Roll Calls

[Blue Lagoon]

Yes, I admit I check the roll calls on cruises we have booked. Sometimes there is excellent information, like price reductions that I am happy to learn about. I typically thank the person who has supplied the information.

 

What I have seen is that people get very anxious about the roll calls in hopes that the magic number of 25 will be reached so that a party will be guaranteed on board.

 

I have got the feeling that 'lurking' is not appreciated. My all time favourite comment was whether I was joining the roll call or just posting for the 'hell' of it. I did reply, thanks but no thanks and nearly laughed my socks off at such a 'pleasant' invitation.

[navyrotorhead]

Know that exact feeling, and in answer to the OP's question, then no I've not cancelled or the likes because of the roll call - but may have to admit regret joining a few over the years :eek:

But throughout my cruising career to date have met some fascinating people of all ages, both with some weird and wonderful backgrounds and history.

We do keep in touch with as many people as possible that we meet, with the help of a certain social networking site (that CC doesn't like to be linked to)

 

Simon Stingray - we are avid TA fans and just want to confirm there are a few of us about in the bars after 10pm ... he he :D:D

 

April's TA on Solstice was pretty dog gone lonely after midnight. So was a Panama Canal cruise on Infinity last year... Going to try again this fall on Connie. Am I the ONLY night owl on X :p?!?

[wwcruisers]

Yes, I admit I check the roll calls on cruises we have booked. Sometimes there is excellent information, like price reductions that I am happy to learn about. I typically thank the person who has supplied the information.

 

What I have seen is that people get very anxious about the roll calls in hopes that the magic number of 25 will be reached so that a party will be guaranteed on board.

 

I have got the feeling that 'lurking' is not appreciated. My all time favourite comment was whether I was joining the roll call or just posting for the 'hell' of it. I did reply, thanks but no thanks and nearly laughed my socks off at such a 'pleasant' invitation.

 

Well, it's been my experience that any active roll-call will ultimately have plenty of people signed up for the Meet-n-Greet -- but it never hurts to remind folks to sign up (as some might need help figuring out how to do that). ;)

But a welcome to new folks on a roll-call thread should be just that -- a WELCOME (no strings attached)! Sorry that happened to you -- and hope it doesn't keep you from participating in future roll-calls. :cool:

[ali-ali-oh]

I have got the feeling that 'lurking' is not appreciated. My all time favourite comment was whether I was joining the roll call or just posting for the 'hell' of it. I did reply, thanks but no thanks and nearly laughed my socks off at such a 'pleasant' invitation.

 

I guess that was me then :( Sorry if I offended you, I was just trying to make you feel welcome, as I have been on roll calls in the past and after several attempts you "join in" and had any questions or comments I made completely ignored by an already active group on there who obviously already knew each other, I didn't want you to feel the same way and wanted you to feel included if you wanted to be.

 

As the keeper of the "list" and someone who tries really hard to keep it up to date, it really was meant to be a friendly genuine question as to whether you were on our cruise with us and wanted to join our roll call "list" and be included or were just popping in to add a comment - we have a very quiet thread and are still quite a long way out, but I know some folks may be worrying that we haven't/will not reach 25 so any interest shown is a potential invitee and I was only trying to be encouraging and make you feel welcome :(

[sandancer]

He probably owned the restaurant. :D

 

I love it. In any event the meal was excellent, the group had a ball and if was not the owner then he missed a great party.

[Karynanne]

I guess that was me then :( Sorry if I offended you, I was just trying to make you feel welcome, as I have been on roll calls in the past and after several attempts you "join in" and had any questions or comments I made completely ignored by an already active group on there who obviously already knew each other, I didn't want you to feel the same way and wanted you to feel included if you wanted to be.

 

As the keeper of the "list" and someone who tries really hard to keep it up to date, it really was meant to be a friendly genuine question as to whether you were on our cruise with us and wanted to join our roll call "list" and be included or were just popping in to add a comment - we have a very quiet thread and are still quite a long way out, but I know some folks may be worrying that we haven't/will not reach 25 so any interest shown is a potential invitee and I was only trying to be encouraging and make you feel welcome :(

 

Hi Ali,

 

How are both of you? Sorry to hijack this thread, but just wanted to say hi.

 

Karyn

[Allis154]

I have never cancelled a cruise because of the roll call...I have, however, chosen not to participate in the roll call....

[Bridge Maven]

Has anyone not participated in a roll call but showed up at the Cruise Critic Party aboard the ship? I have because I am a private person and don't like sharing personal information on a very public message board. So when a roll call is filled with people sharing very personal details, I tend to just lurk.

[terri23]

I've had very good experiences on roll calls so far, except for one. A poster decided she was "in charge" and it was her way or the highway. She was so obnoxious. When another vacation opportunity came up, I cancelled our cruise and never looked back. It's the only cruise i ever cancelled, and let's just say she made my decision that much easier :eek:

[TroubleT]

We participated in all Roll Calls so far and most of them were very active (in a good way), interesting and full of useful information. We've met lots of people through the Roll Calls and keep in touch with many of them. However, there were 2 times when we had to drop out of the Roll Calls (and even cancelled the cruises- but for different reasons) because in one case one of the CruiseCritic members literally hijacked the Roll Call (and I am not talking about "list" keepers - that's perfectly fine) and even monopolized the private tours lists. Nobody else on a Roll Call was allowed to post a message about private tour or form a group. And he was seriously agressive about it. Another case that made us withdraw ourselves from the Roll Call was when a very active member was trying to sell a future cruise memorabilia. And I don't mind if the post appears ones and whoever likes it or need it can appreciate it. But the seller was pushing his "products" (pins, t-shirts, etc.) basically on every page and his messages were taking pages to go through until you could get to something useful like hotel info, train schedule, private tour update - I personally find it very annoying and even inappropriate.

[Bridge Maven]

We participated in all Roll Calls so far and most of them were very active (in a good way), interesting and full of useful information. We've met lots of people through the Roll Calls and keep in touch with many of them. However, there were 2 times when we had to drop out of the Roll Calls (and even cancelled the cruises- but for different reasons) because in one case one of the CruiseCritic members literally hijacked the Roll Call (and I am not talking about "list" keepers - that's perfectly fine) and even monopolized the private tours lists. Nobody else on a Roll Call was allowed to post a message about private tour or form a group. And he was seriously agressive about it. Another case that made us withdraw ourselves from the Roll Call was when a very active member was trying to sell a future cruise memorabilia. And I don't mind if the post appears ones and whoever likes it or need it can appreciate it. But the seller was pushing his "products" (pins, t-shirts, etc.) basically on every page and his messages were taking pages to go through until you could get to something useful like hotel info, train schedule, private tour update - I personally find it very annoying and even inappropriate.

 

Trouble T - I have also seen people on roll calls trying to sell their business products. On one roll call someone was even trying to organize a group so they could give lessons for a fee on the ship, during sea days, which were not sponsored by the cruise line.

[emilygrace]

I doubt that I would ever let a roll call influence my decision of whether or not to cancel a cruise, especially since I rarely cancel.

 

We have had mostly great experiences with roll calls, especially on our longer cruises. There have been great private excursions arranged by various people on the RC and I really appreciated this because I am not good at seeking out and arranging private tours. But this gave us the opportunity to enjoy tours that we would have otherwise missed.

 

And we have made good friends from RC. Some of them we see again on cruises and some even on little land trips.

 

I usually don't check out the roll call before I book a cruise but I did for our Solstice cruise (Alaska 2013) and was pleasantly surprised to see people we have met on previous cruises already signed up. So now we're really looking forward to this cruise.

 

We don't participate in slot pulls, cabin crawls, etc. but we've never felt badgered to do so.

[wwcruisers]

Has anyone not participated in a roll call but showed up at the Cruise Critic Party aboard the ship? I have because I am a private person and don't like sharing personal information on a very public message board. So when a roll call is filled with people sharing very personal details, I tend to just lurk.

 

Maven -- Not wanting to give out personal info on the roll-call thread is perfectly understandable, and nobody should feel pressured to do that. On past successful roll-calls that I've participated in, some folks didn't want to post even their first names or home towns -- but they were still able to participate in the roll-call activities. When I organized a cabin crawl, I made sure that folks knew that they could sign up by just posting their deck and cabin type (inside, balcony, etc) and give me their actual cabin number once they were on board. Personally, I won't post my e-mail address on a public forum, but have given it to several friends I have have made on the ship. :cool:

 

Bottom line, if someone on a roll-call thread is pressuring people to give out more information than they feel comfortable with, or insisting that everything is "their way or the highway" -- you're probably not going to want to spend time with them on board, anyway! ;)

[dzcruisers]

Sorry, I was laughing at the bizarre roll call for the Summit cruise we met you on.... :D

 

I was laughing at the memories of that roll call too? Did anyone ever meet the party in question?

 

I'm ready to go back to Bermuda.

 

We've enjoyed our roll calls and think they have improved the quality of our cruises with being able to make plans ahead of time for private tours, etc.

[Lois R]

I was laughing at the memories of that roll call too? Did anyone ever meet the party in question?

 

I'm ready to go back to Bermuda.

 

We've enjoyed our roll calls and think they have improved the quality of our cruises with being able to make plans ahead of time for private tours, etc.

 

Hi Dianne:)....nope......if memory serves....I know you and I never

met them.....