How to "make" or "kill" a roll call

[Hflors]

I actually copied this from another forum, but I thought it would be a good topic for this forum.

 

Make: A good mix of new and experienced cruisers who are willing to share information.

People who have been to the Ports of Call offering insider information.

People who are willing to get to gether at the meet and greet and share shore excursions in ports

 

Kill: Extended conversations about personal matters between 2 people.

One person posting at least 25 % of the time.

One or two people appearing to trying to sell something.

 

Anything to add?

[BlueRiband]

This identical topic already has a running thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2067765

[John Bull]

This identical topic already has a running thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2067765

 

True.

But that one on the Celebrity board, rather than on this general forum.

 

We declined to join one poorly-subscribed RollCall because the OP prefaced his first post with a tirade about a different cruise line. :rolleyes:

My, wouldn't he be fun at a dinner table.;)

 

He was clearly just a second-time cruiser because some of his posts gave un-requested advice that was so simplistic as to be patronising, some of it was specific to that other cruise line, and some of it was just plain wrong.

He had contributed way more than half the posts, and I suspect we weren't the only ones to pass on that particular RollCall.

 

C'est la vie, and that apart we've found RollCalls useful, informative, and a great way to "meet" a few fellow-cruisers.

 

JB :)

Edited July 8, 2014 by John Bull

[Ethel5]

The best way to kill a roll call is for cruisers who know each other to form cliques and exclude/ignore others.

[Bookish Angel]

I am on a roll call for an upcoming cruise and the person who started it welcomes each new poster and posts periodic enthusiastic comments about the upcoming cruise without "taking over" the roll call.

 

Yes, the cliques and and in-jokes, etc. can be a turn-off. Also, a lot of inconsequential information about posters' weather at their respective locations well before the cruise gets tiresome as does lots of personal info about a person's health, financial circumstances, etc.

[Cruising Golfer]

I start or join a roll call to chat cruising and to share information on ports or ships. I'm not out to meet and greet, if it happens on the ship then great.

Just looking to share the excitement of the upcoming voyage and make the wait go by faster!!!:cool:

[dwjoe]

Kill: Extended conversations about personal matters between 2 people.

One person posting at least 25 % of the time.

This. I've seen roll calls where a few posters fill the thread with personal banter and run it up to thousands of posts. CC had to close the thread down because it got so big.

[marco]

I'm on a roll call for an upcoming cruise. I don't bother looking anymore as the last page and a half is a "conversation" between two people. Exchange e-mails, and "chat" between the two of you as much as you like!

[notentirelynormal]

Kill: Extended conversations about personal matters between 2 people.

One person posting at least 25 % of the time.

 

Anything to add?

 

This is what will do it for me. Went on a few to read and join but after reading: I had to take little Johnny to baseball I'm just back but they had a great sale at Target today for Jimmy's swimming class.

 

Then the response: Oh, how fun! I did.... blah blah blah

 

I DON'T CARE. I did not join a CRUISE roll call to hear what your weather is like, how you or your kids feel or what you are doing for the day. I really don't care if you have a dentist appointment.

 

And please, please, don't come on every single day to say "GOOD MORNING". We all get up - we really do get it. It's a new day. No need for 20 people to say it every single day. I got so tired of scrolling through "chatting" looking for what I thought roll calls were all about - cruise information about ports and tours and first hand experiences... you know cruising, that I just gave up on those roll calls.

 

The other killer for me - and the one that almost ended me ever doing it again.... I joined a roll call where the ship left from Ft. Lauderdale and then had new cruisers join in Los Angeles. There were several of us (I think around 30) that had committed to 2 M&Gs with the original sailers once we boarded. First, was on deck for sail away, the second in a lounge the next day. Well, the first people on the cruise decided not to have the second two. So all of us that had joined and agreed to it wasted the precious time we had on board (and for sail away) looking for the M&Gs that never were. Many of us came back on the roll call afterwards and said, what happened?

 

One of the originals came back on and said that they liked the people they already had from CC so decided to cancel the last 2 M&Gs. Umm, thanks for telling us after the event.

 

It is hard to trust after that but I did and we had a great one in Ft. Lauderdale next time we went.

[CPT Trips]

I agree with the PPs and want to add.

Kill: Lots of "rules" imposed by one or two posters. Having to go to some special sub threads or other sites to get information. Having a Facebook page too.

[Mary Ellen]

Kill: Extended conversations about personal matters between 2 people.

One person posting at least 25 % of the time.

I so totally agree. It's easy to see who the 'top' posters are on any thread. On the main forums, to the right of every thread title, there is a post count and the number of views for that thread. Clicking on the post count will show who has posted to that thread, starting with the highest number.

 

One cruise we'd booked we never posted to the Roll Call because of the self-appointed "host". He and his wife accounted for 60-75% of all of the posts on that Roll Call. Most of them were self-congratulatory of how "successful" the Roll Call was. :rolleyes: The other main themes of his posts were talking about where else they were constantly going and chiding lurkers for not posting. He could tell by the number of views that people were looking at the Roll Call and not posting. He needed to look in the mirror to discover why. We ended up canceling that cruise (in part because he was a major buzzkill). I heard from a friend who did go anyway that an onboard topic among everyone else from that Roll Call was what a turn off the Roll Call was because of the "host". Since then I've seen him post 'hints' as to what makes a "successful" Roll Call. :eek:

[Arzeena]

I agree with the PPs and want to add.

Kill: Lots of "rules" imposed by one or two posters. Having to go to some special sub threads or other sites to get information. Having a Facebook page too.

 

I agree! The rules and sub threads and facebook page drives me nuts too! And the push for t-shirts! I am on this roll call a woman is pushing T-shirts SO hard, you'd have to think SHE was getting a percentage of the sale! I also hate it when people discuss personal thngs.....mother in law's surgery details, neighbor's love problems, how much morphine was given during someone's knee surgery, one nut wrote what she wore that day....the list goes on and on!:rolleyes:

[whogo]

"Just moving the thread up in order to keep reading the blogs."

"Congrats on posting the 600th post to our roll call."

"51 Fridays to go before we set sail..."

"Kira's fever broke and the laxative is working..."

[Hflors]

One of the things that I do like about our roll call for our upcoming cruise is that all the lists tours and other info is on a page called Shutterfly and when I joined I now have access. Its great as all the info list are there and not too many lists here on CC.

 

Do agree that it gets boring for people to discuss personal details although I would like to know is one of the people on our roll call has a comment about a personal event in their life that they feel they need to share with the rest of us. Ex: the passing of a close family member, a sickness in their family, some resason that they need to cancel. I am not so into cruises that I can't take time to send an encouraging word to someone who could use it in their time of need.

[dolittle]

One of the things that I do like about our roll call for our upcoming cruise is that all the lists tours and other info is on a page called Shutterfly and when I joined I now have access. Its great as all the info list are there and not too many lists here on CC.

 

We did a trans -atlantic and a wonderfull lady (optifire)on the rollcall made a shutterfly page , it was a huge help and did not clog the rollcall up with things you did not need.Many of you are making great points on this thread but the people who need to change will always think you are talking about someone else.

[feathersandnananose]

I don't mind a bit of personal information - I do look at other people's public information (found another voracious reader that way!) just to see if there's some common ground for a conversation (I'm not totally socially comfy).

 

While I really enjoy information about ports, and I know it's incredibly helpful when people make arrangements for private tours to share, ....but when that's the only conversation (and I'm not interested in their offerings)......... I lose interest.

 

Just me. Barb

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

I'm on a roll call for an upcoming cruise. I don't bother looking anymore as the last page and a half is a "conversation" between two people. Exchange e-mails, and "chat" between the two of you as much as you like!

 

Agree. I don't care to know things that do not pertain to the cruise itself. Keep on topic!

[bellebaby]

I have been reading entries on the roll call for our upcoming cruise, but have not posted. The members fight and are confrontational with each other.

 

I get enough of that at work. It's the last thing I need on vacation.

 

B

Edited July 9, 2014 by bellebaby

[wassup4565]

This is a new one for me. One guy made a different website and we are all periodically referred to his website on the roll call. When I go there and click his button for "Transfers" I get "no transfers available." He has a button labeled "button" that leads nowhere. Dude.

 

I also have no interest in the t-shirt pushers, the pin-pushers, and so on.

 

But I will say I have received invaluable info from the roll call sites, and been able to join up with some terrific excursions thru the roll call on some cruises.

 

Guess you just have to sort the wheat from the chaff.

[Harry and Lucille]

I started our roll call over a year out. M&G and slot pull. Invited folks to join.

 

Offered to post activities that they had an interest in. IE - First names, State of residence, cabin number if they wished, where staying the night before sailaway for a possible get together if they wished and those interested in the slot pull.

 

When the list reached 30 folks, took a vote to find a name for our group. Out of all of the suggestions and votes for the one that they preferred, there was one that won hands down. I passed the info on to the cruise line and am working with the onboard services person.

 

We have the area for our short party reserved. One hour on our first sea day, then all on our own from then on. We don't sail until Febuary, however, we are up to 46 folks representing 15 states and 3 countries. Must be a bunch of older folks. :rolleyes: We are known as the 'Royal Flushers'. Gamblers methinks. ;)

 

With the group chatter going on, I notice that there are possible short term relationships founded. Tours, folks that have like interests, etc. They have all kept the chatter on a positive note and no flaming.

 

If nothing else, great way to help pass the time until Feb. Harry

[Bookish Angel]

"Just moving the thread up in order to keep reading the blogs."

"Congrats on posting the 600th post to our roll call."

"51 Fridays to go before we set sail..."

"Kira's fever broke and the laxative is working..."

 

I don't want to be behind Kira in a LONG embarkation line.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Bookish Angel

[Doug R.]

I am just about over meet and greets although I would continue to visit the roll calls just in case something interesting, like a group excursion, comes up.

 

I have had both bad and good meets and greets. This last one was a very active roll call with many great posts and posters. Come M&G time RCI gave out the prizes and once that was done you could have been trampled in the stampede to get out of there :D. No socializing at all. Another one on Princess was dominated by a clique that had taken the same cruise for years and they were loath to include newcomers. I even talked to one of their leaders and he looked right through me like I didn't exist and walked away without responding. We had one great group that socialized and even had a large group that signed up for a group tour that I arranged.

 

My point? Sometimes the roll call is better than the M&G and sometimes the other way around. There is no way that I would let a roll call influence a decision to cancel a cruise. They are nice but wayyyyyyyy down on the importance list.3

Edited July 9, 2014 by Doug R.

[MtnBikerFallDown]

OK, I have a question. The roll call I'm in right now is VERY quiet. I mean, days 'n' days go by and no one posts. The cruise isn't until November, so I can see it being slow. But, if someone posts, I answer. If someone joins, I make sure to welcome them. So, I post a lot more than others. Is that a bad thing? Should I ignore posts for a while? I don't want to hog, but I don't want others to be discouraged either. :confused:

[notentirelynormal]

OK, I have a question. The roll call I'm in right now is VERY quiet. I mean, days 'n' days go by and no one posts. The cruise isn't until November, so I can see it being slow. But, if someone posts, I answer. If someone joins, I make sure to welcome them. So, I post a lot more than others. Is that a bad thing? Should I ignore posts for a while? I don't want to hog, but I don't want others to be discouraged either. :confused:

 

You are not the "hog" people are talking about. That hog has to tell everyone their opinion. He can't let anything get past him. He must respond to each and every post. John: what do you think of this? Pete: It's a great excursion. We loved it. Bob: I took this excursion. We didn't like it and you won't either. Bob makes this type of comment on every single post. Or Bob simply comments on everyone else's post when there really is no need.

 

Another example: you tell the new poster welcome and that there is much information to gather from the thread. You explain the ins and outs. Then Bob comes along to make sure he comments also. You were being friendly but Bob.... Bob has to be the center of attention.

[MtnBikerFallDown]

You are not the "hog" people are talking about. That hog has to tell everyone their opinion. He can't let anything get past him. He must respond to each and every post. John: what do you think of this? Pete: It's a great excursion. We loved it. Bob: I took this excursion. We didn't like it and you won't either. Bob makes this type of comment on every single post. Or Bob simply comments on everyone else's post when there really is no need.

 

Another example: you tell the new poster welcome and that there is much information to gather from the thread. You explain the ins and outs. Then Bob comes along to make sure he comments also. You were being friendly but Bob.... Bob has to be the center of attention.

 

Oh, good. I was actually worried about that. I'm a flaming extrovert, and I really try to not talk people to death. A friend says that I'm the only person who knows who speaks in exclamation points. :p