Are NCL Cruisers Roll Call Shy?

[West Coast Gal]

This is my first time booking on NCL and I was so very surprised that there was no roll call for my cruise for Dec 29th. Almost two weeks and no one has joined me yet, so I started looking around at other roll calls . . . many with low number of posts, so I picked one with a high number of posts to look at and found that only 7 people had joined and made 160 posts. I have been on roll calls for Princess, Carnival and Celebrity and all have been quite active, what is the difference with NCL roll calls? I am bewildered!

[emcelh]

This is my first time booking on NCL and I was so very surprised that there was no roll call for my cruise for Dec 29th. Almost two weeks and no one has joined me yet, so I started looking around at other roll calls . . . many with low number of posts, so I picked one with a high number of posts to look at and found that only 7 people had joined and made 160 posts. I have been on roll calls for Princess, Carnival and Celebrity and all have been quite active, what is the difference with NCL roll calls? I am bewildered!

 

I'd be surprised too. The roll calls I've been on have all been very active with much larger groups. The roll call for our upcoming cruise in October is the smallest I've experienced so far, about 35. Last September we had about 60 at our Meet and Greet. Hope more people join your. NCL does a nice job with the CC Meet and Greets. Some of the officers and senior staff attend to welcome everyone aboard and answer questions. They seem to take a genuine interest in CC.

[Demonyte]

This is my first time booking on NCL and I was so very surprised that there was no roll call for my cruise for Dec 29th. Almost two weeks and no one has joined me yet, so I started looking around at other roll calls . . . many with low number of posts, so I picked one with a high number of posts to look at and found that only 7 people had joined and made 160 posts. I have been on roll calls for Princess, Carnival and Celebrity and all have been quite active, what is the difference with NCL roll calls? I am bewildered!

 

Activity of the roll call seems to depend highly on the itinerary, time of year and also I think that NCL's Freestyle Cruising might also attract more people that might be not so interested in meeting new people like has been customary on other lines you mentioned (assigned MDR seating etc) - I know as I'm one of them. :D

 

That said, our next repo cruise is still almost 300 days away and we have already 1200+ posts in our roll call but that's mainly because we have a large CC group of people of whose most have met on the "same" cruise already (some last year, some this year).

 

That is the only cruise we take to meet specific (and possible new) people, on other cruises we just usually want to be with ourselves to relax and have no obligations what so ever (even the opening hours of restaurants especially around lunch are ah, so very limiting ;)) so we aren't that active on roll calls either. Also many of our earlier trips have been with family members etc (not everyone speaking english) and we have opted to stay with them instead of finding new people to hang around with. :)

[debnjoe1438]

It's been my experience the roll calls pick up closer to sail date. I've been on both slow and active. Present one for Jan 2014 very active with 68 people for the Meet and Greet. :D

 

Give it time and it'll get there.

[sparks1093]

I don't know but I doubt that the lack of participation on my roll call means that I will be the only one on the ship:D. (FWIW we only had 3 active members for my CCL Pride rollcall, including myself. Found out the next to the last night that a lady at the table next to us at dinner was one of the other rollcall members.)

[HokiePoq]

I think it varies more cruise to cruise than by line. Most active ever was a TA on the Gem a few years back.

Most inactive is the one I have coming up in December on HAL although a Pacific cruise with them was one of the most active with a wonderful lady organizing CC tours in every port.

Sometimes it takes someone to start it and then if there is someone who organizes tours, the momentum picks up.

If there isn't one, be sure to start one.

Not sure where the Pearl is going, but now that I think about it, I haven't been in very active roll calls for the Caribbean for seven day cruises.

[deladypilot]

I agree, it seems to depend on the sailing and time of year. On our cruise this past June we had about 50 sign up for the meet & greet. We had a great turn out and things went very smooth.

 

Im sure others will join you soon, so stay patient

[dark star]

we are on the spirit in november. there are only two of us active on the roll call. these boards are not as active as they used to be, whether that is time of year or the fact that it's in europe, and maybe europeans do not participate in them as much.

[Medtech2]

This is my first time booking on NCL and I was so very surprised that there was no roll call for my cruise for Dec 29th. Almost two weeks and no one has joined me yet, so I started looking around at other roll calls . . . many with low number of posts, so I picked one with a high number of posts to look at and found that only 7 people had joined and made 160 posts. I have been on roll calls for Princess, Carnival and Celebrity and all have been quite active, what is the difference with NCL roll calls? I am bewildered!

Right now my Breakaway roll call is very big and active but I am the only one on my Getaway roll call, however it is not even built yet.

 

My Carnival Fantasy roll call was a joke. It consisted of 4 ladies who all knew each other and a couple of us "others". They totally ignored the rest of us and did not make us feel welcome at all. It was as if we were crashing a private party. My adult daughter was travelling with me and read the roll call and felt the same way...

[Laszlo]

Maybe its just me, but I don't have too much interest in slot pulls, cabin crawls or meeting the Captain of the ship. Then again I do see it as a great opportunity for those who want to do those things to meet up.

 

What I would like to see is a place where couples / singles could sign up to dine with others couples. My wife and I are always interested in meeting new people from the US and other countries.

[DevCruise]

these boards are not as active as they used to be, whether that is time of year or the fact that it's in europe, and maybe europeans do not participate in them as much.

 

I will second this. I used to sit on here all day at work and through the evening and could barely keep up with the boards. These days I could check once a day and read through in less than an hour.

[bguppies]

I will second this. I used to sit on here all day at work and through the evening and could barely keep up with the boards. These days I could check once a day and read through in less than an hour.

I think the general rudeness or "meaness" on the boards is causing alot of people to leave and scaring off newer cruisers. (nothing you can do about that. The internet provides people who enjoy being rude or mean, a place where they can pick on people without consequences. Or ram their know-it-all attitude down people's throat.)

 

But as a newer boardmember in this forum, who has frequented the Carnival and RCCL boards for years. This forum is much more civil than those...

(I have to admit, I was happy we have an NCL cruise coming up, because I just couldn't handle the Carnival/RCCL boards anymore)

 

But there is still a handful of folks in here who come back with the quick "do a search" or just have a snarky answer for a legitimate question from somebody. (just not as many as the other boards)

 

I'm in the same boat with our Dawn cruise's roll call.

 

When I found it a couple of months ago, there was 3 or 4 posters who were still on the first page.

 

Since then I have tried to keep it bumped up for others to find and we have had 2-3 new members join, but nobody is coming in and participating yet.

Just dropping in to introduce themselves and disappear.

 

Hopefully it will pick up closer to the sail date.

 

Bill

[TravelDiva88]

Maybe its just me, but I don't have too much interest in slot pulls, cabin crawls or meeting the Captain of the ship. Then again I do see it as a great opportunity for those who want to do those things to meet up.

 

What I would like to see is a place where couples / singles could sign up to dine with others couples. My wife and I are always interested in meeting new people from the US and other countries.

 

Then start it! I'm not a fan of cabin crawls myself, and I don't necessarily vacation to "meet" new people, but let me tell you, I had a BLAST with my Thanksgiving Roll Call group. They were absolutely amazing, and our organizers truly went above and beyond to ensure we had a great time. We had a cocktail party, a group excursion to the waterslides (we were on the Epic) and a thanksgiving dinner, along with some of the more traditional roll call events. I didn't do everything, but my goodness was it fun .

 

I think the best part was the "Mix n Mingle" before sailaway. It gave us an opportunity to meet when there really wasn't much else going on.

[MrsNancyG]

I think the general rudeness or "meaness" on the boards is causing alot of people to leave and scaring off newer cruisers. (nothing you can do about that. The internet provides people who enjoy being rude or mean, a place where they can pick on people without consequences. Or ram their know-it-all attitude down people's throat.)Bill

 

I'm sorry to say that I believe this is indeed the case. I too would spend full days on these boards and I was quick to post responses, (if I had them), questions and I even went so far at one point as to set up an email Q&A with Norwegian reps when things got heated at one point.

 

Some seasoned cruisers became jaded and angry at changes within the cruise industry and became less tolerant and more snarky and lost sight of what CC was supposed to be about.

 

Discouraging future cruisers from cruising was never the intent of this site and the "safe" feeling of being able to discuss, question and make suggestions in the forum has fallen to the wayside by posters with an agenda based on disappointment and anger.

 

Unfortunately I wish I could say I have a solution since CC was so helpful to me when I first booked my upcoming Epic adventure, but I don't. The only solution to be found is within the posters themselves. What ever happened to the whole "if you can't say something nice" thing we were all taught growing up?

[LegallyBlonder]

Our roll call for the Gem this past January was super active, even more than a year out. Thus, I am finding it very disappointing that my Mom just started the roll call for our next cruise on Dawn in June 2014, and there are only three of us, less than a year out :-( I'm not really one for meeting tons of new people on vacation either, but the roll calls are such a fun way to get excited with others on your sailing. Interesting point about the "meanness" on the boards discouraging participation. I do find the boards to be a little scary sometimes, but thankfully, the roll call threads are usually devoid of that type of thing. I hope mine picks up!

[SilentHill]

I think the general rudeness or "meaness" on the boards is causing alot of people to leave and scaring off newer cruisers. (nothing you can do about that. The internet provides people who enjoy being rude or mean, a place where they can pick on people without consequences. Or ram their know-it-all attitude down people's throat.)

 

+1 Especially if you have one of those people on your roll call...

 

FWIW my wife and I are pretty shy as it is, and we like freestyle as we prefer each others company to that of a large group, but we still usually manage to make it to the M&G.

[HokiePoq]

we are on the spirit in november. there are only two of us active on the roll call. these boards are not as active as they used to be, whether that is time of year or the fact that it's in europe, and maybe europeans do not participate in them as much.

 

That is true. We've found our some of our Jade Europe sailings to have small roll calls. (Next year's Jade sailing has an active one, though.) Folks from US/Canada/UK frequent the roll calls a lot more than those who have English as the second language, I'd say.

[Redheel Girl]

I have a Roll Call for Alaska and it is very slow with two of us bump it up. Finally people are showing up but it seems they are just introducing themselves. I lurk on the Sailing after mine and that Roll CAll is the same. My Cruise is less then two Months. Last Sept on the Jewel Repo we had a great Roll Call and up to a few months ago we were still chatting. I thought it was just Alaska Roll CAlls.

[cherylroslyn]

Our roll call for the Gem this past January was super active, even more than a year out. Thus, I am finding it very disappointing that my Mom just started the roll call for our next cruise on Dawn in June 2014, and there are only three of us, less than a year out :-( I'm not really one for meeting tons of new people on vacation either, but the roll calls are such a fun way to get excited with others on your sailing. Interesting point about the "meanness" on the boards discouraging participation. I do find the boards to be a little scary sometimes, but thankfully, the roll call threads are usually devoid of that type of thing. I hope mine picks up!

I started my roll call for my Dawn for this August in February of this year.....up until about a week ago we were still on page four.....lol

 

I couldn't believe it when I relized there was no roll call.....

[Sea Monster 2]

We leave for Alaska this weekend and I think only four people have posted on our Roll Call, and none of us (me included) stepped up to organize an M&G. I was also wondering where everyone has gone, because for my last three cruises I have loved connecting with people there. I thought maybe it was just Alaska, I hope it's not a new trend in general because these boards are always so helpful.

[Sequim88]

Our next cruise is my first experience with a NCL roll call thread. Maybe because it is a transatlantic it is already pretty active just under 300 days out. We're up to page 14 and have perhaps 50 people (so far) on our list. Pretty comparible to the roll call for our last TA on RCI this far out so I was not noticing much difference for NCL. Our So. Caribbean cruise on RCI had a very slow roll call thread but the TA threads do tend to be more active. With all the sea days planning activities is a lot more important. Also sharing information about ports is a bit more critical when the ports are rarely stopped at (compared to weekly port intensive Caribbean or Alaska cruises).

[jetskier]

Several things through the years have caused less and less folks to get on the rollcalls.

CC allowing folks to be jerks on here

Pushing away folks that had inside leads within the cruise industry

Facebook allowing a more civil place for rollcalls because you are posting under your real name (for the most part)

 

Dave

[bguppies]

Several things through the years have caused less and less folks to get on the rollcalls.

CC allowing folks to be jerks on here

Pushing away folks that had inside leads within the cruise industry

Facebook allowing a more civil place for rollcalls because you are posting under your real name (for the most part)

 

Dave

 

Good point about facebook.

 

I have seen a lot of folks talking about meeting on facebook rather than here.

 

Bill

[kylenyc]

Several things through the years have caused less and less folks to get on the rollcalls.

CC allowing folks to be jerks on here

Pushing away folks that had inside leads within the cruise industry

Facebook allowing a more civil place for rollcalls because you are posting under your real name (for the most part)

 

Dave

Sad but true sentiment. I've heard friends say they are hesitant to post because they'll be attacked or they don't want to read all the negativity. The mods can't possibly read every single post. They rely on us to flag inappropriate posts, hijacks, trolling, etc., and we rely on their... umm... better judgement on what's best for the forum/community. On FB, friendly folks invite other friendly folks into their circles/groups ... Leaving the naysayers to their own mutual negativity society.

[luddite]

There are too many variables to quantify any answer.