Have Roll Calls Died?

[sail7seas]

It is a strange coincidence that the topic of "roll calls are dying" came to be more heavily discussed almost simultaneous with Cruise Critic adding the Find Your Roll Call tool. Were people so used to finding their roll calls through the board's main menu that they found the new way less user-friendly even though the opposite was intended?

 

But there also has been an uptick in comments from long time cruisers no longer wanting to join roll calls where an uber-organizer asks for personal information (full names, cabin numbers, e-mail addresses) to put on a spreadsheet or website for all other participants to see. You can bet that trend will continue.

 

 

That is one of the things that drove me away from Roll Calls. I had minimal participation in a few many years ago but when they got to the point of wanting way too much info about us, I stopped even looking to see if there is a roll call for any upcoming cruise I've booked. I didn't care to give my 'real name' and most certainly not my cabin number.

 

 

 

 

 

You may be correct. I just created a website as a hobby and indicated that everything was optional. It was a way to give information about the ship and ports along with details about activities. Maybe some do not like that. When I attended Meet and Greets many members thanked me for the trouble of maintaining the website. I just gave ideas and it was up to others to volunteer to run anything.

 

I have had fun doing it for about 4-5 years and I guess it is time to "retire".

 

I mean no offense but why do you direct people away from CC to your own website if they come looking to find roll call comments? That is why CC has those forums? We joined Cruise Critic website; not a private one set up by a poster. I know for sure I would not 'click the link'.

 

Edited July 15, 2015 by sail7seas

[Scrapnana]

I have been lucky enough to have been on four very successful roll calls. As a solo traveler it is nice to already "know" some people before I even step foot on the ship. I enjoy going to the meet and greets and putting faces and names together.

 

Some people seem to think they will get forced into activities they don't want if they join a roll call (I actually had one person say this to me on a cruise). Joining a roll call does not commit you to anything - you can participate as much or as little as you like. So, if you have never joined one, try it. If it is not your cup of tea, fine, but you may meet some very nice people you would not have met otherwise.

[Lizzie68]

Every roll call I have been on - except my current one but there is still time- has been very active and we have made lasting friendships with each. I will not join a Facebook roll call.

[Keith1010]

Roll Calls vary with some much more active than others.

 

It usually takes someone to take the lead.

 

Keith

[moqui_girl]

I like to participate in roll calls. I've found US based cruises more popular than the UK or European ones. I set one up for our p&o cruise in October and not another single person has replied. [emoji53] Im into the mega organisation of all the slot pulls etc but it's nice to have a least one meet up arranged.

[t60]

My last cruise and the present cruise, the roll calls have been and are virtually non existent. Last one was South America and Trans Atlantic, while th current one is an Amazon cruise, probably with mainly UK people who are not always amenable to to American style activities slot pulls etc (yeuk) before that when we cruised with a mainly Canadian or American contingent the roll calls have been very active and full of useful information. People find good private tours at a better rate than those on offer by the ships and the meet and greets are good to get to know others on the cruise

 

Sandy in Spain

[paul929207]

If someone is organizing an event on the Roll Call that does not interrest me, I just don't participate in it. No one has ever told me I MUST join an event.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Some Roll Calls are very active -- some not so much. A lot depends on itinerary.

I quit joining Roll Calls when people started to organize cabin crawls, gift exchanges, playing games, slots, etc. They didn't interest me.

And I certainly wouldn't want to join a Roll Call via a private website.

[Grandma Dazzles]

I agree that some of the recent roll calls that I have joined haven't been as active as compared to several years ago. However, still think it can vary from ship-to-ship, week-to-week - even a long time ago had a few very inactive ones.

 

I think it helps tremendously when someone takes charge. Personally enjoy some of the organized activities especially on a longer cruise. Have enjoyed cabin crawls and seeing some of the bigger suites.

 

Have made many friends cruising - several began with a meet and mingle.

[Arzeena]

I mean no offense but why do you direct people away from CC to your own website if they come looking to find roll call comments? That is why CC has those forums? We joined Cruise Critic website; not a private one set up by a poster. I know for sure I would not 'click the link'.

 

 

 

Same with Facebook. I would not join a roll call there either.

[cbr663]

Just a few years ago' date=' I had considered joining the roll call for my cruise on Facebook until I realized how insecure it was -- that anyone can access it and get the names (real ones) of those posting. I even told Princess the reason why I wasn't doing so. I did notice that just months later the roll calls went away on the Princess FB area, so I'm guessing they got similar complaints.[/quote']

 

It isn't that difficult to get the real names and addresses of some of the folks posting on CC. I am amazed at the amount of personal information that some people continue to post on CC.

[paul929207]

i am on a roll call now that is in part based on a website. It is not the one OP started.

 

I find that the website is very helpful. It is a large Roll Call (nearing 300 people). With CC, if you want a tour in a port, you would have to search thru all the posts (nearing 5000). Clearly that is not practical. If you go to the website, there is a section for each port. On it is info about the tours offered there. This is both the cruise line tours and private tours. For private tours, it lists who is on the tour and who is on the waitlist, if any.

 

There is a section for pre-cruise. This includes how to get from the airport to the ship or to various hotels. Many people will be driving to the tour. So someone has gotten a group rate at one hotel that will include parking for the duration of the cruise (28 days). The room and parking is $159 plus tax. This is much less than standard parking rates. We have 45 rooms there.

 

There are sections for activities during the cruise. Each of us signs up for the one(s) we want. I have not seen any pressure on people to join an activity. There are 17 sea days, so many of us will enjoy the activities as something different to do.

[ewenix]

Really, really hope I don't offend anyone with this. I think roll calls are kind of obsolete with Facebook and other social media now. I'm 38 and I think most cruisers my age (and definitely those younger than me) use social media to connect to other cruisers if they are so inclined. There are easy to use cruise apps now so people can connect from their phones, unlike Tapatalk which I don't find to be very user friendly.

 

I agree Tapatalk isn't very user friendly.

 

I'm curious, aside from Facebook, which you mentioned what other social media would you use to connect with other cruisers?

[BlueRiband]

Roll Calls will vary with the ship, itinerary, and number of "forum regulars" who have joined. When it's port intensive people are usually getting ready to go ashore and recovering from going ashore. And when those in the roll call rarely if ever post in that line's forum one doesn't feel any connection with them.

 

I can only repeat the posts here regarding the "superorganizers". No personal slight intended OP but one look at your web site would have me running away because the typical CC activities - other than a M&G - are not for me.

Edited July 15, 2015 by BlueRiband

[Chloe1500]

The last time I joined a roll call the organizer turned out to be a travel agent who booked most of the private tours, paid and collected cash at the meet and greet. There was another travel agent on the same roll call who told us that the organizer was accepting either a free ride or a deep discount for himself from the tour companies. Kinda turned us off on roll calls.

[hubofhockey]

The last time I joined a roll call the organizer turned out to be a travel agent who booked most of the private tours, paid and collected cash at the meet and greet. There was another travel agent on the same roll call who told us that the organizer was accepting either a free ride or a deep discount for himself from the tour companies. Kinda turned us off on roll calls.

 

That is an exception and not the normal way it works. In general, we prefer smallish tours of 4-8 people and have met some great people sharing tours. For the most part, roll calls are not too important to us on Caribbean cruises and appear to be ineffective on small ships. When roll calls go soft, we are quite comfortable doing days on our own.

[Marseydotes]

Am I just naive or is it just that I tend not to worry overmuch? I use the roll calls extensively to arrange private tours, look for information on our ports or ship from more experienced cruisers, and find some shipmates who can share a drink or chat on board.

I've never done a crawl or slot pull. Probably never will. I give my name (first) and cabin number to those who keep a list, and do not see why that would pose any threat.

Anyone care to explain their objection to listing first name and cabin number?

Thanks,

[OCruisers]

Am I just naive or is it just that I tend not to worry overmuch? I use the roll calls extensively to arrange private tours, look for information on our ports or ship from more experienced cruisers, and find some shipmates who can share a drink or chat on board.

I've never done a crawl or slot pull. Probably never will. I give my name (first) and cabin number to those who keep a list, and do not see why that would pose any threat.

Anyone care to explain their objection to listing first name and cabin number?

Thanks,

 

Not to Worry! We've been giving our first names, state we live, and cabin numbers on roll calls for decades. No problem. :)

 

LuLu

[LMaxwell]

Anyone care to explain their objection to listing first name and cabin number?

 

I just don't see any practical upside to doing so. What good could come of it?

[CPT Trips]

I can't think of a good reason to share my cabin number with the entire interweb.

[JustinPlusLauren]

The last roll call I was active in was definitely not very active at all! All the ones I'd previously joined had daily conversation it seemed, but this one didn't really have any. Maybe people are using Facebook more often nowadays?

[Putterdude]

Are roll calls dead....well it seems to vary from line to line and from itinerary to itinerary.....with Alaska be the least subscribed to. We did a b/b/b cruise in the Caribbean in January and we had anywhere from well over a hundred involved in the roll call to about 50 people on an another. We are doing a British Isles cruise next month and there are about 200 people on the roll call with about 150 people saying they want to attend the M&G. This same roll call now has some 1,100 posts....so no, roll calls are not dead.

[Jane2357]

As someone who has set up a private tour on my Panama Canal cruise - opened it up to others on my roll call and then closed it when the group reached 12 people - I did ask for names and cabin numbers BUT - I had those signed up, email me their information and told them I would not be sharing it. Yes I put my email out there . As the organizer of the tour - if something were to change (time, location of meeting, etc) - I may need to contact those people once onboard - but there are ways to share this info within the small group.

 

At 58 I am very active on Facebook but have never joined a Roll Call that way - while I'm not opposed to it - it certainly would let everyone know exactly when you would be gone - not the greatest idea from a security standpoint.

[lovemylab]

I have a love/hate relationship with roll calls. I use them to find others for sharing tours but that's about it. We've met some wonderful people on tours organized through a roll call that we'll later join up with for dinner or a drink later in the cruise. I'm not interested in slot pulls, gift exchanges, etc.

 

The last few roll calls I've been on have either been taken over by a select few who see it as their personal chat board, had someone try to move everything over to their own personal website (roll call list, tour sharing info, etc) or had someone trying to dictate who should be posting on the roll call (on one, someone suggested that only those doing a B2B should be included). When stuff like this happens it usually results in less people participating.

 

As for sharing cabin numbers, I will email this to someone who is organizing a tour we're on as they have a legit reason for needing it.

 

The only reason to provide a cabin number is so others can contact you onboard. I don't want random people on the cruise dropping by my cabin or calling me; therefore, I don't provide that info to everyone.

 

I am another that is amazed by how much personal info people share on this forum. I recall someone posting a link to wedding photos in a cruise review. One of the first pics was of the wedding stationary and you could clearly see the full names and home address of the brides mother on one of the envelopes!

[Putterdude]

I choose not to put our real names on a roll call for a couple of personal reasons not the least of which is that we live in 2 small areas and are just to easy for the bad guys to track. However, as one of the organizers of roll calls I often take on the task of preparing name badges for the M&Gs and of course that is hard to do without names and where the people are from. I don't have a problem sharing my cabin number but see no huge reason for anyone to have it....having said that if I am organising an independent tour then and am front the cost of deposits then I want names and cabin numbers.:)