Hi dana! When we cruised last September on the Grand Princess there was quite a large group from another board that got together several times....lunch meetings, sailaway party, etc.
Because many of us were celebrating birthdays and anniversaries we had a special "party" one afternoon. The assistant cruise director was a huge help in setting up a special meeting area in one of the lounges, seeing that the time and place of the "party" was printed in the Patter, and Princess made up two huge cakes for us....one for the :birthday crew and one for the anniversary crew. The captain even joined in our celebration.
If there is a group on your sailing be sure to attend at least some of their get togethers. You will "bump into" these people through out the cruise and it's wonderful having so many new friends. :grin