Roll Calls

[Bridge Maven]

Has anyone ever made a decision to either book a cruise, or cancel one they have already booked, because of the roll call for it?

[RMSeadog]

Has anyone ever made a decision to either book a cruise, or cancel one they have already booked, because of the roll call for it?

 

Too many bogus post over the years to make a decision to cancel, maybe book one, but we haven't yet. ~ Ric

 

[simon stingray]

We booked a transatlantic quite a few years ago and as the roll call progressed, we were shocked that there did not appear to be any other passengers under the age of 70+.

 

I know that T/A's attract an older group than other cruises but there appeared to be no one else even close to our age range-we were both in our early/mid 30's at the time.

 

As we were debating what to do the cruise line then changed one of the ports of call so we were able to use this as a reason to switch to another sailing without penalty (here in the UK our deposits are not refundable).

 

WE ended up taking a repositioning cruise from Vancouver to Los Angeles where there were others in our age range.

[cybergranny]

My DH and I are pretty laid back cruisers. I feel that those who post a lot in roll calls do that as part of their whole cruise experience. I tend not too book far in advance and as a result sometimes have to read back to the beginning of a roll call to get a feel for who is active. I can meet them one day, and only run into them from time to time through out the cruise or make an effort to see them, if they seem like my kind of folk. I can take the meeting of new friends as a perk or I can go my merry way. Having people to share meals with can be fun -- or the opposite.

[dkjretired]

Never cancelled but had a bad situation on a cruise from someone on the roll call. It caused wife and I on our next cruise to skip the roll call completely and not partake in anything involving CC. Please remember that I am a charter member of CC and it means a lot to me.

[CruiseImage]

We booked a transatlantic quite a few years ago and as the roll call progressed, we were shocked that there did not appear to be any other passengers under the age of 70+.

I know that T/A's attract an older group than other cruises but there appeared to be no one else even close to our age range-we were both in our early/mid 30's at the time.

 

Know that exact feeling, and in answer to the OP's question, then no I've not cancelled or the likes because of the roll call - but may have to admit regret joining a few over the years :eek:

But throughout my cruising career to date have met some fascinating people of all ages, both with some weird and wonderful backgrounds and history.

We do keep in touch with as many people as possible that we meet, with the help of a certain social networking site (that CC doesn't like to be linked to)

 

Simon Stingray - we are avid TA fans and just want to confirm there are a few of us about in the bars after 10pm ... he he :D:D

[uktog]

Not cancel, but plan how we would approach things ahead of a cruise.

We too had a very bad experience having shared our room number - people knocking on our door asking us if we had forgotten to sign up for the slot pull and where were we at the sail away party. It was only the 2 nd time we had been part of a RC and were left in no doubt by the New Jersey matron who called at our door that that was what was expected of roll call people and she had gone to all this effort arranging things for us etc etc.

 

Now that could have put us off cc and indeed posters from NJ but we did our homework realised the woman was too full of her own importance even if she was a rather frequent cruiser and formulated a plan which we have followed to this day

 

We never give out our room number ever

We post immediately there is talk of slot pulls that we wish them well but will not be joining

We indicate that we usually have our own plans at sail away as we have a favourite bar, however if that coincides with the place the party is at, we will stop by and say hello

We always go to the get together

 

Over the years we have found we have often got completely the wrong idea about what a cruise will be like from the RC. So we would never cancel based on what we read, but we will always be prepared - and some of the best CC friends we have made have been from NJ !!

[CruiseImage]

............ we did our homework realised the woman was too full of her own importance even if she was a rather frequent cruiser and formulated a plan which we have followed to this day

 

We never give out our room number ever

We post immediately there is talk of slot pulls that we wish them well but will not be joining

We indicate that we usually have our own plans at sail away as we have a favourite bar, however if that coincides with the place the party is at, we will stop by and say hello

We always go to the get together

 

Over the years we have found we have often got completely the wrong idea about what a cruise will be like from the RC. So we would never cancel based on what we read, but we will always be prepared!!

 

Giving cabin numbers out has always been a little strange to me, and never done this, and I think your example just proves why.

Good plans... And stick with them. I totally agree with all of them

[uktog]

And stick with them

 

Agree I am part of a RC just now where it would appear that sharing the number is a pre requisite to joining an RC organised excursion. I fully understand why the organiser might need the number but we have decided ftb to stick with our original plan. I will be happy to give the organiser our no provided it does not go on the global spreadsheet.

 

Cabin crawls are another no no for us and sorry even when we have had a Royal suite we have not taken part. I am very happy and have taken pics and shared them post cruise, and I find a wealth of info on here and you tube enough for me to know about cabin layouts. Not sure why I would give up part of my very precious cruise hours to tidying up and wandering around. I am sorry I know others will disagree big time ion this, but I think for newcomers both sides of the coin needs to be said in case they think they have to join in!

[hawkeye3d]

The lack of RC activity wasn’t the sole reason we cancelled a recent cruise, but it was a factor in our decision. Unfortunately the replacement cruise we booked has an absolutely dead RC. This affects us as my DW likes to schedule private shore excursions and having an active RC means that we might stand a chance if finding others with like interests and bring down the costs

[Shooraq]

Roll calls aren't a reason for me to cancel a cruise, but I just might not participate fully in them. I have been involved with roll calls that are extremely active and others quite dead. I have skipped some meetups because the demographic of people or the personalities just didn't interest me. I have particpated in others where there are organized lunches or cabin crawls or poker runs.

 

The last roll call I was in was one of the most positive experiences I had. People were respectful, room numbers were not abused, and we made SOOO many new friends that we plan to get in touch with and visit or cruise with again. But I do agree that you have to be cautious and trust instincts about roll calls. Do what you feel comfortable with and don't let anyone convince you otherwise. :)

[suec12]

I do like to share ideas for transportation and hotels, make connections for excursions and for the get togethers but it can get to be a bit much for me. Sail aways, cabin crawls, slot pulls, door signs! and even "bring a little gift from your home state" for a gift exchange - all those are probably more connection than I am looking for. But then again I don't like a dead roll call either, but I would not cancel a trip because of one. We were on one roll call where there was a huge "blow" between a couple of the members - the offended participant still sailed but absolutely removed themselves from the group that they had been so involved with.

[Azulann]

It is a very small percentage of cruisers who even post on CC let alone join a roll call. On the last Equinox sailing we had 45 people sign up for a meet and Greet, out of 3000 passengers.

 

I use roll call to join or organize a private tour. Second,to get to know some of the people who will be on the cruise. Have always gone to the meet and greet to put a face to the monikers on this board.

 

For the first time I started a roll call for upcoming cruise. Those who post are very excited about the cruise. We are an interantional group and share lots of our own research. It is very helpful. They all seem like a jolly group and look forward to meeting them once on board. Some are very experienced cruisers, others are first timers. We have alot more hits then posters. In organizning tours and getting emails and room numbers, it is done off CC.

 

So to OP, I pick the cruise first and then sign up for roll call. Would never cancel or pick a cruise because of roll call thread.

[sandancer]

Would never cancel due to the roll call, would just be very circumspect about joining in with activities. As for cabin numbers, it is much better to send these by private email to the organiser of the tour/event you are involved with. In the past when I have been the organiser I have set up an email account especially for that cruise and closed it afterwards. I have come across some strange roll call situations, on one cruise a member posted at least daily and sometimes 3 or 4 times a day, he was never seen at any of the events he had been so enthusiastic about. On another I was arranging a pre-cruise dinner and not only was one guy enthusiastic about the dinner, he even suggested the restaurant as he knew it very well and was very keen to dine there again. I heeded his advice, booked for the group. Not only did he not turn up for the dinner, he was NOT ON THE CRUISE.

[jaspersmommy]

Has anyone ever made a decision to either book a cruise, or cancel one they have already booked, because of the roll call for it?

 

 

Funny you should ask about this... I went looking for my roll call for an upcoming cruise. Last time I joined one, it ended up being very helpful for sharing excursion and transportation expenses. After I found the roll call, I decided to stay as far away from it as I can. Prior to posting this reply, I tried to go in and delete my upcoming cruise from my signature. I don't want to offend the people on the roll call from my cruise by posting this reply, so I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that it is gone or I may have some people very angry with me.

 

My roll call is extremely long. It started with a bunch of people who met each other on a prior cruise (maybe more than one?). They gave their group a little name... I couldn't believe the silly banter back and forth. Most of the posts are irrelevant to the cruise and much of it is personal in nature and as a result it is very, very long. It's so long that it turns me off reading it to find if how many others outside their group have joined. I did see a couple of outsiders joining in the first few pages, but I honestly couldn't bear to read any more of the nonsense. There is no way I want to join and have to read through all of it just to find a few tidbits of information that may be useful. I wish that those on the roll call would keep the roll call to cruise-related content and leave the silly stuff to personal emails.

 

I really hope that the upcoming cruise deleted successfully from my signature so as not to offend those on my roll call. I really don't mean to embarrass them. I just wish it had been left so as to be more welcoming and useful for others. I won't cancel my cruise because of it, but I'll certainly steer clear of the roll call.

[DavidYYC]

The roll calls are really irrelevant to my cruise plans. I do read them and like to get a feel for who is sailing, and pick up other useful tidbits of info.

 

...but I have no desire to become part of a social club or get involved with others to any great extent.

[Karynanne]

We have never booked a cruise based upon the roll call or canceled a cruise based upon a roll call.

 

Sometimes, posters on CC, aren't the what you find in person. A very verbose person on CC, could very well be somewhat shy, when you meet that person onboard ship. So we leave our expectations and opinions at home, and if it's a great group...terrific! If not...then we move on and meet people elsewhere.

[Bridge Maven]

A number of years ago the roll call for a cruise we booked on Century was very active with people discussing the best ways to smuggle liquor aboard the ship. It didn't make me cancel the cruise, but I did not go to the cruise critic party because I felt I had nothing in common with them.

 

Fortunately, the people on that roll call were not representative of the passengers on that cruise, and we met many wonderful people aboard that ship.

[ORV]

 

My roll call is extremely long. It started with a bunch of people who met each other on a prior cruise (maybe more than one?). They gave their group a little name... I couldn't believe the silly banter back and forth. Most of the posts are irrelevant to the cruise and much of it is personal in nature and as a result it is very, very long. It's so long that it turns me off reading it to find if how many others outside their group have joined. I did see a couple of outsiders joining in the first few pages, but I honestly couldn't bear to read any more of the nonsense. There is no way I want to join and have to read through all of it just to find a few tidbits of information that may be useful. I wish that those on the roll call would keep the roll call to cruise-related content and leave the silly stuff to personal emails.

 

 

I have found from experience that there are some posters you can just learn to simply avoid reading their posts, or just skim them, usually about local weather, their kids or grandkids etc. If it's too tiresome just put them on ignore. I agree that the Roll Calls should be about the upcoming cruise and not a Coffee Klatch. To an extent a little socializing is good, what you are describing is not.

 

The other thing that bothers me is there are some people that automatically think they're in charge. What's up with that?

[A Sixth?]

I always take part in the RC and always go to the connections party but as many say don't give out room numbers and too much personal info....

 

While I have never made/changed a booking BECAUSE of a roll call on our last cruise the OP of our roll call seems to have changed their booking because of a large 600+ group who'd booked the cruise as well. The OP ended p on the same ship a few weeks earlier, and the 600 retired Mounties and their families actually made our cruise that much more memorable! :D

[Orator]

I don't look at a Roll Call until I'm about to or have actually booked a cruise. I've been lucky and have never needed to cancel a cruise. I've met some wonderful people and have always enjoyed placing a face with a screen name. There are some posters I'd really like to meet and perhaps one or two I'd like to avoid. The roll call doesn't influence my cruise choices in any way.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

So far I've had great experiences with folks on the roll call for my cruises. I see no reason not to give out my cabin number since I'm not moving there permanently (although I might wish to). :D Of course I've never had anyone knock on my door and chastise me for not participating either. I like the ease of contacting others which the exchange of cabin numbers provides. I've learned a lot from participating in cabin crawls and don't begrudge the small amount of time they take. And I'm enjoying all the lovely new friends I've met on various cruises!

 

In my view, adding a name to the group adds to the fun. Our Woo Hoo buttons caused a lot of smiles and started a lot of conversations and even the captain and the CD got in the act and said Woo Hoo! on their noon update.

 

Last night I learned that somebody who was part of the roll call on our last Thanksgiving cruise has booked a TA that I'm doing next spring. I'm really excited about getting to see them again!

 

So, for me, roll calls have all been positive. YMMV.

[mahdnc]

Bridge Maven,

 

When we are seriously looking at a cruise, I will take a peek at the roll call but it has yet to influence our decision on whether or not to book.

 

Our experience with roll calls have been all positive so far.....

[Lois R]

Funny you should ask about this... I went looking for my roll call for an upcoming cruise. Last time I joined one, it ended up being very helpful for sharing excursion and transportation expenses. After I found the roll call, I decided to stay as far away from it as I can. Prior to posting this reply, I tried to go in and delete my upcoming cruise from my signature. I don't want to offend the people on the roll call from my cruise by posting this reply, so I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that it is gone or I may have some people very angry with me.

 

My roll call is extremely long. It started with a bunch of people who met each other on a prior cruise (maybe more than one?). They gave their group a little name... I couldn't believe the silly banter back and forth. Most of the posts are irrelevant to the cruise and much of it is personal in nature and as a result it is very, very long. It's so long that it turns me off reading it to find if how many others outside their group have joined. I did see a couple of outsiders joining in the first few pages, but I honestly couldn't bear to read any more of the nonsense. There is no way I want to join and have to read through all of it just to find a few tidbits of information that may be useful. I wish that those on the roll call would keep the roll call to cruise-related content and leave the silly stuff to personal emails.

 

I really hope that the upcoming cruise deleted successfully from my signature so as not to offend those on my roll call. I really don't mean to embarrass them. I just wish it had been left so as to be more welcoming and useful for others. I won't cancel my cruise because of it, but I'll certainly steer clear of the roll call.

 

Hi,:) there is nothing showing up under your post so your signature

is clear;)

[USVI-4-me]

We cruise to enjoy each other and visit ports. We meet passengers on board as we are friendly and interested in all passengers.

 

We avoid the Roll Calls.

 

The Roll Calls make no difference in our cruise experience as we aren't inclined to join groups on board or in prep for our cruises. There are often too many CC RC daily post for my computer time.

 

When I do visit a roll call site on line, I'm happy to read the enthusiasm of passengers anticipating their cruise and coordinating group fun. I'm happy that CC does have roll calls, but we are not affected at all.

 

Marisa