Decline of the roll call

[mahdnc]

20 hours ago, Airbalancer said:

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

 

I would agree.  I know that the 14 night Caribbean roll calls were very active.

[MamaFej]

I have found it to be very much dependent upon the individual cruise.

 

 

For this year, we are scheduled on 2 B2B, each with one active and one quiet Roll Call. Our B2B2B has one very active, one somewhat active, and one quiet Roll Call. 

 

Our fartherst out RC, for an April 2023 Trans-Pac is fairly active. 

 

Who knows?

[Denny01]

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

After a few drinks maybe.

After I had a ‘few’ drinks, I think Anyone is a fun host!!

 

den

[zitsky]

40 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

After I had a ‘few’ drinks, I think Anyone is a fun host!!

 

den

Right on man!  Groovy.

[Denny01]

I started a Roll Call for our Solstice Alaska cruise on 01 July ‘22 and have 19 posts. On the Edge TransAtlantic’s 24 Oct ‘22 cruise and it has 960. 

 

Den

[Torfamm]

I think uncertainty is a big obstacle. It’s hard to get too invested in a cruise that may or may not happen and that may or may not visit the planned ports. I WANT to go but after having the same Asia cruise cancelled for 2021 and 2022, I’m very hesitant to put a lot of effort into planning for my 2023 booking. I miss the way I used to enjoy anticipating a cruise. 

[MamaFej]

1 hour ago, Torfamm said:

I think uncertainty is a big obstacle. It’s hard to get too invested in a cruise that may or may not happen and that may or may not visit the planned ports. I WANT to go but after having the same Asia cruise cancelled for 2021 and 2022, I’m very hesitant to put a lot of effort into planning for my 2023 booking. I miss the way I used to enjoy anticipating a cruise. 

Amen! I had the hardest time planning for our (northern hemisphere fall) 2020 Asia cruises, but i couldn't put my finger on why! (No, I'm not claiming to be clairvoyant) I just had this feeling that it was futile. 

[the penguins]

11 hours ago, boxkite said:

Totally agree that Roll Call participation has gone way down.

 

Now days a good Roll Call depends on two to three people to drive content and provide a reason for people to come back and participate on a regular basis.

A variety of events and a running fun theme keeps Roll Calls going. As normality returns so will the RC's. On our last TA on Silhouette we had: 2 book groups, 40 plus on the cabin craw, 80 on the Slot Pull, 40 in the Codiva Group and the invisible dog, a ruining joke that even the Hotel Director joined in with once we had boarded.

[Realblonde474]

I think they are such a great way to share information and setup a fantastic sail away party. I hope the participation picks back up here on CC!!

 

Donna

[sippican]

We've always tried to arrange private tours for ports as we much prefer them to ships' excursions. I'd say I've successfully organized over 20 at this point. On our upcoming fall New England/ Canada cruise (which is showing as sold out), I've posted 2 private tours on our Roll Call. Not a single bite.

 

[the penguins]

32 minutes ago, sippican said:

We've always tried to arrange private tours for ports as we much prefer them to ships' excursions. I'd say I've successfully organized over 20 at this point. On our upcoming fall New England/ Canada cruise (which is showing as sold out), I've posted 2 private tours on our Roll Call. Not a single bite.

 

We are having the same issues on our Royal and Princess TA's people are just not commiting to tours which is understandable but frustrating.

[LGW59]

10 minutes ago, the penguins said:

We are having the same issues on our Royal and Princess TA's people are just not commiting to tours which is understandable but frustrating.

Nov/Dec 2022, we are on a EDGE B3B.  The 11/21 rollcall has 12 ppl, the 12/2 has just me and I am the one that started it LOL, the 12/12 has 9 ppl.    

[rmalbers]

I think it's mainly because there are so many other sources of information.  Also, as someone else said, just the old format of the CC site makes following the private tour information (and other related things) really hard within the 'thread/single reply' structure of the site.    

[GottaKnowWhen]

8 hours ago, rmalbers said:

I think it's mainly because there are so many other sources of information.  Also, as someone else said, just the old format of the CC site makes following the private tour information (and other related things) really hard within the 'thread/single reply' structure of the site.    

It helps when someone sets up a multi page spreadsheet the people can use to keep track of excursion offerings, pre and post cruise hotels etc, on board gatherings ( like slot pulls)… With a large active group it takes more than one person to maintain, but it makes the information accessible without needing to scroll back through pages of cc posts. 
Stan

[2Long2NxtCrz]

Our upcoming 11-night Hawaii to Vancouver on the Eclipse has 59 pages. One of the original, now cancelled, posters organized a group booking at the Old Lahaina Luau and 76 of us are going. We're doing a cabin crawl, there's a slot pull tournament and much information passed back and forth about the various ports.

 

I've never been to Hawaii and this will be very early on in cruises restarting in Hawaii, so our roll call was a great source of information and camaraderie. Our past roll calls have been wonderful ways to meet people and make friends, a few we still keep in contact with. But there have always been more or less active roll calls and I do think that's normal. Some cruises just don't need the interaction. Also, I agree about how hard it is to find roll calls. Heck, I started one for our October Princess cruise and it's hard for me to find!

[MamaFej]

49 minutes ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

Also, I agree about how hard it is to find roll calls. Heck, I started one for our October Princess cruise and it's hard for me to find!

I wish there was a set format for Roll Call names. Multiple times, I have seen multiple Roll Calls for the same cruise.

 

It would be nice if there were drop down menus to choose the date of the sailing, cuise line and ship, then the OP could write whatever description they want.

 

For Example:

14 June 2027 Celebrity NewShip: Norwegian Fjord Fun!

or 

29 December 2025 Celebrity Wazoo: Welcoming the New Year on the Mexican Riviera

 

OPs could still have fun, creative ways to describe the cruise, people could easily find the correct RC, and it could eliminate duplicate RCs.

 

 

 

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, MamaFej said:

I wish there was a set format for Roll Call names. Multiple times, I have seen multiple Roll Calls for the same cruise.

 

It would be nice if there were drop down menus to choose the date of the sailing, cuise line and ship, then the OP could write whatever description they want.

 

For Example:

14 June 2027 Celebrity NewShip: Norwegian Fjord Fun!

or 

29 December 2025 Celebrity Wazoo: Welcoming the New Year on the Mexican Riviera

 

OPs could still have fun, creative ways to describe the cruise, people could easily find the correct RC, and it could eliminate duplicate RCs.

 

 

 

just go to the find your roll call link, select the dates/ship, it's there, if people are

[Realblonde474]

Well, it's nice to know that I am not the only one missing this feature and the posts...

 

Counting the days to July...

[Torfamm]

On 4/5/2022 at 11:05 AM, sippican said:

We've always tried to arrange private tours for ports as we much prefer them to ships' excursions. I'd say I've successfully organized over 20 at this point. On our upcoming fall New England/ Canada cruise (which is showing as sold out), I've posted 2 private tours on our Roll Call. Not a single bite.

 

I am much more likely to book ship’s excursions now than in the past. Knowing that I won’t be the one who has to deal with changes, cancellations, updated protocols, etc. is appealing. We had three ports cancelled on a recent cruise. That was disappointing enough. I was glad to only have one private excursion to deal with.

[Mimiya11]

On 4/3/2022 at 11:43 PM, PinkSandGirl said:

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.  

 

🍹

Agreed. 

The first roll call I ever joined was years ago on Carnival when we took our then young kids to meet other families.  So glad we did for the kids. 

 

We tend to only join roll calls when we are looking for people to share research ideas on the  ports and arrange private excursions with others.  Best to date was Australia and New Zealand, where we met wonderful friends. 

 

[CatDi]

I'm booked on a cruise to Alaska next month and I'm going all by myself.  I've mingled in the roll call without being overbearing, however, it could be one lonely cruise.  I plan on bringing my own entertainment, knitting, books, etc. 

Edited April 10, 2022 by CatDi

[HMR74]

FWIW, my not so formal study on why traffic is down, besides the obvious near term one of lower bookings:

 

1) Holiday family cruises--we have enough going on in 6 full days of a 7 day cruise with 3 generations-On Oasis ships thats a lot of people not looking for or needing group activites

 

2) Hard to prove, but I find cruises out of or to the US have decent participation, and same for the US back to US cruises.

 

3) Non US originating and ending cruises imo have less particiation

 

4) There is noticiably more participation after final payment date.

 

That said, one does learn more  and more using cc board but at some point thats a diminishing return. In addition small groups travel together wil do things together and probably book their tours as a private one for 6 or 8.

 

Lots of permutations.

 

 

 

 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

33 minutes ago, CatDi said:

I'm booked on a cruise to Alaska next month and I'm going all by myself.  I've mingled in the roll call without being overbearing, however, it could be one lonely cruise.  I plan on bringing my own entertainment, knitting, books, etc. 

 

As a veteran of many solo cruises, I've found that loneliness is a state of mind that is easy to squelch - especially on a cruise.  Just go out of your cabin and you'll bump into someone within 100 steps.  Say hi to them and everyone else you meet.  Cruisers are generally friendly and like to talk about what they've done, what they're doing, and what they will do - especially the older ones.  It's hard to stay lonely under those conditions.

 

And yes, entertainment will help.  My Fire tablet and cellphone are bulging with videos and books just in case I have a spare moment.  For more discussion about the specific issues that solo cruisers have, let me introduce you to the solo cruisers sub-board here at Solo Cruises: Ask a Question - Cruise Critic Message Board Forums .

[RichYak]

16 hours ago, Torfamm said:

I am much more likely to book ship’s excursions now than in the past.

On the flip side, I am far LESS likely to book ship's excursions now than in the past due to contact tracing.

[drakes2]

10 minutes ago, RichYak said:

On the flip side, I am far LESS likely to book ship's excursions now than in the past due to contact tracing.

Just returned from a Western Caribbean cruise on the Edge. On of the ports of call was Roatan and we had booked independent excursions to a resort with private pickup just the 2 of us. Two days later Celebrity announced we were not allowed off ship unless we took their ship sponsored excursion. Had to cancel my excursion and take their very expensive one on a crowded mini van.  Although the beach was beautiful we were thoroughly disgusted at the value we got for our money plus the fact they put us at risk with others on the same bus.