Does a Snobby Roll Call Mean a Snobby Cruise?

[yolanda1]

As others have said, only a very small percentage of cruisers use the roll calls or are Cruise Critic members. I have yet to spend much time with any of the people on my roll call when I'm on board. We have, instead, chosen our company based on who we feel a real life connection with.

 

Roll calls can be useful if you want to share excursions, which we don't, and it can be nice to chat to people at the Meet and Mingle sometimes if you have already communicated online (we have also met some very strange people there though and 20 minutes in their company was more than enough!) :D

 

Most of the people you will interact with onboard won't have been on your roll call, so it really won't matter. Enjoy your cruise! :)

[maxs mom]

You have gotten some great advice here. I guess I am one of those "snobs" you are talking about! :eek: I started a roll call for our Dec. Serenade cruise (2015) and we are cruising with some dear friends that we have met right here on CC. (If we hadn't jumped into a roll call and been active on it, we would have never met these folks......and what a shame, as we have turned into wonderful lifelong friends!) And there are also many higher level C&A folks on this roll call as well.

 

I, for one, love to have the newcomers join in and chat and ask questions and interact as much as possible. I feel like I have a lot to offer as far as cruise knowledge in general, and if you want a nice relaxing beach day in ANY port.....I'm your go to girl!

 

So please jump into your roll call....chat.....ask questions. You can make it great fun.

[RCI Cruisers 004]

I'm surprised that only being Emerald you are even allowed to post on a roll call !..........just kidding ! I wouldn't give it a second thought. The same thing happens to us and we still have a great cruise even if we haven't made life long friends on the roll call boards. Congratulations on your retirement ! Can't wait till we are there !

[loubetti]

A couple of things to keep in mind:

 

1-The folks on CC are only about 10% of the passengers on the ship.

 

I would dare say that for the most part it is 1% or less. Example: Oasis- do you really think there are 500 CC'ers on board for the average cruise?

 

The vast majority of cruisers do not even know this site exists. ;)

[LoneStarJeffe]

I enjoy roll calls. However, I never felt a cruise was made or not by the roll call or the M&M on board. I cruise to relax. I do not get worked up if table mates are less than friendly or a roll call isn't as expected. You are taking another cruise!!! That is all you need to know!!!

 

Some people are more social than others. It is luck of the draw of who you meet on board. Me? I can have fun just leaning on the rail by myself watching the waves pass by. :)

[mister windu]

Don't sweat this! There are triple plutonium+++ cruisers who know a lot of folks who may feel chatty with each other. It doesn't mean they're snobs--and they are willing to share information and experience with us lowly golds!

[timem]

YES!

 

 

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[LA_CA_GAL]

I would dare say that for the most part it is 1% or less. Example: Oasis- do you really think there are 500 CC'ers on board for the average cruise?

 

The vast majority of cruisers do not even know this site exists. ;)

 

July 2014 Allure cruise. .... our roll call has 16 members.:confused::(

[petesweet]

 

As for your roll call, please ask questions . . . .

 

This is what I was going to suggest. Ask who has visited one of your ports and what is there to enjoy there. That sort of thing.

 

I think the reason there is so much unrelated chatter is that there so far has been nothing about the cruise itself to talk about.

 

Another subject: What cabin are you in? What experience has someone on the roll call had with that cabin?

 

Have a great cruise. I know you will!:)

 

Kathy

[pinkrosesdeb]

I think sometimes it is hard to "read" someone's intent. Don't take it personally. Sometimes when I read a thread I respond to the most recent post without going back and reading all the previous ones. Not that I mean to ignore anyone, just my short attention span! As said before, you are going to meet LOTS of people who never go to this website and I know you are going to have an incredible time. I think as you get closer to your sail date you will meet more people with whom you have common interests...if you don't, I'm betting you won't even think of them once you are on your "post retirement cruise!" Which, BTW, makes me very jealous since we had hoped to be retired by now also. Just keep coming to the regular boards for your pre cruise fix! WELCOME ABOARD! DEB

[loubetti]

July 2014 Allure cruise. .... our roll call has 16 members.:confused::(

 

Thanks for proving my point on at least that particular cruise. You'll never see 10% or 500, or 250 (smaller ship) unless it is a planned group cruise. 1% or 50 CC pax on allure would be a lot! ;)

 

CC is a nice site, but it is not all folks think it is as to reach.

[Crusin-Suzan]

We are also on the Serenade out of Quebec in Oct 2015. I have been on probably 40 plus cruises and I get the same feeling on this cruise. We are Diamond but only because we sail Celebrity. Close knit group!

 

 

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[Sungold]

I'd be interested in hearing from LoveyHowell how she got "burned" on a Meet and Mingle, that would cause her to be wary of another? Thanks!

 

Pam

 

 

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[Cruzin-K]

Thanks for proving my point on at least that particular cruise. You'll never see 10% or 500, or 250 (smaller ship) unless it is a planned group cruise. 1% or 50 CC pax on allure would be a lot! ;)

 

CC is a nice site, but it is not all folks think it is as to reach.

 

I'm pretty sure we've got well over 250 at this point for the Serenade repo from Quebec to Ft. Lauderdale. It's the busiest roll call I've ever been part of.

 

We are also on the Serenade out of Quebec in Oct 2015. I have been on probably 40 plus cruises and I get the same feeling on this cruise. We are Diamond but only because we sail Celebrity. Close knit group!

 

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I agree it's quite a roll call. I don't seem to have too much in common with most of those on the roll call, but they seem like a really friendly bunch. A couple of my posts haven't received a response, but with so many posting, it's hard to respond to everyone, so unless a post has a certain relevance to someone, I can see why they don't respond. So far I think all the new arrivals have been welcomed though.

 

To the OP, give it time. Your roll call is pretty slow right now, and I"m sure more will join in as the cruise gets closer. If I was rich & retired, I'd be on your cruise but unfortunately I have to go back to work after the repo. Darn bills :(

[Chuggiebug]

Roll calls can be very different. I have made some great friends on roll calls and and posted several times a day. On others there has been almost no activity and yet others I made the choice to check in once in a while but not participate much.

 

What they all had in common was the cruises were all awesome!!!

[suzyluvs2cruise]

I'm pretty sure we've got well over 250 at this point for the Serenade repo from Quebec to Ft. Lauderdale. It's the busiest roll call I've ever been part of.

 

I agree it's quite a roll call. I don't seem to have too much in common with most of those on the roll call, but they seem like a really friendly bunch. A couple of my posts haven't received a response, but with so many posting, it's hard to respond to everyone, so unless a post has a certain relevance to someone, I can see why they don't respond. So far I think all the new arrivals have been welcomed though.

 

To the OP, give it time. Your roll call is pretty slow right now, and I"m sure more will join in as the cruise gets closer. If I was rich & retired, I'd be on your cruise but unfortunately I have to go back to work after the repo. Darn bills :(

 

Agree with what you say about the Oct. Serenade Roll Call. It's a chatty group and many do know each other from other cruises. Repositioning Roll Calls tend to be this way due to the popularity of the itinerary. Many do the same cruise(s) year after year. Because so many people already know one another there are many posts unrelated to the cruise and the Roll Call becomes more like Facebook. This type of Roll Call is especially hard to follow when you're away for several days or longer and might be looking to join private tours or onboard activities. I do think this type of Roll Call is discouraging to new cruisers and that's sad.

 

To the OP......your Roll Call will come along. Keep posting. :)

[xpcdoojk]

1. I know what you mean.

 

2. I can be very active on a Roll Call, or I can take a look at that kind of activity and then hang back.

 

3. I find that, even when I WANT to be in contact with Roll Call members while on board, I don't see them.

 

So don't worry about it.

 

:)

 

Mostly agree, but really agree with number 3.

 

jc

[trev71]

Thanks - it's just that everyone has been so friendly on all of our other roll calls.

 

 

sometimes people are really friendly and sometimes not. I wouldnt let it bug you.

[dlbaqua]

My next cruise is still about 9 months away and has the most active roll call of any I've been involved in and yes, a lot of them do seem to know each other already, but hey if they didn't want to talk to new comers, they wouldn't have started a roll call.

I've sadly never made a new friend from a roll call but there's always a chance

[BillOh]

We are SO excited to book our first post-retirement cruise – 11 day Southern Caribbean on Serenade in November, 2015. I posted on the roll call – no hello, no welcome, no nothing. Everyone on the roll call seems to 1) making this the second half of a B2B, 2) be D+ or higher, or 3) already know each other. This is the longest cruise we have taken and are lowly Emerald. I just hope our roll call is not indicative of the folks on the cruise.

 

I thought this would be an interesting thread. I have not read your replies yet, but I will say Roll call's and their perceived quality varies all over the place. I would describe my Allure 2011 one as dead, and the Allure 2013 one was the best ever! Part of it maybe I start many of mine as I frequently book more than a year ahead. That said, the other people helped make the 2013 Allure one better as there quite a few of us on it more than a year ahead.

 

That said, I still had a wonderful cruise on Allure in 2011 enough to make me want to go back in 2013. In your particular case, your going on an 11 day cruise in November so I suspect it will be an older cruise and as you guessed many maybe be traveling together. Read some of the older messages and ask questions that may help. Still even if the Meet and Mingle is a snore, you can still make some friends and have a great cruise.

[BillOh]

Also nonsense about making coffee, running in marathons, ...........

 

Whoa, running in Marathons nonsense? :confused: Kidding, I read the rest of your message and know what you mean. I had a bunch of people in my roll call follow me on twitter during my 2011 marathon as the race tweeted my status every 10k :)

Edited June 16, 2014 by BillOh

[BillOh]

We've got a group who cruise together, book the day the schedules open, start the roll calls and tend to chat a lot. It may put people off because we know each other, but we're always happy to meet new folks. In fact, some of us were the new ones to the group a few years ago. The roll call was intimidating at first, but we persevered and ended up with great friends.

 

This may not apply to Vicky, but I've cruised twice with the Arizona Cruisers (more correctly, they have cruised with me twice ;) ) Anyway, they have their own section in the FRIENDS OF CRUISE CRITIC section and they are very active in all their roll calls, but they try to keep the things that are interest only to them in their own thread. At first I was a little put off by that, but with their posts and the 8000+ we had in our main roll call we might have been the biggest Allure roll call ever, but that's my weird thing I suppose. I did ease-drop over there occasionally too.

[George C]

We are SO excited to book our first post-retirement cruise – 11 day Southern Caribbean on Serenade in November, 2015. I posted on the roll call – no hello, no welcome, no nothing. Everyone on the roll call seems to 1) making this the second half of a B2B, 2) be D+ or higher, or 3) already know each other. This is the longest cruise we have taken and are lowly Emerald. I just hope our roll call is not indicative of the folks on the cruise.

 

do not worry , I am sure there will be many people like you , board normally doesn't have much activity until a few months before sailing , I am on 2 2015 cruises and almost nobody else signed up for roll call so far.

[ttnc4me]

July 2014 Allure cruise. .... our roll call has 16 members.:confused::(

You win!!

[BillOh]

I thought that was just the way roll calls work. You just hop on, say hi I am doing this trip, this is a post that then gets you updates for the posts on the roll call, and that is what heaps of people seem to do.

 

Then you join the Meet and Mingle on the cruise line link thing at the top of the thread, and when you meet them face to face on board, sometimes you click, and sometimes you don't.

 

Then if you keep reading it seems people ask if someone wants to do an excursion or whatever and then you say, hey I want to do that too.

 

Then if you get ignored I would take it personally.

 

Generally I have found many of the starting posters disappear, or cancel the cruise or whatever, and unless someone steps up to run the roll call, it just ambles along being an info place. But roll calls are not always run by anyone, from my experience.

 

So don't presume you are being snobbed. Don't read more into silence than what is actually there. Also don't miss the meet and mingle, at worst you get to sit around for a little while, but I have found them quite inclusive of everyone.

 

 

You had some very good observations that are probably true a lot of the time. If I do start the roll call, I do tend to "run it" in the sense that I'll post a weekly list of who is on it with very basic info. Sometimes after 6-9 months, if I don't see an early poster there, I'll check their message history, note if they removed their countdown clock, or if their other messages indicate they are still with us. That said, that is the limit of my "running it" other than regular posting. If I had to guess 10k of my 17k worth of messages on Cruise Critic are in roll calls. :o. The only dull meet and Mingle roll call was my 2011 Allure cruise which I joined about 8 months ahead of time and nobody mingled. As we were walking out, one lady did stop to say she didn't know how I found the time to post so much.

 

Then again, noting you're from Australia, my 2013 Allure roll call turned into a huge party and when Royal was done with their part of the meet and mingle, we went on and had a great time. 3 of our group were from South Australia and were among the prolific posters and we all had a great time.

Edited June 16, 2014 by BillOh