrah

 

[Jsme]

I have to say I have not been too lucky with much chat on our post on the cruise meet section. I have only really spoke to one person. Only three have posted.

On another board I was able to find and meet a great couple while at the world two weeks ago. I feel like I have made a great friend in Brooke. We stayed at the same resort (POFQ). We rode Tot together with our jer new Dh and my DH and DS. We bought the picture and I am so glad I have it. If I never see her again at least I have the picture. We email at least a couple of times a week. I have meet a couple of other friends on that board and we email at least once a week. DH thought I was nuts but he had as much fun as I need when meeting Brooke and Ian. I hope the thread for our cruise n September picks up. I so look forward to meeting a fella diser. I have yet to have a reply to my 11/05/06 thread.

 

[CruisingCA2005]

When did the cruisemeets board start? I first came to the DIS (under SimplyTiggerrific) in 2001 in preparation for our 1st WDW/DCL vacation.

I participated in our Cruise meets thread for our recent cruise and we were fortunate to meet many of the DISers onboard last week. We went on excursions with other DIS families and had a grand time. I think we were a fun group & I hope we didn't scare anyone away from posting. I can see how pages and pages of posts can be a bit intimidating to a new DISer though.

 

[mamalle]

you don't post on the cruise meets board for your cruise - why? I havent yet for either cruise

Is it too much fluff? havent actually seen the same date as we are sailing

Do you feel like you don't fit in? nope

Do you think we are all nuts? nope

Is the cruise really just for you and your family and you don't want to be part of a larger group? I think the 4 day was just for the 4 of us. it was such a short period of time but hoping for the 7 day there will be kids my kids ages for them to play with.



For those of you who do post - why?
always gaining info and wanting to give me view of things from our experience to help out others..

 

[Disney Fans]

I don't want to seem neg. either but I too tried to chat some on the May 27th 2006 Double Dip Cruise chat board but no one ever really tried to talk back or to get to know me and there are so many pages and pages of reading of more personal issues rather then talk about the upcoming cruise that I gave up checking to see if someone ever wrote back -( I think it has become a bit clickish (which I don't think they are trying to be that why its just so much past inside info that goes on and on and on that I don't think many people at this point could fit in and join) and so I gave up talking to discuss or meet anyone futher and thats why I didn't send any more info about me because I thought whats the use.

 

[SchultzFamily]

For our first cruise I started a cruise meet thread with very little participation. We never even met on board. It was my family's first cruise and I never even thought to set up a meeting. I did learn lots of valuable info on these boards though.
Now for our second cruise we have a very active group! I've been a part of the group for almost a year now and some of the others even longer. We've already linked our dining and we're very excited about finally meeting in person after knowing each other for so long now! Its so funny to talk about these friends to other people then try to explain that I haven't even met these friends yet!
Vickie

 

[WDWLVR]

I don't want to seem neg. either but I too tried to chat some on the May 27th 2006 Double Dip Cruise chat board but no one ever really tried to talk back or to get to know me and there are so many pages and pages of reading of more personal issues rather then talk about the upcoming cruise that I gave up checking to see if someone ever wrote back -( I think it has become a bit clickish (which I don't think they are trying to be that why its just so much past inside info that goes on and on and on that I don't think many people at this point could fit in and join) and so I gave up talking to discuss or meet anyone futher and thats why I didn't send any more info about me because I thought whats the use.

Disney Fans - sorry to hear you feel that way. I know whenever someone new comes on the thread at least one of us (if not more) try and welcome them. Which I believe we did with you. I've sent you a pm.

 

[justmestace]

Thought I'd add a little note....when I first made our reservations for the 10 Night Christmas cruise, I looked at the thread.....I signed on so late, that they must have had over 100 pages! I didn't think I could ever "catch up" or become part of the "group".......but I'm glad I hung in there. I've made some amazing friendships because of that thread. And I thought they all knew eachother, from the way that they talked....none had met before! It is very hard, if there are people on the thread who have already cruised together and have a past history.....but you just have to jump in with both feet!

 

[Aurora's Mommy]

...there are so many pages and pages of reading of more personal issues rather then talk about the upcoming cruise....

I have been lurking on the 8/19/06 cruise meet thread, it's up to, like, 250 pages, there seems to be a core group who know each other, and I kind of feel like I would be interupting!?

The other thing is, the DIS boards MOVE SO QUICKLY! I can't get on that often, so if I post, it might be a day or two before I can get back on. By that time, I'm digging back through time, trying to find my post to see if I got any responses.

I hope these comments do not come off as either negative or a complaint. I get lots of information lurking, I really do enjoy reading the boards, and I am occasionally inspired to post. The funny thing is, my DH, the EXTREME extrovert, who cannot even read a newspaper by himself, thinks the boards are nuts, yet, if he thought about it, he would love to meet people who will be on the cruise with us. For me, the introvert, I'm looking forward to parking on a deck chair on deck 4, with my nose in a book!

 

[scrappy910]

I think the thing you have to do on the cruise meets threads is to post more than once or twice. Sometimes it may seem the group is all long time friends, but for the most part they have just met on the thread and through posting regularly become "disney friends". I have also noticed that some sailings have a lot of posts and then others are a bit slower. Notice the repo thread for August - nothing posted since this am, yet member cruise thread has had continuous posts. Guess some groups are just more talkative. And who says you can only post on cruises you are going on. I am not able to go on the member cruise (just getting back from the repo cruise the day before) but I have still lurked and posted on the member cruise thread. So far they haven't kicked me off

Carol

 

[kikipug]

I think the thing you have to do on the cruise meets threads is to post more than once or twice.

Exactly!

there are so many pages and pages of reading of more personal issues rather then talk about the upcoming cruise

Honestly, I think that this is just our way of getting to know each other better. With the cruise still being so far off, there's only so much that we can talk about in terms of dinner rotations/excursions/etc., so we pass the time by conversing back and forth about 'stuff'. This, in turn, will give us plenty to talk about with our new friends once we are on board. Instead of the first night at dinner being the "Where ya from, whaddya do" conversation, it will be more like old friends catching up.

I hope that you'll come back to the thread and join us!

 

[mickeymo]

this will be our 2nd cruise on DCL - the first time - I introduced our family on our cruise thread - but, didn't do much posting. Just enough to find new friends for my daughter to e-mail before she sailed to ease her transition into the club since big brother was going into the lab. I spent most of my time lurking on the main board picking up tips and ideas. My main focus was learning as much as I could about DCL

For our 2nd cruise the upcoming 5/27/06 Double Scoop - we booked in February and introduced ourselves on the meet thread...It was already up to a huge amount of pages. I just took a deep breath and jumped in right wherever they were didn't even bother to try and start from the beginning.

On our meet thread, Mary, has graciously put together a web page - it is really handy to refer to, especially at the beginning, because then I could keep everyone straight - and make more of a connection.

I agree with Karen, for the cruises that are so far in advance it's tough to keep the conversations strictly to cruise issues - and especially for the special itineraries- there isn't much information on the "double scoop" cruises, yet so, there's not much to discuss cruise-wise ...there is such a wide range of cruise knowledge and experience that if there's a question - someone will find the answer either on a meet thread or on the main boards...

Get involved however much or as little as you want - Your vacation will still be magical!!

 

[NoWorriesMate]

our first cruise i just lurked. however on the ship i did end up meeting a couple of DISers when i recognised their names on their door signs and then ran into them as they left the room one day. it was really nice to say hi.

so this time i have got involved in the cruise meet.
out group is very active and i joined late so there was already a core group and a lot of "fluff" non DCL talk, however they made me really welcome.
i look forward to reading it each day and meeting the members.
also the "fluff" is actually really great because it allows you to actually get to know about the people and their lives and families - as friends should.

so to anyone who is not sure if they should Just Do It
if you have tried but been lost in the rush Just Do It Again

it is worth it

 

[logan1_2000]

Found these boards on a google search I suppose, prior to our first DCL cruise over three years ago. I got a lot of helpful info. I try to post if there is an item I have experience with, because hearing others' experiences has been helpful. and a larger sampling size can yield more valid results (hey, I must have been awake in Stats that day 20 years ago!).

did have some success with a cruise meet board for the Jan 16, 2005 Wonder we went on. Found out (too late?) that I am booked on Cruisetoberfest for 10/14/06--that thread is very full of an established community that posts about their daily trips to the grocery store, dr's visits, etc.--which just seems more appropriate for a Yahoo group, not a cruise meet board. But I am apparently in the minority for that cruise, so the thread is what it is, and I may try, closer to the cruise, to see if there is going to be a meet that will be appropriate for an "outsider" to attend.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

Because of this post, I discovered the Cruise meets thread. Thanks so much!!!

 

[dzneprincess]

I don't want to seem neg. either but I too tried to chat some on the May 27th 2006 Double Dip Cruise chat board but no one ever really tried to talk back or to get to know me .

DisneyFans, I am sorry you felt I did not try to make an effort to get to know you. I really try to answer everyone that posts...I hope you will give it another try In fact, there are a few DISers who posted in the early stages of the thread that have been missing for awhile. I hope they do not feel the way you do. I wish everyone would stop in and say hi once in a awhile and let us know how they are doing.

 

[Hygiene99]

Found out (too late?) that I am booked on Cruisetoberfest for 10/14/06--that thread is very full of an established community that posts about their daily trips to the grocery store, dr's visits, etc.--which just seems more appropriate for a Yahoo group, not a cruise meet board. But I am apparently in the minority for that cruise, so the thread is what it is, and I may try, closer to the cruise, to see if there is going to be a meet that will be appropriate for an "outsider" to attend.

You are not an outsider the people who are on the cruisetoberfest cruise Will welcome you!!!!


Every Cruise this group Grows in size....
Im sure You will Be welcomed We are all nice people Just Ask us..

Peter

 

[arlenesp]

So far noone has replied to my Sept 8,05 post. Did find someone who was going on the reg threads but got the impression they weren't interested in going any further.

On my Jan cruise, our group was very active posting and such but noone really set a meet date, and quite frankly on the shorter cruises I think you"re trying to cram so much in, there really isn't that much free time.
When we got back everyone apologized as to not meeting.

 

[Dancind]

I know exactly how a couple of you feel here. My first cruise meets thread was for a cruise in Oct. 2002. Not a real active thread, we met a couple of people on the cruise, shared dinner at Palo with one couple, and that was about it.

Then we booked the 10 day Dec. 2004 cruise, and I posted to that thread early on, about 20 months before we actually sailed. I checked in about every other day, posted sporadically, and pretty soon I felt like an outsider too. People were chatting away about all sorts of stuff, planning meets, and joking away with each other. I quit posting, and really did feel like an outsider. I think maybe I even pouted.

Then one day, I decided "to heck with it, this is my cruise too!" So I kind of forced myself to keep up with the thread, and post at least a couple of times a day whether I felt like I had anything to say or not. Pretty soon, the folks there started to know who I was, and I was in on the jokes. It was actually a good bit of work, keeping up with that thread.

The result? Well, my DH started posting too, since I kept telling him stories about the crazy people on the thread. Now he posts more than I do. We had several pre-cruise meets, we ate dinner with people that felt like old friends, my DD had friends when she got on board. My DH and DD found dive buddies, and I found some friends to do excursions with while they were diving. We wound up making plans for many of us to cruise together again! That would be the May 27, 2006 cruise.

And guess what? We're making more new friends on that thread, folks that weren't on our cruise last year. It would seem very odd now to go to WDW, or on a cruise, and not meet up with some of our friends.

In summary, here's what it says at the top of the Cruise Meets thread:

Get to meet & chat with DIS'ers you are sailing with before you even leave home

 

[cristit14]

I started a thread for my first cruise last summer and didn't get much respone. We did get on person that we met up with that had a DD the same age as mine so that was nice. For our upcoming December cruise I have been on the cruise meet since last Sept and am having a great time. I can't wait to meet all of my new friends.