Are NCL Cruisers Roll Call Shy?

[dark star]

ah so it's not just us then. when i posted earlier i thought that it was

 

1 the time of year, november is not that popular or

 

2 it was because it was this side of the pond so to speak.

 

but from what others have said it might well be neither. i don't do facebook to many cranks and weirdos for me. JMHO

[kylenyc]

To answer OP, it depends on the individual cruise, itinerary, time of year. My Dec cruise already picking up and so is Feb of next year. I'm sure things will pick up... soon, especially when closer to final payment. It's also only summer time and people are in the midst of other vacations. Bon voyage.

[snow bunny]

My opinion is that with it being a New Year's cruise you may find less postings than usual. This was our experience back in 2010 and so far on our Dawn cruise!

 

Snow bunny

[acruisingcouple]

I created one weeks ago for the Gem sailing on January 1st, 2014 and have yet to have someone join. I assuming that more people will join as we get closer to the departure date.

[West Coast Gal]

It is very nice hearing all your thoughts on this . . . I agree, the sharing of people's anticipation, hints and tips, great stories of the past have been wonderful on roll calls . . . last cruise was the most involved we actually got on the ship with roll callers, we had a big meet and greet, which was fabulous because it was a 17 day Panama and we would walk into an event and have a number of people you could wave hi to . . we even planned our own excursion together with some of the group, which was exactly the places we wanted to go and not offered by the cruise line. I check the roll call I started everyday, hoping someone will join . . . 5 people have looked but no posts yet!

[newmexicoNita]

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!

 

ok, if I understand you correctly you are the only one on your roll call. I can assure you, if this is the case, there is a roll call already and you just are not finding it. Our cruise; Dec. 11th is just getting really busy I will add, but we have had action for the past 6 months. you really need to keep checking...and I will add, not all roll calls are busy, but the end of Dec should be. if there isn't one, you can start it if you haven't already and I bet it will grow.

[West Coast Gal]

Amazingly, I started this thread in July, and today with 101 days to go the roll call is still one other couple and myself . . . have never seen anything like this with a roll call, and have been on since 2008 . . . are you sure it isn't NCL?

[gra2172]

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 did a roll call for my last cruise, and didnt find any real use for it other than to say I was going. So Im staying away from them. This board is far more useful to me. Plus I get to help other people.

[GORDONCHICK]

Amazingly, I started this thread in July, and today with 101 days to go the roll call is still one other couple and myself . . . have never seen anything like this with a roll call, and have been on since 2008 . . . are you sure it isn't NCL?

 

It's not NCL, just that particular cruise. We did a New Year's cruise this past Dec/Jan, and our roll call was very active and the M&G was well attended (my family delivered reminders the night before).

 

I have noticed that sometimes there are certain people on the roll call that run others off or even keep others from posting at all, which is a shame. I have a cruise booked for Thanksgiving of 2014 - more than a year out, and the roll call isn't super-active but also not dead. It will pick up after January I think. On the other hand, we were looking at a cruise for spring break 2014 and I checked out that roll call, and it's almost dead - very small & it's less than 6 months away. You just can't ever tell.

[sparks1093]

Amazingly, I started this thread in July, and today with 101 days to go the roll call is still one other couple and myself . . . have never seen anything like this with a roll call, and have been on since 2008 . . . are you sure it isn't NCL?

 

Heck, I can't even find my roll call in the new roll call search tool:(.

[dark star]

well we are 55 days away from sailing and there are only 4 parties on the roll call. this is the quietest i've ever known. i don't know what to put this down to.

[jdvmd]

Sometimes you get great roll calls and other times, eh. That said, only about three to five percent of the cruising population even know about Cruise Critic. And of that small percentage, only a few make themselves known.

OP, give it time. Hopefully, your roll call will perk up shortly.

[HokiePoq]

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.

 

I'm also feeling guilty about not signing up for the M&G on our 7 day HAL cruise coming up. Didn't want to commit when there might be something else I wanted to do that day on such a short cruise. M&G is most worthwhile when there are trips to organize, events, or longer cruises with more time for people to get to know once another.

 

Agree about the board demeanor of late. There are a few who attack new posters for asking a question that's been asked before. We were all new once. That is a sure way to turn people away. This board is not as bad as some of the others, but sometimes a poster gives their problem and some of the same type of people immediately attack them.

[GPPhilly]

I last cruised the Breakaway 2 weeks ago and our roll call was very active. Our meet and greet had over 100 people and even the CD commented on the large group. We had 21 people at the slot pull. Before that Alaska and we had maybe 25 people. I do think it has to do with time of year and ship and itinerary

[TravelDiva88]

It's not NCL, just that particular cruise. We did a New Year's cruise this past Dec/Jan, and our roll call was very active and the M&G was well attended (my family delivered reminders the night before).

 

I have noticed that sometimes there are certain people on the roll call that run others off or even keep others from posting at all, which is a shame. I have a cruise booked for Thanksgiving of 2014 - more than a year out, and the roll call isn't super-active but also not dead. It will pick up after January I think. On the other hand, we were looking at a cruise for spring break 2014 and I checked out that roll call, and it's almost dead - very small & it's less than 6 months away. You just can't ever tell.

 

Our current bookings are a split. I'm on an insanely active roll call for our Breakaway cruise leaving Saturday. Close to 100 pages of posts, over 100 guests signed up for the M&G, 50+ for the slot pull, we're having a hometown gift exchange, etc.

 

We also have a 4 day booked over Thanksgiving on the Sky. It's me and 3 or 4 other families, and maybe 2 pages of posts max.

 

Compared to last year on the Epic- which was (at the time) the largest and most active roll call in NCL Cruise Critic history. There were events organized every day, an open bar cocktail party that our hosts treated us to, etc. It was AMAZING. Really set the bar high for future RC's for us!

[biker@sea]

Funny we always seam to make the M&G But not so much in the roll calls as we sail last minute .

Last cruise I booked @ 11 pm thursday and boarded the ship the next morning .

We still made it to the Meet & Greet and meet some c.c. members too .

[Sequim88]

Another thought for the cruises with inactive Roll Calls - group bookings. As in really large groups probably made up of first time cruisers. Our So. Carib. cruise with the inactive RC had a very large group (several decks worth) of distributors of items to convenience stores that were there as a reward for their performance over the prior year. I suspect very few knew about CC. Also the Meet & Greet (Meet & Mingle on RCI) was on one of the better port days - mid-morning so nobody was bothering to sign up or go. In which case why bother with the Roll Call. Sometimes you get a perfect storm of reasons.

 

We're up to 80 people on the Star TA Roll Call - probably because TAs are not a novice cruiser sort of cruise nor something groups would book.

[polySeraph]

We're up to 80 people on the Star TA Roll Call - probably because TAs are not a novice cruiser sort of cruise nor something groups would book.

 

I think you may be on to something here. Thinking back over all my previous roll calls, my anecdotal experience was that the ones with the most active participation were the longer roll calls that first-time cruisers would be less likely to book. The roll calls for my European cruises and South American cruise all exceeded 1K posts and had numerous activities organized. The roll calls for my 7-day cruises were less active.

 

My other theory for why some roll calls are less active has to do with how private tours are booked in the ports. I've personally found myself more active on itineraries where private tour providers will only work with groups (which was my experience with my European and South American itineraries) because that's often the best way - if not the only way - to plan for a quality private excursion. For the shorter itineraries (say, Alaska and the Caribbean), I've usually been able to find quality tour providers who will sign up a party of 2. I still try to be active on those roll calls but I typically make fewer posts because I'm not responding to people who are interested in my tour and, conversely, I'm not asking others about their private tours.

[uncleboo]

SOME boards are just dull.

i have been on boards that plan lots of group activities and very friendly.

 

then others are boring dull and they insult each other

 

just depends on who is sailing

 

as i see roll calls so different from week to week

[butterflys]

I tend to just look at the boards (lurk) and not post anything until I see excursions I am interested in are being discussed or it is closer to the sail date. I have noticed the roll calls seem to really pick up after final payment. Maybe some are still on the fence on whether they will sail or not.

[debshomespun]

The roll call for our Jewel cruise next month is very slow here on CC, but very active on the FB page they put together. Not sure if others have done this. On the FB page....ypu must be invited. Then only members on the cruise that were invited can see the info....as opposed to here on CC. Anyone on the boards can see. :eek: Not that it makes any difference to me.

[West Coast Gal]

The roll call for our Jewel cruise next month is very slow here on CC, but very active on the FB page they put together. Not sure if others have done this. On the FB page....ypu must be invited. Then only members on the cruise that were invited can see the info....as opposed to here on CC. Anyone on the boards can see. :eek: Not that it makes any difference to me.

 

I think I need more coffee this morning, I have been trying to figure out what FB stands for and just can't come up with it . . . can you let me know? thanks in advance

[mikewrit]

FB is that social media site we are not allowed to promote here on Cruise Critic. Rhymes with case mook.

[jenny105]

I guess it just depends on the people! Our 10/20 Breakaway thread is very active and we have over 100 people on the roll call. We have a meet & greet, cabin crawl, and slot pull planned. There's a new post everyday and more & more people seem to be joining within the last month.

[soccersharon]

SOME boards are just dull.

i have been on boards that plan lots of group activities and very friendly.

 

then others are boring dull and they insult each other

 

just depends on who is sailing

 

as i see roll calls so different from week to week

 

 

I agree - it's the mix of people on any particular roll call that can make or break the experience. Last year, we had a very active roll call (we didn't do the slot pull, cabin crawl, formal M&G thing). We met up at an aft bar after muster. I still keep in touch with a couple of folks via Facebook. It was fun to see everyone on excursions and around the ship.