Why are Alaska Roll Calls sooooo Boring?

[TNCruzer56]

I thought Europe was bad, but our Pearl thread is on life support and they`re thinking about pulling the plug. Is it the bluehair factor?

Hey, I`ll be one in a couple more years...

[PTC DAWG]

LOL, my fear of an Alaska Cruise....that and it's cold.

[RD29P5]

This year I'm sure the Bliss has something to do with it. You know new ship and everyone wants to be on it. If I had to make a guess about the age demographic's on my last Alaska cruise, I'd put it late 40's as the average. Yeah they seem dead, but I'm not as concerned about the roll call issues as I am on what the heck am I going to do in Seattle with a 6 hour layover on the way to Anchorage.

[davesgirl51]

Who needs a roll call in Alaska or Europe ? If you have questions, use the Forum or Trip Advisor, or Fromm or Steves. Both itineraries are so Port intensive, there is little time to worry about socializing.

[NYcruzzer]

I'm also noticing a strong roll call presence on other social media sites...This goes for all itineraries, not just Alaska

[littlelulu01]

I think many passengers are just not into cc that sail Alaska. The demographic on sailings we’ve been on are a lot of families and multigenerational. Also many from the area. First time i sailed the Pearl with daughter she ran into several friends from her hs, sailing with Mom/Dad, grandparents, cousins...East coast has tons more cruises available and a lot more people so likely more folks repeat customers compared to west coast. The more often you cruise the more likely you’ll find out about cc and roll calls.

 

Alaska ports are either in the USA or Canada so very easy to diy = less need to organize groups on roll calls. Since many passengers are already “home” when they board, they likely feel comfortable doing activities on their own. Despite the lack of advanced age passengers, it’s not the party atmosphere I’ve seen on Caribbean sailings. Passengers seem content to be out hiking, kayaking... all day and then getting a good nights sleep. Nature is the big draw for Alaska. Not necessarily the ship. The Bliss is likely different and is drawing passengers more excited about the big new ship itself than the ports visited.

 

Some Europe roll calls are very active with many group excursions planned.

[littlelulu01]

This year I'm sure the Bliss has something to do with it. You know new ship and everyone wants to be on it. If I had to make a guess about the age demographic's on my last Alaska cruise, I'd put it late 40's as the average. Yeah they seem dead, but I'm not as concerned about the roll call issues as I am on what the heck am I going to do in Seattle with a 6 hour layover on the way to Anchorage.

 

That’s a VERY long layover. Alaska Airlines has flights about every half hour/hour pretty much all day/all night. I’d pay a change fee and get on an earlier connection. Tsa can be a nightmare at SeaTac so not worth leaving security. A couple weeks ago they were taking all day for security due to lack of employees. Airlines are also pretty strict about passengers boarding airplanes from/to anchorage intoxicated so be careful about spending too much time in an airport bar. I’ve seen many passengers kicked off this particular route for being drunk. They don’t want to divert the flights due to disorderly conduct because there isn’t many options from here to there to divert to and they run a tight schedule with so many flights back and forth.

 

Also don’t plan on any upgrades with Airlines. It’s a joke how many mvp golds and above are on this route. It’s a big mileage accrual route and many passengers are on that route a couple days a week.

[Shellbelle28]

I thought Europe was bad, but our Pearl thread is on life support and they`re thinking about pulling the plug. Is it the bluehair factor?

Hey, I`ll be one in a couple more years...

Same thing happening with my Pearl sailing in September. Nobody has posted to it since March. I just booked the cruise last week so have been trying to wake it up, but with no membership it's not working.

 

I honestly don't think it's the demographic of the passengers or the Alaska itinerary, I had a really fun and active roll call for the same ship and nearly the same date in 2015 and it was busy, had lots of members and we had some really fun activities on top of a meet and mingle.

My speculation is that nobody thinks of anything but Facebook for online groups these days.

[casofilia]

Not only Alaska, we have a number of Caribbean cruises next March April and all are "dead".

Even a 28 day Round Australia cruise with Princess has a Roll Call that has only 3 people that are really active and that one has lots of sea days.

[RD29P5]

That’s a VERY long layover. Alaska Airlines has flights about every half hour/hour pretty much all day/all night. I’d pay a change fee and get on an earlier connection. Tsa can be a nightmare at SeaTac so not worth leaving security. A couple weeks ago they were taking all day for security due to lack of employees. Airlines are also pretty strict about passengers boarding airplanes from/to anchorage intoxicated so be careful about spending too much time in an airport bar. I’ve seen many passengers kicked off this particular route for being drunk. They don’t want to divert the flights due to disorderly conduct because there isn’t many options from here to there to divert to and they run a tight schedule with so many flights back and forth.

 

Also don’t plan on any upgrades with Airlines. It’s a joke how many mvp golds and above are on this route. It’s a big mileage accrual route and many passengers are on that route a couple days a week.

 

Yeah it is, but I've done worse. The biggest problem was the flight into Seattle, we could have done a later arriving flight but neither of us felt like taking a western U.S. tour with the number of stops and plane changes we'd have to make for a 2 hour flight. Most of the Alaska Airlines flights were full up, so we ended up on Jet Blue with a employee discount.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the TSA issues, we were considering taking the light rail into town for a bite to eat. Now I think we will probably reconsider that idea.

[richard k]

Our board on the Jewel is not very exciting also have not been to Seattle for two years but the lines were forever.

[Youalleverybody]

This year I'm sure the Bliss has something to do with it. You know new ship and everyone wants to be on it. If I had to make a guess about the age demographic's on my last Alaska cruise, I'd put it late 40's as the average. Yeah they seem dead, but I'm not as concerned about the roll call issues as I am on what the heck am I going to do in Seattle with a 6 hour layover on the way to Anchorage.

 

 

We have a five hour layover this weekend in Seattle; on the way to Anchorage to board the Jewel in Seward. Approximately midnight to 5:00am.. I've been doing some research on sleepinginairports.net I can't justify paying for a hotel for just a few hours. It'll just be part of the adventure for us.

 

Oh, and our roll call isn't super active either. But we are looking forward to the meet and greet.

[Shellbelle28]

Something I'm curious about, are Jewel and the Pearl on the Alaska itinerary with the dead roll calls sailing with decent occupancy? I guess there's no way of telling. We choose late in the season hoping for smaller crowds.

[mtsnd1900]

I too am noticing a stronger presence on social media, where guests can easily interact with one another directly, and make recommendations without concern for flags or policy violations.

[QueenOfZoom]

I too am noticing a stronger presence on social media, where guests can easily interact with one another directly, and make recommendations without concern for flags or policy violations.

 

Yup, I'm on two roll calls, one for a cruise less than a month away and it's dead.

[Shellbelle28]

I too am noticing a stronger presence on social media, where guests can easily interact with one another directly, and make recommendations without concern for flags or policy violations.

There weren't any groups for my sailing on that unmentionable social media giant, so I created one today. We are at 82 days until sailing, we'll see if anyone joins or if I end up talking to the walls there too! :rolleyes:

[zqvol]

I thought Europe was bad, but our Pearl thread is on life support and they`re thinking about pulling the plug. Is it the bluehair factor?

Hey, I`ll be one in a couple more years...

 

I doubt that it has anything to do with that. AK is so port intensive that you don't have time to participate in the things that you get out of a roll call on a Caribbean cruise. When you are not in port there is so much to see that the smart people spend all of their time outside. It also doesn't help that this time of year (mid June) sunrise is around 4:00 a.m. and sunset is around midnight.

[littlelulu01]

Idk what gates jet blue uses. They don’t have the presence of Alaska Airlines but the chairs in Alaska Airlines terminals don’t have arm rests so they are conducive to sleeping. I would likely sleep in the airport too with a 5 hour layover there. Sometimes security is a breeze and you are through in no time. Sometimes it is disastrous. Seattle has a terrible employment issue as in not enough employees willing to work for minimum wages which are $15/hour. Tsa agents obviously make more than minimum wages and tsa recently approved an increase of wages to attract enough employees but they still need to hire and train them which won’t be done till mid summer IF they can actually get enough hired.

[littlelulu01]

Something I'm curious about, are Jewel and the Pearl on the Alaska itinerary with the dead roll calls sailing with decent occupancy? I guess there's no way of telling. We choose late in the season hoping for smaller crowds.

Pretty sure the ships always sail full. The bonus of sailing after kids are back in school is less quad occupancy so less overall passengers onboard. If they are having issues filling ship they will offer groups a discount. Not typically a negative. More like a group invite for Park West art auction or casino or a bank...

[Shellbelle28]

Pretty sure the ships always sail full. The bonus of sailing after kids are back in school is less quad occupancy so less overall passengers onboard. If they are having issues filling ship they will offer groups a discount. Not typically a negative. More like a group invite for Park West art auction or casino or a bank...

I remember back in the "olden days" one of our cruises sailed with an empty Garden Villa. The suite guests reception was held there since it was open. It was cool to get a look at it. I think it was the Star, which NCL took posession of from another line (originally intended for the Asian market)...the decor was wild... avant garde circus!

 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Forums mobile app

[T4raegirl]

This year I'm sure the Bliss has something to do with it. You know new ship and everyone wants to be on it. If I had to make a guess about the age demographic's on my last Alaska cruise, I'd put it late 40's as the average. Yeah they seem dead, but I'm not as concerned about the roll call issues as I am on what the heck am I going to do in Seattle with a 6 hour layover on the way to Anchorage.

 

We sailed a few years ago to Alaska and are mid 20’s. There were tons of families on Pearl. Not an older crowd at all!

[Von & John]

Our Jewel 09/17/18 Roll Call is fairly active. Of course, this is not a true Alaskan Cruise - this is a Transpacific, Vancouver to Tokyo. We have a number of sea days to plan activities for & ports, which most of us have not visited in Russia & Japan. I believe both of these factors increase the activity on the Roll Call.

Cheers & Happy Sailing all -- Only 81 days until we leave for Vancouver!

[Desinico]

My roll call is the same and were doing the western Caribbean. It’s not until October but sheesh. I’m hoping it’ll be more active the closer we get. But it’s a snooze right now.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[newmexicoNita]

LOL, my fear of an Alaska Cruise....that and it's cold.

People cruise Alaska for different reasons than they cruise some destinations. Mostly it is considered a port intensive cruise so the people are not cruising just to have fun on the ship and to hang out. And yes, it can be cold. it is still a cruise I think everyone should experience, at least once.

[newmexicoNita]

Same thing happening with my Pearl sailing in September. Nobody has posted to it since March. I just booked the cruise last week so have been trying to wake it up, but with no membership it's not working.

 

I honestly don't think it's the demographic of the passengers or the Alaska itinerary, I had a really fun and active roll call for the same ship and nearly the same date in 2015 and it was busy, had lots of members and we had some really fun activities on top of a meet and mingle.

My speculation is that nobody thinks of anything but Facebook for online groups these days.

Unfortunately this seems to be the trend with Roll Calls period. Our M&G on the Dawn in May only had 16 take part and we decided to not bother with a gift exchange, slot pull or anything else, due to lack of interest. I hope the we are not seeing the ending of roll calls, but it might be the case.

Though we have 7 months before our next cruise on the Dawn, our roll call is pretty dead. There are 3 or 4 of us who seem to post often. Otherwise there really isn't much going on. Hopefully in the next couple of months it will pick up.