Has a roll call ever caused you NOT to book?

[navyrotorhead]

I think it's been medically proven that cruising cures crankiness!

 

But have you read some of the cruise reviews and/or posts on these threads???

 

You are on VACATION..... on a 500 MILLION dollar (or MORE :eek:) cruise ship...

 

where you don't have to make the bed... or clean up the bathroom...

 

or do your own cooking... or wash the dishes.... or pour your own drinks...

 

while traveling to exotic places..... seeing new sights... and meeting new people.

 

And STILL, some people find the most petty things to complain about. :confused:

 

I read a review of a week long Caribbean cruise, in which TWO WHOLE PARAGRAPHS dealt with how too old, too heavy (:rolleyes:) and too under-powered the HAIRDRYER in the cabin was!?!? SHEESCH!!!

[C 2 C]

But have you read some of the cruise reviews and/or posts on these threads???

 

And STILL, some people find the most petty things to complain about. :confused:

 

The attitude towards fellow travellers is not new and as varied as our opinions of everyone we meet.

 

“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” – Mark Twain

“Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversation.” – Elizabeth Drew

[momofmeg]

NO but it helped hubby and I to make the decision to cancel a cruise. We were originally booked on a transatlantic on the Equinox this coming Nov. We wanted to spend a week in Italy precruise in order to see Venice, Pompeii and a bit of Rome. It was going to take so many of hubby's vacation days and then there was the hassle of planning of how we would be getting around Italy, booking hotels, etc. and so we decided a Med cruise would be better for us, and we were able to find one that gave us the ports/areas we wanted to visit in Italy, which was Venice, Rome, Naples, and Livorino.

 

The rollcall seemed to be a clique of folks who do these cruises together every fall and one person of this clique made it clear he did not like my posts. So even before we canceled I decided I was not interested in attending the meet and greet.

 

In hindsight this guy did me a favor. I was bent of on doing a TA because I had enjoyed our TA on the Connie back in 2007 so much. Well, our cruise on the Solstice was just as wonderful, maybe more so. Because of dropping prices for our cruise,we were able to upgrade to a skysuite on the very back of the ship where we could enjoy the wake of the ship when sailing.

 

Also, hubby's mother became seriously ill last month, ended up in the hosp for 5 days over Labor day wkend and is still recovering. If our trip was still 2 months away we would be antsy about whether we should go and be gone for 3 weeks straight, even if she was fully recovered by the time we left.

 

anyway we made the right decision.

[Lois R]

The attitude towards fellow travellers is not new and as varied as our opinions of everyone we meet.

 

Hi Arno, fellow traveler:);)

 

Going back on Summit (finally)....the last time I was supposed to sail

her was a year ago with you, Joanne and the roll call on it was really

nice for that one:)......it was the week my Dad had passed so I had

to cancel.....

 

Now, the roll call for this one? It is one of those (in my opinion)

that is just totally funky....

Pages of postings and I try to help, but in my view, just a weird

roll call. There are 2 folks from Australia who I am looking forward to

meeting but that is it. Seems everyone else wants to chat on FB....

no thanks. I chat on Cruise Critic for cruising:)

 

Oh, and of course I am looking forward to sailing Summit again:)

[C 2 C]

Hi Arno, fellow traveler:);)

 

Going back on Summit (finally)....the last time I was supposed to sail

her was a year ago with you, Joanne and the roll call on it was really

nice for that one:)......

 

Some roll calls are inviting and friendly and makes one eager to post while others are for skimming only. More and more I look for people whose company we have enjoyed during evening social hours and the opportunity to reconnect.

 

Enjoy Summit, a wonderful ship, supported by a fantastic crew.

[VillaHappy]

I have been on great and not so great roll calls. The best was an Explorer cruise where I became friends with a great group and we continue to meet several times a year and yet we haven't sailed together again. On another roll call, I was basically shunned by a very cliquish group for suggesting to them a restaurant in NYC that might be better suited to their needs. All I can say is, "WOW". This one poster lambasted me no end so I never posted there again. In fact, it was so bad, that on a subsequent cruise, I met a fellow CC passenger that recalled the melee and apologized for her fellow posters. Yes, it was that bad. Anyhow, I still sailed on that cruise and had a great time. There is no way I would base my cruising decision on a roll call.

 

That does sound bad. SO sorry!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I find on Holland America ships They are dead most of the time ..

[WELSH WIZARDS]

I find on Holland America ships They are dead most of the time ..

Do you mean the roll calls ..or the passengers. ? ;)

[Lois R]

Some roll calls are inviting and friendly and makes one eager to post while others are for skimming only. More and more I look for people whose company we have enjoyed during evening social hours and the opportunity to reconnect.

 

Enjoy Summit, a wonderful ship, supported by a fantastic crew.

 

Hi Arno, Oh, no doubt about enjoying the ship part:D

Give my best to Joanne too please:)

[C 2 C]

I find on Holland America ships They are dead most of the time ..

 

Do you mean the roll calls ..or the passengers. ? ;)

 

Naughty... but it makes for quieter ships

[Lois R]

I have been on great and not so great roll calls. The best was an Explorer cruise where I became friends with a great group and we continue to meet several times a year and yet we haven't sailed together again. On another roll call, I was basically shunned by a very cliquish group for suggesting to them a restaurant in NYC that might be better suited to their needs. All I can say is, "WOW". This one poster lambasted me no end so I never posted there again. In fact, it was so bad, that on a subsequent cruise, I met a fellow CC passenger that recalled the melee and apologized for her fellow posters. Yes, it was that bad. Anyhow, I still sailed on that cruise and had a great time. There is no way I would base my cruising decision on a roll call.

 

Sorry you were treated like that:(:mad:....that person sounds like they

are just mean:(

 

But I am glad you ended up having a great cruise:)

[scottbee]

Have I canceled because of a roll call? NO

Have I thought about it? YES

 

In one roll call I've received private emails (as the roll call 'leader' wanted everyone's private email) saying "How dare you argue with me", "I hope there's a strike and you can't reach the port" and most recently "you should seek therapy". All the while there's acerbic or snide comments thrown at anyone who dare disagree with them.

[celebrity]

That does sound bad. SO sorry!

 

Thanks! I still had a great time on that Princess cruise.

[Allis154]

Have I canceled because of a roll call? NO

Have I thought about it? YES

 

In one roll call I've received private emails (as the roll call 'leader' wanted everyone's private email) saying "How dare you argue with me", "I hope there's a strike and you can't reach the port" and most recently "you should seek therapy". All the while there's acerbic or snide comments thrown at anyone who dare disagree with them.

 

WOW!!! That is really bad! Some people...:rolleyes:

 

I have never cancelled because of a roll call, but have thought about it. Went anyway and had a great time, just didn't do the party.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Have I canceled because of a roll call? NO

Have I thought about it? YES

 

In one roll call I've received private emails (as the roll call 'leader' wanted everyone's private email) saying "How dare you argue with me", "I hope there's a strike and you can't reach the port" and most recently "you should seek therapy". All the while there's acerbic or snide comments thrown at anyone who dare disagree with them.

 

Wow! Here's hoping all these unpleasant, bossy people end up cruising with one another. That should keep them busy. :D

 

Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've found the people on the roll calls I've participated in kind, polite, willing to share information, just really great people who love to cruise. Some we've cruised with several times.

[Dayenu]

DH & I are at the very early planning stages for an 18-nt. transpacific cruise in spring 2014, and we're considering several options with slightly different ports. I'm always curious why passengers choose a particular ship/itinerary, so I checked the roll call boards for our top 2 favorites.

 

Frankly I was surprised that both already have active roll calls...one that has been going for over a year and with 1000+ posts. The vast majority of posts are made by about 50 people who have obviously traveled together several times in the past. They have a website (with several tabs), a facebook page, and have already organized two exclusive CC parties on-board and several private excursions. I thought that was a bit much, but what really turned me off was when they requested a bio for each participant (they supplied the questions), a photo and a "special" screen name to be used only for this roll call. Their target is to get at least 500 people to attend the CC party! They also plan to "take over" at least one bar every evening.

 

Well, that narrowed down our options and we immediately crossed that cruise off our list. Has this ever happened to you?

 

I would not allow a group of people ruin my vacation. You don't have to interact with any of them if this is your wish.

 

The purpose of roll calls is:

1) to meet new people - on any cruise you will meet different people, from very pleasant to really rude, you don't have to do it through the roll call if you don't want to (our meet and greets were all nice so far)

2) to organize land tours not sponsored by the ship - again, you don't have to participate if you don't want to.

[johneeo]

Have I canceled because of a roll call? NO

Have I thought about it? YES

 

In one roll call I've received private emails (as the roll call 'leader' wanted everyone's private email) saying "How dare you argue with me", "I hope there's a strike and you can't reach the port" and most recently "you should seek therapy". All the while there's acerbic or snide comments thrown at anyone who dare disagree with them.

 

Wow!

 

Should anyone find any roll calls like this, please point me to them!;)

 

Seriously .... I can also be emailed at my user name at gmail.com

[m*u*g*]

a photo and a "special" screen name to be used only for this roll call. Their target is to get at least 500 people to attend the CC party! They also plan to "take over" at least one bar every evening.

 

Well, that narrowed down our options and we immediately crossed that cruise off our list. Has this ever happened to you?

 

More reasons for me not to get caught up in a roll call or to drink. (read, there has to be more reasons for wanting a bio and photo-draw your own conclusions)

 

I could be on a ship all week and never knowingly encounter this group.

 

Ignore them and go.

[marco]

It's never effected our decision to take or not take the cruise. We usually do go to the M&G, but that's about it. We don't do cabin crawls, exchange gifts, meet regularly throughout the cruise, decorate doors etc, etc. (Too much like summer camp of years gone by) As for a group of 500 taking over a bar or lounge, other than the main show lounge, I can't think of any ship that has a bar or lounge that will accommodate 500 people and if there were, if you didn't want to participate, as they would all be there, I'd just go to a different bar/lounge. Maybe I just never looked hard enough, but I've never really seen a CC M&G group be that obvious after the initial M&G get-together.

[Dayenu]

Have I canceled because of a roll call? NO

Have I thought about it? YES

 

In one roll call I've received private emails (as the roll call 'leader' wanted everyone's private email) saying "How dare you argue with me", "I hope there's a strike and you can't reach the port" and most recently "you should seek therapy". All the while there's acerbic or snide comments thrown at anyone who dare disagree with them.

 

You know, I'd think in dealing with this type the gloves should be off. I would try to forward those e-mails to Cruise Critic moderators to have that poster banned. And would certainly copy them into roll call.

[jamessemaj]

The roll calls are often a good place to find logistics information, transportation, currency, sights, etc., and that is why I follow them. Only a very tiny portion of the cruise members participate and on the cruise it is not a significant or even noticeable influence. The tenor of posts in a roll call would never cause me to even think about canceling a cruise because, as I say again, it has no affect and is not a reflection of anything.

[Krazy Kruizers]

DH & I are at the very early planning stages for an 18-nt. transpacific cruise in spring 2014, and we're considering several options with slightly different ports. I'm always curious why passengers choose a particular ship/itinerary, so I checked the roll call boards for our top 2 favorites.

 

Frankly I was surprised that both already have active roll calls...one that has been going for over a year and with 1000+ posts. The vast majority of posts are made by about 50 people who have obviously traveled together several times in the past. They have a website (with several tabs), a facebook page, and have already organized two exclusive CC parties on-board and several private excursions. I thought that was a bit much, but what really turned me off was when they requested a bio for each participant (they supplied the questions), a photo and a "special" screen name to be used only for this roll call. Their target is to get at least 500 people to attend the CC party! They also plan to "take over" at least one bar every evening.

 

Well, that narrowed down our options and we immediately crossed that cruise off our list. Has this ever happened to you?

 

 

Wow -- this is the first that I have heard of such a large Meet & Greet. When I used to join the Roll Calls -- they were usually anywhere from 8 - 100 people.

I would be upset if they closed down a bar each evening just for a get-together.

I haven't even bothered to read the Roll Calls for the last couple of years for our cruises.

I got turned off them when they wanted to do gift exchanges and cabin crawls.

[johneeo]

Their target is to get at least 500 people to attend the CC party! They also plan to "take over" at least one bar every evening.

 

Yeah, right.

 

You could not find 500 people that stupid on planet earth, let alone on a specific cruise.

 

Having been on the Oasis, the largest cruise ship in the world, there is not a bar on any cruise ship that could accomodate 500 people.

[Talisker92]

Our Roll call for mid February has about 1000 posts. We have about 70 couples posting. I have organized 2 M&G as it is a B2B.

I am no in favor of gift exchanges, cabin crawls, slot pulls with this many people.

[citygirl62]

Hi, I haven't cruised yet (leaving Sept 23) but I found cruise critic after booking my cruise. I signed up for the Roll Call because I wanted information about our itinerary. I've received lots of good information about everything, the ports, the excursions, whether to take a flashlight, etc. I did get one snarky reply when I asked about ship time versus port time, suggesting I was a few bricks short of a load, but most posters are very helpful.

 

As far as the social aspect of a Roll Call; I am attending the M & G but I'm not planning on gift exchanges, cabin crawls, organized events (if there are any) but that doesn't mean I won't. After all, I am on vacation and I don't want it to be regimented. The poster organizing the M & G seems lovely, and very helpful and appears to have formed lasting friendships with prior cruisers from these boards. It will be nice to say hi several times a day to those I've met or chat poolside.

 

Probably the vast majority of cruisers have never heard of Cruise Critic or its' Roll Call or if they have are not interested in joining so I certainly wouldn't let a roll call influence my decision on taking a cruise. At the very least, Roll Calls can offer "for-warned is for-armed" info for avoiding any obnoxious individuals which we do every day in the real world.