posting on roll calls

[signora]

Why is my roll call (President's Week 2011, Eurodam) moving like a snail? I join roll calls on every cruise--this is my first on HAL and it is by far the most sluggish. Lots of views but few posts. Any suggestions on how to jumpstart this roll call?

[bobalink]

Why is my roll call (President's Week 2011, Eurodam) moving like a snail? I join roll calls on every cruise--this is my first on HAL and it is by far the most sluggish. Lots of views but few posts. Any suggestions on how to jumpstart this roll call?

 

I started a Roll Call for our recent HAL cruise and it was not very active. It took a long time before anyone joined in. I would check weekly and post some tidbit of information, a resource for a tour, links to helpful websites, etc. just to try and get it going.

 

Eventually others joined in and we exchanged excursion information. We shared some excursions with the folks we met on the roll call. It ended up being a very small group, and we did have a Meet and Greet (16 persons) and everyone was great. We really enjoyed seeing our new friends around the ship and having brief encounters with a familiar face.

 

I hope you get others to join in. Have a wonderful cruise!

[nasa1974]

Why is my roll call (President's Week 2011, Eurodam) moving like a snail? I join roll calls on every cruise--this is my first on HAL and it is by far the most sluggish. Lots of views but few posts. Any suggestions on how to jumpstart this roll call?

 

signora, great question. I ask myself the same thing. This will be our third cruise and on the other two the participation just seemed sluggish as well. I do not know if there is an answer. Good luck and have fun on your cruise.

[Randyk47]

My personal experience is that HAL cruisers don't participate in roll calls like with some other cruise lines. That doesn't mean all or always, there are exceptions and some HAL cruises get heavy roll call action.

[STANCPA44]

I would guess that it is because of the fact that a lot of HAL passengers are much older and not computer savvy compared to the other cruise lines.

 

But this will eventually change, the computer savvy cruisers will get older and

HAL's roll call will be just as active as the other lines.

 

stan

[rafinmd]

I would think that posting on the Future CC'er thread would help generate interest in a cruise, and also give people a chance to gauge the level of CC response on a cruise. Assuming you're sailing on February 19 Eastern Caribbean there are only 2 other parties registered, so that doesn't look likely to generate much of a response.

 

Roy

[Kween Karen]

I have had great luck with the Roll Calls for my cruises. That is what made the major difference in making my trip so wonderful. Next one is also active.......not HUGE.....just the right size for planning and meeting folks.

[kazu]

I have had great luck on roll calls with HAL too. At the beginning, they seem slow and then, all of a sudden, it just picks up and picks up.

 

We have 106 registered for our sail a way and two meet and greets with over 100 people, so I think that it just depends upon the sailing and the group you have. we are lucky to have a good one:):)

[Maxine]

This will be my fourteenth cruise, third on HAL. I have always found the HAL roll calls to be very sluggish. I have never been able to figure out why that is though.

[yiddishkopf]

On our Hawaiian cruise last spring we had a very active roll call with a lot of people. I've tried to start one for our 4-26 Panama Canal Cruise (FLL to SD) and so far I am the only one posting. One poster thought it was because HAL appeals to an older group, but every older person I know is on line. My oldest sister is 90 and she is a computer whiz! If you read the letters to the editor in the AARP magazine, the majority are sent by email.

[MJYFGSL]

We are cruising in 10 weeks and nobody seems interested in a get together thing

[kyriecat]

There are only 31 posts so far for my April Zuidy cruise and 17 of them are mine. I was trying to post something about once a week in hopes of generating some interest but I wasn't getting many replies so I decided to stop posting and let things ride for a while. Maybe it will pick up once the sailing date gets a little closer.

 

I don't like slow roll calls but I'm not a fan of hyperactive ones either. The roll call for my RC sailing had thousands of posts but most of them were useless. Someone would post a joke or funny picture then there would be 100 replies like LOL, so-and-so is SOOO funny, and smilies all in one day. To be honest, I got overwhelmed trying to keep up with it and gave up posting and reading it. There was very little personal information exchanged or ideas for tours.

 

I guess I like a medium-paced roll call. I like learning about my fellow passengers and what they are planning for their tours.

[E-500]

I have had great luck on roll calls with HAL too. At the beginning, they seem slow and then, all of a sudden, it just picks up and picks up.

 

We have 106 registered for our sail a way and two meet and greets with over 100 people, so I think that it just depends upon the sailing and the group you have. we are lucky to have a good one:):)

 

I'm on Kazu's roll call and we have over 1,000 posts and 20,000+ views and as she indicated over 100 folks for the sail-away and 2 M&G signed up.

 

My guess as to why the President's Week cruise is slow is twofold. I assume a short cruise of 7 days and the facts many kids on-board make it family centric so less interaction.

 

Edited to add: Our roll call has had very little puff, mostly good information, friendly people asking great questions and getting excellent responses.

[vbmom87]

We are cruising in 10 weeks and nobody seems interested in a get together thing

 

Not everyone who goes on a cruise is a social butterfly. Some are just looking for a quiet, peaceful getaway by themselves.

[NoWhiners]

Our Panama canal Cruise is in April 2011 and our roll call started last February!! it was quite active back then but lately has dropped off a bit. I'm not sure why. We have about 25 couples officially signed up and lots of views. At first I thought it was because it was summer and everyone was busy. Plus, some people are still working so that makes it harder for them to keep up. now i just think people are burned out from anticipation. i stopped posting since i was the only 1!!

 

ML

[bob brown]

I am usually a last minute booker, so I may 'lurk' on cruises that interest me, but I don't post until I am booked. Another practice of mine is if I have more than one cruise booked, I only post on my next cruise. After its complete, I'll post on the following cruise.

Until final payment is due, many folks may drop out, and new ones come in. That is when roll calls seem to get busy. And as mentioned, there is sometimes a few members of a roll call misusing it as a 'chat room', for non cruise related conversations. This greatly inflates the numbers of posts, but does keep it on top of the forum.

[kazu]

it might also depend upon what ports or areas you are visiting.

 

Standard Caribbean, most people don't need tours. Europe, people need more info, want to form private tours, want information, etc.

 

our Panama roll call last spring was steady, but not compared to our Europe roll calls. i wonder if that has something to do with it? or again it could be the cc members who are on the cruise.

 

remember roll call activities depend upon how many cc members are going on that cruise. CC members normally represent a very small percentage of the ship's passengers.

[UKBayern]

I would guess that it is because of the fact that a lot of HAL passengers are much older and not computer savvy compared to the other cruise lines.

 

I was just going to suggest the same thing.

 

Other possible reasons:

-cruise date still too far out? Some people only get into the organizing/researching part of the cruise after final payment.

-lot of cruisers who don't know about CC?

-lot of cruisers on board who don't speak english, and are therefore not on english language boards like CC?

-is the Roll Call properly identified by ship and date? I had no clue what and when "Presidents Week" is. We had to do an internet search.

 

Remember that numbers on a Roll Call do not mean anything. We only had a handful of posters, but they were tremendous fun on board, even though we had to organize our own Meet & Mingle due to low numbers. My parents on their last cruise had nearly 100 people on their Roll Call, but a lot of these people were really not their type.

[onthegogirl]

My personal experience is that HAL cruisers don't participate in roll calls like with some other cruise lines. That doesn't mean all or always, there are exceptions and some HAL cruises get heavy roll call action.

 

I think it depends on the itinerary and the ship. On the Circle Australia last year we had a very active roll call and over 50 at our meet and great. On the Nieuw Amsterdam trans Atlantic the year there were over 1,000 posts, 20,000 views and a m&g of over 100.

 

It is also possible that those cruising over the President's day holiday are traveling with their children so are not as likely to post on CC.

[signora]

Thank you EVERYONE for your helpful suggestions and comments. I think the comment that people may tend to post more after final payment (which is in November) is very well-taken. I also think it's a great idea to keep the thread alive with a weekly tidbit about a resource, excursion, etc. It was also just helpful to know that other people have had this problem as well. I'll keep trying! (BTW on my roll call thread it does say President's Week is Feb 19)

[Krazy Kruizers]

We are cruising in 10 weeks and nobody seems interested in a get together thing

 

That happened on a couple of Roll Calls that I joined in the past. Lots of posts -- no one really wanted to get together.

Now I don't even bother to check our the Roll Calls for our cruises.

[m steve]

I have arranged several M&G's on HAL ships in the past with very mixed results and don't plan on coordinating any in the future. One had only 1 other couple show up, another had 50 reponses and about half showed. On a few we were treated with canapes and drinks and the most recent it was coffee and cookies. I might stop by on my next 2 cruises but if there is another activity I will do that. In the past I brought previous visits maps, brochure and even liquor price lists and most liked the added info. I usually collect this stuff for my friends to help them plan their port visits or decide what cruise to take.

[LindaM]

it might also depend upon what ports or areas you are visiting.

 

Standard Caribbean, most people don't need tours. Europe, people need more info, want to form private tours, want information, etc.

 

our Panama roll call last spring was steady, but not compared to our Europe roll calls. i wonder if that has something to do with it? or again it could be the cc members who are on the cruise.

 

remember roll call activities depend upon how many cc members are going on that cruise. CC members normally represent a very small percentage of the ship's passengers.

 

I think you are probably right. And, it may also depend on the length of the cruise. Last summer, the 2 week Alaska itineraries were unbelieveably active. However, 3 sets of friends going on 1 week Alaska cruises had no roll calls!!

 

No one would accuse me of being a social butterfly, but "knowing" a group of people on the ship enhances the experience. Those who don't participate really don't understand what they are missing out on. On our last cruise, one of the Ccers arranged a bridge tour for our group. The officers were pretty chatty and we gleaned a lot of interesting information.

 

I keep checking our Prinsendam Baltic rollcall---we now have 10 members, with 10 months to go!

[serendipity1499]

Why is my roll call (President's Week 2011, Eurodam) moving like a snail? I join roll calls on every cruise--this is my first on HAL and it is by far the most sluggish. Lots of views but few posts. Any suggestions on how to jumpstart this roll call?

 

I was just going to suggest the same thing.

 

Other possible reasons:

-cruise date still too far out? Some people only get into the organizing/researching part of the cruise after final payment.

-lot of cruisers who don't know about CC?

-lot of cruisers on board who don't speak english, and are therefore not on english language boards like CC?

-is the Roll Call properly identified by ship and date? I had no clue what and when "Presidents Week" is. We had to do an internet search.

 

Yes it was: the listing reads:

Feb 19, 2011, President's Week..

 

Remember that numbers on a Roll Call do not mean anything. We only had a handful of posters, but they were tremendous fun on board, even though we had to organize our own Meet & Mingle due to low numbers. My parents on their last cruise had nearly 100 people on their Roll Call, but a lot of these people were really not their type.

 

Understand & agree with you in some ways, but also think it's too far out..We have over 75 for our Roll call on the Noordam in Nov., but most of them came on after final payment date..

 

Re your parents...I'm not sure their ages, but we too are in the older group & agree that most people who join a roll call seem to be much younger than us in their 40' & 50's... We probably would not be able to even keep up with them..As a matter of fact on our B2B (20 day cruise) which has two Roll calls many of the posters are making arrangements for scuba diving, snorkeling, golfing outings etc...:eek:

If done my share of snorkeling ( Loved it) & now all we want to do on our cruise is rest & enjoy the ship..Have been to all those places many times before, & other than do a bit of shopping, the ship is our destination with only one or two exceptions... We don't even drink as much as we used to & probably will not participate in all the meet & greet activities on our roll call..In addition, we probably will spend more time with our four Dearest Friends who will be with us..:):):)

To the OP: Also wonder if HAL Psgrs on the 7 day cruises, are less likely to participate in a roll call, but give it some time..After final payment your Roll call should pick up....

JMO...Cheers....:)Betty

[obriendan]

On our Hawaiian cruise last spring we had a very active roll call with a lot of people. I've tried to start one for our 4-26 Panama Canal Cruise (FLL to SD) and so far I am the only one posting. One poster thought it was because HAL appeals to an older group, but every older person I know is on line. My oldest sister is 90 and she is a computer whiz! If you read the letters to the editor in the AARP magazine, the majority are sent by email.

 

Maybe Panama Canal cruises are particularly prone to poor Roll Call thread participation. I started a Roll Call thread for the Sept. '11 Westerdam Panama Canal cruise three weeks ago and so far no other participants and only 13 views.

 

Although it may be too early, I've been on Roll Calls that have started more than 18 months out and have been very active from this early beginning.

 

Dan