Why so few on roll call if Ship sails this August?

We just booked our first Oceania cruise, for August of this year.

I am surprised that the CC roll call is so quiet -- it looks like only 9 people are signed up, compared to 37 for another similar sized ship at the same time which we had considered (with Azamara).

And the roll call dialog was just 2 pages compared to 17 when I first checked it.

What's up with this?

I realize Oceania doesn't officially do the Meet & Mingle, which is disappointing, but of course we can organize that for ourselves, ideally on the second day which is the only day at sea, but not if we don't have a way to communicate up front with others on the sailing.

Maybe it is not such a popular cruise, for our B2B2B cruise Vancouver-Hawaii-Vancouver-Los Angeles, in the first leg we are only 2 passengers, in the second leg I am alone and in the 3rd leg also 2 passengers. In contrast, the round trip cruise to Hawaii from Los Angeles has 47 passengers.

Many, especially more senior, passengers sign up exclusively for Oceania tours. If Mother Oceania doesn’t take them somewhere, they may not leave the ship. Roll Calls are viewed primarily as a tool to set up private tours of which they have no interest.

Some passengers travel in groups of friends they may have meet on past cruises. They set up everything exclusively amongst themselves outside of the Roll Call.

In the same light, some early cruise bookers start sitting up tours, via the RC, 10-12 months out, fill up all their tours, and unless there are cancellations they are not heard from again. I have started a Roll Call, in the past, been quickly contacted by 3-4 couples I’ve sailed and toured with in the past via email, and we booked all our tours privately thereafter. In some ports, with limited infrastructure, one is actually competing with other groups on getting the tours booked first because capacity can disappear.

On some cruises, for many, the ship is the destination, not the ports visited. Again, for those, little need to participate in a Roll Call.

Maybe 10% of cruisers either know about CC, and fewer than that know about the Roll Calls,

Overall, it has been my experience that the younger the overall demographics of a cruise, the more active the Roll Call.

Roll Calls can be difficult. On some , one can get a lot of expressed interest on tours, but then some of those are giving you a laundry list of requirements for their participation that are outside the boundaries of what you are attempting to put together. More work than one is looking for at times!

We just booked our first Oceania cruise, for August of this year.

 

I am surprised that the CC roll call is so quiet -- it looks like only 9 people are signed up, compared to 37 for another similar sized ship at the same time which we had considered (with Azamara).

 

And the roll call dialog was just 2 pages compared to 17 when I first checked it.

 

What's up with this?

 

I realize Oceania doesn't officially do the Meet & Mingle, which is disappointing, but of course we can organize that for ourselves, ideally on the second day which is the only day at sea, but not if we don't have a way to communicate up front with others on the sailing.

We have just booked our first cruises with Oceania for 2019 and have also found either no roll calls or just one or two that have made a post. It seems from the posts I read that many O cruisers who post on CC take very long cruises or our first time cruisers. With a total capacity being much, much lower than the "mass market" cruises lines like Princess, Celebrity, etc.it is understandable that there will be many less cruisers posting on roll calls.

I also am not finding any post about doing " Meet & Mingle". There are posts about happy to be seeing someone again.

Possibly the demographics of the typical Oceania cruiser is much different.

Other experienced O cruisers will probably give you a much better idea of why.

Geez Pinotlover, you make it sound like established travel cliques might dominate the Oceania cruise population.....

some roll calls are busier than others

with the O Life excursion deal many do not do the private tours so the roll call is not as active

Our cruise in July is just starting to come alive

Not everyone on the ship knows about CC

it is what it is

And remember the vast majority of passengers sailing any cruise line have never heard of CC so you will hardly find them in the roll call.

There are some postulations here I don't agree with. But every one has an opinion. '

I am looking at an Insignia cruise in Nov and there is no Roll Call at all for it.

Kaymoz;

Cliques might be correct in some cases, but in most scenarios it’s people with similar passions. I referenced cruisers coming in with a lot of pre-conditions. An example would be some one that tells you they want (1) a tour no longer than 3-4 hours; (2) must be back to the ship for lunch, usually 1:00; and (3) only easy with no extended walking. If you’re putting together an all day tour, those preconditions might be limiting factors that has nothing to do with cliques. Same goes that say they’ll only consider tours that costs less than $75 each. In some places that might work, in others, no way.

Additionally, some are known to not have shown up for a tour in the past. A tour’s cost is X amount for up to ten people, and you sell it that way , with all knowing their share of the cost. If a couple decides they are to “tired” to go that day, X becomes split among fewer people. While that is always a risk with private tours, If I’m the trip captain and remember you’ve burned people before, you’re probably not going on my land trip with us.

Kaymoz;

 

Cliques might be correct in some cases, but in most scenarios it’s people with similar passions. I referenced cruisers coming in with a lot of pre-conditions. An example would be some one that tells you they want (1) a tour no longer than 3-4 hours; (2) must be back to the ship for lunch, usually 1:00; and (3) only easy with no extended walking. If you’re putting together an all day tour, those preconditions might be limiting factors that has nothing to do with cliques. Same goes that say they’ll only consider tours that costs less than $75 each. In some places that might work, in others, no way.

 

Additionally, some are known to not have shown up for a tour in the past. A tour’s cost is X amount for up to ten people, and you sell it that way , with all knowing their share of the cost. If a couple decides they are to “tired” to go that day, X becomes split among fewer people. While that is always a risk with private tours, If I’m the trip captain and remember you’ve burned people before, you’re probably not going on my land trip with us.

I've been on a tour where that happened, but apparently the people had a bit of integrity as they paid their share, although they didn't go. As it should be.

If the cruise is in the Med, you may find there are more cruisers from mainland Europe and as such Cruise Critic may not be their Go To place

We leave in a couple of weeks for a Monte Carlo-Civitavecchia-Venice B2B (May 10-25). Both segments have extremely low participation on the Roll Call, although there are a fair number of passengers signed up for the Roll Call. The Meet & Greet for the first leg has about 46 people signed up, the second leg has about 30. So they are there. Just not looking for tours for the most part.

While there are some people looking for "fellow travelers" on tours, there aren't many, at least not as compared to prior Roll Calls we've been on.

OTOH, a November cruise that we had first booked (but cancelled for this May cruise) has far more activity and very active seeking of participants for private tours.

As has been said, "it is what it is". Some are more active than others. This isn't surprising given the advent of oLife tours, for one, but also because it's a small percentage of total passengers that even knows that CC exists.

We have also noticed -- this would have been hard to miss -- that since oLife tours came into play that it's harder to find people who want to share private tours. Hey, we've used the oLife tours to the extent that we found advantageous as well. But we still prefer private tours when and where possible.

Mura

"We leave in a couple of weeks for a Monte Carlo-Civitavecchia-Venice B2B (May 10-25). Both segments have extremely low participation on the Roll Call, although there are a fair number of passengers signed up for the Roll Call. The Meet & Greet for the first leg has about 46 people signed up, the second leg has about 30. So they are there. "

 

How is there a Meet & Greet call for these sailings, when it looked to me that Oceania wasn't listed amongst the cruiselines that participate in M&G?

"We leave in a couple of weeks for a Monte Carlo-Civitavecchia-Venice B2B (May 10-25). Both segments have extremely low participation on the Roll Call, although there are a fair number of passengers signed up for the Roll Call. The Meet & Greet for the first leg has about 46 people signed up, the second leg has about 30. So they are there. "

 

How is there a Meet & Greet call for these sailings, when it looked to me that Oceania wasn't listed amongst the cruiselines that participate in M&G?

CruiseCritic /Cruiselines participate in a Meet and Mingle. The other Cruiselines that do not participate in that program allow fellow passengers to set up Meet and Greets. These are set up by your fellow passengers on your cruise.

My roll call is dead for next year which is a bit concerning considering all the private tours we wanted to do.

CruiseCritic /Cruiselines participate in a Meet and Mingle. The other Cruiselines that do not participate in that program allow fellow passengers to set up Meet and Greets. These are set up by your fellow passengers on your cruise.

 

Exactly. I'm handling our Meet & Greets on both of these legs so I know the numbers of prospective attendees.

 

Oceania DOES help. It just doesn't sponsor these get togethers. I arrange the time and place in consultation with the Concierge. They provide the wait staff and even some nibbles. I've arranged some that were well over 100 people.

 

 

The problem with these two cruises THIS time is that on both legs there are large affinity groups who are taking over Horizons. So we've had to scramble to find an appropriate place -- we want to do this after the boat drill because both legs are port intensive -- but Oceania has been helpful in finding new and different places for us.

 

Mura

Kaymoz, we are on an Azamara cruise to the Baltics in August and an Oceania cruise on the Marina in November.

It's not always the case that Azamara roll calls are more active - some of their cruises, especially the country intensive ones, can be very active, others not so much. My friends just did their Costa Rica intensive and the roll call was over 100.

Case in point - our August Azamara cruise has been for sale for since around December 2015 and the roll call is essentially dead. The cruise is finally close to being full (taking forever, after umpteen promotions) but that has not spurred roll call activity. The OP on the roll call made the first post and has never returned. The company I am using for our 3 days in St. Petersburg has told me that aside from us and another couple from the roll call, they have had others contact them directly - but most tour companies don't combine cruisers from the same ship into a group. I think St. Petersburg is the exception to the way it usually works. In Warnemunde, Azamara docks next to Princess so the private tour company was willing to combine us with the Princess cruisers - I joined their roll call and several of them are taking the excursion.

On the other hand, our November Oceania cruise is somewhat more active. However, 2 of the original posters, who were on the roll call soon after the cruise opened for booking, planned many private excursions and then both of them cancelled the cruise and cancelled the excursions they planned without asking any of us to take them over. Now we are about 4 couples who post, and we've re-planned our own private excursions. We even planned one via emails with each other without need to post it on the roll call.

We took our first Oceania cruise last September and the roll call was a bit more active, with a few private excursions arranged. But I noticed most people leaving the ship took the ship buses. From my conversations, I discovered that many of my fellow cruisers were extremely well traveled so perhaps they no longer cruise for the intensive sightseeing. Just a thought.

Kaymoz, we are on an Azamara cruise to the Baltics in August

 

Are you on the A cruise on to the Baltics on Nautica that departs 19 August? That is the one we did, which I thought had a pretty active roll call compared to the one we ended up booking with Oceania. (We realized we wanted to visit Tallinn and A's itinerary didn't include it.) Ironically, both depart the same day, from different ports.

 

I am struggling with what to do about tours in St. Petersberg. The descriptions of tours from the ship are not inspiring, and who knows how big those groups would be....So I had hoped to connect with some others to arrange some small groups with TJ tours or Alla, etc. But without roll call involvement, I am at a loss of how to find potential companions. Guess I should find out which other ships are berthing next to ours and see if any tour operators have anything going for those passengers that we could join.

A little confused by your comments about A (which I assume refers to Azamara) and Nautica (which is an Oceania ship.) We are not on Nautica. We are on the Azamara Journey cruise departing Copenhagen on August 8. Tallin is one of the ports. I don't think I ever saw a Baltic itinerary without Tallin - ??

We have 3 days in St Petersburg and are using Alla Tours. One other couple on our roll call has also signed up with them, but Alla has indicated to me that others on our sailing have contacted them directly. I believe that they will put all the Azamara cruisers who sign up for their 3 day Grand Tour together, whether organized via the roll call or directly with them. Unless someone pays the difference to have a private tour.

It may be of interest to you that Alla told me that even if no one else signed up besides my husband and me, the tour would run with no price increase. I compared the big 3 (Alla, TJ and SPB) - all had great recommendations, but I decided to go with Alla. My contact with them has been very good. My rep answers all my questions in great detail. And, BTW, the Princess cruisers who will be in St Petersburg on different dates than Azamara (we are only in Warnemunde on the same day) have also organized their roll call group with Alla. And they have the same rep that I have!

Since you are doing the Baltics, you should search the ports forums. Lots of info. Aside from St. Petersburg and Warnemunde, we are doing all the other ports on our cruise DIY.

SPB Tours will often put people from the same ship together if they do not have others to form a group

they usually have people post on the Roll Call section of her site to hook up with others

https://www.spb-tours.com/index.php?plugin=rollcall

To the mice: My mistake about O &A, bad proof-reading !! I meant to ask if you were booked on Azamara Journey for 19 August, which we had considered at but ultimately bypassed since it doesn't include a portstop at Tallinn, which I do agree is odd. See:https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/voyage/1534651200/11-night-baltic-rendezvous-voyage

But it sounds like you are an earlier sailing of the Journey, which does stop at Tallinn. Thanks for your insights about Alla tours!

To LHT28 -- when I try the link you posted for Alla's roll call, I just get a screen with the "coming soon" banner. When I tried to drill down to the roll call from their menu, had the same result. I will try again later today.

To LHT28 -- when I try the link you posted for Alla's roll call, I just get a screen with the "coming soon" banner. When I tried to drill down to the roll call from their menu, had the same result. I will try again later today.

first it is not ALLA it is SPB Tours

yes the link says coming soon which means she has not posted the ship's that she has tours with yet

But you can always ask Viktoria about her tours private or shared

https://www.spb-tours.com/index.php?pageid=2

Kaymoz:

If you are comfortable taking public transportation, St. Petersburg is a very easy and friendly city to navigate on your own. You can buy a travel card to make it easier for a few dollars for 1, 3, 7 days. We spent 3 days there on our own a couple years ago and had no problems. You can buy tickets for the hydrofoil and ride that directly to Peterhof and spend a good part of a day there. Online you can book a guided tour to the Faberge Museum or just buy general admission tickets. Anywhere you desire to go, you can access it by public transportation. The people of St. Petersburg were extremely friendly and helpful which made exploring the city more enjoyable.

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy this gorgeous city!

Kaymoz:

If you are comfortable taking public transportation, St. Petersburg is a very easy and friendly city to navigate on your own. You can buy a travel card to make it easier for a few dollars for 1, 3, 7 days. We spent 3 days there on our own a couple years ago and had no problems. You can buy tickets for the hydrofoil and ride that directly to Peterhof and spend a good part of a day there. Online you can book a guided tour to the Faberge Museum or just buy general admission tickets. Anywhere you desire to go, you can access it by public transportation. The people of St. Petersburg were extremely friendly and helpful which made exploring the city more enjoyable.

 

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy this gorgeous city!

This assumes that Kaymoz can read the “Acryllic” :D (aka Cyrillic) alphabet as all signs are in that form.

While the guides do speak English, I don’t think too many cab or bus drivers do; neither does much of the rest of the population. Navigating a city like that with limited time (like on a cruise vs land trip) is a risk most people wouldn’t want to undertake if they want to make the most of their short visit to SPB.

Not to mention the expense and headache of obtaining a Russian visa which Kaymoz would need to travel on their own.

FWIW, I speak fluent Russian and on my 5 visits to SPB I always used private guides (or guides included with the land tour).

My advice to Kaymoz is to go with Alla, SPB or some other travel guide.

JMO

While this will be my husband's first time in SP, I visted there in 2015 with a friend as part of a Go Russia package, which included visas. We had some time with a guide & driver, and some time on our own, which worked well. We used the Metro in Moscow but didn't try it in SP since we could walk to so many things. We'll try it in SP so he has the experience!

I think for this trip we will try to obtain visas so we have more options. Then we can spend a day wandering in the Hermitage without the meter running...and if he and I want to look at different things there -- no worries!

It would still be nice to connect with others for private touring outside the SP 101 basics, if I can manage it somehow. The Hermitage aside, some experiences are more enjoyable with a little company. For example, here is a tour that has captured my attention -- I first saw it listed as an excursion offered through Amazara:

https://st-petersburg-tours.ru/special-interest-tours

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/shore-excursion-details/PZXA