Do you "Roll Call"?

[Mrs CruisinCritter]

I may pick one of our upcoming cruises and start a roll call. Now my only problem is my tendency to over-think things. :rolleyes: I will spend the next several days trying to decide what to title the thread, but I'm sure I will probably just go basic with the ship name and date like most of the others. lol Anxiety can be a real hurdle sometimes :eek::o

[RWolver672]

The one for our Conquest cruise wasn't bad. For the Glory, it was the worst experience of my life. For the Dream, they wanted to do a pub crawl, cabin crawl and meet at sail-away. We don't drink that much and we certainly didn't want strangers crawling around in our cabin. At sail-away, we want to enjoy watching the ship go out to sea. I never did meet any of them on that one.

 

Some are good, others are far from it. Best bet is to find one for you cruise, follow it, then determine if you want to be a part of it or not.

[ernevete]

I like the rolls calls. Good way to learn about your ship, excursions and ports. I have gone to Meet n Greets and then see the people you met around the ship. Right now I am on a very active roll call with lots of activities planned. It's a 15 day Hawaii cruise with lots of sea days that's 18 months away. We are having fun getting to know one another and plan together!

 

I am on a very active and very fun roll call too--ours is also a 15 day Hawaii and we leave in 19 days--most of us on this roll call booked this cruise in July-Oct of 2010 and it is finally here and all of us feel like old friends and now we are finally going to meet face to face---we have over 100 people going to our meet and greet and 50 going to dinner at the hotel in San Diego where many of us are staying. It is a CRUISE CRITIC SPONSORED CRUISE and we have a wonderful leader who has many activities planned for us as there are 8 sea days. I would not hesitate doing another roll call on future cruises, especially if it is as active as this one, I have really had fun reading the posts and posting and will probably miss it when we get back. Hopefully some of us will stay in touch.:)

[missygirl]

I do go to the roll call to see what is being said and we have joined in several M&G's...a couple boring no one talking and we end up leaving early... the best being one where a lady set it up with Holland America and they provided wine, mimosas. punch and snacks...not sure who paid because I can't see that it was free. She had name tags for us and we had all brought a ten dollar gift per couple to represent our state and play the dirty santa game of taking it away from each other. Also we are not big drinkers but she had a pub crawl and other gatherings...cards, games during the week and even a lunch on the last sea day which we also attended...it was a lot of fun and she put a lot of time and effort into it for us who were strangers to her...thank goodness for nice people.:)

 

Missygirl

[Froufie]

Since finding Cruise Critic in 2004 I have participated in all my roll calls - usually with great success! Love chatting with other cruisers enjoying the anticipation of the cruise and sharing tips and tours and all sorts of cruise info!

 

Also attend the M&Gs and have definitely made life long friends at some of those - and even found some 'future' cruising buddies as well. I say go for it - you have nothing to lose and everything to gain :D:D

[Lhorn1209]

I love love socializing! I am a people person and love to talk people's head's off:) So I am loving my first Roll Call, people have pics up as there avatar but I look forward to seeing everyone and putting a name to a face so to speak!

[SMSACE6]

I am "middle of the road", neither a social butterfly, nor an introvert, however, my two times on roll calls, were less than stellar experiences. Mostly I think, because the people on the roll calls were couples, and I was either travelling solo or with my mother. Anything I had to say on the roll call, was rarely responded to, yet the others, mostly couples were chattering daily among themselves, arranging tours etc. So, I took the cue, that I was not interesting, therefore, did not make any attempt to touch base on board. I did however meet some very nice people on board, who were not on roll call, and most often who knew nothing of Cruise Critic. My point is; I dont need roll call. I can have a good time without it. Just me.

[rwdtgb]

I join or create a roll call for all our cruises

[katiel53]

I am the one of the two of us who usually post on CC and on the roll calls. We have had some really great ones and some that were not so great. I guess it depends on the group cruising. For example, we are retired so when the roll call gets to talking about taking their kids on the cruise and what is there to do, where can they meet other kids, I pretty much stop posting.

 

Many have started out with talking about doing "adult" things, ie poker crawls, slot tournaments, and cocktail parties, but then others have taken over. I feel you want to take over, go for it and I don't post often and rarely if ever go to the Meet N Greet.

 

A lot depends on the roll call how involved we get. I am quiet in person and my DH can talk to anyone about anything. He is far more outgoing and friendly than I. Our last cruise roll call had a great start and then poof, it got to be more about the kids and what they wanted than those of us who had been chatting for a long time.

 

The cruise before that, we had groups of couples, families and we all chatted and had a great time online before meeting the first day onboard. Different groups equal different people. It's NOT just the time of year as both of our last cruises involved vacations from school.

 

Joining a roll call and meeting the people can be fun, but to us, if we don't meet, we still have a great time.

[sugaangel601]

LOL You have peaked my curiousity! :D

HAHAHA! I was going to say its really no big deal, but you kinda hit the nail on the head here:

Now my only problem is my tendency to over-think things. :rolleyes: I will spend the next several days trying to decide what to title the thread, but I'm sure I will probably just go basic with the ship name and date like most of the others. lol Anxiety can be a real hurdle sometimes :eek::o

I "think" that people tend to think that Im a weirdo at first because of my attention to detail and dispersing of information. I like to be precise and prepared, and most people (especially on vacation) are go with the flow. Lots of people dont know what to do with a lot of info. Im not always so "Type A," but planning and details are my forte, and without them, I sometimes get lost in the fluff! Once I get all the basics covered, I tend to loosen up and become "fun!" :D

Call it whatever you want, but thats my theory!

[Silent Penguin]

I've joined the roll calls for all of our cruises except the one coming up. Only the meet and greet on the NCL cruise was a success, but having roll call "friends" was great in a lot of ways. I'll keep joining roll calls.

 

I would really like to be involved in one this time, too, but after reading the several hundred Roll Call posts for our sailing date, it's obvious that roll call consists of 4 cruise buddies who already know each other and who put a big priority on boozing. They seem embrace the "more the merrier" approach to partying and are welcoming enough, but that kind of partying is not my thing. I have thought about starting my own alternative roll call for the non-boozing crowd.

[glrounds]

I tend to cruise last minute (3-5 days before the cruise), so by the time I get to the ROLL CALL half of the participants have been posting for a year and a half ! ! They know the names and ages of each others kids for Pete's sake ! ! Somebody has already made special shirts which everyone is supposed to be wearing (either that or stupid beads) and invariably they want to have the Meet'n'Greet on the day of the cruise. Dumb idea, IMHO. Everybody is pooped from traveling. Many want to explore the ship, get something to eat, check out their cabin, go to muster drill, and be topside for the sailaway. Too much to do that same day.

 

The best Meet'n'Greets I've attended were the first sea day morning around 10:00 on the Lido where there is a bar for the drinkers, food close by and a unique spot where everyone can sit, eat or drink and will know that these are Meeters and Greeters. :)

 

Don't often attend these any more. :rolleyes:

 

[maxxedout2]

I tend to cruise last minute (3-5 days before the cruise), so by the time I get to the ROLL CALL half of the participants have been posting for a year and a half ! ! They know the names and ages of each others kids for Pete's sake ! ! Somebody has already made special shirts which everyone is supposed to be wearing (either that or stupid beads) and invariably they want to have the Meet'n'Greet on the day of the cruise. Dumb idea, IMHO. Everybody is pooped from traveling. Many want to explore the ship, get something to eat, check out their cabin, go to muster drill, and be topside for the sailaway. Too much to do that same day.

 

The best Meet'n'Greets I've attended were the first sea day morning around 10:00 on the Lido where there is a bar for the drinkers, food close by and a unique spot where everyone can sit, eat or drink and will know that these are Meeters and Greeters. :)

 

Don't often attend these any more. :rolleyes:

 

 

You hit the nail on the head. After a dozen cruises we know that plans

change and the turn out is never 100% on sail away. In fact 10% is more

like it.

 

Our best turnouts have been for 'cabin crawls' on the second morning around 10:30 AM.

 

:cool:

[bjd2]

Our first 3 cruises I lurked on the boards and probably mentioned we would be on the sailing, but didn't want to commit to being anywhere at any certain time and didn't want name tags etc.

 

We just got off of the Liberty 3/17 sailing and I have to say the roll call group made it so much fun. We met fabulous people and will likely keep in touch with a couple of them.

[Ehpride]

I don't mind joining a roll call but the really active ones kind of annoy me. I don't want to have a meet, a secondary meet, a pub crawl, a cocktail party and a poker run. I don't want to commit that much time on my cruise to preset activities. I'd rather go with the flow.

[SandyFeet]

I have been on several cruises as a single parent, and I am somewhat shy. I have never really participated in Roll Calls before because they have usually been centered around couples doing things with other couples. But on my upcoming cruise, I am participating in the one for this cruise. We have a great variety of people on this roll call. We have a couple of m&gs going on, and I am looking forward to meeting new people!

I say check out the roll call for your cruise if there is one. If there isn't one, start one. See where it takes you. You are not obligated to share anything you aren't comfortable sharing. And if you decide not to meet anyone, that is cool, too. Its all about your cruise and what you want it to be. Just have fun with it.

 

Susie

[ChefSusan]

We have been on some amazing Roll Calls, we have been on some Roll Calls that moved slower than molasses, and we've been on Roll Calls where some of the participants forgot that they left high school years ago!!! :eek:

 

On each of the "amazing" Roll Calls, we have met couples that we have stayed in touch with, cruised with multiple times, and have developed friendships that hopefully will never die.

 

My husband and I enjoy hanging with our new friends while on board, sharing excursions/meals with them, and we also enjoy our time alone chilling out. All in all, the roll call, as well as the cruise, is what you make of it. As long as you go with an open mind, the sky's the limit!

[maggiemouse]

Rolls calls add excitement to your trip. I am a new carnival cruiser so, I will enjoy any info other cruisers are willing to share. I too have made friends that hopefully will last through the yrs.

[vivavegas]

I think the roll-call is part of the overall cruise experience!:)

[dave_k63]

I like the roll calls, but nobody has posted on ours for over a month. Our cruise is Aug 19

[Cathy p]

I love the roll calls. I have met some wonderful people that will be friends for life. The meet and greets are a great place to meet your roll call buddies. We have gotten to the city of our cruise the night before and met up with folks for dinner. Just a great time.

[missygirl]

I do join and have been to several meet and greets...a couple duds and a couple very good M&G's. For me when a roll call is active I check and comment often but when one is slow I rarely chime in because it is so long for a reply...currently ours has stopped.

[Chikita]

Ever since my 2nd cruise, when introduced to this website, I connected w/ the people on the roll calls for each cruise. Several of those cruises were solo, others w/ family. The roll calls w/ the Meet n Mingles or Greet resulted very positive. Some ships provide the space w/ goodies refreshments, snacks and raffles (once won a $50.00 internet voucher). Other ships just provided the space. It's a nice way to run into that person or persons later on in the ship and share upto date experiences.

My reason for connecting on the roll calls, and it's only when able, given the busy daily schedules, and not wanting to get on the computer after working on one all day, but this is the way of venting and expressing my anxiousness for that upcoming cruise. Continued contact w/ the roll call cruiser depends on many things and one is there to vacation and choose as it seems...after the rc, I'm on my own to CRUUUUUIIIIISE AWAYYYYY:)

[mamawsnest]

We have done roll calls since we found CC. We are the same as most-I'm the quieter one and DH will talk to most anyone. We have met people from all over the world and people close to home that we didn't know cruised. On some M&G's we went to pre-cruise M&G's-met some great people and some we decided to stay far away from. It's fun meeting people and finding out about them. One rollcall we all went on a snorkeling excursion together. We're talking on a roll call for our Dec. cruise now. It was slow but is beginning to pick up as we get closer. I think I will do one or the other(pre-or during but not both). It's a fun way to start the cruise.:)

[afreetdragon]

It's really weird that I'm kind of afraid to meet people I talk to on CC boards but I've been married to a guy for 12 years that I met online through a college chatroom. I'm from North Carolina and he is from Minnesota. lol