RCCL not having FOD meetings

I am heading on the Island Princess March 5th through 15th. My good friend recently (January) sailed on RCCL's Brilliance of the Seas with a similar Itinerary. When he inquired about having a FOD meeting, RCL informed him that they no longer hold them and they were not going to hold "special" group meetings. It was explained to him that if RCCL holds FOD meetings, then the Nudists and other "risque" groups will demand special meetings.

Has anyone had this experience Since January with RCL? Most importantly is is happening with Princess.

Thanks

[Jim Bragg]

Hummmm, then why are they still holding Friends of Bill W.? FOD is a pretty well established thing and encompasses a large contingent of people. I can understand them not wanting to have to hold meeting for fringe groups like "Friends of the Leave it to Beaver" show but come on, the Gay segment makes up a pretty decent percentage of cruise ship passengers.
Jim

[Harry Martin]

Dang it -- there goes my plans for a "Leave it to Beaver" get-together on the Diamond!

:-)

Just off the top of my head, but I think the FOD meetings can be held if you ask the right person. But I know I've never seen one on Carnival either.

Harry

[CruiseAholic]

Brian and Tom,

To let you know, when I sailed on the Island Princess over Christmas (12/16 - 12/26) there was a FOD meeting with a cruise staff member (champagne provided). It was held in the Explorers Lounge.

I was on the Coral Princess over Thanksgiving and there was not a meeting and I related this to Dominique (Island Princess) and she said that they (Island) have it every cruise, but it is apparently at the discretion of the Cruise Director.

On the Sun Princess Jan 10 (yes, 3 cruises in 45 days) there was one scheduled, but no cruise staff member was in attendance and no one really know if anyone was there for the meeting or not.

absolutely SURE this is not a cruise line policy but instead a cruise director. this was brought up on another cruise site, wherein cd on celebrity (yes, owned by rccl) ADAMENTLY said same thing, NO special meetings. bs was what we said then and it was proven . subsequently other cruises on celebrity had fod meeting. the thing to do is REPORT that cd. to the hq of the line. they'll set them straight...oops, "gaily forward" and stop that crap. and i will bet you the cd that made the statement will be chastized.

[Hi-DesertCruiser]

We were on the VISION OF THE SEAS on the February 1 sailing and they had an FOD get together when we requested one. They also provided complimentary champagne and sweets. Our cruise director was absolutely fantastic in helping in any way that he could.

[CruiseAholic]

Key here I believe - it seems it is at the discretion of the cruise director to have these meetings, not the policy of the cruise line.

[Jim Bragg]

I agree that it is at the discretion of the CD as he is the person in charge of all the social activities held onboard. Most CD's seem to be very accomodating as they realize that gay & lesbian people do make up a remarkably high percentage of passengers compared to the overall percentage of gays in the population. (Think DINKS) In addition I know of at few CD's that are gay themselves. I have seen FOD meeting announced on both RCI and CCL.
Jim

What are FOD meetings?

I wondered the same thing for a while. heh heh

They are "Friends Of Dorothy" (Wizard Of Oz) meetings. Cruise ships daily news letters sometimes publish meetings for "FOD", for gay cruisers to get together and meet one another.

MTS

[HV folks]

I was told buy RCCL that FOD meetings happen on a regualar basis.