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

[wwcruisers]

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:

 

Sounds like you're doing everything right. As others have pointed out, some roll-calls just don't "take off' until closer to the cruise. I've started roll-calls where I've been (literally) talking to myself for months! ;) But, folks eventually show up, start chatting among themselves, and the roll-call grows from there. Just be patient. :cool:

[Ethel5]

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.

 

Evidently "Bob" in not just on Roll Calls but on the main boards too!! :D:eek:

[Nebr.cruiser]

I'm interested in roll calls for information about the cruise and especially private tours in ports and other hints/ information.

 

I don't mind a certain amount of introductions and info about cruisers, but I hate hundreds of posts between people that is just chatting about non-cruise issues or discussions that get out of hand. Usually it's a handful of people who take over the roll call making finding anything useful difficult.

 

We've been to meet and greets that were good, many that were just 'ok' and one or two that were very lame. That's not always the fault of the organizer, though.

[OCruisers]

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

 

Hate that when it happens and it does happen on roll calls from time to time.

Strangely, it doesn't bother me to be ignored but it really does when it happens to others... especially when they are new to CC. I do what I can to be inclusive to ALL.

LuLu

[virginialucy]

The roll call for my first cruise was great, if a bit too chatty. Several people take the same cruise every year, and they were very willing to share information about the ship and ports. Also, someone kept a Google spreadsheet with sign-ups for excursions, cabin crawl, etc so that stuff didn't clog up the roll call too much.

 

The one for the cruise I took earlier this year started off okay but then totally went off the rails. One port was St. Maarten and it was just after the chikungunya virus started to spread rapidly there. One member who was particularly obsessed with the disease constantly posted about his health problems that would be exacerbated by the disease, and how Celebrity should cancel the port, and how he was going to stay shut up in the ship so he didn't get the disease. The same person also posted around 4 or 5 times a day to remind people to sign up for the slot pull he was organizing...and posted the info AGAIN whenever anyone signed up along with the list of participants.

 

Lots of people wondered why the roll call never really grew and there was no discussion of tours :rolleyes: I think the mosquito talk scared everyone away!

[travlnblueberries]

The things I don't like:

Talking about everything except cruising

 

When they want all conversation brought over to Facebook.

(I'm on cruise critic, not Facebook...keep the conversations HERE)

 

One controlling the whole board. All this one poster kept saying

was "let's Party with Marty". All this guy wanted everyone to

do was go to the piano bar every night on the cruise and Party with Marty.

I wanted to say SHUT UP ALREADY.

 

I asked one M&G if anyone was interested in talking about

cruising and booking suggestions while on the cruise. Talk about things

we aren't suppose to talk about on CC. But can you believe no one

wanted to discuss talking about booking cruises. :eek:

I find most people just want to drink and nothing more!

[wwcruisers]

The roll call for my first cruise was great, if a bit too chatty. Several people take the same cruise every year, and they were very willing to share information about the ship and ports. Also, someone kept a Google spreadsheet with sign-ups for excursions, cabin crawl, etc so that stuff didn't clog up the roll call too much.

 

The one for the cruise I took earlier this year started off okay but then totally went off the rails. One port was St. Maarten and it was just after the chikungunya virus started to spread rapidly there. One member who was particularly obsessed with the disease constantly posted about his health problems that would be exacerbated by the disease, and how Celebrity should cancel the port, and how he was going to stay shut up in the ship so he didn't get the disease. The same person also posted around 4 or 5 times a day to remind people to sign up for the slot pull he was organizing...and posted the info AGAIN whenever anyone signed up along with the list of participants.

 

Lots of people wondered why the roll call never really grew and there was no discussion of tours :rolleyes: I think the mosquito talk scared everyone away!

 

OMG -- I think I know the poster you're talking about! :eek:

He's really not a bad guy, when you meet him in person. And his wife (as you can well imagine) is a saint! :cool:

[Karysa]

I know people that join and participate in their roll call on every cruise. They hardly read or participate in the other boards except for gathering information from the port of call boards. I personally think that roll calls are a bore for the most part. The only thing that I check them for is to see if someone has booked an awesome tour and needs a couple more people to fill it up. I have yet to find this though.

 

I agree with the others who say that personal chit chat kills the roll call. On the other hand sharing valuable port information and offering tour shares is how one can add to and make a roll call.

[CaveDiving]

....The only thing that I check them for is to see if someone has booked an awesome tour and needs a couple more people to fill it up. I have yet to find this though.....

 

You never know what will turn up in a roll call. Just this evening there was a request for people to join the poster on the tour in the attachment below. It seems like it will be an interesting excursion next winter and we said we'd like to go. Without the roll call we probably never would have known about the tour.

 

Things like this happen to us regularly.

 

Scott & Karen

Natal tour - Brazil.pdf

[geogran]

Quote:

Originally Posted by whogo View Post

"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.

 

 

:D:D:D

Hope they left Kira at home....

[NoobCruise]

I saw one roll call where there were over 300 posts 6 months out from the cruise. When I started reading through, it was mostly ONE person posting every tidbit of cruise advice and info she had researched about the cruise. I joined the roll call to share the excitement with others, but there was no conversation, just an overload of that one person's research. I think she thought she was being helpful, but I thought she should just do her own blog somewhere else. I checked in occasionally to see if anyone else had joined in, but only a few said hi. I don't think that roll call ever did pick up.

[aussielozzie18]

What kills a meet & greet is when its in an area where everyone is seated and spread out and there is no chance to mingle or if you have a person with a strong personality who dominates the entire conversation.

 

Roll calls can be great for first timers to build up the excitement for the forthcoming cruise and to get valuable info from experienced cruisers.

[BridgeMates]

Personally I love getting my coffee every morning and checking in on my Roll Call. If I'm not interested in someone's comments, I just keep moving. We have had some fabulous private tours arranged via the roll call and met so many wonderful people. I tell people about Cruise Critic all the time but most don't seem to take advantage of it. Right now I don't have a cruise booked, but at least I haven't resulted in reading roll calls I'm not on.....ha ha. :eek:

[Karysa]

You never know what will turn up in a roll call. Just this evening there was a request for people to join the poster on the tour in the attachment below. It seems like it will be an interesting excursion next winter and we said we'd like to go. Without the roll call we probably never would have known about the tour.

 

Things like this happen to us regularly.

 

Scott & Karen

 

You are luckier than me. We thought that we might have to cancel a cruise to the Greek Islands this spring because of an ill family member. DH wanted to keep our plans and just cancel at the last minute if need be. I was very conflicted and for many reasons I just could not get in to researching or planning for this trip. I checked the roll call every week or two for ideas or something to sign up for. I didn't care if I would lose the money I just could not put more time or effort in to the planning of the cruise than that. I basically got zero helpful information. It seems to me that many folks make their plans and when they have the tours and tour guiides they want booked they feel it's time to announce themselves and their booked plans to the roll call.

[Karysa]

I saw one roll call where there were over 300 posts 6 months out from the cruise. When I started reading through, it was mostly ONE person posting every tidbit of cruise advice and info she had researched about the cruise. I joined the roll call to share the excitement with others, but there was no conversation, just an overload of that one person's research. I think she thought she was being helpful, but I thought she should just do her own blog somewhere else. I checked in occasionally to see if anyone else had joined in, but only a few said hi. I don't think that roll call ever did pick up.

 

Do you recall if there were a lot of views. I am thinking that I would have loved this poster if she was on my Greek Island cruise where circumstances halted my research and planning. One stop shopping was all I could have mustered then. I bet if there was good information that many people just popped in, took notes and took off.

 

I wonder if it's the roll call that turns people off or the feeling that you must join the meet n greet and on board activities.

[NoobCruise]

Do you recall if there were a lot of views. I am thinking that I would have loved this poster if she was on my Greek Island cruise where circumstances halted my research and planning. One stop shopping was all I could have mustered then. I bet if there was good information that many people just popped in, took notes and took off.

 

I wonder if it's the roll call that turns people off or the feeling that you must join the meet n greet and on board activities.

 

I don't remember the number of views. She did have a lot of great info if you didn't have time to research yourself, which is why I thought she should do her own blog, but most of that info could be found on the ports board. The problem was there was soooo many posts that it shut conversation down. I think people didn't want to take the time to weed through hundreds of her posts to find the few posts by others.

[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..."

The Kira quote is from a Princess roll call thread with 28,518 posts that was going strong 3 years after the cruise. Sadly, the thread is no longer available.

[momofmeg]

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

 

your cruise is 7 months away and you picked a name for your group the "majority" wanted??? Most posts do even come until about 3 months out. Why did your meet and greet need a name anyway? I hope you realize this is the kind of stuff that turns many off. If I had booked your cruise and saw stuff like this, I would not bother with the meet and greet. Sorry.

[momofmeg]

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:

 

Mine is like that too and my cruise is also in November. In the past, as I said in a previous post, unless it is a transatlantic, we really did not see much action on roll calls until we get under the 3 month mark. It seems many book after final payment and others are so busy with life they do not come to the rollcall until it is closer to the sailing date.

[OCruisers]

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:

 

Emily, I do the same. While I don't want to be a roll call hog, I do like to make others feel included and that it's THEIR roll call too.

LuLu

[momofmeg]

Emily, I do the same. While I don't want to be a roll call hog, I do like to make others feel included and that it's THEIR roll call too.

LuLu

 

I agree Lulu. That is why although I have zero interest in cabin crawls and slot pulls, I realize others like that. Only if people get too pushy for me to join stuff like that do I stop posting on a rollcall.

 

 

Another thing brought up by a different post; (not yours)I see no reason why a person starting a rollcall should be "leader". I started a couple myself and I never wanted that as I know others can do a better job. On the other hand that does not mean another person should just take over with organizing if they come to a roll call and see no one is organizing or the "leader" is doing a poor job. They should offer and ask. For Caribbean cruises I do not think you necessarily need a leader until you are under 3 months out. To be honest, it is better if different people take different "jobs" such as one person organizing slot pulls, another cabin crawl, and another gift exchange,etc. The meet and greet is more successful and more are satisfied when that is done.

Edited July 10, 2014 by momofmeg

[Arzeena]

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

 

:D so funny! Neither do I!:D

We have several of those on one of my current roll calls!:rolleyes:

BTW....you didn't mention which laxative Kira took????:eek::D

[CPT Trips]

The roll call for my first cruise was great, if a bit too chatty. Several people take the same cruise every year, and they were very willing to share information about the ship and ports. Also, someone kept a Google spreadsheet with sign-ups for excursions, cabin crawl, etc so that stuff didn't clog up the roll call too much.

 

The one for the cruise I took earlier this year started off okay but then totally went off the rails. One port was St. Maarten and it was just after the chikungunya virus started to spread rapidly there. One member who was particularly obsessed with the disease constantly posted about his health problems that would be exacerbated by the disease, and how Celebrity should cancel the port, and how he was going to stay shut up in the ship so he didn't get the disease. The same person also posted around 4 or 5 times a day to remind people to sign up for the slot pull he was organizing...and posted the info AGAIN whenever anyone signed up along with the list of participants.

 

Lots of people wondered why the roll call never really grew and there was no discussion of tours :rolleyes: I think the mosquito talk scared everyone away!

 

I don't know . . . Just as likely that the lack of growth and no discussion of the tours was because the tour info was somewhere in the google cloud and not on CC. Some of us don't want to give Google the personal information they require for one to access those Google spreadsheets.

 

I know people that join and participate in their roll call on every cruise. They hardly read or participate in the other boards except for gathering information from the port of call boards. I personally think that roll calls are a bore for the most part. The only thing that I check them for is to see if someone has booked an awesome tour and needs a couple more people to fill it up. I have yet to find this though.

 

I agree with the others who say that personal chit chat kills the roll call. On the other hand sharing valuable port information and offering tour shares is how one can add to and make a roll call.

 

Maybe you can't find tour info because it's hidden away somewhere in a limited access cloud? :rolleyes: Sometimes it seems like too much of the stuff that ought to be on Facebook is on CC and the stuff that ought to be on the rollcall is in the cloud.

[momofmeg]

I don't know . . . Just as likely that the lack of growth and no discussion of the tours was because the tour info was somewhere in the google cloud and not on CC. Some of us don't want to give Google the personal information they require for one to access those Google spreadsheets.

 

 

 

Maybe you can't find tour info because it's hidden away somewhere in a limited access cloud? :rolleyes: Sometimes it seems like too much of the stuff that ought to be on Facebook is on CC and the stuff that ought to be on the rollcall is in the cloud.

 

Some people are super busy and do not have much time to spend on for forums but still like to anticipate their upcoming trip with others. Other people come here and never go to rollcalls. It is okay, we are all different and no need to find a reason why people do things as long as they are not hurting others.

[trixiegal]

I agree Lulu. That is why although I have zero interest in cabin crawls and slot pulls, I realize others like that. Only if people get too pushy for me to join stuff like that do I stop posting on a rollcall.

 

 

Another thing brought up by a different post; (not yours)I see no reason why a person starting a rollcall should be "leader". I started a couple myself and I never wanted that as I know others can do a better job. On the other hand that does not mean another person should just take over with organizing if they come to a roll call and see no one is organizing or the "leader" is doing a poor job. They should offer and ask. For Caribbean cruises I do not think you necessarily need a leader until you are under 3 months out. To be honest, it is better if different people take different "jobs" such as one person organizing slot pulls, another cabin crawl, and another gift exchange,etc. The meet and greet is more successful and more are satisfied when that is done.

 

 

Who do you ask if the OP hasn't checked in for weeks? I guess I'd be considered the one who took over on my last roll call with only a few weeks until sailing. People were asking for a M&G but no answer from the OP. I put a list of those who indicated interest together and asked for input. It was a collaborative effort for the most part but OP didn't join in, even after posting again. I can only guess she got offended but I tried to welcome her into the fold. Not my fault she dropped the ball and we were all posting regularly. I honestly felt uncomfortable being considered the leader but I get very impatient with just waiting around and not taking action. Otherwise, it wouldn't have happened.

 

 

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