Why so little Roll Call thread activity for HAL cruises?

I just booked a 14 night Norway cruise on HAL next June. I went to look for the roll call thread so I could post my info and look into sharing excursions and was shocked to find that there was no thread created yet. I also found the FB group that HAL created, and there was only one person who had joined, and no posts. So it's not like HAL cruisers are picking one platform over the other -- it just seems like they're not interacting, at least not this far out. I found a roll call thread for the July version of our cruise (actually the 21 day version) and it has a few posts but still relatively few. In fact, I don't think any of the threads in the Koningsdam roll call section had much activity and it seemed like many cruises were missing.

In comparison, we were just on a Celebrity British Isles cruise in August and we literally had THOUSANDS of posts (which was too much for me, personally), we all shared private excursions and so many of us became friends during the cruise that I had a dinner group of 8-12 every night. Having such a large group of new-found friends added immensely to our enjoyment of the cruise, to the point where I changed an Oceania cruise I had booked for next October to Celebrity.

Last time I was on HAL in March it was just a 7 night Caribbean cruise and the roll call activity was minimal there. We only ended up meeting other CC folks at food trivia one afternoon, and that was purely by chance. I attributed the lack of activity there to it only being a 7 night cruise, but I'm disappointed to find the same thing on this cruise.

There's certainly enough activity in the main thread here. Is it that HAL doesn't have a way to register for a Meet & Mingle that they'll automatically schedule? Granted the cruise is 9 months away, but on other cruise line boards there's plenty of activity this far out. Do HAL cruisers not book this far ahead of time? I'm just wondering if others have run into the same thing. I'll be disappointed if my wife and I end up being pretty much on our own for 2 weeks because of lack of an active roll call thread and knowing people before getting on board.

This is a regular discussion on CC. Don't think any more can be added than was discussed in this recent thread of the same topic:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2512908&highlight=Roll+Call

I have a HAL cruise booked to the Baltic next May. There is NO ROLL CALL. I am so disappointed. I am a solo traveler. I join the roll calls to be able to arrange to group up for private tours (I do not enjoy ship tours), to share information about ports and everything else with each other and to get to know some of the people on my cruise. I do not necessarily join for the occasional get together activities. One can pick and choose those things. The Baltic and Russia is not going to be much fun to work out on my own. I am really sad there is no roll call :')

In comparison, I am cruising in 2 weeks on a Princess cruise and there are appx 250 on the roll call and nearly 6000 posts and has actually been going since before the cruise was open for booking. This has been a fantastic roll call experience and I anticipate a great cruise :)

I have a HAL cruise booked to the Baltic next May. There is NO ROLL CALL. I am so disappointed. I am a solo traveler. I join the roll calls to be able to arrange to group up for private tours (I do not enjoy ship tours), to share information about ports and everything else with each other and to get to know some of the people on my cruise. I do not necessarily join for the occasional get together activities. One can pick and choose those things. The Baltic and Russia is not going to be much fun to work out on my own. I am really sad there is no roll call :')

You have my sympathy. We did that cruise on Celebrity a few years ago. We booked late and were lucky to be able to join existing tours in most ports.

For Saint Petersburg, perhaps you can contact one of the big tour companies like SPB Tours and book one of their tours directly, even though you won't have a group as we did. I think they do Germany as well. It's certainly better than being on a ship tour. In my case, it appears that a HOHO bus is the best choice in most ports in Norway, so not having a group may not be a big deal. But it would be nice not sitting with different people each night (although it was somewhat interesting on Eurodam).

Also you should create the roll call thread, and hopefully people will join. You do have 8 months still before the cruise.

This is a regular discussion on CC. Don't think any more can be added than was discussed in this recent thread of the same topic:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2512908&highlight=Roll+Call

Thanks. Very sad reading that since most people don't join for the wrong reasons (not wanting to do cabin crawls or slot pulls). And the claim that HAL customers tend to be older and not into online stuff doesn't hold up since on our Silhouette cruise we were among the youngest in our group and we're in our early 60's.

It seems to me that on HAL the longer cruises tend to have large roll calls. We just did a 42 day Med. cruise and had lord knows how many pages. We all met up and shared tours etc. But my upcoming 10 day Caribbean I haven't even bothered to look and see if there a roll call. I also think the itinerary has a lot to do with it. Anyway good luck. Maybe think about starting a roll call your self.

It seems to me that on HAL the longer cruises tend to have large roll calls. We just did a 42 day Med. cruise and had lord knows how many pages. We all met up and shared tours etc. But my upcoming 10 day Caribbean I haven't even bothered to look and see if there a roll call. I also think the itinerary has a lot to do with it. Anyway good luck. Maybe think about starting a roll call your self.

Bolding is mine and I agree.

If there is no roll call for your cruise, just start it. ;).

Sometimes people are just waiting to see the roll call come up. Someone has to start it ;)

I pop-up on the Roll Calls for my cruise, but I'm not going to join private tours and I have no interest in Cabin Crawls or Bar Crawls. My cruises are family reunions for me so I'm more interested in spending time with my family than making new friends. No offense to anyone who wants to make friends -- it's just not my focus on the cruise. I'm on the Roll Calls to ask questions or offer opinions on the ports or ship.

It seems like some of the Roll Calls are all about get-togethers, Meet & Greets, or other new friend bonding activities. But in my experience the main focus has gotten to be private tours, and I only book ship-based tours. I'm not going to make up the numbers on anyone's tour so I feel like I do not belong in the Roll Call group. I only respond when I have something to offer, which is not often.

I will read the roll call for the cruise but I really am not interested in posting there. I usually take short cruises (7-12 days) with my mom or a friend. We are interested in the ports, primarily. For example, if I am on a 7-day cruise and there are five ports, I will be pretty busy sightseeing for the bulk of the cruise. I am also not interested in making new friends or arranging my cruise around someone's timetable. I have mixed feelings about arranging a private tour on a roll call. While I like saving money, I do not like hawking tours (trying to get other people to sign up for the tour I want to go on). This actually can take a lot of time and can cause me anxiety. What if I need 12 people for a tour and only 10 are signed up? Oh, no! What am I to do? It's best to avoid such stress and trauma.

Our Panama Canal partial cruise in February on the Zuiderdam had an anemic roll call thread. It did not start until four months before the cruise. (We did not book until 38 days before sailing.) The OP did not have anyone join him for 55 days. In the end, 16 people posted 80 times, and 75 percent of the posts were from 4 people (including me). In contrast, our recent 12-day Princess cruise had 99 participants who posted over a thousand times.

I've learned to live with the limited roll calls on our HAL cruises. It's disappointing, because I do enjoy meeting people, learning about tours, saving money on excursions by joining others for private ones. We haven't participated in slot pulls, bar crawls, or cabin crawls.

So, I got a reply in my new roll call thread today -- "I have been looking forward for this roll call to begin, and you did start it! Great!".

So maybe the problem is that people here are less inclined to start a thread and that CC should consider starting a thread for all cruises. But then you wouldn't have an original poster of the thread (not that I think this is a big deal). Also, HAL starts FB groups and there still wasn't any discussion there, although I'm not sure how busy those are in general. I don't like them because you have to use your real name and some people get concerned about publicly posting their vacation plans (I know I do).

So, I got a reply in my new roll call thread today -- "I have been looking forward for this roll call to begin, and you did start it! Great!".

 

 

So maybe the problem is that people here are less inclined to start a thread and that CC should consider starting a thread for all cruises. But then you wouldn't have an original poster of the thread (not that I think this is a big deal). Also, HAL starts FB groups and there still wasn't any discussion there, although I'm not sure how busy those are in general. I don't like them because you have to use your real name and some people get concerned about publicly posting their vacation plans (I know I do).

Good news :). Someone was waiting.

FB groups are not for me either - not using my real name (I do share with CC members but that is different ;) ) nor advertising when I will be away from home.

Perhaps the bulk of this activity is now through Facebok.

Perhaps the bulk of this activity is now through Facebok.

Not from what I have seen. I do look, just don't post ;)

Our roll call on the other hand has pretty good activity considering the cruise is 8 months out (but who's counting ;p)

This is a regular discussion on CC. Don't think any more can be added than was discussed in this recent thread of the same topic:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2512908&highlight=Roll+Call

Was just going to post this. Thanks!

Since I posted this in August, our Roll Call has picked up a little, but it is still a little less than a year until our sailing.

This is a regular discussion on CC. Don't think any more can be added than was discussed in this recent thread of the same topic:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2512908&highlight=Roll+Call

... but if new RC Threads weren't started the RC Cheerleaders wouldn't have as many opportunities to educate the great unwashed on the many "advantages" of belonging to a RC ...

So, I got a reply in my new roll call thread today -- "I have been looking forward for this roll call to begin, and you did start it! Great!".

 

 

So maybe the problem is that people here are less inclined to start a thread and that CC should consider starting a thread for all cruises. But then you wouldn't have an original poster of the thread (not that I think this is a big deal). Also, HAL starts FB groups and there still wasn't any discussion there, although I'm not sure how busy those are in general. I don't like them because you have to use your real name and some people get concerned about publicly posting their vacation plans (I know I do).

You may find the roll call to be slow at first. As you get closer to the sail date, it will pick up. I did that cruise last June and I arranged for the Meet and Greet with HAL. It is very easy to do that. When I first contacted them in April, we had 16 participants. By the time we sailed we had over 60.

... but if new RC Threads weren't started the RC Cheerleaders wouldn't have as many opportunities to educate the great unwashed on the many "advantages" of belonging to a RC ...

1. While you could not pay me to join a Roll Call, Cruise Critic is for sharing information. That includes information on Roll Calls.

2. You are entitled to your opinion

3. Other people are entitled to their own opinion.

4. Denigrating another poster's opinion tends to make your argument look weak.

1. While you could not pay me to join a Roll Call, Cruise Critic is for sharing information. That includes information on Roll Calls.

 

2. You are entitled to your opinion

 

3. Other people are entitled to their own opinion.

 

4. Denigrating another poster's opinion tends to make your argument look weak.

1+!! (y)(y)

1. While you could not pay me to join a roll call, cruise critic is for sharing information. That includes information on roll calls.

 

2. You are entitled to your opinion

 

3. Other people are entitled to their own opinion.

 

4. Denigrating another poster's opinion tends to make your argument look weak.

1+!! (y)(y)

[Deleted]

Also....I suspect there are glitches in the process for setting up a Roll Call.

Sometimes established Roll Calls do not show up in the "Find Your Roll Call" Search....even though they are already listed on the Roll Call Page.

My guess is that some of the time folks may just have a difficult time finding theirs! :confused:

I pop-up on the Roll Calls for my cruise, but I'm not going to join private tours and I have no interest in Cabin Crawls or Bar Crawls. My cruises are family reunions for me so I'm more interested in spending time with my family than making new friends. No offense to anyone who wants to make friends -- it's just not my focus on the cruise. I'm on the Roll Calls to ask questions or offer opinions on the ports or ship.

 

It seems like some of the Roll Calls are all about get-togethers, Meet & Greets, or other new friend bonding activities. But in my experience the main focus has gotten to be private tours, and I only book ship-based tours. I'm not going to make up the numbers on anyone's tour so I feel like I do not belong in the Roll Call group. I only respond when I have something to offer, which is not often.

(bolding mine)

I feel the same way. I've backed off one of my roll calls for this reason. The cruise is 10 months out, and all they talk about is signing up for private tours. Absolutely no getting to know each other first. That's fine for some people, but not me. If I know someone a private tour is fine (we do a combination of private, independent, and ship tours). But any private tours we've taken were arranged only after we'd chatted a bit and gotten to know each other. These are total strangers. :(

I feel the same way. I've backed off one of my roll calls for this reason. The cruise is 10 months out, and all they talk about is signing up for private tours. Absolutely no getting to know each other first. That's fine for some people, but not me. If I know someone a private tour is fine (we do a combination of private, independent, and ship tours). But any private tours we've taken were arranged only after we'd chatted a bit and gotten to know each other. These are total strangers. :(

I absolutely agree with you. If I feel I know someone because they post on the HAL board, that is a whole lot different from a total stranger joining a roll call, saying "Hi, I'm Jaime. I'd love to join your tour."

How do I know we'll be compatible? Maybe one of us likes to stop at every shop along the way, while the other doesn't want any shop-stops at all. How's your stamina? Is one a chatter-box, while the other isn't? What if BOTH are chatter-boxes? :eek: Does one have a let's take it slow and savor, while the other wants to see as much as they can.

Different styles---each being fine for one, but not the other---is not going to be a good tour.

I absolutely agree with you. If I feel I know someone because they post on the HAL board, that is a whole lot different from a total stranger joining a roll call, saying "Hi, I'm Jaime. I'd love to join your tour."

 

How do I know we'll be compatible? Maybe one of us likes to stop at every shop along the way, while the other doesn't want any shop-stops at all. How's your stamina? Is one a chatter-box, while the other isn't? What if BOTH are chatter-boxes? :eek: Does one have a let's take it slow and savor, while the other wants to see as much as they can.

Different styles---each being fine for one, but not the other---is not going to be a good tour.

Exactly. You said it much better than I could have. :)

1. While you could not pay me to join a Roll Call, Cruise Critic is for sharing information. That includes information on Roll Calls.

 

2. You are entitled to your opinion

 

3. Other people are entitled to their own opinion.

 

4. Denigrating another poster's opinion tends to make your argument look weak.

As insightful as you may feel your above Post is, it is off target by a country mile. If you would go back and re-read my earlier Post, you would see that it is an observation on cbr663's comment about the proliferation of Posts & Threads about declining RC participation ("This is a regular discussion on CC. Don't think any more can be added than was discussed in this recent thread of the same topic..."). It most assuredly was NOT an "opinion" about the utility of RCs or the wisdom of participating in RC Threads. Likewise, my Post makes no "argument" for any position and, thus, would only "look weak" to someone who had not read or had misunderstood it.