Anyone else feeling this?

[kryos]

Often however, the M&G conflicts with something I want to do on board. And generally I won't know that till I board and find out the activities. I do usually say on the roll call though that I'm either a "maybe" or a likely no show.

I know that on my first couple of cruises, the meet & greet was scheduled for sailaway. That presented problems even for me and often if I got there at all, it was only for a few minutes. Many times I am running on whatever sleep I got on the airplane flying to the embarkation point. Yes, I'm one of those "stupid" people that often opts to fly to the embarkation point on the morning of a cruise. So, I work all night and then catch an early morning flight. I'm literally exhausted by the time I get onboard and have found myself too sleeping through the meet & greet. That's why after one or two times of going through this, I asked my roll call buddies ... "any chance we can do the formal meet & greet on the first sea day? Sure, if people want to meet up for sailaway, that's fine ... but have the formal meet & greet later." That seems to work out much better as many people are way too busy on embarkation day ... unpacking, making spa and specialty restaurant reservations, etc. ... to bother going to a meet & greet. But a few minutes on a sea day ... to at least stop by and say hello before running off to another activity? I'm sorry ... but if I "hang out" with this group of people for a year or more online, I'm gonna at least take a few minutes to come and meet them once onboard.

 

But then ... hey, that's just how I feel. Doesn't mean it's necessarily the same for everyone.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Texas Tillie]

But then why bother being active on the roll call? I'm not trying to pick a fight here ... I'm just trying to understand, that's all.

 

I can understand people who only show up for the roll call's meet and greet and then choose not to participate in any of the things the roll call group is doing onboard. That's fine. Everyone's situation is different and maybe you really want to spend quality time on that cruise with the people you came with ... and that's fine.

 

But to join a roll call and then not even bother to come and meet your fellow cruisers at the meet & greet ... of course, assuming you are not ill on embarkation day or have some other overwhelming reason for not showing up for the meet & greet ... I just can't understand it. As I said, what's the point of even bothering with the roll call then? You can always "lurk" several roll calls for your itinerary if you just want to pick up some useful information.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

Had an experience on a Princess roll call than I thought was "interesting". There was a man who dropped by "briefly" at the meet and greet and pointed to his wife sitting across the room. It was so obvious that she saw several younger, more attractive, unattached women in the group and had told him, "no way"!:D

[kakalina]

Still going to Tahiti?

 

Oh yeah! We are booked on the 3-08-10 on the Rotterdam. You and the child bride really should join us. 33 days of Paradise. Jim and Ruth are on this cruise along with Kryos (Rita). We would have such a blast! :D

[Cruising-along]

I read every post on this thread because I find this a really interesting topic and one I have mulled over for years. I believe on a message board we basically get a one-dimensional perception of people and once we formulate an opinion of that person, we rarely go back ... whereas in "real" life, we often can change our minds because we can see the wink, feel the humor, respect the apology.

 

I have met good friends through both HAL and Celebrity roll calls. Some have been extremely successful, some not so much. Rarely have the people turned out to be who I expected. On our Prinsendam roll call a couple of years ago we met a couple who will be lifelong friends. So I'm grateful for roll calls.

 

That said, I got too caught up in the drama here early on. I am an alcoholic (having stopped drinking 21 years ago) so I have an addictive personality and this board is extremely addictive. I quickly realized one-dimensional friendships were formed here and since I've never met most of them, the friendships fell apart more easily then they would in the "real" world.

 

So I went through the withdrawal process and now just do a quick run through of threads now and then and it's healthier for me. I took everything too personally and I am far too easily hurt. This is a forum where people sitting behind their keyboards express themselves in ways they never would sitting around a table.

 

But there are many roses among the thorns so I would never want to pass up the opportunity to meet. On roll calls especially, we're more apt to put forth our real personas since there's every chance we will actually meet. If someone doesn't show, generally there's a good reason for that, too.

 

Over time I think each of us learns who to avoid, when to back off, when to give someone the benefit of the doubt. And in the meantime, there's much to be learned here, much to enjoy, so it's all good when we take the extremes with a grain of salt.:)

 

Heather, you are one of the posters I would love to meet some day. You always have such a thoughtful, lovely way of expressing yourself. I'm curious about this -- "rarely have the people turned out to be who I expected" -- and I love the "many roses among the thorns". Very well said!

 

We have attended only one meet and greet so far but we met such lovely people, several of whom we're still in touch with. I hope to meet you some day too (along with several other posters here that I truly admire!) But since we were asked not to name names, I'll leave it at that. ;)

[RuthC]

When I win the lottery I would love to book cruises to meet you, <snip> and SO many others...

That is such a nice thing to read. Thank you for saying that.

[michmike]

Appreciate everone sharing their thoughts. Has been interesting to read your take(s) on the issue.

 

We (should say I,as the DW gamely tags along and humors me) are big fans of the roll calls and meet and greets. I feel that the roll call helps get me thru the WAITING period once we have a cruise booked, and as others have commented, you invariably pick up some worthwhile knowledge re ports or features of the ship if you haven't sailed her before.

 

Sometimes we've had a meet and greet where folks seem to connect and we end up setting a certain time each day to meet in a lounge and share a cold one and other times we simply stumble into each other again sometime during the week.

 

Our most recent cruise (2/1 on Westerdam) we even had one of the roll call folks invite us to dinner BEFORE the cruise. (Our best friends, whom we travel with all the time live in Cleveland and the other folks were in Akron. I mentioned that we'd be in Cleveland seeing our friends over Labor Day last year and suggested that we meet the Akron group of 6 for dinner while we were down there. He countered by inviting the 4 of us to his house for dinner.) Turned out to be great folks.

 

As for you, Ruth.... the only state I've not been in,east of the Mississippi, is RI. So if I don't

find a way to book passage on a cruise you're on, then I'll just have to finally make a trip so that I can cross RI off my bucket list and deliver a box of chocolates.

 

Don't have any travel scheduled at this point and that is just not an acceptable way to approach life, so think it's time to start looking at Bermuda cruises or at the very least get a trip to Sanibel scheduled, which is one of our favorite places when we're not on a ship.

 

And thankfully, with Spring coming, Michigan won't be a bad place to be either (at least as long as we're not talking about the economy).

[twinkletoes4445]

I read every post on this thread because I find this a really interesting topic and one I have mulled over for years. I believe on a message board we basically get a one-dimensional perception of people and once we formulate an opinion of that person, we rarely go back ... whereas in "real" life, we often can change our minds because we can see the wink, feel the humor, respect the apology.

 

I have met good friends through both HAL and Celebrity roll calls. Some have been extremely successful, some not so much. Rarely have the people turned out to be who I expected. On our Prinsendam roll call a couple of years ago we met a couple who will be lifelong friends. So I'm grateful for roll calls.

 

That said, I got too caught up in the drama here early on. I am an alcoholic (having stopped drinking 21 years ago) so I have an addictive personality and this board is extremely addictive. I quickly realized one-dimensional friendships were formed here and since I've never met most of them, the friendships fell apart more easily then they would in the "real" world.

 

So I went through the withdrawal process and now just do a quick run through of threads now and then and it's healthier for me. I took everything too personally and I am far too easily hurt. This is a forum where people sitting behind their keyboards express themselves in ways they never would sitting around a table.

 

But there are many roses among the thorns so I would never want to pass up the opportunity to meet. On roll calls especially, we're more apt to put forth our real personas since there's every chance we will actually meet. If someone doesn't show, generally there's a good reason for that, too.

 

Over time I think each of us learns who to avoid, when to back off, when to give someone the benefit of the doubt. And in the meantime, there's much to be learned here, much to enjoy, so it's all good when we take the extremes with a grain of salt.:)

 

Very well said, Heather. :)

[aliaschief]

As Jim had stated earlier; if you have signed up for the Roll Call and the M&G it would be courteous to show up. It can be an embarrassing situation for the individual who set up the M&G and only six out of twenty show up.

 

We have also heard about the Roll Calls that some cruisers decided to show up when they had just been lurking and had not committed to the M&G.

 

Have no problem with someone being active in a Roll Call but not wishing to attend a M&G or crawl. Just feel it is common courtesy to keep the Roll Call designated organizer aware of your intentions.

[RuthC]

As for you, Ruth.... the only state I've not been in,east of the Mississippi, is RI. So if I don't

find a way to book passage on a cruise you're on, then I'll just have to finally make a trip so that I can cross RI off my bucket list and deliver a box of chocolates.

The New England/Canada cruises out of NYC usually stop at Newport. If you're ever on one, let me know and I'll be happy to come down and show you around.

[twinkletoes4445]

But then why bother being active on the roll call? I'm not trying to pick a fight here ... I'm just trying to understand, that's all.

 

I can understand people who only show up for the roll call's meet and greet and then choose not to participate in any of the things the roll call group is doing onboard. That's fine. Everyone's situation is different and maybe you really want to spend quality time on that cruise with the people you came with ... and that's fine.

 

But to join a roll call and then not even bother to come and meet your fellow cruisers at the meet & greet ... of course, assuming you are not ill on embarkation day or have some other overwhelming reason for not showing up for the meet & greet ... I just can't understand it. As I said, what's the point of even bothering with the roll call then? You can always "lurk" several roll calls for your itinerary if you just want to pick up some useful information.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

Not all Roll Calls are created equal. We've been to good ones and not so good ones. We almost didn't go to one because I was pretty much "ignored" on the thread. Turns out, that's what happened to me (and others) at the M&G. While I am glad that we went to the M&G (we met some lovely people), I just don't want to deal with that sort of drama while on vacation. It's easy to be anyone you want to be online, and it's another thing to be that same person in person. It's a lot like the Wizard of Oz and the little man behind the curtain. When you pull back the curtain, you're not going to see the Great Oz, but a little man who is nothing remotely like the Great Oz, and in fact, may not even be a nice little man.

 

Unfortunately, I take people at face value and that's caused me some problems. I'm learning...but I am a slow learner. I even had gifts for one group of organizers. I forgot to bring them and I was glad. It would have been a waste of my time and money.

 

But we've met some lovely people at the M&G's. In fact, we're hoping to cruise Alaska with a couple we met on our last cruise. They were so much fun! :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

I read every post on this thread because I find this a really interesting topic and one I have mulled over for years. I believe on a message board we basically get a one-dimensional perception of people and once we formulate an opinion of that person, we rarely go back ... whereas in "real" life, we often can change our minds because we can see the wink, feel the humor, respect the apology.

 

I have met good friends through both HAL and Celebrity roll calls. Some have been extremely successful, some not so much. Rarely have the people turned out to be who I expected. On our Prinsendam roll call a couple of years ago we met a couple who will be lifelong friends. So I'm grateful for roll calls.

 

That said, I got too caught up in the drama here early on. I am an alcoholic (having stopped drinking 21 years ago) so I have an addictive personality and this board is extremely addictive. I quickly realized one-dimensional friendships were formed here and since I've never met most of them, the friendships fell apart more easily then they would in the "real" world.

 

So I went through the withdrawal process and now just do a quick run through of threads now and then and it's healthier for me. I took everything too personally and I am far too easily hurt. This is a forum where people sitting behind their keyboards express themselves in ways they never would sitting around a table.

 

But there are many roses among the thorns so I would never want to pass up the opportunity to meet. On roll calls especially, we're more apt to put forth our real personas since there's every chance we will actually meet. If someone doesn't show, generally there's a good reason for that, too.

 

Over time I think each of us learns who to avoid, when to back off, when to give someone the benefit of the doubt. And in the meantime, there's much to be learned here, much to enjoy, so it's all good when we take the extremes with a grain of salt.:)

 

Congratulations!!

[Cruising-along]

Not all Roll Calls are created equal. We've been to good ones and not so good ones. We almost didn't go to one because I was pretty much "ignored" on the thread. Turns out, that's what happened to me (and others) at the M&G. While I am glad that we went to the M&G (we met some lovely people), I just don't want to deal with that sort of drama while on vacation. It's easy to be anyone you want to be online, and it's another thing to be that same person in person. It's a lot like the Wizard of Oz and the little man behind the curtain. When you pull back the curtain, you're not going to see the Great Oz, but a little man who is nothing remotely like the Great Oz, and in fact, may not even be a nice little man.

 

Unfortunately, I take people at face value and that's caused me some problems. I'm learning...but I am a slow learner. I even had gifts for one group of organizers. I forgot to bring them and I was glad. It would have been a waste of my time and money. ....

 

:( This made me sad, Twinkletoes. You're one of the most helpful on this board. It was their loss, and I'm glad you forgot that gift! :D

[twinkletoes4445]

:( This made me sad, Twinkletoes. You're one of the most helpful on this board. It was their loss, and I'm glad you forgot that gift! :D

 

I appreciate the kind words. :)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Congratulations!!

 

Thank you, KK:)!

[twinkletoes4445]

Thank you, KK:)!

 

That is wonderful, Heather. :)

[serendipity1499]

Actually, I'm Sam, he's Elliott. We're hoping we have him to at least 17. He's 6 now. He's already starting to get a little gray under the chin - that makes two of us.

 

What a wonderful story! :):) Elliot sounds like a wonderful dog..Thanks for your response..

 

As you are obviously an animal lover, you should read this recent thread from the Princess board. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=943135 I've shed tears every time I've checked it over the last week or so.

 

Oh such a sad thread...It's awful when you know your Pet is going to die..Could not read the entire thread, but wonder if Shogun is a helper dog..Sounds a bit like it, since Princess was posting things for him..We have three Labs working with us in Pet therapy at the Hospital & School..All three were trained to be Seeing Eye Dogs..They are wonderful animals..

 

Again I apologize to the others for hijacking this thread..

Cheers..:)Betty

[Sundagger]

On my last cruise, the Roll Call was not terribly active, but was enthusiastic. When we got to the M & G, the organizer of it wasn't there. Turns out that the ship had a class scheduled at the same time the M & G was scheduled for (on the day after embarkation). She did break away from the class briefly to check in with us and explain her absence.:) There were about a dozen from the roll call there and the ship did just fine by us.

[Tamaracboy]

I read every post on this thread because ... whereas in "real" life, we often can change our minds because we can see the wink, feel the humor, respect the apology.....Rarely have the people turned out to be who I expected. On our Prinsendam roll call a couple of years ago we met a couple who will be lifelong friends. So I'm grateful for roll calls. .... I am an alcoholic (having stopped drinking 21 years ago)....so it's all good when we take the extremes with a grain of salt.

 

Heather,

What KIND words you write - and Congratulations on 21 years, one day at a time . . . . Impressive :)

 

But then why bother being active on the roll call? I'm not trying to pick a fight here ... I'm just trying to understand, that's all.

....meet & greet ... I just can't understand it. As I said, what's the point of even bothering with the roll call then? You can always "lurk" several roll calls for your itinerary if you just want to pick up some useful information....

--rita

 

Rita,

Some of the people on a "Roll Call" may think of it as just that: a Roll Call.

That is, a list of the CC members who are on a particular sailing.

It would never cross their minds (nor is it their intention) that putting their name on a list should imply any sort of social obligation.

And, if they choose to show up at the M&G so they can put a face and person together with a user ID, does not mean that they are a "joiner" or might prefer other activities or possibly don't go on shore excursions at all.

This is all just for your understanding, that you may have a different interpretation of the purpose of a CC Roll Call than others who are on the same thread.

Neither one is "right" neither one is "wrong"

Some CC'ers go on a cruise to meet up with old friends and make new ones.

While other CC'ers cruise to "get away from it all".

So no one should be offended because "XYZsea_cruise123" did not show up at the M&G even though they posted 17 times on the Roll Call (hope that is not anybody's real user ID ;))

Any M&G organizer would be well advised to ask for RSVP's for any scheduled event so as not to over or under plan.

 

Speaking of RSVP, on our recent Eurodam Charter, we had well over 100 posters on the Roll Call with over 3,700 posts :eek: and still growing.

Our M&G was scheduled for the Silk Den (on the first sea day), but when the number of confirmed attendees grew to 110 HAL said it would have to be in the Crow's Nest because of the larger capacity.

We would all pave preferred Silk Den, but, of course all 110 did not show up.

And, yes, it was still a fantastic experience seeing old friends and getting to meet some new posters and first timers with whom I had exchanged many comical and sarcastic quips.

 

I think for most of us the CC boards are a way of keeping our "Cruise Spirit" alive when we are not At Sea.

[kryos]

Heather,

Some CC'ers go on a cruise to meet up with old friends and make new ones.

While other CC'ers cruise to "get away from it all".

So no one should be offended because "XYZsea_cruise123" did not show up at the M&G even though they posted 17 times on the Roll Call (hope that is not anybody's real user ID ;))

Any M&G organizer would be well advised to ask for RSVP's for any scheduled event so as not to over or under plan.

[/color][/size][/font]

I understand entirely what you are saying ... but some of these people who never show up indicated via the roll call that they would be there. And, that's what surprised me.

 

I totally understand that some people cruise to get away from it all, and have no desire to get into a "social thing" onboard with a bunch of internet cruisers. That, to me, is not the intent of a roll call "meet and greet." The "meet and greet" is merely an hour where you show up and get to put faces to names, introduce yourself and socialize for an hour or so. Then, if you want nothing else to do with those people for the rest of the cruise, that's fine ... and no one should be offended by that.

 

But I guess, at least to me, it seems silly to want to get to know people for a year or more before a cruise via the CC roll call, and then not even take the time to come and meet them for an hour once onboard ... especially when you said you would be there. On one of my past roll calls we actually assumed that a certain couple must have had to cancel their sailing at the last minute, because they were very active on the roll call, yet were nowhere to be found once onboard. We get back from the cruise, and a month or so later they post a review of the sailing. What? They were onboard? Then where were they? None of us ever met them. And we had a couple of meet and greets during that sailing, because it was a longer one ... and each one was advertised in the daily program. So clearly they should have been able to attend one of them?

 

I guess I just don't consider it an imposition on my time to show up for a one-hour meet and greet if I'm gonna be on a roll call for a year or more in advance of my cruise. I consider it only polite to show my face and meet these people I've been communicating with online for so long. As for other social obligations beyond the roll call, yes, I agree ... there are none. There are certainly people who are traveling with family and friends and they prefer to spend their time exclusively with those family members and friends ... and I can understand that.

 

But at least show your face for an hour ... or even just stop by to say hi to your roll call buddies ... I just feel that's the polite thing to do.

 

Just my opinion ...

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[HALFans]

We had a fantastic CC group for our cruise earlier this month.

 

We had a very active roll call with 24 CC members, 27 people showed up for the wave, 22 for the Meet & Greet.

 

We had so many great people and it sure was nice saying 'Hi' to someone you recognized almost everywhere you went on the ship.

[mariner]

Heather, you're my heroine.

 

Will never go to a M&G. No offense, I'm on vacation. Don't need to meet people to have fun.

 

My biggest problem with CC people is entitlment. Like you're experts?

 

For years, always killed off the remoras on last night by opening up jacket filled with envelopes.

 

I've been cruising since I was 7. And that's a long, long time ago. What I see on these boards is not what I recall as fine service.

 

Love me. Hate me. I could care less.

 

I go to work at 3 a.m. So for me, vacation means I get to sleep late and spend time with my wife. Cruising has never been about meeting people and from what I see on CC, not my cup of tea.

[Copper10-8]

To each his own, Mariner! .....................and that's a great thing!:)

[mariner]

Copper, you'd be surprised what I hear about CCers from the crew. Yes, to each their own.

[Copper10-8]

Copper, you'd be surprised what I hear about CCers from the crew. Yes, to each their own.

 

No, I wouldn't:cool:

[brucory]

Copper, you'd be surprised what I hear about CCers from the crew. Yes, to each their own.

 

Please share a little about what you heard. We mentioned to the crew on our last cruise that we were fans of cruise critic and some eyebrows were raised. Someone even mentioned that they would never had picked us. What does that mean? I figured maybe a few bad apples before us had set a bad reputation for CCers...

 

:(:(:(