Royal Caribbean Roll Calls

[PolytheneGirl]

I was excited to be able to join one of the roll calls on here as the last time we cruised I didn't know these forums existed. That being said we're on our 4th (I think) iteration of our booking so I won't be posting til a lot closer and I know for certain its *actually* going ahead 😄

[NC State]

15 hours ago, tunisbridal said:

I think that Facebook groups are more active!

Yes, I have two cruises (Dec & Apr) and we are very active on Facebook.

[Teeara]

13 hours ago, Steeler Nation At Sea said:

 

This.  (Transatlantics excepted.)

Not so sure I agree with that, Kim.  Although our canceled Allure 2020 Fall TA roll call was fantastic in daily responses, the Wonder Fall TA for next year is pretty much a dud, especially when you compare it to the Wonder Spring TA next year.  Now I know part of that is because the original Allure Fall TA for next year had a lousy itinerary (similar to your current Harmony TA).  I'm hopeful that it will pick up once the dust settles and everyone knows where they've been moved to from Allure to Wonder AND that the new and improved itinerary will draw people to the cruise and the roll call.  In any event, it's the people who make or break a roll call.  We need people to participate in order to make a lively and engaging roll call.  

[kernow]

7 minutes ago, PolytheneGirl said:

I was excited to be able to join one of the roll calls on here as the last time we cruised I didn't know these forums existed. That being said we're on our 4th (I think) iteration of our booking so I won't be posting til a lot closer and I know for certain its *actually* going ahead 😄

I agree with you. We have an Australian cruise booked for Nov 2022, already changed once, and I haven't even looked at the roll call yet as trying not to think about it in case it doesn't happen. Normally I would be active on the roll call by now planning everything. We had a Far East cruise cancelled in Feb 2020 and it was so disappointing to have everything in place and then not go.

 

We've done two UK cruises this year and both roll calls had hardly anyone on, big groups on the other site though, just booked a Feb cruise on MSC and no roll call so far (will probably start one).

 

I really hope they come back when cruising starts returning to normal, we've met some great people through them in the past (including the OP!). Plus, I trust the info on CC much more than on other sites.

[brillohead]

17 hours ago, kdnurs said:

We had Cruise Critic on my iphone as an app but now it comes up "no longer available in app store" so I am unable to read posts from my iphone any longer. I upgraded from 11 to 13 and BAM Cruise Critic doesnt work!!!

 

15 hours ago, Tatka said:

I do not see it in App Store! on my Iphone 12.. Strange...

You don't need an app to see Cruise Critic from a phone -- just use your Internet Browser just like you would if you were on a computer. 

Apple: Safari
Android: Chrome

 

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

1 hour ago, Teeara said:

Not so sure I agree with that, Kim.  Although our canceled Allure 2020 Fall TA roll call was fantastic in daily responses, the Wonder Fall TA for next year is pretty much a dud, especially when you compare it to the Wonder Spring TA next year.  Now I know part of that is because the original Allure Fall TA for next year had a lousy itinerary (similar to your current Harmony TA).  I'm hopeful that it will pick up once the dust settles and everyone knows where they've been moved to from Allure to Wonder AND that the new and improved itinerary will draw people to the cruise and the roll call.  In any event, it's the people who make or break a roll call.  We need people to participate in order to make a lively and engaging roll call.  

 

I made the observation based on 10 transatlantic roll calls that I've participated.  Only one other one, an EB, was slow like the Wonder so it does happen, but, less frequently. The others were/are very active, with one having exceeded 22,000 posts! Our original canceled Allure was going to go past 20k, I'm sure.

 

On a personal note, I'm not participating as much because I am completely on the fence about taking the Wonder cruise, it being my 2nd WB in just 2 months next year.  I do appreciate your efforts to engage people in chatter, though!  On the other one of mine that was quiet and slow, I eventually started a trivia game that seemed to get some people posting in the intervening months before the cruise talk picked up. It was kind of fun, I think!  

Edited October 14, 2021 by Steeler Nation At Sea

[Tatka]

1 hour ago, brillohead said:

 

You don't need an app to see Cruise Critic from a phone -- just use your Internet Browser just like you would if you were on a computer. 

Apple: Safari
Android: Chrome

 

On tablet it’s ok, on phone it’s too small. It was much more convenient in Tapatalk. I use 5-6 forums on Tapatalk. Great design and functionality 

[kdnurs]

18 hours ago, Tatka said:

 

I do not see it in App Store! on my Iphone 12.. Strange...

It is no longer available...I used it for years when not on my computer. It is not available for use any longer that I can find. It was such a nice and useful app. Sorry it is gone 🤔

[moonltnite]

I posted on our March 6th Oasis roll call this past week.  There were not that many on it yet - and no conversations really going.  There's also a Facebook group for this cruise - which I joined yesterday. 

 

I agree with others that fewer may want to meet others due to Covid.  I know we will still want to.  The best group we had was on our Liberty sailing in May 2009.  We had the regular Meet & Mingle party (I know those are gone) - but we expanded it to get to know each other better.  Each person/couple/family would bring an inexpensive gift bag ($25 limit) representing where they live for a random exchange. Some of us also got together for trivia and we went to dinner one night with one couple.  That same couple are still our friends - 12 years later!  They came to Chicago when he had a business trip - and we met up for deep dish pizza.  She and I exchange emails all the time, too.     

 

The Meet & Mingle on our next cruise on the Allure in March 2017 - we also did the grab bag thing.  We did end up on the same excursion with a couple people, too.  

 

We'll see how the roll call for our upcoming Oasis cruise goes!  I think it'd be nice to have some kind of meeting/gathering - maybe at a bar, even though there's no formal Meet & Mingle.  If people are up for that - I may suggest the hometown grab bag exchange - and see if any are interested.  

Edited October 14, 2021 by moonltnite

[kdnurs]

1 hour ago, Tatka said:

On tablet it’s ok, on phone it’s too small. It was much more convenient in Tapatalk. I use 5-6 forums on Tapatalk. Great design and functionality 

I AGREE...about being small on phone, but I didn't always have a tablet with me, but always have my phone. 🤗

[kdnurs]

2 minutes ago, moonltnite said:

I posted on our March 6th Oasis roll call this past week.  There were not that many on it yet - and no conversations really going.  I agree with others that fewer may want to meet others due to Covid.  I know we will still want to.  The best group we had was on our Liberty sailing in May 2009.  We had the regular Meet & Mingle party (I know those are gone) - but we expanded it to get to know each other better.  Each person/couple/family would bring an inexpensive gift bag ($25 limit) representing where they live for a random exchange. Some of us also got together for trivia and we went to dinner one night with one couple.  That same couple are still our friends - 12 years later!  They came to Chicago when he had a business trip - and we met up for deep dish pizza.  She and I exchange emails all the time, too.     

 

The Meet & Mingle on our next cruise on the Allure in March 2017 - we also did the grab bag thing.  We did end up on the same excursion with a couple people, too.  

 

We'll see how the roll call for our upcoming Oasis cruise goes!  I think it'd be nice to have some kind of meeting/gathering - maybe at a bar, even though there's no formal Meet & Mingle.  If people are up for that - I may suggest the hometown grab bag exchange - and see if any are interested.  

I LOVE your Grab Bag idea!!!! 

[Cigar King]

If it matters to anyone, I have a Kindle Fire I brink along on cruises.  I access CC from it with no issues, using the Silk browser.

[Iamcruzin]

5 hours ago, Tatka said:

On tablet it’s ok, on phone it’s too small. It was much more convenient in Tapatalk. I use 5-6 forums on Tapatalk. Great design and functionality 

I agree. I don't access CC from my phone anymore since the last CC update and it was removed from Tapatalk.

[LilBlackDress]

On 10/14/2021 at 12:32 PM, Iamcruzin said:

I agree. I don't access CC from my phone anymore since the last CC update and it was removed from Tapatalk.

Guess I haven't used it since the update or I didn't do the update... I thought I was able to use it last week 

[CaroleC]

On 10/14/2021 at 3:02 PM, moonltnite said:

I think it'd be nice to have some kind of meeting/gathering - maybe at a bar, even though there's no formal Meet & Mingle. 

We did that on our MSC cruise in the summer. There was quite an active roll call and several of us arranged to meet in a bar on the second day. We got on so well, we all met up again near the end of the cruise. It’s so nice being able to put faces to names and chat about cruising amongst other things.

[beshears]

I have not read any of the postings, but I checked out Explorer of the Seas roll call, and I was either the first, or maybe the 2nd one to get on there for January. There are not a lot of people posting, and sometimes I think people have NO idea what the roll call is all about.  It doesn't always mean that you will "meet" these people in person on the ship, but it is nice to have a rep-or with them in regard to the ship, or the ports that are visited, and what you might be doing. I posted on ours of the tour that the 8 of us are doing in St. Lucia, as I had done it twice before, and wanted the other 7 to enjoy what we had through this tour, and I was surprised of the people on our roll call that decided to book this tour too.

[cruzeluver]

Used to be that roll calls were always pretty hopping with lots of participation, regardless of the cruise line or length of cruise. But message boards are going the way of the dodo bird. Social media sites are a lot more popular with good reason. They are far easier to search for information, quicker, and you can weed through unhelpful comments much faster. I have almost quit reading reviews on Cruise Critic because for every post/photo provided by the OP, there are three pages of comments from others. Sometimes you have to get to page ten of a review before you reach boarding day!

 

We have two cruises booked on Serenade in then next nine months. One has no roll call, the other (which is less than 90 days away) had no roll call so I started one and a whopping two other people have joined. Both cruises have very active groups on the book of faces.

[Teeara]

On 10/14/2021 at 7:30 AM, Steeler Nation At Sea said:

 

I made the observation based on 10 transatlantic roll calls that I've participated.  Only one other one, an EB, was slow like the Wonder so it does happen, but, less frequently. The others were/are very active, with one having exceeded 22,000 posts! Our original canceled Allure was going to go past 20k, I'm sure.

 

On a personal note, I'm not participating as much because I am completely on the fence about taking the Wonder cruise, it being my 2nd WB in just 2 months next year.  I do appreciate your efforts to engage people in chatter, though!  On the other one of mine that was quiet and slow, I eventually started a trivia game that seemed to get some people posting in the intervening months before the cruise talk picked up. It was kind of fun, I think!  

I really miss that canceled Allure roll call.  It was the best.  So many active people.  Same with the Wonder EB TA next spring.  Sometimes I regret canceling that cruise, but my preference is WB.

 

I totally understand your reasoning, although I think you're a bit more participatory than you think!  Plus, you've got Harmony coming up and that's more important than a cruise that is a year away.  

 

Maybe after you return to Harmony we can start your trivia game ;o)