Just curious but how many here sign up on their Roll Call?

I've cruised with several cruise lines and, every time I've booked, I come on CC to sign up for the Roll Call.

All the previous ones have been quite impressive in size and chatty/busy. Our current AZ Quest Roll Call, however, is very small and kind of quiet.

Are other people having the same experience? Is it that AZ ships (and crowds) are smaller and that reflects in the roll call? Or is it that people are just not interested (or unaware) in the Roll Call?

Like I said, just curious... :)

Because the ships are smaller the overall roll call is smaller. Azamara guests tend to focus on arrangements for tours and not chit chat on their roll calls. Depending when you are going it gets busier about 4-6 weeks out. As Azamara have had a lot on OBC promotions more people are using land discoveries rather than diy in some ports. Regardless of the size of the roll call Azamara will host a get together usually first evening at 6pm

Hope this helps.

I find smaller ships in general have less posts. Instill find private tours thru roll calls. Some hotel and flight info but not like in mass market lines.

In general, Azamara and other "small ship" guests are more sophisticated travelers, more aware of world events, and more experienced internationally. They are more interested in ports and culture than in arranging "slot pulls," "cabin crawls," and "Conga lines" around the pool at midnight.

Usually less than 10 percent of passengers on any cruise contribute to a "roll call." The most I've seen has actually been on Azamara for a Mumbai-Piraeus voyage where questions and issues concerning visas, pre-cruise touring in India, and a change of schedule encouraged discussion.

You just can't generalize. Quest's May 13 cruise had 527 postings, mostly about organizing private tours. You won't find gift exchanges, name tags, or the like discussed.

Our current Quest roll call for Jan. 15, 2018 has tons of activity with many many private tour groups being arranged. One of the better roll calls I've been a member of.

I always sign up for the R/C...on any line that I cruise. I find it is a great way to arrange private tours, learn about price drops, flight changes etc...plus make new friends before the cruise even begins. LuAnn

I used to signup to them until two cruises ago when there was an organiser who wanted to give us all name badges, signs for our cabin doors, make arrangements for regular meetings and organise group excursions and meals. We didn't want to commit so we declined and have been reluctant to sign up since then. They were useful when we first cruised with Azamara but I'm not so sure that they make a difference, but they would be useful for people travelling on their own.

I always sign up for the R/C...on any line that I cruise. I find it is a great way to arrange private tours, learn about price drops, flight changes etc...plus make new friends before the cruise even begins. LuAnn

Hi

I agree with you and HostJazzBeau. Best way to get info and learn things about the people traveling with you. Also I agree 300% on the private tours. I always like them best and if paying for them they usually are better and less expensive. I have two I am hosting on our roll and thinking of doing a third to Petra. These are on the Dubai to Athens 2018. I already have people signed up.. I simply do not like those monster buses and being treated like a herd of cattle. I like the smaller mini vans and less people. Plus the guides have more time to answer questions etc.and you have for sure more space

Kathy

I think it's a bit unpredictable for AZ. Certainly you won't get the huge crowds like you do with big ships and major lines like Princess. But on the other hand, AZ does attract a CC-savvy clientele and AZ management supports CC by showing up at the Meet and Greet. Give it a try and see what happens.

A few years ago when I first cruised on Azamara I was happy to find and join our roll call. We were able to join up on two wonderful private tours and meet some lovely people. So for our upcoming October cruise I decided to start our roll call and plan some private excursions, its been fun for me and hope the little extras I post might help someone new to Azamara or at least meet some new friends wishing to join us on our tours.

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You just can't generalize. Quest's May 13 cruise had 527 postings, mostly about organizing private tours. You won't find gift exchanges, name tags, or the like discussed.

Gift exchanges?? What does this entail? I've not heard of gifts for R/C participants!

Gift exchanges?? What does this entail? I've not heard of gifts for R/C participants!

People bring small gifts representing their home town and then there is a lucky dip. But it can get out of hand and I'm glad it's not an Azamara thing.

Too much information that used to be on roll calls can be taken off line by "organisers" onto spreadsheets and google docs and this puts some others off so it can impact on things.

Having just returned from the Middle East I would say try and use ships tours on the longer runs - Petra, Luxor etc. They do not overfill the buses and with the traffic unpredictability and other issues that crop up the peace of mind is invaluable. Yes sometimes things might not be perfect but the two "horror" stories we heard onboard about jeeps and guides related to private trips and as the person had not organised the event they felt unable to speak up. It's easier to do that on a ships trip the max group size we went with was 22.

So yes roll calls help signpost private options but don't completely write off the ships offerings.

Ship's excursions are now supposed to be limited to 25 or 27. We had six on a recent Cruise Global, Connect Local excursion.

People bring small gifts representing their home town and then there is a lucky dip. But it can get out of hand and I'm glad it's not an Azamara thing.

Too much information that used to be on roll calls can be taken off line by "organisers" onto spreadsheets and google docs and this puts some others off so it can impact on things.

Having just returned from the Middle East I would say try and use ships tours on the longer runs - Petra, Luxor etc. They do not overfill the buses and with the traffic unpredictability and other issues that crop up the peace of mind is invaluable. Yes sometimes things might not be perfect but the two "horror" stories we heard onboard about jeeps and guides related to private trips and as the person had not organised the event they felt unable to speak up. It's easier to do that on a ships trip the max group size we went with was 22.

So yes roll calls help signpost private options but don't completely write off the ships offerings.

Thank you very much for this info

With such few people I might not do a private tour to Petra but do the ships tour. One question before I totally make my decision 100% how many people do fit on the buses more so than how many were on them?

I am hosting tours however in Ashdod and Haifa for anyone on the roll calls Dubai to Athens on April 26, 2018..

This is why I LOVE CC you guys give such great and helpful info

Kathy

Thank you very much for this info

 

With such few people I might not do a private tour to Petra but do the ships tour. One question before I totally make my decision 100% how many people do fit on the buses more so than how many were on them?

 

I am hosting tours however in Ashdod and Haifa for anyone on the roll calls Dubai to Athens on April 26, 2018..

 

This is why I LOVE CC you guys give such great and helpful

Kathy

See the post above. The buses were usually 35 seats plus with two doors so even at 25 it's good and more room to spread out with bags etc than minivans

Our roll call is less than two weeks out and we are still only 26 people, which puts us at less than 4%. It's the Mediterranean cruise on the Quest, leaving June 12, 2017.

In my experience, the only cruise we did gift exchanges was Disney. Gift exchange is really big on Disney! :)

Our second AZ cruise is coming up and I have arranged two tours with good response.

People are well travelled and know what they want, not entertainment conversation about their life at home. They want info to share and how to get a great tour with small group and top tour provider.

Once arranged roll call gets quiet till as others have said a few weeks out.

In areas where it is questionable safety and long distance with traffic I always take ship tour.

20 cruises under my belt.

I always join the roll call for a cruise, no matter which cruise line.