use cruise critic

[Linda the Book Lover]

Just as a very unscientific test, I looked at a thread on this forum (the top one at the time on the board) and had a quick look at the posting history of the people who had posted there.

 

There were 10 people who had posted there, and 8 of those had a posting on the roll call pages amongst their most recent posts.

 

Love your unscientific test. ;)

[KeithJenner]

Love your unscientific test. ;)

 

:)

 

It has to be quite unscientific, as it's difficult to see whether people who post often use the roll calls. You would have to go back quite a long way in my posting history to see any roll call posts.

 

I have to say, I was quite surprised by the number who were. As I said earlier, I would expect the proportion to be a bit lower on the NCL board and higher amongst those who post mainly on the ports of call/ roll call boards.

 

Overall, I think my 90% estimate at the start is probably a bit high, but not by much. Maybe 75-80%.

[roboclam]

I think the exact opposite is true. I think 90% of the people that use cruise critic have never attended a roll call. I know I haven't. I find cruise critic to be both a great information resource, and an enjoyable place to read and share about cruising. But I'm not really interested in meeting a whole bunch of people on a cruise. I cruise with people I want to spend time with.

 

Don't get me wrong. If you enjoy that, great. But I strongly believe the the vast majority of people who come here have a very utilitarian perspective. They're here to get information to make their vacation plans and move on.

 

I would suspect the 3% number for cruisers who use this site is about right. I would further speculate the maybe 10% of that 3% actually socialize with other members via a roll call or other event.

Agree 100%, great place for information...Thanks...

Rob

[Quilting_Cruiser]

As a former researcher, I'm always interested when I see numbers and percentages bandied about. We all look at the world through the lens of our personal experiences and unless we actually gathered and analysed the data, we're just speculating based on our own experience which may or may not be consistent what is actually happening.. That said, like others, if I happen to be talking with someone on board and CC comes up, I have yet to hear the response, "I've heard of that forum." When I first joined CC years ago, the percentage I kept hearing was that about 1% of cruisers are CC members. I don't think that was validated, but it's the reference point I recall.

 

I don't do Caribbean cruises anymore so have no idea what those roll calls are like these days. My personal experience is that Alaska roll calls tend to be very quiet (my fourth Alaskan cruise is coming up in a month and there are crickets on that roll call!) and European cruises I've been on have had large roll calls and meet and greets. On my last European cruise more than 100 people attended the M&G and that's the only cruise I've actually spent time with fellow roll call members throughout the cruise. But, I was sailing solo and wouldn't likely have done that had my daughter been with me on that cruise. I was also the person who coordinated and MCed the M&G so a lot of people recognized me--I doubt I would have had as many dinner invitations if I'd simply attended the M&G and not been up front. I believe the European roll calls are larger and more active (at least in my experience) because there are a lot of private tours arranged with fellow roll call members. When I'm on one, I typically put together a spreadsheet to track the planned excursions and people can sign up. It's worked out really well.

 

I don't go to the M&Gs to make friends, though that has happened several times. I go to connect with those I've got private tours organized with or if not excursions are planned, I go to meet the people I've been chatting with for months. I tend to book early and am pretty active on the roll call. :)

 

I'm sure there are many people who have absolutely not interest in meeting people on board and don't want to participate in excursions with a group. They probably use CC for information, and I know it certainly changed the quality of our cruises after I joined CC. I can't imagine planning a cruise and not using CC to learn about what's available in the ports and learn about the ship (if I haven't sailed it before). I also learn about NCL policy changes here as I rarely learn it from NCL!! LOL.

[zqvol]

The best guide is the number of people on a roll call. I know some cruise critic regulars who don't participate in roll calls, but I think it's safe to say that most (90% plus) do.

 

. . .

 

I think your numbers are too hihg. It is probably closer to 30% than it is to 90%.

[biker@sea]

I think I missed 2 M&G's out of 24 NCL cruises.

 

We still chat with C.C. friend from our first cruise back on Norwegian Dream.

 

We have meet hundreds of nice folks ( even a Very Nice C.C. editor ) through these boards.:cool:

 

 

Thank you all :D

[OCruisers]

I usually ask if someone knows about CC on my cruises and the majority say no. I always tell them to try it, because at times there is very good information on here.

 

Same as above. It's not often we find others who are familiar with CC.

It can be a fun topic of conversation to have with fellow shipmates. :)

[sverigecruiser]

 

 

Whatever, the conclusion is still the same. The proportion of cruisers who use CC is tiny.

 

I agree with this.

[sverigecruiser]

I agree with that. However, roll calls aren't just about making new friends. Just look at the number of people who sign up for the roll call but don't attend the M&G for example. Lots of people join the roll calls for many different reasons.

 

I agree with this too.

 

I have been active in roll calls myself without any intentions to participate in anything on the ship. I still think that most people here are not interested in the roll calls.

[casofilia]

I am arranging a M&G in a month, on Princess not NCL, where there are 47 on the Roll Call but there are only 17 who have decided to join in the M&G. It will be interesting to see how many turn up.

[KeithJenner]

I am arranging a M&G in a month, on Princess not NCL, where there are 47 on the Roll Call but there are only 17 who have decided to join in the M&G. It will be interesting to see how many turn up.

 

My guess would be about 10.

[KeithJenner]

I would certainly agree that there are a lot of people who post mainly on the NCL section of cruise critic (or on other lines) who aren't interested in the roll calls.

 

However, this is just a small part of the cruise critic forum as a whole.

 

I just had a look at a couple of pages from the roll call from our next cruise. Looking at the posting history for the people who have posted, most of them rarely, if ever, post elsewhere. Over half of the people I looked at have only ever posted on roll calls. That is what they use CC for.

 

Those people make up a very large proportion of the people who use CC. They post rarely (only when they have a cruise coming up), but they are CC users. They greatly outnumber us on here, even if individually, many of us have more posts than hundreds of them put together.

 

For example, putting some numbers to them, lets say that there are a thousand people who post on the NCL board, and only 25% of them are active in roll calls.

 

Meanwhile, lets assume that there are currently an average of 15 people who have posted on each roll call for the next year on all NCL ships (I believe that it is actually much more than 15, but lets work with it to take account of duplicates and that roll calls for a year in advance will be quiet at the moment). That is over 10,000 people. Of those 10,000, 100% contribute to the roll call threads.

 

That means that 10,000 out of 10,750 are contributing, which is 93%.

 

My guess of 1,000 people who post on this board is probably low, but I think that it does show my point. Even i we say there are 5,000 regular posters on this board and 10% of them use roll calls then it still works out at 69% overall.

[hawk/hornfan]

I may join a roll call and M&G, but have only attended 1 M&G.

On our Sept 2015 cruise from Vancouver to Hawaii, we had a very active roll call. Many of us, probably 50-60 met precruise the night before sailing at a hotel bar. Over a 100 at the M&G. We developed friendships with 14 other people and keep in contact, have a facebook page, some of us cruised and done other trips together, and another cruise in November.

But very few people have even heard of cruise critic. This cite was very helpful and essential for that Hawaii cruise.

[don't-use-real-name]

Was not aware of Roll Calls until my first NCL cruise.

Have been to everyone since that first NCL cruise.

Roll Call numbers tallied - expect about half that number

to show up for the M&G.

People people show up Please it is embarrassing when

the crew outnumbers the M&G guests.

If you got a beef with Corporate this is not the place or

time to take it out on the crew.

BUT HOWEVER show up and if you need HELP this

is the place and time to make your troubles soothed

and solved - don't expect M.I. (Mission Impossible)

but for getting your group together for priority help

getting on off the ship or having a place to have a

private party i.e. M&G activity getting a dinner

reservation help with a SX talking directly to the

crew people can make it happen.

Have billing questions or other questions sure beats

waiting in line at the Guest Relations counter.

Not every cruise is a disaster in the making and

needs crew help to bail out life boat in your plans

but attending a M&G helps knowing the person

to go to for help - most all the problems one

encounters a representative is there to give you a

card or number to call when that time occurs.

Most every M&G on NCL there is a directory with

phone numbers for direct access to the staff

member in charge of a specific area.

MOST IMPORTANTLY is the HOTEL DIRECTOR.

If you don't remember anything else remember

the Top man that runs the HOTEL.

Why HOTEL instead of cruise ship - in the cruise

industry the ship is often referred to as a (floating) HOTEL.

 

Like things in life sometimes "CC" brings joy

and information to some by participating in events

furnishing information and help answering questions

based on previous cruises and reading up on replies

here at CC !

 

CC may not be widely known but on board the ships

the crew knows who we are !

We may not be the mouse that roared but I don't think

that our presence is ignored after all NCL does provide

the space and time for us to MEET & MINGLE (GREET)

with the crew !

[helen haywood]

Since the ship is our destination and we rarely get off in port, I don't have any need to discuss excursions, things to do, etc., so the only reason for me to join the roll call would be to attend the M&G. Or am I missing something?

 

 

Well, if you subscribe to the Roll Call, often a fellow cruiser will alert you to a price drop. You could be missing that.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[uneamie]

I agree with that. However, roll calls aren't just about making new friends. Just look at the number of people who sign up for the roll call but don't attend the M&G for example. Lots of people join the roll calls for many different reasons.

I have joined roll calls basically because it's kind of fun to discuss your upcoming cruise with those who are cruising too. But I've never attended a "meet and greet". Like a few others...we like our privacy on our cruise and like not having to be part of a crowd. It's nice to get to know people in a casual way by accident and maybe you click in some ways, but generally Meet and Greets feel forced to me...but that's just us.

[GUT2407]

I'd say only a small (tiny) percentage. Just look at Roll calls, normally a few dozen members at most, and even if only 10% of CCers join a roll call that's few hundered (or less) from here on each cruise.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Well, if you subscribe to the Roll Call, often a fellow cruiser will alert you to a price drop. You could be missing that.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

That's true! On one of my cruises several people bought drinks for me because I had alerted the roll call to several price drops and there was a lot of savings that time around. :D

 

I have joined roll calls basically because it's kind of fun to discuss your upcoming cruise with those who are cruising too. But I've never attended a "meet and greet". Like a few others...we like our privacy on our cruise and like not having to be part of a crowd. It's nice to get to know people in a casual way by accident and maybe you click in some ways, but generally Meet and Greets feel forced to me...but that's just us.

 

 

If you've never been to a meet and greet how can they feel forced to you? :D:p

[casofilia]

A PhD scholar could make out a great thesis!!!!!

1) Number of posters (members) of the Roll Call,

2) Number of those who said they would attend the M&G,

3) The number of those who did.

 

Then build in the total number of posts and the number of posts on the specific Roll Call for each member.

[MsAnnMcD]

I think I found CC when organizing my first cruise which was also our wedding. We have gone on 7 cruises total. We attended 2 or 3 meet and greets and plan to attend the next one. Our main reason is to meet the ship personnel. We enjoy talking to the chief engineer, executive chef, hotel operations manager and beverage manager. As far as the roll calls go its kind of fun to put the face with the name but to date haven't stayed in touch with anyone we've met. I would be interested in organizing shore activities with fellow roll call folks in the future. I find CC boards a great source of information, amusement, amazement and inspiration.

[bronxboy683]

a few weeks ago on the jewel to mexico i saw who the beverage manager was (is) i saw her in the corridor later and asked her if i could ex change the sparkling wine i received for latitude silver. she said sure ank in about ten min. a staff member brought a bottle of merlot to the cabin and exchanged it.. on a cruise on the star to cabo san lucas a lot of my family were staying there for a few weeks, but 30 min drive or so away from the pier.. i asked the captain if we could get and early tender ticket. he called the cruise director over and told him to help me.. later in the week 3 tickets for the first tender was delivered to my cabin..alsio i like the blue berry muffins almost never see them at the buffet,,,,:D

[casofilia]

a few weeks ago on the jewel to mexico i saw who the beverage manager was (is) i saw her in the corridor later and asked her if i could ex change the sparkling wine i received for latitude silver. she said sure ank in about ten min. a staff member brought a bottle of merlot to the cabin and exchanged it..

 

We regularly do the exchange as "my wife has a stomach problem that is exacerbated by the sparkling wine". Never had a problem.

[dcipjr]

I'd say the percentage of regular folks on the ship that use CruiseCritic is very small, but NCL does take CC quite seriously.

 

I think NCL has figured out that when people hit up Google with questions about cruises, CruiseCritic shows up atop the results more often than not. Some folks will visit, read a thread, and depart. A percentage (probably relatively small) join and participate.

 

Either way, NCL wants those Google results to reflect positively on themselves and their cruises, so they make sure to attend to their CC passengers. It's a smart thing to do, and I am glad they care.

 

NCL has always rolled out the red carpet for us at all the M&Gs I've been to. I organized one last year and they were super helpful and made it so easy.

 

I always attend the M&Gs to meet the other folks that have been counting down the days until the cruise with me, and put a face to the username. I also go because I enjoy meeting the crew—many of whom say hello and greet me by name whenever they see me for the rest of the cruise, which I really enjoy and appreciate.

[sfaaa]

Could also be an age thing. Back when I was 20's,single and in college, everyone I know loved to get together, meet new friends and go on dates. These days, I prefer my privacy and quiet time to do my own things.

[shadowmeboy]

Great thread and interesting read.

 

Each of us uses CC in our own way. I find the roll calls helpful. I found out about an itinerary change on cruise critic which I was never notified of from either my TA or NCL. I would have not known if I wasn't involved. This occurred on a Sun sailing southbound from Seward, AK. When we got on the Alaska Railroad train in Anchorage to go to Seward, we were talking with people in our car and many knew nothing about the itinerary changes. That right there sealed the deal for me.

 

I attend M&G's and like meeting new people. Each person sailing has there own priorities and that may not involve the M&G. Just because I attended, I don't have to hang out with others onboard.

 

I choose to also share my trips here on CC through reviews and have found incredible information through others reviews.

 

Just my two pennies worth!