Have RCCL "Meet & Mingle" Roll Calls Suffered?

[Dlanco]

Is it me or have the RCCL "Meet & Mingle" Roll Calls suffered from lack of CC member participation? Case in point looking at roll call participants for Oasis between August 2015 - and December 2015 most have members that total in the 40 - 60 range. After January 2016 the roll call member numbers drop dramatically into the single digits. It appears that many roll calls struggle to get out of the single digits for sailings in May 2016 and beyond.

 

Has there been a lack of interest in roll calls of late? I would have thought that cruises with less than 365 days to go (May, June, July 2016) would have more then 4, 5, 6 active members participating in information exchanges.

 

Just curious.

[CVU]

Haven't seen it. Some M&M are over 100 and some are small. Depends on the time of the M&M when on board and the day and time. It is super early or later in the cruise or at a time that isn't good for people, then not as many will show up.

Some cruises have many and some not so much posting on the Roll Call.

[Italy52]

Roll call problems are not unique to RCI --- I have found the same thing on Celebrity and Princess.

[steveru621]

I have found roll calls are a lot more meet, and very little mingle. Less gifts, less C&A participation, less RCI, and not much opportunity to meet the organizers of the roll call.

[brillohead]

I think that's just too far into the future... people are busy with current roll calls and just haven't signed up for the M&M or started participating in a roll call for a cruise that is almost a full year into the future (if they've even purchased that vacation yet).

[cruisdog]

Maybe it is the MM's fault, the last few my DW and I went to were very boring. Mostly people hung out in their own little groups and were not very open and welcoming. I even brought a gift to the gift exchange and didn't even stay for it, ran out as quickly as possible. Will probably not attend another one, have better things to do.

[Dinkachu]

My next cruise roll call for Dec. 2015 is the least active roll call we've ever been a part of. I tried to get 25 people to commit to a meet and mingle and I offered to do the research to set it up - but no response.

 

It is not just because it is a Christmas cruise either - this will be our 6th Christmas cruise. Our last Christmas cruise on the same ship - Allure, we had over 60 people show up for the Meet and Mingle onboard. We did a cabin crawl and played a white elephant gift exchange.

 

We have noticed less from Royal over the years. Officers no longer show up, snacks are now peanuts and cookies. Gifts are smaller and there are fewer of them. I don't know if that is why no one is interested anymore.

[BillOh]

Is it me or have the RCCL "Meet & Mingle" Roll Calls suffered from lack of CC member participation? Case in point looking at roll call participants for Oasis between August 2015 - and December 2015 most have members that total in the 40 - 60 range. After January 2016 the roll call member numbers drop dramatically into the single digits. It appears that many roll calls struggle to get out of the single digits for sailings in May 2016 and beyond.

 

Has there been a lack of interest in roll calls of late? I would have thought that cruises with less than 365 days to go (May, June, July 2016) would have more then 4, 5, 6 active members participating in information exchanges.

 

Just curious.

 

They definitely are down, compared to my other cruises. I think there is only one active roll call for Oasis with more than 1000 posts. Most Allure/Oasis roll calls of the past few years went way beyond that.

[alfaeric]

Given the number of threads about people being afraid to cruise a specific ship due to bad reviews, it should not be shocking that people may not want to hang out with people who generally complain.

 

Maybe.

[widallas]

I think that a lot of people are using other social media to arrange meet ups. I see a lot of activity on Facebook and Twitter which always surprises me… I generally don't like to let people know that I will be out of my house for 7 to 10 days. [emoji16]

[grand isle joe]

Maybe it is the MM's fault, the last few my DW and I went to were very boring. Mostly people hung out in their own little groups and were not very open and welcoming. I even brought a gift to the gift exchange and didn't even stay for it, ran out as quickly as possible. Will probably not attend another one, have better things to do.

 

I agree 100%....it turns into a "can you top this" contest as far a number of cruises for the least amount of money and how many crew members they are "friends" with......enough already.....it's become the same as showing up at your local McDonalds and see the retirees huddling in the corner protecting their small coffee for hours talking about bowel movements......no more for us......

[George C]

I am on 2 currently, one for next April last post was 3 weeks ago by me, other one started off good but now maybe one post a week

[Desert Cruizers]

How successful a M&M will be depends on the activity of the Roll Call. Last year our NZ cruise had a small Roll Call, no organized activities, it was like our very first cruise before I knew about CC and we met more people out side the Roll Call. Our 2015 SOS Quebec sailing is as active as our 2011 LOS TA was with a very large Roll Call, many activities planned. The signup for the M&M began adding up quickly then slowed down finally a burst in the past 2 months as more members are finished with previous cruises and getting involved with this one. Right now we have 309 signed up for the M&M. I do believe my husband & I spend more time meeting up with people not involved with our Roll Call on all our cruises. We are doing more group tours this time.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Desert Cruizers

[Bases5]

Trust me Other social media site's have put a hurting on this site.

many people go there where it is less restrictive.

I love this site but it is the sad truth.

[Mark-Sheffield]

We sail next May and the roll call has less than 10 members and the last post was by me two weeks ago. But i thought it was a bit early given that the cruise is next May, but reading this thread, maybe the M&M are less popular than i thought.

[barbon2]

Agree with widallas.

 

Even when the boards were more active, we went to a few. Mostly everyone stood around for a few minutes and then went their own way.

 

Also, guilty one here. At times I will participate on the boards and then not go to the M&M. I think a lot of us enjoy talking about and getting ready for a cruise, but once on board just do not feel like going to the M&M.

Sometimes I post when going with another couple who are not interested in CC .

 

Our upcoming Liberty cruise has an extremely active roll call and we are definitely going to the unofficial M&M that has been scheduled for sail a way.

However the official M&M is on a sea day at 10 am and probably will not go.

[dedosr]

The problem with Some Roll Calls, is that some people use them as way to communicate with other cruisers about personal matters. The Harmony Roll Call I am on is just all about personal stuff and not cruise related. As a result of this I un subscribed, because I am not interested in their gardens, what other vacations they have been on, and their pets, etc. I am surprised that the moderators don't put an end to this useless chatter.

[Let'sGo!]

I know we have had some AWESOME M&M, largely because of what we planned on the roll call thread... we've even scheduled group shore excursions and seen places we might not have seen had it not been for being able to book something private with our roll call members.

 

We've also had some total snoozers.

 

I think there are a lot of factors:

1) RCCL has really screwed up some M&Ms by not sending the correct date/times to some roll call members cabins... or worse, scheduling them during a really bad time of day.

 

2) Sometimes roll calls get off to slow starts. I have a cruise booked for next May. Is our roll call active? Not really -- but granted we're just under a year away. Lots of people have cruises to take before that one.

 

3) It also depends on your itinerary. I've found that the Southern route roll calls are more active. The ports might be first visits for some cruisers, so everyone is interested to learn ideas about what to do. I'm on a routine Western Carib route, and it seems most everyone on our roll call so far has been to all of the ports before, so they kind of take it all in stride.

 

4) Also, I've found that if you really do connect with someone on your roll call, you usually make arrangements to meet either at the pre-cruise hotel for dinner, or for a sailaway toast or something... and then the organized M&M isn't all that important.

 

I always join the roll call when I find it, and do check in from time to time, but I don't make it routine. I suspect as we get closer to cruise date -- or heck, even get into the year 2016, we'll see some more activity.

 

Just my 2 cents...

Ann

Edited August 18, 2015 by TexasAnn

[CMurph]

I love chatting "occasionally" with fellow future cruises. I always join the roll call and sign up for the M&M. Sometimes the roll calls do turn personal among a few people that have cruised together before...I have nothing to add to those conversations. Many times I post a question or comments...and get no response. That's ok..perhaps it doesn't warrant a response. However, after that I do not appreciate a cheerleader on the roll call calling me out (and others) for not posting enough. Just saying...

[ILuvCruisin']

Roll Call was the least active we've ever participated in so I should have suspected...

 

RCCL did not help...even the snacks were boring...

 

I agree with the folks who said people are just using other sites now...there's only so much time you can devote to Social Media so when it gets chopped into several sites you have to pick favorites...

[juncos]

Meet and mingle are not well organized by RC.

They send somebody over to talk very fast and get out.Hurry hurry.

Also sometimes they dont deliver the invitation to the cabin.

 

One of the things that I missed the most was you dont know who is who.

For example I been to a couple were they ask you to get up give your name

and Screen name.

How many times you read a tread I will like to know who the person is

We cruise in the Quantum maiden voyage from NJ and there was a lot of funny treads and I looked forward to know who that person was never meet the guy.

 

Also the gifts are always the same,notebook and the pen,make it worthwhile some booze for a change,cheap cheap

MY 2 cents

[Terre]

Our upcoming Meet &Mingle for Freedom of the Seas had 96 registered the last time looked. Just like roll calls, some do better than others. The meet & greets that are organized by roll calls usually do better that RCI's M&M, at least the ones we've been to on Carnival. I still like RCI's M&M though, it's nice to meet the people you've been "talking" to for months.

 

And...sometimes people don't know how to register or find the link to register.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Terre

[depplep]

I agree 100%....it turns into a "can you top this" contest as far a number of cruises for the least amount of money and how many crew members they are "friends" with......enough already.....it's become the same as showing up at your local McDonalds and see the retirees huddling in the corner protecting their small coffee for hours talking about bowel movements......no more for us......

 

This is why we've only ever gone into the Diamond lounge once, and we've been Diamond for a few cruises now. I joined my roll call to see if anyone else had access to dining reservations. I have no intention of attending a roll call.

[CMurph]

I don't blame Royal Caribbean for lackluster M&Ms. It is all on us, prizes, food & drink is a plus.

[Desert Cruizers]

What we did with our SOS Quebec Cruise, was create another thread whereby the general chat could carry on and not disrupt the flow of the main Roll Call. We as with many large Roll Calls began having a similar problem due to the 17 months before sailing and non cruise related topic started. I was guilty of it myself. Now that we are 2 months from sailing the general chat thread has greatly slowed down as more are coming back in to become involved.