Very few people on our roll call,,,why?

[KYFLOHgal]

We are sailing at the end of May, and still have only 17 members on our roll call. Wondering what is going on? Why would there be so few people, just a couple of months out? Any ideas?

[LA_CA_GAL]

We are sailing at the end of May, and still have only 17 members on our roll call. Wondering what is going on? Why would there be so few people, just a couple of months out? Any ideas?

 

I have been on some roll calls with hardly any activity, much less than 17.

 

It happens.

[cb at sea]

Only about 3% of ALL cruisers even KNOW about CC! That's why! And, not ALL cruise critic cruisers are into chatting...

[easyboy]

We are sailing at the end of May, and still have only 17 members on our roll call. Wondering what is going on? Why would there be so few people, just a couple of months out? Any ideas?

Not surprising. Some may have more members but may also not be active as well.

[leaveitallbehind]

It's hit or miss. Some roll calls are very active while others almost non existent. As indicated, the vast majority of those on board are not even aware of CC.

[Krazy Kruizers]

So true. Many, many cruisers and even TA's do not know about Cruise Critic.

I don't bother with Roll Calls any more but many years ago, there was only 1 other couple on the Roll Call for one of our cruises.

[beachbum53]

Another possibility. There are other social media sites besides CC where people can form a roll call, whether it's for a cruise or some type of land based vacation. And cb at sea is correct. Most people that cruise have either never heard of Cruise Critic, or are not interested in being members.

[LA_CA_GAL]

It's hit or miss. Some roll calls are very active while others almost non existent. As indicated, the vast majority of those on board are not even aware of CC.

 

Yep, however, some roll calls can be the grand slam.

 

We had a roll call for the Oasis, and one of our members had an Aqua Suite and invited everyone to his suite for sail away. An Aqua Suite has a balcony that can easily accommodate 50 people. Very memorable experience and cruise.

[navybankerteacher]

A lot depends upon the itinerary. On a trans-Atlantic repositioning, with several stops in the Mediterranean - and with some cruisers spending time in the embarkation area, there is much more to talk about: shared tours, what to do in Rome, say, before boarding, how best to fly to Europe. On a seven day Caribbean cruise people just might not feel there is that much to talk about.

[cruzeluver]

We have been noticing a decline in roll cal participation for a few years now. Yet roll calls on a certain large social media site are growing and becoming very active. Makes sense since millions and millions more are on that site vs. CC.

[Dcoy]

I signed up for an August cruise last November. Started looking for our roll call. There's one for every cruise for that month except mine. I finally started one yesterday. I'll see if anyone else signs up.

 

Don.

[OCruisers]

I have been on some roll calls with hardly any activity, much less than 17.

 

It happens.

 

Yes, it happens.

Some roll calls are way less active than others ....

[capriccio]

I've found that the greater the choice of private excursions, the busier and more helpful the roll call. Some of the busiest roll calls we've been on are an upcoming Western Caribbean and TA B2B with over 455 members signed up for one or both cruises, our recent LA to Valparaiso to Rio B2B cruise, and our British Isles cruise in 2013.

[Sequim88]

Our transatlantics had VERY active roll calls - one with over 300 active participants. But the So. Caribbean cruise only had a few. Our Alaska cruise coming up - 2 and the other person is not real active so keep posting once in awhile to keep it visible - just in case someone checks.

 

I have noticed a stark contrast in the activity for similar itineraries and ship size between HAL and RCCL with RCCL being much more active, even for Alaska cruises. I know RCCL promotes and supports CC a lot more and used to have Roll Call door signs that helped make people aware of CC as well as the Roll Call Meet & Mingle events.

[leaveitallbehind]

Yep, however, some roll calls can be the grand slam.

 

We had a roll call for the Oasis, and one of our members had an Aqua Suite and invited everyone to his suite for sail away. An Aqua Suite has a balcony that can easily accommodate 50 people. Very memorable experience and cruise.

 

Agree completely. We were part of a very active roll call several years ago from which we met four other couples with whom we became good friends and have cruised with five times since - with more planned.

[TinCan782]

In my case I do not find them interesting...never bother to "check-in".

[Nic6318]

Hi there

 

It's hit and miss. You can't force people to participate.

 

 

You want people who are interested and interesting. 17 isn't a lot of people, but it isn't bad. Don't forget that a lot of people that are members of cc, especially new members might not even be aware of the roll calls or understand what the purpose is. Just look at people on this site when they discuss dining and how they wouldn't care to share a table with strangers...those people likely wouldn't join a roll call.

 

Take the 17 people you've got and have fun.

 

have a great cruise

[notentirelynormal]

In my case I do not find them interesting...never bother to "check-in".

 

I'm sorry. Are you saying you don't find "hi, it's raining outside today so we are taking Muffy to the vet before we head out to lunch at ABC restaurant. They are having a 2 for 1 special."

 

I couldn't care less about your dog, what you are doing that day or having lunch. I really don't care about the 50 other people in the roll call. And for the love of God, 40 people saying "good morning" all in a roll. Really people?

 

And that is the number one reason I don't normally join in the discussion. As soon as it starts down that path, I'm done. I started one for our upcoming August Alaska cruise. That was over six months ago. Still only four people and that includes me.

[babs135]

I would agree that the roll calls that meander off the topic of the cruise and into everyone's day to day life may start off interesting, but by day 7 of I'm going shopping today because (insert as applicable) is having a megasale I'm beginning to lose the will to live. It may be of interest to someone who lives down the road, but to others in different countries it's the biggest turn off ever.

 

Having said that, if it's an active roll call with someone who is organising shore excursions then it can pay dividends to join. We did such on a Princess cruise a few years ago. Someone was organising an excursion in Tapei which sounded excellent and far cheaper than doing it through the ship. We joined the roll call, put our names down for the trip, had a great time and that was it; never got involved in another thing.

 

I do fee sorry for those people who make an effort to arrange an initial get together only for it to fall spectacularly apart. On a recent cruise about 12-15 people all promised the organiser they would turn up and in end how many bothered - 1 and that was me !! Yes, we can all find excuses for a few of these people who didn't turn up, but all of them!. Why say that you will definitely be there and then 'no show'; you wouldn't do it at home ?

[slidergirl]

Different strokes for different folks.

 

I did join a roll call for my first cruise back in the early 2000s because someone told me it was a "must do". The roll call was nothing more than people trying to organize cabin crawls, get people to populate their private excursion (to make it cheaper for them), and organize a M&G. I did go to the M&G - maybe 15 people sitting around in a circle, introducing ourselves. Very hard to sit through. I've avoided roll calls since then.

 

If someone feels the need to do private excursions at ports, maybe a roll call is good. And, as someone else said, if it is a cruise with long days at sea, perhaps finding people with similar interests to try to get together to knit, play cards, etc., would be worth a visit to a roll call.

 

I just wish all the blather about Buffy the dog, my child's school play, my visit to my plastic surgeon for the pre-cruise Botox, etc., would go away...

[$hip$hape]

In my case I do not find them interesting...never bother to "check-in".

 

We are sailing at the end of May, and still have only 17 members on our roll call.

Wondering what is going on?

Why would there be so few people, just a couple of months out? Any ideas?

Bring fun with you !

Some lazy pax never bother to "check in" to a Roll-Call unless you seem to provide them with an extra benefit.

(They will have nothing to add)

[bob brown]

I always like to participate in roll calls, and meet and greets, cabin crawls, etc. on board. Even more now, since I am sailing solo, and its nice to "know" people before you board.

 

As far as activity of roll calls...I would agree with what was said earlier...the 'other' social media entity has had an impact on CC...I've seen it discussed in some roll calls where it becomes apparent that there will be 'competing' on board meets and activities, such as slot pulls, etc.

 

One other thing I've noticed...certain types of cruises really draw large numbers of CC roll call activity, such as maiden voyages, maiden voyages from a new homeport, repositioning cruises, etc....

And certain cruises seem to attract a lot of people that know each other from previous cruises, and repeat it on an annual basis...

 

Some of the roll calls can be affected by how dynamic the organizer is...some are very active, and update roll call activities very frequently, and try to get other's into it, as well.

I agree that it is annoying when a few people make the roll call into a "chat room", about non-relevant events in their daily activities...the one positive thing about that, is they tend to keep the roll call near the top of the list...

[FireStation46]

I am not sure how I even found Cc:eek:

 

I have and will participate in Roll Calls/M&M's.

 

I added the link to our M&M which was handy until CC shrunk the size of the chat box.

 

Unless someone hits "expand" on every post, they may miss the link to M&M.

 

Once you settle in on a cruise and 'work' the forum in a positive way, the M&M group grows.

 

I believe our M&M in April is 70+ but it took about a year to gain traction from when I first booked.

 

I will be handing out party beads at out M&M just to keep the spirt of the m&m going.

 

When the crowd is large and folks siting seats for the brief M&M festivities the mingle is not as mingilly?

 

I hope the beads will help folks re-mingle at least after the inital M&M by recognizing what the beads mean as we wander about after the M&M which , I believe, is a sea day. That keeps the chance for unteraction a bit higher before we hit ports etc.

 

On a ship with~6,000 folks I hope the beads will be a code to the attendees to re-greet in a smaller gathering!

 

That's the plan.

 

It worked in cruises in the smaller RCL ships I have been on.

 

Oasis will be a new experience and I hope the M&M/beads helps make it a friendly and fun experience!!

[notentirelynormal]

I forgot my other pet peeve that was just mentioned. Those that have sailed together and are "good friends". They make the newbie not want to bother since what is the point. You are already excluded. Like being in the 3rd grade. In the past one it was all the Arizona people. What? You aren't from Arizona.....ooohhhh.

 

Hi Bob, nice to hear from you. How is Jane?

Jane is great. How are your grandkids? Did you fix the house yet?

Great another 6 people from our last cruise is joining us!

Yea, maybe we can plan some tours together.

 

The newbie is excluded already and in no way wants to join the conversation midway. They don't know you, your dog or did the field trip you had with your other friends.

 

I have over the years looked at a few roll calls. I wanted to get some ideas on the ports and what others think of some excursions. However, comments like the above or comments like hey we've filled all 24 spots except we have room for 4 more. Now the tour has been discussed somewhere privately and not on the roll call so you really still don't know much about the excursion. These roll calls are a total turn off. No consideration is given to the new roll call person. Only the clique already formed.

 

In all the roll calls that I've checked out not once did I learn one single thing about excursions or the ports. I've learned it all on the specific port threads.

 

I will say our last cruise had a M&G and the person that organized it put a lot of time and trouble into it. Sorry, I don't remember her name. We sat around. Had a drink. Chatted awkwardly with each other and left. Still the effort was appreciated.

[SPacificbound]

Our April RC TA has a huge Roll Call and plans for cabin crawl and slots and other activities. Our 3 X cruises in June have varying degrees of small RCs.

 

I participate in the RCs a little, I do read what is new, but sometimes they really get carried away with inside conversations, and a new person coming on gets buried in there somewhere.