Roll calls and sales

[Mary229]

Is it just me or are roll calls just becoming selling tours and paraphernalia.   I have one roll call that is page after page of private tour arrangements, another with pages of t shirts, lanyards and other paraphernalia, then I have one or two that are a wealth of information and conversation.  Is the selling the standard, am I being too demanding?

[Charles4515]

23 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Is it just me or are roll calls just becoming selling tours and paraphernalia.   I have one roll call that is page after page of private tour arrangements, another with pages of t shirts, lanyards and other paraphernalia, then I have one or two that are a wealth of information and conversation.  Is the selling the standard, am I being too demanding?

Arranging tours has always been on the roll calls although from time to time there have been abusers doing it for profit. I have never done the arranging but I have joined a number put togehter on the roll call and it always went well. Selling t-Shirts and parapernalia  though you should report to the moderators. 

Edited July 26, 2023 by Charles4515

[Host Kat]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Is it just me or are roll calls just becoming selling tours and paraphernalia.   I have one roll call that is page after page of private tour arrangements, another with pages of t shirts, lanyards and other paraphernalia, then I have one or two that are a wealth of information and conversation.  Is the selling the standard, am I being too demanding?

 

Howdy @Mary229

 

From the Guidelines we all agreed to follow when registering for our free Cruise Critic memberships:

 

"Roll Calls

Cruise Critic's ROLL CALLS are one of the most popular features within our community. In an effort to keep them fair and as safe as possible, the following is in effect:

• Roll Calls belong to everyone; there is no designated leader or owner. It doesn't matter who started the thread.
• On the other hand, if you are new to a Roll Call take the time to read the thread. Learn who is doing what, who made plans for an event, etc. before jumping in and making different plans
• If you plan an event, be sure to invite everyone!
• Please adhere to cruise line requests regarding setting up Meet & Greets on board. In other words, if they say contact us three (or two or whatever) weeks prior to sailing, don't contact them months in advance.
• ROLL CALLS are for people to get to know one another before their cruise; therefore, there will be all kinds of discussion!

SHORE EXCURSIONS

• Sharing shore excursions is fun and can help you save money.
• Get to know the other members in a Roll Call before attempting to get them to tour with you.
• Shore excursions should be arranged so that payment is made directly to the tour operator, do not be the collector of funds for a shore excursion.
• Do not arrange any shore excursions/tours if you are not going to be taking them yourself. In other words NO THIRD-PARTY arrangement of shore excursions are allowed. This includes people who are not participating on the Cruise Critic ROLL CALL *for whatever reason*.
• Travel agents may not arrange shore excursions on ROLL CALLS.
• Anyone attempting to "fill a bus" or making money from the sharing of shore excursions on our forums runs the risk of losing their membership.
• Do not post your email address so that someone can email you information about a shore excursion. If they have important info, they should be willing and able to post this information on the forum. We will remove posts, at our discretion, that are nothing more than requests for emails OR posts providing email addresses.
• Do NOT arrange to collect funds for shore excursion shares at any Meet & Mingle or Meet & Greet so graciously provided by the cruise lines. In the case of Princess Cruises, they have stated you cannot solicit other passengers for any reason once you have booked your cruise. If they observe you arranging tours on board, you run the risk of being asked to debark your cruise at the next port (verified via Princess Cruises March 2013).

 

Offering Roll Call Logo Items For Sale

It is perfectly fine to offer customized logo items for sale in your Roll Call.  However, please follow these rules:

• You must be sailing on that specific ship and sail date
• Price your items as near to cost as you are able to without incurring out of pocket costs 
• Be clear about shipping costs, if you are mailing them out beforehand
• If it is determined that you are selling for profit, we will take appropriate action
• If you would like to use the Cruise Critic logo in your design, please share the final art version with community@cruisecritic.com

 

Our Policy Regarding Facebook and Roll Calls

Cruise Critic loves Facebook. in fact, we maintain FB pages for all of our sites (Cruise Critic, CruiseCritic.co.uk, our Australia site, etc.). We have many people who participate on both our FB page and our message boards. We have no issues with people linking their own, personal FB pages in their profiles, or on your signature on Cruise Critic forums. You understand that doing so allows our members to know your "real life" name.

ROLL CALLS created on FB are not anonymous. Most of them are open to the public. Even if they are private groups, once you are accepted into the group everyone will know your real name. In doing so you have pretty much told all those people -- strangers -- when you will be away on vacation. The fact of the matter is most people do not understand how much personal information they are sharing.

On Cruise Critic roll calls, everyone is anonymous. You have the ability to remain as anonymous as you'd like throughout the entire Roll Call timeframe and throughout your entire cruise if you so desire. You can be JoeCruise101 until the day you disembark. The choice is yours, you share as much or as little as YOU choose to; everyone starts out on a level playing field on Cruise Critic. Anonymous user names only.

Also, FB Roll Calls have already proven to divide Roll Calls. People, for whatever reason, who cannot seem to get along may open a FB group and then want more people to participate, so they harvest members from the original ROLL CALL. There have been actual disruptions encouraged on FB directed towards our ROLL CALLs.

We believe a ROLL CALL created on Cruise Critic should stay here. We've worked long and hard to create this community, and have provided a certain level of trust and privacy for our members. If they choose to participate in a FB Roll Call, they'll have to learn about it somewhere other than Cruise Critic.

We request that you not solicit people to your Facebook page on any of our ROLL CALLS."

 

Remember, since Cruise Critic does not review messages before they are posted and cannot read through the thousands of messages posted each day, we depend on you and all our fellow Cruise Critic members for help.

 

Also stated in the Guidelines: 

 

"We encourage you to utilize the reporting system built into the board system; you'll find a Report a Post icon located in the upper right hand corner of the posting. Use it! We will review the report and take appropriate action."

 

If at any time you see any violation of ALL the Guidelines, please feel free to make a Report. Click here: How To: Report a Post

 

Also stated in the Guidelines:

 

"... Discussion of the management of this community is not allowed on the forums..."

 

"... However, we would be happy to address any concerns you have via email.   Please write to the Community Manager at:  community@cruisecritic.com..."

 

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LauraS
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community@cruisecritic.com ..."

 

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From a fellow Texan, I sincerely hope something in this message will be helpful!

 

Host Kat