This happen to anybody else?

[Out to sea!]

We all know how engaging the roll calls can get. New members, funny posts, group excursions, etc.

 

2 outta the last 3 roll calls (pretty active) there was an active poster that just disappeared 2-3 weeks before departure. One time this nice guy would regularly put out fantastic pics for months and Poof-He was gone. Never again on the thread and not on the ship.

 

Could it be, that some folks enjoy the roll calls so much they just want to chat with other cruzers, even though no trip is planned???

 

I am guilty of dropping out of our Sunshine roll call due to a poster who I loathe here deciding to take the same cruise. So if you're referring to me, I apologize. Hope you and the missus had a great cruise, I know we did (except for missing Aruba of course). :)

[TNCruzer56]

I believe we met you and your wife at a M&G on one of our cruises and we shared a golf cart with you on Grand Turk. We had a great time and maybe we'll meet again on another cruise.

yeppers that was fun!

 

I am guilty of dropping out of our Sunshine roll call due to a poster who I loathe here deciding to take the same cruise. So if you're referring to me, I apologize. Hope you and the missus had a great cruise, I know we did (except for missing Aruba of course). :)

No not you, but a series of pax on 3 or 4 threads that post a lot, make promises, etc. and disappear. Shame we never got to meet

[GrummanTiger]

I set up a meet and greet for my first cruise and it was held in one of the lounges and reserved only for us. No charge. They made sure there was service for the bar as well and people just charged their drinks if they wanted any to their own card. John Heald also provided some draw prizes. We had a great time even though we were a small group - 20 - and it was fun to run into them all through out the cruise.

[Out to sea!]

yeppers that was fun!

 

 

No not you, but a series of pax on 3 or 4 threads that post a lot, make promises, etc. and disappear. Shame we never got to meet

 

Maybe next time. :)

[LandlockedCruiser01]

That's a bit unfair - keep in mind that someone posting on the Roll Call is usually cruising with people who aren't involved with the Roll Call... I have gone on different cruises with from 6 - 20 others - none of whom were on the roll call and don't really have an interest in meeting people they have never chatted with. They are more interested in relaxing on Lido with a few drinks then exploring the ship and checking out their room. I can usually get my hubby to come with me to M&G for a bit, but that is about it. Often times several in the Roll Call will go on the same excursions and that is always fun too - but that is the extent of my personal involvement. I enjoy chatting pre cruise, and a bit after cruise - and running into them around the ship and on excursions, but I generally am cruising with friends or family and that is who I spend the bulk of my time with.

Now, this I can agree with. The authors of roll call posts are usually one person acting as a face of the group they're traveling with. (This does not apply to solos, for whom the "face" and the "group" are one and the same.) So while they may benefit from shared ideas, once they get onboard, their own group's obligations take over, and meeting fellow roll callers stops being a priority. After all, while the roll callers themselves may have camaraderie of having spoken online, the roll callers' group members are total strangers to each other, creating a sense of awkwardness. Which puts off people from attending.

 

However, with the proliferation of the Meetup.com website---where people attend events and activities organized by strangers for strangers---the concept of gatherings full of people you've only spoken to online is going mainstream. Heck, that's how hosted singes' cruises operate. You have to pay to start a Meetup group, but if organizers can get reimbursed, perhaps a roll call can be ported over to Meetup, where the notion of meeting strangers is 100% normal.

Edited May 9, 2015 by LandlockedCruiser01

[FlaGrl4Evr]

Sometimes folks are very active in the roll-calls and then disappear because a life-situation has come up and they cannot go on the cruise. It may be a personal issue that they do not want to share publically, so they just quietly disappear.

 

This happened last year to a very dear friend of mine. I have cruised with her a few times and she was very proactive in participating in the roll calls and giving very good information to newbies as she was a very seasoned cruiser. She had also planned to participate in the M&G that was to be held on the first Sea-Day and spoke of this often on the roll-call. A few weeks prior to the cruise, she went into the hospital for what she thought was a semi-minor issue. It turned out that she became quite ill and passed away. Due to the personal nature of her illness, myself nor her family members went on the roll call to explain why she was no longer posting. I'm sure this left a lot of the other roll call members wondering what happened but it was just one of those special situations where we felt that a public announcement was not warranted.

 

 

****** On another note ,and as a fellow poster had already mentioned...... sometimes there is just that one very irritating roll call member that is totally obnoxious thus making it not quite as pleasurable to want to continue to post on the roll call and/or attend the physical M&G on the ship. This happened to me on one of my cruises and I just stopped posting. This particular person just kind of took-over and called all of the shots as far as the M&G. I really have no tolerance for rude and controlling people so by deciding not to participate actually made my cruise much less stress free and enjoyable.

 

 

 

Just my .02 worth. :)

 

 

 

 

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[bethaniesmom]

been involved with several rool calls but rarely commit to the meet up because so many things can change as we get on the cruise. we have sometimes met other people at our precruise hotel and become involved in plans with them, we have sometimes come to meet ups and had only a handful of people show up, other times a lot of people show up. so many variables. we are on vacation and we just end up doing whatever works at the time. If we don't commit, we don't feel bad if we miss the meeting.

 

Beverly

[love my grandkids]

We have met quite a few people from the roll calls and have connected with several that we spend lots of time on the ship and see each other after.

 

Nice to know some folks before we even get on the ship.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

The one CC meet and greet I attended had about 3X the number of people in attendance than on the roll call. It turned into a complaint session for the CD, Malcolm, on the Miracle. Kinda like some threads here on CC.

 

Yeah last roll call I attended it was full of Platinum and Diamond members complaining they don't get enough free stuff.

[jetsfan]

I think roll calls are fun. Even though we have taken many cruises, I always learn something new from the other cruisers. It does make the time go by so much quicker.

 

Our next cruise is on the Splendor and we do have a paid cocktail party to attend. Some of us are sharing the cost of an excursion, and we will get a group rate at a beach resort on Antigua.

 

I am cruising with my DH and of course we love time alone to get away from the craziness of everyday life. However we have on a few past cruises met some great couples and enjoyed a night at the comedy club with them or a drink in port at a great beach bar. I am the active one on the boards and I am happy my DH goes to the meet and greets with me. We are pretty outgoing and I guess our philosophy is people usually have more in common with us then we think. There have been many times while talking to someone on vacation we find out their sister/brother/someone they know lives/works in the next town. That whole six degrees of separation.

 

I have been lucky to meet some really fun people and as long as there is no pressure to join in every activity I will "chat" with others on the roll call.

[Ralphinsc]

We've run just about the full gamut on our cruises from a non-existant M&G to meeting a couple of friends at sailaway, to having a full blown meet and greet at a arranged room on the ship with a gift exchange and such (that was the M&G I organized, :D )

 

On every cruise except for the first, we've met incredible friends who we keep up with to this very day. It's not always a home run, but it's great to meet fun people. But all the types mentioned above are on the roll calls. Some just get to being more wall flowers than others when it comes to actual personal meets.

[katiel53]

On previous cruises, before Cheers, we did some meet 'n' greets that had cocktails for an hour and people had to pay in advance. Of the two I arranged, only one couple didn't show up, but they had paid as the count had to be given once onboard and they never said they weren't coming.

 

On other ones where there was just a simple meeting at a bar on Lido, more times than not, people didn't show up or if they did I didn't know them. I say that as I am not an outgoing person and wouldn't just walk up to someone and start talking. Once or twice I saw large gatherings and I assumed they were our roll call people and they were.

 

For whatever reason I feel the actual roll calls on here have decreased dramatically in participation. I looked at one today for a cruise we have booked for October and read through it before I posted and there is almost no one there. It was my first posting for this group, so will see how it goes, but seriously, I don't have a lot of hope.

[theriac]

I have to agree with this post. I have joined the roll call for my cruise in Oct on this board, on Facebook and on the Ship Mate app. This will be my first cruise so I thought it would be great to be able to talk to not only other cruisers, but ones that will be going on the same ship as me. I didn't join the roll calls with any intention of hanging out with any of them on my vacation (no offense).

 

I mean, if I really clicked with someone or a few people, I might want to make arrangements to meet up. But as far as spending my vacation with everyone in these roll calls, that won't happen. And actually, it can't happen because I'll be sailing as part of a group already and will be attending seminars, other events onboard, and excursions with them anyway.

 

So you really don't want to hang out all cruise with me even though we only have one particular sailing in common? ;)

 

 

I agree I have never attend a M&G and don't have any intention too.

 

Having said that I did set up an excursion for our sailing to Alaska this June in Juneau which gave us all 10% off. Other than that I don't think I would meet anyone from my roll call on board except by chance.

[Cruise life]

On previous cruises, before Cheers, we did some meet 'n' greets that had cocktails for an hour and people had to pay in advance. Of the two I arranged, only one couple didn't show up, but they had paid as the count had to be given once onboard and they never said they weren't coming.

 

 

 

On other ones where there was just a simple meeting at a bar on Lido, more times than not, people didn't show up or if they did I didn't know them. I say that as I am not an outgoing person and wouldn't just walk up to someone and start talking. Once or twice I saw large gatherings and I assumed they were our roll call people and they were.

 

 

 

For whatever reason I feel the actual roll calls on here have decreased dramatically in participation. I looked at one today for a cruise we have booked for October and read through it before I posted and there is almost no one there. It was my first posting for this group, so will see how it goes, but seriously, I don't have a lot of hope.

 

 

Our last meet & greet was at the aft pool bar and it was packed. We had someone making name tags and we basically took up the entire back of lido, port side. It was very loud and many people mingled while others sat and chatted with one or two people they found a table with early on. I do think some people are better at the mingling process than others. I also am not very comfortable going around saying hi, I'm Tom (or Sally, whatever). I'm so happy there are people that are used to introducing themselves or helping others get involved. Especially for singles, roll calls can be great ways to meet up with people on the first day and arrange dining partners, etc. We met a young man once that never found a steady dining arrangement. He was a soccer player from New York. We enjoyed his company during dinner one night and he told us how he ate with different people basically every meal. Solo travel is not for everyone, but the roll calls make it easier to find some friends you have met on-line first.

[Lerin]

People join roll calls for different reasons.

Some want to see if some like-minded people will be on the ship, others want a few questions answered, others are looking to share excursions, and some are wanting to make new friends.

 

Not all of the reasons justify participation in meet and greets.

[Cruise life]

People join roll calls for different reasons.

 

Some want to see if some like-minded people will be on the ship, others want a few questions answered, others are looking to share excursions, and some are wanting to make new friends.

 

 

 

Not all of the reasons justify participation in meet and greets.

 

 

Don't forget the slot pull! Seems the slot pull is a very, very popular meet-up option for people, with or without the meet & greets.