Are fewer cruisers participating in Roll Calls now??

[kazu]

Your comment is interesting and very apropo. I have been managing the roll call for our Grand Asia and have been reluctant to ask for last names. Yet, as you pointed out, once aboard ship, your chance of actually meeting the people behind the screen names is slim. I would welcome any suggestions or opinions as to whether to encourage the use of last names. There are some people, perhaps many, who simply prefer the anonymity of a screen name, although you would think that if they participate in a roll call, they would like to meet fellow posters.

 

Opinions?

 

I ask people to email me with their cabin number (if they know it) and last name for the meet and greet invites.

 

No one has to of course but many do. The list is kept in confidence and no one has access to it, but on board, I will share with the other party's permission if people want to "connect". You kind of know on board pretty fast who minds and who doesn't, but to be safe, I call the person who someone is trying to reach (with the other party's permission) and give them the cabin number and let them know that the person is trying to reach them.

 

They then have the option to call the other person or not and, their information has not been divluged. I don't think I have been on a roll call yet where the call wasn't returned. ;)

 

We've had some pretty congenial roll calls.

 

Anyone on my tours already knows my name, cabin numbers and how to find me.

 

I do NOT encourage anyone or think it's a good idea to post your last name on the roll call. It's an internet board and anyone can open an account on CC and access the information. Same reason I don't like FB roll calls and won't use them.

[cruisemom42]

Well said! We have met some great people on our cruises, some who became friends. We weren’t looking for that but what a delight to meet people who were simpatico. We have met other types too but for the most part it is always interesting. I have shared some meals with exceptionally interesting people as well as others. But that is just the diversity of humankind.

 

 

I agree with the above. In my everyday life I don't often run into many people who share my love of travel and cruising. It is nice to share those joys with others -- and what better place to meet likeminded folks than on a cruise or trip. I have met quite a number of very interesting folks in the course of my travels and have learned a lot from some of them. Some are just shipboard acquaintances and others have become friends.

[cartervan]

I agree with the above. In my everyday life I don't often run into many people who share my love of travel and cruising. It is nice to share those joys with others -- and what better place to meet likeminded folks than on a cruise or trip. I have met quite a number of very interesting folks in the course of my travels and have learned a lot from some of them. Some are just shipboard acquaintances and others have become friends.

 

 

Yes! I'm so happy to see a couple of posts with positive things to say about their fellow CC'ers. We've met so many really nice and interesting people from previous Roll Call groups. It can add a lot to the pleasure of cruising.

[Tampa Girl]

Please share with those of us on CC who are concerned about personal identity security how you will do a better job of protecting it than Mark Zuckerberg and Mary Sternberg and Company have done.

 

As Kazu has suggested, providing cabin numbers in an email is preferable to posting last names on a roll call. Kazu, thank you for your helpful response to my question. That was what I was looking for.

[kazu]

As Kazu has suggested, providing cabin numbers in an email is preferable to posting last names on a roll call. Kazu, thank you for your helpful response to my question. That was what I was looking for.

 

Happy to help. It's worked for me and the roll calls I've been on quite well.

[Tampa Girl]

Please share with those of us on CC who are concerned about personal identity security how you will do a better job of protecting it than Mark Zuckerberg and Mary Sternberg and Company have done.

 

 

BTW, people who are concerned about their personal identity security should be a little more circumspect about what they share on social media. Our computers and iphones have been hacked for years. And Facebook devotees did not anticipate breaches of privacy? It is our responsibility to protect ourselves as much as possible and not place all the blame on others when breaches occur.

[westcoastcruiser]

We have met some great people through CC and some we continue to keep in touch with. We also have taken small group tours that I have arranged through CC which turned out to be wonderful experiences. I love the forum and the sharing of information that occurs.

 

I agree that HAL’s roll call has never been as active as some other cruise lines. The cruise we completed earlier this year had a very small roll call but fortunately it was sufficient enough to generate enough for the few tours I arranged. The M&G was well attended and likely included “lurkers” which is fine by me. Possible reasons behind the low numbers have already been mentioned and, in our case, could have been more destination driven...been there, done that situation.

 

Sharing of last names..not going to do it. And often I do not share my specific city in which I live. And for situations in which I am organizing tours, I will set up a specific email just for that purpose. For those on tours I am taking, I will share my cabin number in a private email. Too cautious? Maybe. But I am ok with that.

[roses313]

Found the conversation very interesting and timely.

 

Next week we are on the 17 day circle Hawaii. I joined the Roll Call and will go to the M&G, which is on the first sea day. The RC was fairly active, but definitely dominated by a few. Will be interesting to see if they also turn the M&G to be all about themselves. We go to the M&G for the social aspect...it's only an hour, and we have met some very nice folks with whom we have shared drinks during the cruise.

 

Lots of organizing private tours, in which we never participate. Just not our thing. Not interested in spending a day touring with 6-8 people whom we don't know and with whom we would not be compatible. We prefer the HAL tours. True they may not be for everyone, but the work for us.

[HamOp]

For what it's worth, I thought it was funny. :)

 

Thank You. That's how it was intended.

[DaveOKC]

I ran one Meet and Greet and I never asked for last names. Instead about once a week (for the two months prior to sailing) I posted a list of who had signed up for it using their CC names and city/area they were from (if they wanted to provide it) and did this as a reminder of the event and to allow for people to add or delete their names.

 

I also never asked for cabin numbers. Of course this did not provide for personal invites to the M&G delivered to the cabins, but I figured that if someone was really interested in attending they would make not of it from my many reminders on the CC roll call board. It seemed to work as we had over 50 people show up.

[kazu]

I ran one Meet and Greet and I never asked for last names. Instead about once a week (for the two months prior to sailing) I posted a list of who had signed up for it using their CC names and city/area they were from (if they wanted to provide it) and did this as a reminder of the event and to allow for people to add or delete their names.

 

I also never asked for cabin numbers. Of course this did not provide for personal invites to the M&G delivered to the cabins, but I figured that if someone was really interested in attending they would make not of it from my many reminders on the CC roll call board. It seemed to work as we had over 50 people show up.

 

Glad it worked for you Dave. I've seen a big difference in the turnout since I delivered invites. Might be a fluke, but people do get busy when they get on board and can forget.

 

I don't post the listing you mentioned because of the spread sheet which keeps posts from having to be repeated whether it be activities, meet and greets, private tours, whatever.

 

I do a reminder before we leave of course ;)

 

I am hoping the turnout for ours will be as good as in the past. We have a lot of great roll call members and should be a fun get together :)

[funji1]

I agree with many of these postings too ! Maintaining everyone's privacy is very important and not to be taken lightly. We have met many people on cruises and some are friends to this day, others we never heard from after the cruise which was fine. We cruise to see new things, experience new cultures and to explore great places. When someone wishes to join a tour I have organized (which is about 10) over our many years of cruising, I try and get as much information from them to hopefully learn if they will be a match with our tour. Only once was there a "dud" who joined us. That can happen on a private excursion or one from the ship. Of course, it is a little more difficult on a small group tour but manageable. Never have I regretted organizing or joining another tour organized by someone on CC. I will continue to take small group tours unless the only option is a ship's excursion. I appreciate everyone's input on this thread and have learned a few new things as well...ie HAL has a roll call on FB which may or may not be why CC roll calls postings have diminished.

Happy cruising to all!

[Scrapnana]

We had a very active roll call for this year's GWV. We had over 200 sign up for the first meet and greet and we had most show up. For our fourth and final M&G yesterday, we still had about 25 attend. I have met some great people on roll calls and will continue to participate in them.

[myfuzzy]

I have been on some very active and productive RC's, There were a lot of interesting folks participating and throughout the RC, we exchanged information about the cruise, say one person got an email and no one else did. Prices on hotels and airfare, price reductions on the cruise price. We wished celebratory wishes on special occasions and condolences when needed, endured floods, snowstorms and even hurricanes, but in the end we all met on board and had a great time. However, the last few, very few participants and on the one, apparently a group knew each other and we planning activities on the RC, but if anyone new came on and wanted to participate as well, they were ignored. My current RC is pretty much non existent, with the cruise some 150 days away. I noticed too, with the introductory "auto post" it seems that there are a lot of one post posters.

[OCruisers]

Lots of past cruise friends we'll be with on an upcoming cruise aren't members on CC so don't post on the roll call.

We keep up by emails. Probably the same for many of the rest of you.

Even so ... we always join in on the CC roll calls; and, yes, some are more active than others.

LuLu

[rkacruiser]

We had a very active roll call for this year's GWV. We had over 200 sign up for the first meet and greet and we had most show up. For our fourth and final M&G yesterday, we still had about 25 attend. I have met some great people on roll calls and will continue to participate in them.

 

Since you are still on the GWV, I think. Thanks for this posting and taking the time and expense to do so. Why the fall off in the attendance in your final M&G attendance in your opinion?

[ArtsyCraftsy]

(bolding mine)

You are not the only one.

My biggest turn-off is a roll call that (for the majority of posts) only discusses private tours. In cases like that I do a lot more lurking than posting, unless I find someone on the roll call who I feel compatible with. And that is accomplished only if someone talks about him/herself and not only "please join this private tour".

 

I couldn't agree more -- this is spot on. The Voyage of the Vikings 2018 roll call is very active and has been for a long time. That's partly due to seeritR who put together the series of linked spreadsheets that keep track of EVERYTHING including local weather and currency exchange rates. Really, he's done an amazing job and it's an incredible resource. I check it almost every day for updates.

 

Yes, there's some organization of private tours, but that accounts for only half or so of the posts on the roll call. This is my first active Roll Call. As I mentioned earlier, the roll call for the 2-week Alaska trip last September was really dormant and there was no meet and greet, nothing organized at all. So I consider this my first "real" roll call experience and I'm honestly looking forward to meeting the folks whose CC names have become so familiar.

 

I'm going into this exactly as I did the "open seating" dining experience -- open to meeting new folks, anticipating a nice time at the meet and greet, knowing that if things don't pan out, it's a "nothing ventured, nothing gained" experience. There are 130 on the roll call so far, 91 of whom have indicated attendance at the first meet and greet. We've had a good bit of "getting to know you" posts on the discussion and that has probably helped.

 

Lana in Bellingham, WA

[rkacruiser]

Some mentioning on this thread as to what HAL provided during M&G sessions in the now distant past. Senior Officers, i.e. Captain, Hotel Manager (aka Hotel Director now), Cruise Director, would attend as their responsibilities allowed them to do so. Adult beverages from the bar would be available for those that wished along with coffee/tea, cookies, and canapes. It was a significant event for those who attended.

 

What may have caused the change?

 

Using this M&G time for private tour organization purposes. I witnessed this more than once when the Senior Officers were present in the Crow's Nest. I have no objections for those who wish to organize and participate in private tours. I have been a participant in some of those tours myself. But, what some don't seem to think about: using the M&G time for such private tour administrative time while the ship's Senior Officer's are present may be seen as offensive to HAL. Those taking "your" private tour might other wise book a ship's shore excursion. This affects the "bottom line" for that ship's cruise if that tour money does not accrue to HAL.

 

So, what does HAL do? A M&G meeting place and time will be provided. Coffee/tea and cookies will be provided. The appearance of Senior Officers or any other "goodies"? No.

 

Some will see this change as another example of a "cutback" by HAL. I see it as a practical response by HAL to those who wish to be competitors to their EXC program.

 

I appreciate what HAL is willing to do for the M&G requests.

[Stratheden]

I ran one Meet and Greet and I never asked for last names. Instead about once a week (for the two months prior to sailing) I posted a list of who had signed up for it using their CC names and city/area they were from (if they wanted to provide it) and did this as a reminder of the event and to allow for people to add or delete their names.

 

I also never asked for cabin numbers. Of course this did not provide for personal invites to the M&G delivered to the cabins, but I figured that if someone was really interested in attending they would make not of it from my many reminders on the CC roll call board. It seemed to work as we had over 50 people show up.

 

I was thinking about joining a RC and M&G for our last cruise in 2016 until the organiser posted a list of CCnames, Real Names and where they were from, and Cabin No's.

I could not believe that folk were happy to hand over that much info to someone they had never met.

[OCruisers]

I was thinking about joining a RC and M&G for our last cruise in 2016 until the organiser posted a list of CCnames, Real Names and where they were from, and Cabin No's.

I could not believe that folk were happy to hand over that much info to someone they had never met.

 

Giving too much info is a big turn off to lots of us.

Doesn't mean you have to give all that info.

I would have just posted our CC name, first names, and the state we live.

Just posting your CC name is fine as well.

Keep in mind it's just as much your roll call as it is the "organiser" so just join in and chat. ;)

[avian777]

BTW, people who are concerned about their personal identity security should be a little more circumspect about what they share on social media. Our computers and iphones have been hacked for years. And Facebook devotees did not anticipate breaches of privacy? It is our responsibility to protect ourselves as much as possible and not place all the blame on others when breaches occur.

 

Exactly, and that is why I would never turn personal info over to total strangers on a RC or to unknown M&G organizers. For that matter, I do not participate in FB or any other social media where personal info can be posted much less where it is required as a condition of participating. So I do not have to worry about the FB-type breaches. I do, however, marvel at people who nilly-willy give personal info to CC, RCs and/or M&Gs because they (apparently) think CC, RCs and/or M&Gs are somehow different.

[Cruising-along]

I couldn't agree more -- this is spot on. The Voyage of the Vikings 2018 roll call is very active and has been for a long time. That's partly due to seeritR who put together the series of linked spreadsheets that keep track of EVERYTHING including local weather and currency exchange rates. Really, he's done an amazing job and it's an incredible resource. I check it almost every day for updates...

 

Lana in Bellingham, WA

 

 

Hi Lana, I am also on that roll call (2018 VOV) [emoji6]

I agree, seeritR has done an awesome job with the spreadsheet and I really appreciate it. Truly amazing.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[dfish]

Some mentioning on this thread as to what HAL provided during M&G sessions in the now distant past. Senior Officers, i.e. Captain, Hotel Manager (aka Hotel Director now), Cruise Director, would attend as their responsibilities allowed them to do so. Adult beverages from the bar would be available for those that wished along with coffee/tea, cookies, and canapes. It was a significant event for those who attended.

 

What may have caused the change?

 

Using this M&G time for private tour organization purposes. I witnessed this more than once when the Senior Officers were present in the Crow's Nest. I have no objections for those who wish to organize and participate in private tours. I have been a participant in some of those tours myself. But, what some don't seem to think about: using the M&G time for such private tour administrative time while the ship's Senior Officer's are present may be seen as offensive to HAL. Those taking "your" private tour might other wise book a ship's shore excursion. This affects the "bottom line" for that ship's cruise if that tour money does not accrue to HAL.

 

So, what does HAL do? A M&G meeting place and time will be provided. Coffee/tea and cookies will be provided. The appearance of Senior Officers or any other "goodies"? No.

 

Some will see this change as another example of a "cutback" by HAL. I see it as a practical response by HAL to those who wish to be competitors to their EXC program.

 

I appreciate what HAL is willing to do for the M&G requests.

I appreciate what HAL does as well. I organized a Meet and Greet where the Cruise Director showed up and was immediately asked about special tendering privileges for private tours. I saw the look on her face. I'm sure she was sorry she stopped by.

[Tinknock50]

I am having continual problems with new post notifications on my Roll Call. I have it set for "instant notification", but it does not work. Anyone else have this problem?

[ellieanne]

:confused::confused:Is it just me or are only a very few people signing up on the HAL Roll Calls ?

I have posted on our Roll Call for private tours for our Canada/New England cruise on August 4, 2018 and no one has replied except two couples who are travelling on different dates. I am the only one on the Roll Call. I find this very strange and unusual.

ANY ideas why .........:confused:

 

The few Roll Calls I have participated in have been mainly discussions of private tours at the ports, which usually involves some bashing of those who chose to take ship-sponsored tours. I have no interest in arranging or participating in private tours. I would love it if the Roll Calls were more like get-to-know-your-fellow-cruisers or places to arrange trivia teams or ways to share on-baord activities. But the ones I have seen have seen are nothing more than people trying to find the 6th or 8th person to fill their private tours.

 

By your own admission, you are using the Roll Call for exactly the reason I do not want to join one.