What makes you stick with or leave a Roll Call?

[Desert_ Dweller]

Bump !

I think this thread needs to be read again by those thinking that a roll call and a chat room are the same thing. Maybe we could talk a little more about the particular cruise the thread is relating to. I often look at our roll call hoping to find something (anything) related to our cruise, but.... nope, nothing just one person saying they are going on an additional cruise in a week or so, and 15 different people posting saying... "enjoy your trip".

[CPT Trips]

Thanks for the bump. Somehow I missed this one first time around.

 

I'm going to the door once the Facebook page and spreadsheet becomes the "go to" place to find the roll call activities rather than the roll call.

[Velvetwater]

Everyone in my roll call is very friendly and has lots of advice as they have done PCs before and I only have 1 cruise under my belt! They are especially welcoming when people come and go to the roll call.

 

However all the organised events like cabin crawls and cocktail parties that last an hour dont seem like my thing so I am staying out of that side of things. I also feel a little bit like the odd one out as I am the only Brit in the roll call and the youngest by far so when they talk about places they know in Florida and grandchildren I don't really know what to say.

 

Saying that though, I would be happy to meet them on the ship and have a drink or join them for some Trivia action. :)

Edited April 20, 2014 by Velvetwater

[MCC retired]

Never joined in , monitored and discouraged by the chit chat every time . Not for me .

 

 

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[janetz]

I started a roll call last June for our cruise this coming Oct. The roll call has over 1400 posts with 6 months to go. Its a repositioning cruise with many past cruiser's who know each other. I know no one but the group includes all the new people in discussion. This may be the first CC get together I actually go to! :)

[Karysa]

I started a roll call last June for our cruise this coming Oct. The roll call has over 1400 posts with 6 months to go. Its a repositioning cruise with many past cruiser's who know each other. I know no one but the group includes all the new people in discussion. This may be the first CC get together I actually go to! :)

 

Definitely come back and let us know if you did end up going and how it was. I still haven't joined my May cruise roll call or my September Alaska one yet either. Come to think of it I haven't even checked that one out yet.:)

[jevvv]

I finally figured out what Roll Calls were and was all excited... this will be my FIRST cruise! :)

 

I have yet to join my next cruises roll call. Less than 6 mths out and it only has 10 posts. When do you find that they pick up these days?

 

BUT We're now 5 weeks out from our cruise and just two of us have posted - both first timers.

 

I'm feeling a mite disappointed as I'd hoped to get familiar with some CC "faces" before the cruise :(

 

If I start talking to myself in the roll call I start sounding a bit whiney and desperate and that won't help at all ;)

[dorisis]

i've been on roll calls where people have planned 3 or 4 big events during a seven day cruise. I don't want to go to a cocktail party, a cabin crawl, a poker run and a slot pull all in one cruise as i want to actually relax and participate in ship activities. Planning an event is one thing but when the entire roll call becomes devoted to planning multiple events and collecting money, it turns me off.

 

ditto!

[janetz]

Definitely come back and let us know if you did end up going and how it was. I still haven't joined my May cruise roll call or my September Alaska one yet either. Come to think of it I haven't even checked that one out yet.:)

 

Will do.

We have some group activities we are talking about since our cruise is over Halloween. Nothing will be planned until after final payment and we see who is really going. :)

[Karysa]

Will do.

We have some group activities we are talking about since our cruise is over Halloween. Nothing will be planned until after final payment and we see who is really going. :)

 

 

Sounds good. I look forward to hearing how things went.:)

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I always stick I might learn something ..

[paradiscroozin]

I do roll calls to get information on the ports and transportation info. I don't do the meet and greets though. I am a private person and don't want to feel obliged to say hi to people that I met on board every time I see them. It just seems forced and awkward to me.

 

If I meet strangers and click with them that's different. I just don't feel like doing the "pretend you don't see them" when I'm on vacation. I'm naturally not very social, I have to warm up to a person to feel comfortable.

[Michael P]

I join Roll Calls because I love the feeling of being connected to people. I enjoy the friendly banter between fellow cruise mates, while also learning a few new things here and there about the cruise world. A Roll Call that is very active is exciting, while one where people don't post, isn't much fun.

 

 

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[OCruisers]

Unfortunately, sometimes people have to leave their roll call because they had to cancel of some reason or other.

If this happens, it's very thoughtful to go to the roll call and say that you'll no longer be on the cruise.

LuLu

[Krissica]

We have always joined the roll call but so far haven't had one that has been too active for the cruises we have already sailed. We are on the roll call for two coming up cruises, one is more active than the other and already has a dinner meeting set up. I like the idea of an active roll call and would be interested in some of the activities that some of you have posted, but would also have no problem doing our own thing and not feeling obligated to be with the group. We always travel just the two of us and we are friendly people so we always enjoy meeting new people.

Edited April 28, 2014 by Krissica

[Harry and Lucille]

Lot of work but, fun for me. What to do? I just put out some ideas starting with slot pull and gift exchange. I would post other suggestions as they come in and tally the so called votes on folks preferences, such as the name for our group.

 

Gives me something to do to pass the time until next year. :) If there is enough interest in an activity, we will go ahead with it. So far, no interest in a gift exchange sooo. The slot pull is different. We have 16 wanting to play so far. We have over 25 suggestions for group name.

 

It will be a fun couple of hours on our first sea day to meet new folks, re- kindle with those we met before, etc. etc. (hoping for some first time cruisers. They are fun to watch. ;) )

 

While still very early, we have 29 folks representing 12 states and 3 countries signed up. As time gets closer, there will be more. :cool:

 

Harry

[jevvv]

I'm still hoping that more than 2 people will join our roll call :(

[SPacificbound]

I really enjoyed a recent roll call, it was very active and very informative. :)

 

The M & M, I doubt if we will bother to attend anymore.

[cruisemom42]

Thanks for the bump. Somehow I missed this one first time around.

 

I'm going to the door once the Facebook page and spreadsheet becomes the "go to" place to find the roll call activities rather than the roll call.

 

Unfortunately this is becoming necessary (e.g., going to a separate spreadsheet) because there are unscrupulous tour operators that "join" the roll call and try to sell private tours for an agency under the guise of being a passenger. I have direct experience of this happening twice. Once I didn't catch on until it was discovered; the second time I realize it and reported it to the CC mods.

 

At least on a separate site where someone has to contact an organizer and request the link, there is one more hoop to jump through to stop this kind of thing, and also to protect passenger info.

 

Of course, there was also one TA I had signed up for -- very active roll call, as most of these are -- and the organizer decided to give out our PERSONAL email addresses to a friend or acquaintance of hers who was flogging his own personal website. I certainly did NOT appreciate getting emails from him....and THAT is the kind of thing that causes me to not stick with a roll call. :cool:

[BlueRiband]

Unfortunately this is becoming necessary (e.g., going to a separate spreadsheet) because there are unscrupulous tour operators that "join" the roll call and try to sell private tours for an agency under the guise of being a passenger. I have direct experience of this happening twice. Once I didn't catch on until it was discovered; the second time I realize it and reported it to the CC mods.

 

At least on a separate site where someone has to contact an organizer and request the link, there is one more hoop to jump through to stop this kind of thing, and also to protect passenger info.

 

Of course, there was also one TA I had signed up for -- very active roll call, as most of these are -- and the organizer decided to give out our PERSONAL email addresses to a friend or acquaintance of hers who was flogging his own personal website. I certainly did NOT appreciate getting emails from him....and THAT is the kind of thing that causes me to not stick with a roll call. :cool:

 

A Roll Call organized outside of Cruise Critic goes against community guidelines in two fundamental ways. One, it is exclusionary as only those invited and/or allowed by the organizer may participate. Two, it goes against Cruise Critic Facebook policy as laid out in the above link.

 

People certainly have the right to organize their own private gatherings and invite whom they please. Or exclude people whom they don't want. But those who choose to do this don't have the right to call themselves a Cruise Critic Roll Call - and present themselves to the cruise line as such - when they decide to ignore community standards.

 

It's your cruise, your party, have fun and do what you wish. But don't call yourselves something which you are not.

[cruisemom42]

A Roll Call organized outside of Cruise Critic goes against community guidelines in two fundamental ways. One, it is exclusionary as only those invited and/or allowed by the organizer may participate. Two, it goes against Cruise Critic Facebook policy as laid out in the above link.

 

People certainly have the right to organize their own private gatherings and invite whom they please. Or exclude people whom they don't want. But those who choose to do this don't have the right to call themselves a Cruise Critic Roll Call - and present themselves to the cruise line as such - when they decide to ignore community standards.

 

It's your cruise, your party, have fun and do what you wish. But don't call yourselves something which you are not.

 

I wasn't talking about a Facebook group (which I wouldn't participate in) but a separate password-protected spreadsheet for sharing private tours. Only those who want to participate in a private tour need share information, which won't be "broadcast" on the message board which is much more accessible to private tour organizers.

 

I don't like the idea much either, but unfortunately, the roll calls aren't very secure. I'm not sure what a good solution is. I suppose sharing the info via email, using a special email address set up just for such things -- but some are reluctant to do that too.

 

I'm not speaking as someone who takes a lot of private tours -- I generally do my own thing using public transportation. But it is one of the nice things about roll calls, that one CAN locate such a tour if one is interested.

[cadien]

When do roll calls tend to get going? Our cruise (our first) is basically still a year out and only three people have posted so far, and then only once apiece. I feel silly stalking it for updates this early but don't know when to start paying attention.

[misty57]

I find the roll calls helpful at times for excursion information as well as hotel and transportation suggestions. I have stopped posting to some roll calls when it is overtaken by a clique of people who act annoyed when someone else "interrupts" with a comment or question. There are other threads that are helpful for information, and I have no desire to join a gift exchange or t shirt group either.

[CPT Trips]

I wasn't talking about a Facebook group (which I wouldn't participate in) but a separate password-protected spreadsheet for sharing private tours. Only those who want to participate in a private tour need share information, which won't be "broadcast" on the message board which is much more accessible to private tour organizers.

 

I don't like the idea much either, but unfortunately, the roll calls aren't very secure. I'm not sure what a good solution is. I suppose sharing the info via email, using a special email address set up just for such things -- but some are reluctant to do that too.

 

I'm not speaking as someone who takes a lot of private tours -- I generally do my own thing using public transportation. But it is one of the nice things about roll calls, that one CAN locate such a tour if one is interested.

 

When I arrange a roll call tour, you only have to send me your info. I put my email out there and you take it from there. No spreadsheet, no Facebook. The screen names of people signed up are posted on the roll call on a periodic basis. This is more secure than a spreadsheet where you have no clue who has access to the info that you post.

 

 

 

If the provider wants a deposit up front, it's up to each participant to make payment.

[jevvv]

When do roll calls tend to get going? Our cruise (our first) is basically still a year out and only three people have posted so far, and then only once apiece. I feel silly stalking it for updates this early but don't know when to start paying attention.

 

Our one only started when I posted it 2 months ago, and we are now 4 weeks from the cruise happening. It will be my first cruise too. So far only me and one other person have posted on it. I've posted to it a few times, just so people realise it is there.

 

I don't know if anyone else apart from us two are likely to either.

 

But I didn't want you to feel like no one had actually read your question, even if I can't add anything encouraging.

 

I'd really love it if there were some other CC members on our cruise, but there may not be any :(