Decline of the roll call

[Realblonde474]

Has anyone noticed a decline in the use of the roll call feature on the CC website? Maybe its our cruise (western Caribbean in July on the Infinity) but our roll call is almost empty with no activity. 

 

The roll calls when active are fantastic and a wonderful way to meet people "pre cruise"....

 

Just curious....

[JamieLogical]

I have definitely noticed this post-restart. I think it has a little to do with the fact that Celebrity hasn't brought back their meet & mingles yet. I also think maybe it's just because people aren't as committed to their cruises with Cruise With Confidence allowing them to cancel 48 hours out?

[Mark_K]

And/or not as many people booked, so less on the roll call.

[prish]

Sadly, this has been happening from even before the pandemic, onthe European itineraries too, which always had very active RCs. We did an Iceland and Norway cruise in 2012 and our RC ran into over 150 pages. We’re now booked on another fjords  sailing for this August and we’re still on page 3! 
 

I do hope the RCs pick up again, they’re a fantastic source of information and tips on things to see and do, both on the ship and in the ports. 

[Beachlover1989]

Another possibility might be that people are hesitant to book private tours right now with the uncertainty still involved?  Those, along with the Meet & Mingles, seem to be what sparked the most conversation.

[dani negreanu]

35 minutes ago, Beachlover1989 said:

Another possibility might be that people are hesitant to book private tours right now with the uncertainty still involved?  Those, along with the Meet & Mingles, seem to be what sparked the most conversation.

 

This.

[TeaBag]

Our first sailing since the pandemic is fairly active with less than three weeks to go.  However, I think less people are cruising since the ships are not sailing full.  That might make a difference.  We are booked on other sailings that go for ages without a single post.  Hopefully it will pick up.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Two examples of contrast.  The USA to Iceland and return has an active roll call with private tours galore.  Our December Mexico cruise out of Long Beach almost no posts.

Go figure.

[TeeRick]

@Realblonde474  I would not actually term Roll Calls to be in Decline.  Roll Calls were pretty much non-existent for 18 months.  A few crickets here and there.  So right now I would now call it Reemergence of the Roll Call. 

[the penguins]

49 minutes ago, Beachlover1989 said:

Another possibility might be that people are hesitant to book private tours right now with the uncertainty still involved?  Those, along with the Meet & Mingles, seem to be what sparked the most conversation.

That's also my thought plus Cabin Crawls, Slot Pulls etc have all been discouraged or banned due to mixing concerns 

[tallnthensome]

A lot of people don't want to be in  close contact with groups of others on board right now. They want their safe space. That and so many cruises have been canceled and the effort of putting roll calls together haven't been worth it with cancelation risks. 

[cachouonacruise]

Our Roll Call for Silhouette in June has been pretty active (page 17), while our roll call on a Baltic cruise for August had been pretty anemic. I thought it was cruise line related. 

[mahdnc]

For the sailings that we had been on (or had scheduled), I have only seen a large decline in roll call activity associated with the sailings since the re-start.  And I would have thought it due to all of the reasons mentioned so far: ships are less full along with less planning/coordinating reasons to post on the roll call.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

The Celebrity Apex TA in 27 days 91 pages

The Voyager of the seas Best of Northern Europe 7 day cruise 9 pages, Aug 28 

The  voyager of the seas Sept 4 Arctic TA 101 pages 

I think it depends on the type of cruise on how busy a roll call will be 

[Denny01]

It could also be that the great majority of the cruises since restart have been Caribbean and 7N and my experiences was especially the longer cuises and Euro’s and TransAtlantic’s are a lot more active.
 

we did a Thanksgiving cruise and barely looked at the Roll Call because we weren’t big on joining a social event on board or a private tour. We have a transatlantic in Oct and it’s very active. Haven’t been on it for a while because we had an issue that may have kept us from gong but now all ok so heading back to jump on. 

 

den

[Woody14]

I am glad you brought this up, I was thinking it was just my bad luck with picking sailings that just had low roll calls but it is not all me glad to know.

[m8zenblue]

I agree fully !

CC Roll Calls have definitely declined over the past few years.

I have been a viewer and participant in my past sailings.

Usually a year out Roll Calls ramp up, not his year or I should say my sailing, 11/21/2022, Silhouette out of Miami.

I hope it picks up !

 

 

 

 

[mfs2k]

Our Beyond 10/26 roll call is fairly active thanks to @PinkSandGirl

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I have noticed the same thing, even prior to the great shutdown, and have commented on this previously.  Sad, as roll calls used to be a great way to interact with people prior to the cruise and to find out all sorts of interesting information.  I've made lifelong friends from participating in roll calls on Cruise Critic.

 

As for the "roll calls" on social media, I find them full of people who don't know much about cruising and thus not very good sources of information.  Also, many of them are organized by travel agents who are looking to drum up business.

[keesar]

26 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I have noticed the same thing, even prior to the great shutdown, and have commented on this previously.  Sad, as roll calls used to be a great way to interact with people prior to the cruise and to find out all sorts of interesting information.  I've made lifelong friends from participating in roll calls on Cruise Critic.

 

As for the "roll calls" on social media, I find them full of people who don't know much about cruising and thus not very good sources of information.  Also, many of them are organized by travel agents who are looking to drum up business.

 

There has been a decline in participation over the years.  And the pandemic has accelerated the decline as there have been many cruisers who had been active contributors and leaders.   Then they  cancelled their reservations and suddenly disappear.  

 

I don't know what is worse.  People who don't know much about cruising or those frequent posters on CC who purport to be 'experts' as they have advice on every topic and give incorrect information.  

 

[georgiaguy]

So interesting comparison. We are on the Reflection at the end of June. Our roll call is on page 8. The identical cruise that leaves 20 days before is on pg 48. 

[GottaKnowWhen]

36 minutes ago, georgiaguy said:

So interesting comparison. We are on the Reflection at the end of June. Our roll call is on page 8. The identical cruise that leaves 20 days before is on pg 48. 

Apples and oranges? I recently did a b2b, have 14 or so cruises booked out through 2024. Some of the future roll calls for those sailings are just getting started, some of the existing roll calls are rolling along. And some of the more active ones have become pure drivel. Two or three people treating the roll call space as their private chat room, yammering on about private things that have nothing to do with the cruise. 
So, it isn’t just about quantity (page count) but also quality (value).

 

 

I do agree with the premise that participation has declined and I think it is due to the uncertainty of booking private excursions, plus the reduction/demise of onboard gatherings. I had an email today from a couple we met 4-5 years ago on an excursion I arranged, they joined up. A few days ago I was emailing back-and-forth with a couple we met on an excursion, have traveled with since, have future travel plans under discussion. I miss the chance for making those connections and hope that Roll Calls re-emerge as a locus for such contacts.

 

Stan

[ORV]

24 minutes ago, GottaKnowWhen said:

Apples and oranges? I recently did a b2b, have 14 or so cruises booked out through 2024. Some of the future roll calls for those sailings are just getting started, some of the existing roll calls are rolling along. And some of the more active ones have become pure drivel. Two or three people treating the roll call space as their private chat room, yammering on about private things that have nothing to do with the cruise. 
So, it isn’t just about quantity (page count) but also quality (value).

This sums it up real well. Sometimes you get 3 or 4 posters on a Roll Call that have absolutely nothing to say, and say it over and over again. 

[PinkSandGirl]

It took me years to join a Roll Call and then some time to comment and then some more time to be more active and then some more time to meet people.   😉

 

Since I started participating more, I now continue too.

 

I think Roll Call participation definitely depends on the people.  

 

🍹

Edited April 4, 2022 by PinkSandGirl

[PinkSandGirl]

2 hours ago, mfs2k said:

Our Beyond 10/26 roll call is fairly active thanks to @PinkSandGirl

You as well 😃