Are fewer cruisers participating in Roll Calls now??

[Sea42]

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?

I was not getting my notifications at all from CC including my RC for the last couple of weeks and found all of them in my spam folder. But there is someone on one of my RCs that is having the same issue as you are. No solution as of yesterday.

[avian777]

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...

 

Excellent Post, ellieanne - thanks for speaking up.

[cruisemom42]

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 suspect the change in not having senior HAL officers attend the M&G, based on specific reports that have been posted here on CC, has more to do with avoiding unpleasant (and often inappropriate) questioning about changes and cutbacks than about the arranging of private tours....

 

Also, as already mentioned upstream by someone, those of us who've cruised for a REALLY long time (long before social media or even personal computers ;p) remember when ships arranged 'tours' for passengers in a very casual and low-key way. They were not a profit center, they were another way to entice passengers to try cruising. That is to say, they were a way to counter those folks whose response to the idea of cruising was "What will I do all day when the ship is in port?"

 

Even as recently as 2006 when I did a Baltics cruise on Princess, the Cruise Director provided specific lectures geared toward "do it yourselfers" and even sold a CD with detailed information on this topic. That would never happen today, as cruise lines have taken a hard line on promoting only their own offerings as a way to see ports.

 

Unfortunately, the change-over to charging quite a bit for ship tours and aggressively promoting them occurred around the same time as the real growth of forums such as this one and TripAdvisor, where crowd-sourcing is a key way of finding good and recent intel on good private tours as well as local public transportation, hidden gems worth visiting, etc.

 

The only M&G I recall attending where there were actual 'top brass' in attendance was also on a Princess cruise, with James Deering and another officer (Chief Engineer maybe?). While it was interesting, I will say that it sort of killed off conversations between actual cruisers as everyone jockeyed to talk to these two and/or listen to what they had to say -- which, in my mind, rather defeats the idea of a passenger M&G!

[hrhdhd]

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.

 

I don't understand this line of thinking. Traveling with 50 people you don't know and may not be compatible with is preferable to being in a smaller group?

 

I know someone's going to say it's easier to deal with a couple of boneheads in a larger group, but then you're also spending more time loading busses, etc. I'd rather take my chances with a smaller group; I can still ignore the boneheads. ;)

[3rdGenCunarder]

I suspect the change in not having senior HAL officers attend the M&G, based on specific reports that have been posted here on CC, has more to do with avoiding unpleasant (and often inappropriate) questioning about changes and cutbacks than about the arranging of private tours....

 

Also, as already mentioned upstream by someone, those of us who've cruised for a REALLY long time (long before social media or even personal computers ;p) remember when ships arranged 'tours' for passengers in a very casual and low-key way. They were not a profit center, they were another way to entice passengers to try cruising. That is to say, they were a way to counter those folks whose response to the idea of cruising was "What will I do all day when the ship is in port?"

 

Even as recently as 2006 when I did a Baltics cruise on Princess, the Cruise Director provided specific lectures geared toward "do it yourselfers" and even sold a CD with detailed information on this topic. That would never happen today, as cruise lines have taken a hard line on promoting only their own offerings as a way to see ports.

 

Unfortunately, the change-over to charging quite a bit for ship tours and aggressively promoting them occurred around the same time as the real growth of forums such as this one and TripAdvisor, where crowd-sourcing is a key way of finding good and recent intel on good private tours as well as local public transportation, hidden gems worth visiting, etc.

 

The only M&G I recall attending where there were actual 'top brass' in attendance was also on a Princess cruise, with James Deering and another officer (Chief Engineer maybe?). While it was interesting, I will say that it sort of killed off conversations between actual cruisers as everyone jockeyed to talk to these two and/or listen to what they had to say -- which, in my mind, rather defeats the idea of a passenger M&G!

 

 

(bold is mine) I agree! I remember the days when a "port lecture" provided lots of good information that could help with independent sightseeing. HAL has partnered with Afar Magazine to provide travel information. But they're only pretending to help you. They're selling tours. When you look at the port guide, most of it is helping you refine your choice of excursion sold by HAL. And the little popups highlighting "top picks" have less information than you could get from a Fodor's or Frommer's from your library, and MUCH less information than you can find in a few clicks on the web.

[RuthC]

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?

I haven't had 'instant notification' in a long time, so don't know if it still works this way, but I will tell you why I changed to 'daily notification'.

 

At the time I was using it, instant notification was set up that you got a notification when there was a post, but got no more until you went into the thread and read what had been posted. Then you got a notification for the next post, but the stop/start process repeated.

 

With 'daily notification' you get all the posts at the same time in the evening---and you get them every evening, whether you read the Roll Call thread or not.

 

Try switching to 'daily notification' and see if this solves your problem.

[hrhdhd]

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.

 

Maybe she was thinking that she has nothing to do with tendering? :confused:

 

I am not sure why the question can't be asked, however. It's not like the cruise line doesn't know that people are doing private tours. (And if the answer is that private groups don't get special tendering privileges, then that's cool, too.)

[cbr663]

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?

 

Participating in a Roll Call does not in any way mean that people want to meet fellow posters. For me, RCs are a place to learn and share from each other for an upcoming cruise that we have in common. In no way does it mean that I wish to meet everyone on the RC.

[RuthC]

I am not sure why the question can't be asked, however.

The question can be asked. However, there is a time and a place for everything, and a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet is neither the time nor the place to be asking this question.

 

If/when cruise staff and officers are gracious enough to give the meeting their time, the participants should be gracious enough to be polite, listen, ask questions of a more general nature, and do nothing to make the situation uncomfortable for anyone there.

[3rdGenCunarder]

The question can be asked. However, there is a time and a place for everything, and a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet is neither the time nor the place to be asking this question.

 

If/when cruise staff and officers are gracious enough to give the meeting their time, the participants should be gracious enough to be polite, listen, ask questions of a more general nature, and do nothing to make the situation uncomfortable for anyone there.

 

(bold is mine) That should go without saying but, sadly, some people have no sense of how to behave. I've been lucky in that any M&G I've been to has been social and pleasant. I'd want to crawl under a chair if someone started complaining or cornered a host with an awkward request.

[sammiedawg]

I suspect the change in not having senior HAL officers attend the M&G, based on specific reports that have been posted here on CC, has more to do with avoiding unpleasant (and often inappropriate) questioning about changes and cutbacks than about the arranging of private tours....

 

Also, as already mentioned upstream by someone, those of us who've cruised for a REALLY long time (long before social media or even personal computers ;p) remember when ships arranged 'tours' for passengers in a very casual and low-key way. They were not a profit center, they were another way to entice passengers to try cruising. That is to say, they were a way to counter those folks whose response to the idea of cruising was "What will I do all day when the ship is in port?"

 

Even as recently as 2006 when I did a Baltics cruise on Princess, the Cruise Director provided specific lectures geared toward "do it yourselfers" and even sold a CD with detailed information on this topic. That would never happen today, as cruise lines have taken a hard line on promoting only their own offerings as a way to see ports.

 

Unfortunately, the change-over to charging quite a bit for ship tours and aggressively promoting them occurred around the same time as the real growth of forums such as this one and TripAdvisor, where crowd-sourcing is a key way of finding good and recent intel on good private tours as well as local public transportation, hidden gems worth visiting, etc.

 

The only M&G I recall attending where there were actual 'top brass' in attendance was also on a Princess cruise, with James Deering and another officer (Chief Engineer maybe?). While it was interesting, I will say that it sort of killed off conversations between actual cruisers as everyone jockeyed to talk to these two and/or listen to what they had to say -- which, in my mind, rather defeats the idea of a passenger M&G!

 

I still have the videos on touring the Baltics, which we did with 8 extended family members. We all watched them. We hired private guides for several ports and DIY the rest.

I think the Princess Expert was John Lawrence, who lectured on every port, especially on the history of St Petersburg.

I remember other Princess destination experts presenting similiar lectures, then standing outside directing independents on where to go. It was much appreciated.

[hrhdhd]

(bold is mine) That should go without saying but, sadly, some people have no sense of how to behave. I've been lucky in that any M&G I've been to has been social and pleasant. I'd want to crawl under a chair if someone started complaining or cornered a host with an awkward request.

 

I guess I don't see the officers as my hosts; I am a customer, not a guest, and if I have a question I'll ask it, politely of course. (I don't shop at Target any more, but their usage of "guest" to stand for "customer" is similarly disingenuous.)

 

Perhaps one person's sense of someone taking over the RC and the M&G for talk of private tours is another person's sense that someone's not allowing activities he or she doesn't approve of. Cuts both ways.

[cruisemom42]

I still have the videos on touring the Baltics, which we did with 8 extended family members. We all watched them. We hired private guides for several ports and DIY the rest.

I think the Princess Expert was John Lawrence, who lectured on every port, especially on the history of St Petersburg.

I remember other Princess destination experts presenting similiar lectures, then standing outside directing independents on where to go. It was much appreciated.

 

Yes, it was John Lawrence -- a real class act.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I guess I don't see the officers as my hosts; I am a customer, not a guest, and if I have a question I'll ask it, politely of course. (I don't shop at Target any more, but their usage of "guest" to stand for "customer" is similarly disingenuous.)

 

Perhaps one person's sense of someone taking over the RC and the M&G for talk of private tours is another person's sense that someone's not allowing activities he or she doesn't approve of. Cuts both ways.

 

There's plenty of time to organize private tours on the RC. No need to do it at the M&G.

[kazu]

The question can be asked. However, there is a time and a place for everything, and a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet is neither the time nor the place to be asking this question.

 

If/when cruise staff and officers are gracious enough to give the meeting their time, the participants should be gracious enough to be polite, listen, ask questions of a more general nature, and do nothing to make the situation uncomfortable for anyone there.

 

I SO agree with this. Yet, those that might have reminded people to please not discuss private tours at the M & G have been criticized on this thread.

 

It's all about a time and place for everything as you so eloquently stated.

 

There's plenty of time to organize private tours on the RC. No need to do it at the M&G.

 

Agree 100%.

[Tampa Girl]

I guess I don't see the officers as my hosts; I am a customer, not a guest, and if I have a question I'll ask it, politely of course. (I don't shop at Target any more, but their usage of "guest" to stand for "customer" is similarly disingenuous.)

 

Perhaps one person's sense of someone taking over the RC and the M&G for talk of private tours is another person's sense that someone's not allowing activities he or she doesn't approve of. Cuts both ways.

 

HAL is the position of being the host at the M&G. The cruiseline does not have to accommodate CC'ers, and simple courtesy should prevail.

[rabbit72]

We are on the Eurodam in August and this is by far the most quiet roll call I have ever been on. I have met a lot of great people on past boards and have remained friends with them after our cruises. Oh well....

[Tampa Girl]

Participating in a Roll Call does not in any way mean that people want to meet fellow posters. For me, RCs are a place to learn and share from each other for an upcoming cruise that we have in common. In no way does it mean that I wish to meet everyone on the RC.

 

I completely agree, but that was not the point of my post. My question concerned how to people seek out other roll call members aboard ship when the people do want to maintain a connection. Kazu provided the answer.

[dfish]

The question can be asked. However, there is a time and a place for everything, and a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet is neither the time nor the place to be asking this question.

 

If/when cruise staff and officers are gracious enough to give the meeting their time, the participants should be gracious enough to be polite, listen, ask questions of a more general nature, and do nothing to make the situation uncomfortable for anyone there.

Exactly. Yes, the Cruise Director has something to do with tenders. She was being asked to give preference over those with HAL tours to those with private tours. She did her best to accommodate them in a gracious manner, but I think it was the manner in which it happened. To ask her in a conversation one on one is one thing. To ask the question in a public manner with 40 other guests waiting for the answer really put her on the spot.

 

Last summer the CD on the Koningsdam heard my friend and I discussing the tender situation for the next morning. She offered the suggestion of when to come and get tender tickets so that we could get ashore in time for our tour and not get caught in the the exodus for the ship's tour. Again, this was a private conversation between us, not a public announcement.

 

We also had people making contact/arrangements for private tours during our Meet and Greet last summer, but it was low key and not intrusive on others.

[ontheweb]

Yes, it was John Lawrence -- a real class act.

 

 

Yes, a true class act. When we did out Princess Baltic cruise, he had a meet and greet in the Patter (though practically no one really showed up) complete with champagne. Actually, he was late to it as passengers stopped to talk to him so his wife started it.

 

HIs port lectures were truly awesome. I remember writing a cruise critic review of the cruise and describing him as the most adult cruise director we had ever experienced.

[roses313]

At the M&G on a recent Zuiderdam cruise there were several pitches for private tours that were still seeking participants. As a result not much opportunity for the CC members to in fact meet and mingle.

 

Another pet peeve I have about M&Gs is that everyone finds a seat and in fact do not "mingle'. Yes, there should be some seats for those who are unable to stand and mingle. As a result, you come away with having only chatted with the person sitting next to you...maybe.

 

Sure hope the M& G at the upcoming 'Circle Hawaii" on the Westerdam does not have private tour sales pitches and allows for the members an opportunity to meet each other.

 

Even before all the news about security issues with personal data, I would never provide my personal information (cabin#), last name etc to anyone on a RC, for whatever purpose...M&G notification, private tour etc. I agree some of the CC members are deemed to be trustworthy in the handling of the information...but the RC is available to everyone who is a CC member...so you just never know.

[bennybear]

Yes, it was John Lawrence -- a real class act.

 

Yes I believe we experienced him too! It was truly delightful!

[bennybear]

At the M&G on a recent Zuiderdam cruise there were several pitches for private tours that were still seeking participants. As a result not much opportunity for the CC members to in fact meet and mingle.

 

Another pet peeve I have about M&Gs is that everyone finds a seat and in fact do not "mingle'. Yes, there should be some seats for those who are unable to stand and mingle. As a result, you come away with having only chatted with the person sitting next to you...maybe.

 

Sure hope the M& G at the upcoming 'Circle Hawaii" on the Westerdam does not have private tour sales pitches and allows for the members an opportunity to meet each other.

 

Even before all the news about security issues with personal data, I would never provide my personal information (cabin#), last name etc to anyone on a RC, for whatever purpose...M&G notification, private tour etc. I agree some of the CC members are deemed to be trustworthy in the handling of the information...but the RC is available to everyone who is a CC member...so you just never know.

 

 

Roses I was hoping to meet you on the Zuiderdam but agree that our meet and greet was a bust. Little mingling and a lot of time on drawing gifts. Not my thing.

 

I like the idea of meeting up to form trivia teams, getting to know others etc. We have met some great people on board when you could chat more.

 

Now I am a great believer in private tours but believe the meet and greet is just to meet up, not to organize or pay for them. I have been appalled at how one person can make things go sideways.

 

So again back to the roll call to get a feel for others.

[roses313]

bennybear...oh yes the gift exchange...a total waste of time. Intended, I'm sure is to be an "ice breaker", and get people chatting. Well, at that Zuiderdam M& it didn't happen. I'm also of the opinion that if there are name tags, we should put our CC identifier, because that is the only way we know other RC folks.

Looking forward to the M&G on the Westerdam, and hope it all goes well.

 

Maybe our paths will cross at some future M&G.

[cbr663]

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.

 

(y)(y)

 

I also marvel at people who willingly provide personal information to others in RCs and M&Gs. And claims that the information is kept confidential mean nothing. How is the information kept confidential? Is it encrypted? Locked away and password protected? How is it kept and stored? Who has access? Where is it stored? On what devices? Is it in a cloud? Keeping personal information confidential does not necessarily mean that it is secure.